We left you in Myrtle Beach, SC on our last post.  We anchored out the first night – beautiful and calm for the most part, but the tides and currents can be wild!  We pulled into Charleston to a marina for a couple of days,  and the current was fierce! After we got tied up, we went over to the USS Yorktown for a tour.  the Yorktown was instrumental in the battle of Midway during WWII as an aircraft carrier.  The Japanese Navy Sunk it after it sank a number of Japanese ships, but it was rebuilt and floated again.  The submarine at the museum looked like it was moored at our Marina….it was in really bad shape, so after we got on it, we decided not to go in it!

 Yorktown On bottom

 

David and I toured Charleston on a horse drawn carriage and walked about 5 miles around the city…really charming. Beautiful homes, lots of history and great restaurants! And, of course the history of the civil war – first shot at Ft Sumpter – which is that little mound in the harbor with the flag.  I thought it would be bigger!  Only one person was killed – and it was an accident as he went to save the flag.

Later we met up with our friends, Carol and Bob for drinks, dinner at a great place, Cru Cafe, and then more drinks!   we left the the next day to continue on down to Beaufort SC where we were going to stay for a couple of days and then leave the boat while we went home for Thanksgiving. 

While in Beaufort, SC we toured the Sea Islands, including St Helena.  The Sea Islands tell a story of cultures from freed slaves, Africa, Creole, and indigenous Carolinians and Georgians.  It is a beautiful and haunting area.  We toured Penn Center on St Helena which was one of the first Black schools to educate freed slaves.  The town of Mitchelville was the first freed slave town….in 1820.

 

Beaufort is a really charming town – lots of great restaurantz and shops and home to the largest Marine Corp Bases.  We did a walking tour of Beaufort and took in the majestic homes and the lovely gardens.

 

 

This bllue building above is the “fillin station” next to our marina.  The marina is a wonderful place!  There are 125 reviews of this marina and almost all of them are 5 stars – and the ones that are not are because they started charging for the washer and dryer or the currents to get into the marina are strong.  People started to stay at this marina one night and have stayed 7 Months!  The people are amazing and it really is a family environment and friendly!  We came in on a Friday and when we called in, the dockmaster said, “Good, you’ll be here for steak night at the fillin station.”  I’ll sign you up.  So, we went to Steak night – this bar only opens on Wed, Thurs and Friday.  Wed is a $4 hamburger, hot dog, potato salad and drink.  Thurs – 2 pork chop dinner for $7 and Friday it is a pound of steak, baked potato and corn for $10.  An old Marine Corp retiree cooks the food on a grill out the back – have to tell you, it was a great steak – tender, cooked perfectly and the comaradie of our gang was really fun!  And, the drinks were cheap too.

Speaking of cool, cheap places…..

David had found this…how do I describe it…hummm local color seafood/cheap docking place. the write-up in active captain was mixed…some saying it was a broken down dock with no help to tie up, etc…and others that said stop here for sure! great people, great shrimp, but it is a working shrimp and oyster dock, not a marina. so, we were there at around quitting time, so we tied up ourselves (I am getting a lot better at lassoing pillings and tying lines to cleats, etc), I went in with our $25 to stay the night and, bought 2 lbs of the biggest, sweetest shrimp for $9 a lb. Not exactly some of the stories in the write up…they had the shrimp thrown in for free! but, we did meet a couple of local characters and had a good night’s sleep and some great shrimp.

We had some raucous weather while in Beaufort, so our only choice to drive  into Savannah was a very sunny, but very cold (high 20’s, low 30’s with a lot of wind) day.  So, we opted for the hop on hop off trolley and toured one of the most beautiful cities in the US.  St John’s the Baptist church is stunning – and the restaurant selections is  almost overwhelming.  There are 56 squares…I think the first ones inn the historic district were developed by Oglethorpe  the first governor.

The South Carolina school of Art and Design is big in Savannah and they have renovated a ton of buildings – this one is a restaurant that is run by the students that is a former pharmacy.  They have kept the drawers with “ointments” heart, etc…very cool city, but we needed more time!  We walked most of it after the trolley, and David took a picture of me sneaking into the cupcake store!

 

The sunset is from our boat in Beaufort – Happy Thanksgiving to everyone – we will be back on the boat on Saturday and continue heading down – our friends are in Florida – enjoying the warmth and we are ready to do that too!

Kate & Dave