Charleston, Georgetown and Bucksport - Loop Trip Days 131 - 139

Charleston will be an extended stop for us. There is so much to do and see that we are staying for five full days!  On our first day, we ran into Lee and his little dog Lola. Last time we had seen them was in Tarpon Springs months ago. This was also a rainy day and when we got to town, it really started coming down. A quick brunch of biscuits at Callie's was first before walking down to the Market Street area. Regina found a handwoven grass basket that she wanted for the boat. We learned all about the various materials used to make it and how to care for it from the lady who had actually woven it!  This whole area is covered with shops and restaurants which we checked out. One place that is always interesting is the building where our former marketing coordinator at RPA had a bed and breakfast. It's no longer there, but still have fond memories of staying there. From the market area, we walked to Poogan's Porch for dinner. 

Charleston Market

Upstairs was the B & B

5Church is a restaurant in a former church

Interesting light fixtures in 5Church

Sunset

The Megadock

With much to catch up on about Lee's adventures, we contacted him to arrange for lunch on Saturday. He had cut across the Okeechobee Waterway while we had gone to the Keys. Lots of fun to hear about the different experiences on our routes. It was also a day to get some laundry done which got half done during lunch and finished right after. I was able to get some fuel for the boat while Regina got that done. We then got the shuttle into town to see The Vendue Rooftop. I don't know if this is new, but it is new to us and was cool with views over the city. Next, we went back to Market to Ruths Chris for happy hour dinner. Don't tell anyone or its going start getting to crowded to go, but they have a fabulous deal for small plate (not really small) dinners which are great. Afterward, it was back to the marina just in time to catch a beautiful sunset over the Ashley River. 

Vendue rooftop view

Ashley river sunset

Easter Sunday was sunny and warmed up by about noon. The shuttle was headed for town on the regular schedule so I ordered tickets for a tour at the Calhoun Mansion. This is a 23,000 square foot mansion on Meeting Street, in sight of The Battery, which was built in the late 1800's. Not sure why we've never realized this was here. The current owner is an international law attorney who practiced in DC but is now retired and lives in the house. The tour guide called it the OMG house. This made sense as soon as we walked in. While the home is incredible in its detail and craftsmanship, it is cram packed with period pieces. You are not allowed to walk through the individual rooms, probably because it would be virtually impossible to find a path.  Pictures inside were not allowed which would illustrate this must better. Walking around in the garden after the tour, we actually met the owner siting on a bench next to fountain!  He was friendly and totally unassuming. From here we walked around on King Street, found an early dinner at Toast and then visited a tiny little spot called Proof.  By now it has gotten dark and it's no longer warm and by the time we got back, coats and jeans would have been nice. 

Fountain in the Calhoun garden

Calhoun Mansion front

Calhoun Mansion rear

We had been looking forward to the next couple of days. First, on Monday, Marie and her son Jason, came to see us. We've known them for almost 25 years and Marie just moved to Charleston from Marietta. The afternoon was spent laughing and talking about everything imaginable. Lee's daughter, Laura, had just flown in from San Diego and they came walking by so we invited them on board to join in the party. Lee had been walking Lola so she came as well and slept in his lap. Our little group broke up and Jason drove us to dinner at Page's Okra Grille over the Ravenal Bridge next to Shem Creek. As many times as we've been in that area, we had never even noticed this restaurant, but we should have. It was packed and the food was excellent - definitely a do over!

Marie and Jason on board

On Tuesday, my old friend from high school, college and first business partner, Tom and his girlfriend Minerva, drove over from Knoxville to visit. They were arriving in the afternoon so Regina and I got the 11 AM shuttle to the grocery store to stock up on a few necessities. This little added perk offered by the marina is great.  They come back to get you when called and will take you to your boat in a little cart to haul all your stuff. Tom and Minerva arrived about 3:30 and we started catching up on all the things that have been going on. It's been way too long since I've seen Tom and much has happened. It was a really rough day on the marina dock so we grabbed a shuttle to town to find a calm place to sit before dinner. The driver suggested the Cocktail Club. This little place has no sign outside, not on the map, located on a second floor and was so really unique that it should not be missed. From here, we went to Coast for dinner. This place is located in an alley beside an Italian restaurant that smelled so good we almost cancelled our reservation! Great dinner and a great night. 

