Traveling South Carolina

More than a week has passed since the last entry into this blog. In that time we've moved out of Georgia and well into South Carolina, although we still have two more days of travel ahead before we can report that we've reached North Carolina. We're anchored in quiet Bull Creek about 20 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach. Although the Beach will be crowded this Memorial Day weekend, we are totally alone at the moment in a peaceful cypress swamp. Song birds chirp in the trees, and and lily pads are ready to bloom along the shoreline. We're enjoying a quiet afternoon without travel, because there are no good anchorages for another 40 miles. The ditch ahead (That's what many call the ICW.) is known as the Rockpile, since for a stretch of many miles the shallow sides of the canal are lined with rocks, often just under the surface. We'll pay close attention and remain in the channel as we travel that stretch.

At the park in Beaufort

Since I last wrote, we've enjoyed a brief respite in Beaufort, SC and another in Charleston. Beaufort, SC is pronounced “Beufort” unlike the town of the same name we'll travel through in NC which is pronounced “Bofort”. It gets a bit confusing to cruisers who travel this route. One must pronounce the town's name correctly in order to let people know which town you're talking about. That said, Beaufort is a pretty, old southern town with a gorgeous park along the riverfront. The town itself has quiet streets with classic southern homes surrounded by live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. We always enjoy our stops which necessarily include a pizza at Panini's. Their pizza is quite unusual but always delicious. After a trip to the grocery and doing some laundry, we decided to push on.

Jasmine is everywhere this time of year.

We traveled to the outskirts of Charleston, but were not planning to stop. The anchorage there is usually full and the tidal current unpleasant. As we passed by the anchorage, however, we noted that it was pretty empty, so we made a quick change and dropped the hook for the day. As we'd hoped, the jasmine was still in bloom. We walked downtown to the old market, now full of venders offering to sell all sorts of trinkets, baskets, clothes, dishes and more. It's a popular spot for tourists now, but 150 years ago these same buildings were popular for another reason – it was the slave market. On one of our trips we'll have to take advantage of the horse drawn carriage tours to learn more of the history of the classic, southern town. We've sailed by Fort Sumter, but have yet to stop there for a visit. On another trip perhaps we'll do that too. We wandered around a bit and came by an old fire station complete with the equipment of an earlier time. We located this while seeking a local restaurant to sample. We'd had such good luck in the past from Islamorada, to South Beach to St. Augustine and Beaufort. We were looking for an authentic spot that would be worth adding to the list...and we hit a great spot – Jestine's Kitchen just across from the fire station. We enjoyed fried green tomatoes, oysters and a dessert to die for – blueberry-peach cobbler. The menu included a number of other traditional choices. We'll be sure to stop here again the next time we come to town.

A peaceful anchorage on Bull Creek in a South Carolina cypress swamp.

We left the next morning, the timing once again determined by our route. This time we got off to a later start, since a bridge would not open for us till 9AM. Had to get through the rush hour traffic without any interruptions. Then we had to time our travel to avoid low tide in a couple of areas. It all worked out well. Today our timing was dictated by the height of tide and also the tidal current. Again, it worked out well, and we arrived at this anchorage by 2PM. As mentioned earlier, there was little point to moving further, since there were no anchorages we were willing to try. Tomorrow will be another short day, but we will wait till 10AM or later to begin our travels to avoid low water in the Rockpile. At some point during the day, we'll get this blog entry added and let everyone know. In our current peaceful location, we have no access to Internet service. We do have phone service, but it's not strong. Ah well, we'll survive.

Carpe Diem

Captain Bob