Hilton Head to Charleston - Loop Trip Days 124 - 130

We're only at Hilton Head for one full day and it was a sunny, cold one to start. Fortunately it warmed up quickly and we took the bikes off for a ride. The ruins of  the Stoney - Baynard House are not too far from Harbour Town so that's the first stop. This was an old cotton plantation in the late 1700's until the Civil War. The house burned shortly after that and the foundation and a piece of a wall are all that remain. From here we rode to the South Beach portion of the island, past some quite amazing homes and along a nice bike path. The next stop was Salty Dog Cafe for lunch and a little break. We checked out the shops here before returning to the Harbour Town shops. At the end of the day, this all added up to a little over 8 miles, not a bad workout.

The Ruins

Remaining wall

Marker

Marker

Marina at Salty Dog's

On Saturday morning, we went over to a breakfast place located in the Charleston lighthouse keepers cottage. This 1880's structure was moved from the Battery to Hilton Head to become the Harbour Town Bakery and Cafe. Good place, but it was spring break crowded!  Today's trip to Beaufort required a little timing to arrive close to high tide. We were here about two years ago and I remember the current raging through the marina and didn't want anything to do with that. Everything worked as planned and we were tied up about an hour before high tide. Looking through all the info that the marina provided was a reminder of the Dockside Restaurant just over the Lady's Island bridge so Uber came through again with a ride. Dinner was excellent and we just beat the crowd so no waiting was involved!  We'll be here a couple of days and this will give us a chance to check out all the possibilities in town.  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/990911

On the dock

Sunset over the mooring field

Last night was a bit rough, literally, because the wind was blowing across the open area to the south of us creating waves that slapped the side of the boat. The noise and rocking did not make for a good nights sleep!  Sunday morning was gray and raining. The wind had shifted coming from the north bringing in more cold air. We got out our warm Gill coats and walked to The Brick for lunch and to watch some basketball. After the first game, it was into town to see what else was happening. The first restaurant we found with televisions was Hemingway's.  They just happened to be celebrating their 20th anniversary so we stopped to see what was going on, they gave us some raffle tickets as we walked in and next thing you know we had won a gift pack!  How's that for a welcome to town! From here, we walked over to Luther's because it was a bit larger and had more TV's to watch sports. They had a band playing and several people from the crowd went up to do songs. Got to say a couple of them were pretty good!  After listening for a while, we went back to the boat, hoping for a warmer and dryer day tomorrow. 

Beaufort Marina

Our winnings!!

Monday was much dryer, but colder than it was yesterday. I had to go back into the under floor storage to get out more winter coats!  Braced for the "feels like 37" temperature, we walked into town to go to Blackstone's Cafe for breakfast. This is an interesting little hole in the wall place that gets great reviews and serves up a really good meal. Afterwards, we visited a few of the shops while waiting to join a tour through the Verdier House. This home, right on the main street of town, was built in 1804. An interesting piece of history here in Beaufort is that, shortly after the beginning of the Civil War, Union warships attacked the forts at Port Royal. The Confederate officers warned the citizens that city could not be held and advised them to evacuate. They all left and the Union troops moved into the deserted town, seized it and used it as a base. The city was left untouched throughout the war and a few original citizens were able to return when it all ended.  Later, we borrowed the courtesy car for a trip to Walmart and a ride through the portion of town called "The Point" to see some of the beautiful, historic homes. 

Main staircase of the Verdier House

Good day for a fire!

The morning we  left Beaufort was again grey and chilly. Current was running pretty strong, but we want to leave now so arrival will be at slack tide. There are the big, old houses along the waterfront heading north, but shortly after that the landscape goes back to sea grass. Along the way, only a couple of areas have any homes and these are in small groups before going back to basic swamp land. We have to pass through three "cuts" that make the ICW connect to rivers. Two of the three are narrow and shallow so these required extra attention. Reaching the South Edisto River, we start to see the development on the island and as we approach the Atlantic inlet, the beaches and homes become more prominent. The marina is on Big Bay Creek which for some reason has no markers, but the water was quite deep making the entry no problem. We were placed on the fuel dock, right in front of the restaurant here, all by ourselves. Regina did some research places to go for dinner and found Ella & Ollie's. This is right next to the Wyndham and was very good. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/993709

Deer family on the way to dinner

Wednesday was the first day with sunshine in a while!  And it was finally warmer too!  We chilled out a bit while I took care of a couple of maintenance items needing attention. After checking out our options, we decided to walk up to Dockside and check it out. This waterside location was basically deserted when we arrived, but started filling up before we left to go back to Ella & Ollie's. This place was so good last night that we just had to go back!  Without a doubt, this is probably the best place on the island and they are getting ready to open a Mexican restaurant very soon. 

On the dock - check out the guy putting his boat on the trailer

The trip from Edisto to Charleston will take about four hours and again must be timed to arrive at slack tide to reduce current as much as possible.  We are now on sections of the ICW that we were on a couple of years ago, but I can only remember pieces of that trip. I don't recall this long section of wilderness heading toward Charleston. As we get closer, I do remember how it almost suddenly starts showing signs of life and particularly the narrow Elliott Creek cut entering Charleston Harbor and the raging current flowing there.  The marina put us, and seemingly all the transients, on a face dock open to the harbor. Today the wind is howling out of the south at about 20 mph and we are being rocked and rolled.  Waves are pounding the side and stern making it very loud inside. After checking out what was nearby, we headed into town for dinner at Stars and then walked to Prohibition to listen to some live music. While there, we met Meredith and Stuart, who offered to let us sit at their table. Turns out they are getting ready to sell their house, buy a boat and become live aboards! Fun to hear about their search and plan. The wind had not let up when we got back and we didn't sleep much with the noise and pounding waves. Since there is a lot to see and do in Charleston, we will be staying here for several days. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/995797

In the waves

Band at Prohibition on the patio

With Stuart and Meredith

The band moved inside so we did too

Tuba serenade

He plays for everyone

With the arrival in Charleston, we have traveled about 2,320 miles or 2,042 nautical miles, just a little over one-third of the loop.  This took about 236 hours of run time on the engines.  At some point, I'll have to add up how many gallons of diesel fuel that we burned.

The track from Chattanooga to Charleston