Bronze king of the sea

This 12 foot bronze statute of King Neptune lets visitors to the shelter Cove Harbor on Hilton Head Island know if they are on time for their dinner reservation. Neptune and his trusty trident have been telling South Carolinians what time it is since 1983, when local artist and sculptor Wayne Edwards cast the god in bronze. In order to make sure he was an accurate time-keeper, the trident had to be secured to “true south” (or “solar south” as it’s also known) by lining it up using Polaris (the North Star) and the constellation Ursa Major (that’s the Big Dipper). The result is the perfect angle to cast a timely shadow, as long as the Carolina sun is shining.

My husband Dave had to test it out to make sure that the Trident was actually 100% secured to the true south. Of course since he’s directionally challenged he really did not know which direction it was pointed!