Tom and me

Speakeasy interior

Tom and Minerva

It continued to be a rough night before our morning departure as the winds did not subside. Neither of us slept well and the alarm come way too early, but arrival at Georgetown needed to be at high tide and we had to go almost 70 miles so it was get up and get going. Leaving Charleston it is due east across the harbor and up the first section of the ICW putting the sun straight into the eyes. After the sun finally got higher and the direction became more north, the comfort level increased a lot. This leg had some great scenery with large expanses of sea grass and wetlands broken occasionally with developed areas. There were a few shallow water sections that were identified as concerns, but we had no problems. We got into Harborwalk Marina just after high tide with slack current. There was a pretty good wind that pushed us right onto the dock and we were quickly tied up. Allen and Debby are flying in from Knoxville to visit for a couple of days. They landed not long after we got in and we met at the B&B where they're staying to chat for a while before dinner at Big Tuna. Tomorrow we will start exploring the town. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1001524

On the dock in Georgetown

The Bid Tuna

For day one in Georgetown, we all met at the Kaminski House Museum. This home was built in 1769 by Paul Trapier. The home was past along through family and others until purchased by the Kaminski's in 1931. There is much to the story of the family, but the most interesting is that Commander Harold Kaminski USN was the duty officer in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After our tour here, we went to Buzz's Roost for lunch and then to the South Carolina Maritime Museum. We went through all of the exhibits before going back to the boat for a while. As we watched the sun start to set, it was time to head off to Harborside for dinner. This was a good place that we had almost all to ourselves and had pretty good Italian food as well. We planned our morning schedule and headed off for a good nights sleep. 

Allen and Debby join us at the Kaminski House

Me and Allen on the porch swing

It's a front stair, back stair and the little door on the mid-landing goes to a kitchen stair!

Exercise time - 1950 style

Cannon found in the river here

Georgetown Marina

Sunset on the Sampit River

On Friday, we met for breakfast at the Coffee Break Cafe before Allen and Debby had to fly back to Knoxville. This turned out to be a beautiful morning that was all sun and blue sky with temperatures that warmed quickly. After eating, we walked back to the B&B with them to say goodbye and then went down the street to see the old churches and cemetery. At the Episcopal Church, we ran into the gentleman who was the building manager and he gave us a tour of the sanctuary. This was one of the oldest churches in South Carolina which was completed around 1750. Construction took about 15 years because it was built with ballast brick and they had to wait for ships to come and collect the bricks!  At the time, there were no facilities in America to make bricks. Check the photos of the interior showing the "family pews" which were rented as a way to make money.  Next we did the Rice Museum to learn all about how during Colonial days this was the crop that made South Carolina the wealthiest southern state. It took a long time to prepare fields and establish rice production and before that the cash crop was indigo. This plant produces the blue dye that the English used for their Naval uniforms resulting in the name of the color "navy blue". Since this was our last day here, we had to do more so the Swamp Fox Tour was next. This was a trolley of sorts and the guide rode us around town and gave us history of the town and the various homes and their families. This town really does have its roots in the Revolution and the Civil wars. Our last dinner here was at 700 Grille - really great place. We met the owner and his wife. They had started this restaurant about five years ago and it was burned to the ground along with several other businesses about three years ago. The name was changed and they got a new location just up the street to start over. If you ever come here, go to this place - they know how to run a restaurant and the food is fabulous. 

