McCllelanville shrimp fleet
Beautiful homes and oaks
The small print says this church was established 1706
This oak was recognized as the #1 (whatever that means) oak tree in N Carolina. It is 1,000 yrs old
Just strolling down the road. I can't get enough of these trees!
Who's driving?
We left Charleston about 3 hrs past low tide as low tide was 5:30 am and we don't travel in the dark if we don't have to. The route to McCv was much like what I imagine a trip down a canal would be. Pretty straight, not much for scenery, in this case. We were running with a rising tide so the shallow areas were not much of an issue. We arrived about 5.5 hrs later. McCv's marina consists of one long face dock with probably enough room for 4 boats about our size. We were the only ones there. A "barebones" facility i.e. electricity, water and restroom. That's it but that is all we needed. The dock was new and well lit. McCv was the canned oyster Capitol back in the day, but when people decided they preferred fresh to slimy canned oysters their business pretty much disappeared. Now they shrimp, altho the season hadn't started yet when we were there. Population is 500 and it was absolutely lovely. The only restaurant in town was closed that day but we had a great stroll and very peaceful night. On to Myrtle Beach the next day
this house is REALLY leaning as much as it looks like and epople live there!
just sits in between two other homes - a doll house!
Easter brunch - we were first ones there!
Ft Sumpter
one of the tall ships as it was leaving our dock
they have "lanes" - what we used to call alleys but here there are houses located in the lanes with beautiful landscaping. One car wide.
love the message on the window!
ever the rebel!!!!
carriage steps and harness posts in front of a building that George Washington sslept in - 1700's
probably a 5M home
a former "water treatment" facility turned into a home - remember, nothing is torn down!!
so cute!!
Every porch on every house in town faces the south or east to catch the ocean breeze
I am behind, again!! Are you sick of hearing that yet, cuz I'm sick of saying it!! I came down with a fairly crappy cold the day we left Charleston and am much better, but still dealing with it. As a result, a lot of things just came to a stop. This blog I will just follow up with some pix we took the last day or so in Charleston. We had Easter brunch at a very nice hotel and then finished up our walking tour after that. It was a lovely day and windup to our day in Charleston. Our last day was spent reprovisioing and doing laundry. The good news was that the laundry was free (this can really add up), the bad news was that the w/d sucked!! An hour each for a load. All of the other boats, but one, had left so we brought up the rear. We headed to McClellanville, which is a blink in the waterway with a dock, rather than put in a full day. I just wan't up to it and we wanted to see McV as it was one of the spots you either loved or hated. Following are more Charleston pix.
Watching the cruise ship come in
Three boats - container, ferry, cruise as seen from our boat
These babies are HUGE!!
Our marina - tall ships at our dock -our boat right below them in center
Well, folks, we have been in Charlesto for 5 days - a little longer than planned! The weather just is not cooperting - rain and 15-30 mph winds. As in EVERY place we have been, the comment is "this is very unusual weather for here!" Do you know how tired we are of hearing that? The Morris Vortex - follow our track at your own risk!! We have double lines on the boat and it is a real challenge getting on/off as the wind is pushing us away from the dock!! Alan has to get off and TRY to pull her over some so I can get off (we have a 5 step Little Giant ladder) - and of course the doggies. We HOPE to leave Monday, with the next stop being Georgetown, SC. This certainly is a great place to be holed up, however! Charleston is wonderful and they have the whole tourist thing down to an art. It is VERY busy here, what with spring breaks and Easter, but everything runs very smoothly. One day we did part of a walking tour (hope to complete before we leave), which is the way we feel we best "get to know" a city. They have very a stringent preservation policy here - nothing over 75 years old can be torn down and anything that affects, or shows, on the outside of any structure (even dryer vents )has to be approved by the city. As a result, 75% of the structures are original!! Also, 95% of the homes have never been sold and have been passed down thru the genertions. Pretty amazing! The day we arrived they were having their annual salboat races in the harbor - hundreds of boats! It was quite the site. We had to call the Coast Guard for instructions as to how to circumvent the race to get to our marina. Our marina is small and very nice, but exposed to the weather and the wave action from alll the container ships, ferries, tour boats etc. This is the 4th busiest port on the East coast and it is a constant parade of BIG container ships right outside our marina (pix follow). We get big white caps IN the marina!! Yesterday we took a bus tour of the city, followed by a harbor tour - fascinating history!! Another day we spent at the museum (the first museum in the states) and it was FULL of the most amazing things and, of course, a lot of it centered around the Civil War. That was followed by a tour of one of the historic "summer " homes . The planttion owners found that the city, with the ocean breezes, was much cooler than inland plantations in the summer. We have learned (relearned) so much here. Did we really ever attend high school? Seems like that could be a myth??? The couple next to us (36 ft sailboat) sailed across the Atlantic, thru the Canary Islands, to the islands (Barbados etc), up to Fl and now the ICW to Maine. It will be a 2 year journey for them and we are in awe!! This trip is as much about the people you meet as it is the journey!! We made plans for Easter brunch at one of the hotels, so now praying it doesn't rain - again!! More pix following!
Look at the length of these docks - everyone has one!
Fishin' the marsh
ICW is much prettier the further north you go (IMHO)!
Tug pushing barge - pretty tight channel!
Sunrise
Pork chop night at the Fillin' Station
Alan and Steve on the tall ship, Beaufort Marina
Lunch at Hemmingway's
Live oak in the historic area - majestic!
This is my second try to get this published - the marina here in Charleston has an issue - interesting story that I will get into another time. At any rate, I am goig to write this, save it and publish it when the service is fully functional. Our time in Beaufort was just wonderful - such a great place and great people. By the time we left, last Sat, the 12, other Loopers were really starting to catch up with us. They were from everywhere and many of them were heading the Rendevous in Norfolk, as are we. We did have a couple of issues with the boat that we had to spend some time on. One is a slow leak from the holding tank (just water as we don't use it since we have the Saniscan toilet), but it needs to be addressed when we get to the Chesapeke where there are the people to fix it. Another issue was yet another leak in the dinghy, slow but persistent. Soooo-Alan deflated it and applied another patch (we used the old soap suds method to find it) and it SEEMS to be holding - at least until we get to the Bay. We biked over the bridge to the city of Beaufort one day with Gina and Steve to do a look around. The historical district is beautiful with stunning homes/gardens. Their waterfront park was awesome and we stopped for lunch there. One day of the the dock managers brought in a bushel of oysters that they steamed over an open fire - in the rain. The women were all up at the marina - inside, of course!!?? Alan said he has never eaten that many oysters, and he can eat a lot of them!! The last two nights we were there we went to the Fillin' Station for the $4 pork chops, and the $5 steaks - fabulous!
It was time for us to leave - too much food!! We met another couple from another Panacea - and we thought we were the only ones, ha!!! They are from California - had their boat shipped to Florida - bought the boat exclusively to do the Loop and then will sell it. There are a lot of people who follow this plan - it is a one time shot thing for them. This boat is our home now, so we are delighted to be able to say tht our schedule is completely open ended. Every day we are convinced that this was the boat meant for us - feel so fortunate to have found her!!! Steve and Gina were headed to Charleston as well, so we buddied up there with them, spending one night at anchor. I am sending pix from Beaufort in a separate blog, and will then send pix of the trip to Charleston. We will be here a week as there is sooooo much to do and see, the weather will get a little dicey and they offered us a great rate!! More to come!! Pray they get "the line" fixed!
This private yacht, now in Thunderbolt, came thru Jekyll while we were there
Man and his dog enjoying a day on the water
Heading down the ICW
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