Where Dawn Turns Rosé

Folly Beach, South Carolina

At the break of dawn along South Carolina’s beloved Folly Beach, nature orchestrates a spectacle that transcends tourism. A quiet, reverent ritual where stewardship meets sunrise. The Atlantic rest beneath a blush-toned sky, and the first rays of daylight cast a luxurious pink hue over the shoreline. It is a moment of purpose.

There’s a kind of morning on Folly Beach that you don’t just see, you feel. Long before the sun fully rises over the Atlantic, the sky softens into shades of rose and gold. The sea is still. The salt air is cool. And on this cherished barrier island, something quietly extraordinary happens: a team of volunteers, known as the Turtle Patrol, walks the sand to protect what matters.

Here in South Carolina, we know that our coastlines are more than vacation spots, they’re part of who we are. Folly Beach, affectionately called the Edge of America, is where generations have come to find peace, purpose, and perspective. It’s also where our loggerhead sea turtles return each season to nest, trusting these same dunes we’ve walked since childhood.

Folly Beach is a place where South Carolinians find more than waves and weather, we find wonder. And in the quiet hour before the day begins, when the horizon turns rose and the world seems still, we’re reminded of what makes this coast so worth protecting.

Because this isn’t just where the sea meets the shore. It’s where our stories begin.

One emblematic photo captured at sunrise by Vanessa Trexler Oltmann portrays this with poetic precision. It’s a moment that speaks volumes about collective responsibility and environmental resilience: 

“Listening and seeing our beautiful Earth awaken from a sleep… Every sunrise is a gift of a new day… a new hope… a promise of living… As I stood there inhaling the salty air… I embraced the beauty that God paints for me… And I know I am blessed to live here and to see the beauty. At that moment in the mornings I am one with nature,” 

~Vanessa Trexler Oltmann of South Carolina.