Prince George Episcopal Church

Interior

Family pew

The Parish House was once the city jail

Saturday was departure day from Georgetown. This has been a fun stop, but the tour must move on. It was a bit gray today and rain is forecast for later. This again is another ICW section that is almost untouched except for what we learned about at the Rice Museum.  The fields lie unused, but the story of their creation is mind boggling. These were cypress swamps which were cleared, filled to raise the level above flood plain and irrigated to become rice  fields.  The destination was Bucksport Plantation for a fuel stop and an overnight stay. I tried to time the arrival with tide, but it didn't work quite right. I had to take two laps at both the fuel dock and the face dock where we were tying up. The current and the wind played havoc with going in the desired direction.  Their restaurant was closing at 5 so we grabbed a quick lunch while three loads of laundry were washing. About the time Regina got everything in the dryer, the skies opened and it poured down on and off for the rest of the afternoon and night. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be better. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1003620

Bucksport Marina

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

Brunswick to Hilton Head - Loop Trip Days 117 - 123

Brunswick is a very quiet, laid back little town. The most activity we've seen are boats coming in for fuel - they do have a good price here. This is a nice marina. The slips are very wide and the fairways between docks are also very wide. They have free laundry facilities which we have utilized.  On Friday, while Regina did laundry, I worked on our route to Savannah and on reservations further north. This resulted in another change when I discovered that Charleston Maritime Marina is closed for hurricane repairs. This is a great place on the edge of town with a free trolley passing right by that connects to the entire city system. Oh well, I booked City Marina instead which is at least sort of in town. In the afternoon, we walked into town and went all along the main street looking at the shops and little parks. For dinner, we went to Basil Thai restaurant which was quite good and we have leftovers. Then we walked to the marina's "Yacht Club" where they have free beer all the time and a free wine happy hour three nights a week. There was a decent crowd there for happy hour, but interestingly these people seemed to have their own agenda and weren't very friendly. That just normally doesn't happen in a boating group. Oh well, we stayed for a while and then returned to the boat for more March Madness. This is also a long marina and that Yacht Club is at least a half mile from the transient slips. I'm thinking this was prior planning!

Fountain in one of the parks

Old courthouse

Our spot out on the end 

Sunset

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature finally getting back to 80. Unfortunately, it is short lived as next week goes back into the 60's. Maybe we're going to have some spring weather before much longer. The last loads of laundry were finished today and our rugs and salon runner are all clean again. Regina has somehow hurt her right thumb and is having some serious issues with that. I've hurt a thumb before so I know how bad that is because, without realizing it, you use thumbs for everything. It's a good thing that we will be anchoring out tomorrow because lines are going to be a problem to try to do with one hand. This afternoon will be a late lunch/early dinner day at Fox Pizza so we can get back to see the Vols play in the second round of the NCAA tournament.  The pizza was a great deal and really good, but the game didn't end up as hoped.

The marina

A fire in the sky

Sunday morning was sunny and nice, but a little windy. We left about 9:45 going back down the creek to the Brunswick River and the ICW. There were a couple of inlets that we passed opening out into the Atlantic, but everything was pretty smooth all day. The scenery along the way was mostly wetlands and swamp grass. In the distances, you could occasionally see homes or other buildings. Only one place on the waterway had any homes and it was adjacent to Doboy Island. I'm thinking there has to be a story behind that and would love to know what it is. The trip to Savannah is rather long and since there's not much here our plan was to anchor at Vandyke Creek. It was easy to get into and no problem anchoring. The wind was blowing out of the west when we arrived, but at about 9 PM it switched to roughly 13 mph from the east and we had no protection from that direction. It was pretty rough with rocking and rolling until about midnight when the wind stopped. The other thing about this was the little black biting gnats. They first showed up when the wind died and fortunately, I have a ThermaCell which I fired up. Those things really work, but the boat was covered with dead gnats the next morning.  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/986439

Vandyke Creek

The next leg is to Savannah continuing up the ICW. We need to leave the anchorage before 10 AM to get to Hell Gate around the peak of high tide. This area is well know as a very shallow cut to everyone on the ICW. Our timing was good and we arrived there about 30 minutes past what the tables said was high tide. The depth finder registered a minimum of 10.5 feet as we went through which sounds great, but you must account for an 8 foot tidal change, so at low tide this would be 2.5 feet! I wouldn't be able to get through long before it ever got to that point. A little past here, we finally returned to civilization and got to the first town, at Burnside Island, that we had seen since Brunswick. From here on, the homes and marinas were all along the way making the ride very scenic. Thunderbolt Marina was the destination and the tide was beginning to drop as we came in creating quite a current on the river. This made getting in an tied up interesting! My former client and still good friend, Jimmy, came to pick us up later and we went out to his home on Tybee Island. A beautiful place, overlooking the beach and the ocean entry to the Savannah River. We visited for a while to catch up and then went to AJ's for dinner. It's been months since we've been up this late!  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/987459

With Jimmy

View from the top balcony

Tuesday was the day to go downtown for a little sight seeing. It was warm, but the black clouds were all around. Not long after we arrived at the Ships of the Sea Museum, it opened up and just poured down for over an hour. The wind and thunder literally shook the old, historic home that houses the collection. Outside is the largest private garden in the city and luckily, we walked through it before the rain started. This museum has amazing models of all kinds of ships. These are so detailed they look like they could be sailing in the ocean! I lost count of how many were named Savannah, but there was only one named City of Chattanooga, didn't expect to find that! A little break in the rain came so we could get to the Thomas Low House. This was once the home of a wealthy cotton factor and was completed in 1849. In spite of his great wealth, he had great tragedy in his life loosing two wives and later a daughter in child birth. That was obviously a risky thing in those days! Robert E. Lee even visited this house shortly before his death in 1870. It was Low's son's wife who founded the Girl Scouts and had the original headquarters in this house. An interesting fact about Savannah is that it was held by the Union throughout the War of Northern Aggression and many in the city, like Thomas Low, were Confederate spies and assisted blockade runners. After completing the tour, we went across Lafayette Square to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. This extraordinary building was started in 1879, suffered a fire which destroyed much of it and was finally completed in 1900. The detail and beauty of the interior is breathtaking and well worth a visit if you're ever in town. From here, we went back to Jimmy's house at Tybee for dinner. He grilled the most incredible tomahawk steaks. This is a special ribeye cut that is shaped like a tomahawk and these were quite large. Dinner was fabulous and we had a great evening.

Thunderbolt along the Wilmington River

Some big azaleas

Ships of the Sea Museum

One of the Savannah's

Thomas Low House

The parlor

Robert E Lee bedroom

The Cathedral

Interior

Alter at front

Another view from the balcony

Tomahawk steaks!

The opportunity to go shopping came on Wednesday when Jimmy arrived to take us to the store. We have basically run out of food and jugs of water for coffee. Without coffee, the boat won't run so this was a really big issue. There was a Publix nearby so we were able to restock. After getting everything unloaded and put away, we were off the visit the Crow Bar, one of Jimmy's favorites. Neat little place that's been in this location for 48 years! Then it was a trip by Sherri and George's house, Jimmy's sister. We haven't seen them in a few years so this was a nice catch up. Tonight is Italian night at 80 East Gastropub on Tybee so that will be our dinner location. While we were at dinner, I heard Jimmy on the phone talking to someone and the words "Knoxville, architect, Bob Carroll". When he saw my mouth fall open, he asked if I knew him. I explained that yes I did and I had worked in a firm where he was a partner back in the 70's. Well, lo and behold, it was Bob's daughter, Ann, he was talking to and she was now on the way over. We talk about it being a small world and things like this just confirm that. It was very nice to meet her and exchange some memories of a really great guy who had a lot to do with developing the foundation of my career. There have been many days I wondered what had happened to Bob and some of the other folks at that firm. It was sad to hear that he had passed away, but remembering some of the funny things he would say made me laugh out loud.

The Gang

Me and Ann

Next stop is Hilton Head. Not a long trip and on Thursday morning, we braved the cold and the wind to make this leg. It only took about two hours until we were tied up in the harbor looking at the lighthouse. This place is quite nice. Jeff met us at the entry in his small boat to guide us to the slip and after getting us settled in presented us with a bottle of wine in the welcome package!  After some cleaning and research on the selection of nearby eateries, we decided to try One Hot Mamma's!  They are known for ribs and wings.  The little place seemed to be almost empty when we arrived, but was full when we left.  Food was great and there's another restaurant next door that may be our place for tomorrow.  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/988747

Hilton Head Lighthouse

The Harbour