BEAUFORT to CHARLESTON / Wednesday to Sunday, March 23-27 (Days 61-65)

Admiral's Log:     7:15 am, Wed., 3/23/16
                         Temp:   52
                         Winds:   7 mph
                         Speed:   10.2 knots

We had a bit of a mishap leaving Beaufort. Mike clipped the sailboat in front of us. We turned around but the captain said everything looked ok. I did see a quarter size nick out of our paint, but Mike says he can fix that pretty easily.

Home of the Mega Dock

We were assigned a spot on the outside of the "Mega" Dock at Charleston City Marina. The Mega Dock is 1530 feet, nearly 1/3 of a mile! That may not sound like much, but if you have to haul laundry it is a long walk. Luckily I ordered my handy Versacart. It's like an umbrella stroller laundry basket. The other ladies were quite jealous, haha. One even got her iPad out to order one! 

The City Marina is not really close to downtown Charleston, but they have a shuttle that leaves on the hour and picks up until 6pm.  We were late for the shuttle so took Uber to Basil Thai. It was wonderful. Mike said it was the best he's had in a long time. 


Thursday, Mike said we had to wash the boat. The pollen was terrible. While we were washing, a beautiful 135 foot sailboat docked in front of us. We learned later the captain and owner was 90 years old! He did have a crew of four, but still pretty impressive.

Mike had a club sandwich and I had grilled cheese for lunch at Kitchen 208. Then we went on a 2 hour walking tour of downtown Charleston. It's such a beautiful town, with so much history.  It has English, French, Spanish, Indian and Gullah influences. And lots of wonderful restaurants! 

Rainbow Row

3 Red Dots signifies a Liquor Store

The original French Quarter

Wings spread means a Federal Eagle

Wings closed means Confederate Eagle

We stayed in, and fixed an Indian dish for dinner.


Friday, Katy and her boyfriend Daniel, drove over from Auburn to spend a couple of days with us before we cruised too far away. They brought me an early Birthday present. Daniel made a sort of window box, which Katy planted herbs; basil, rosemary, oregano and mint. 

Our courtesy van driver told us of a local spot for lunch called the Dixie Supply Cafe. Katy was not to sure about it when we got there. It was a hole in the wall, but great food. Mike had a shrimp BLT with a fried green tomato. I got tomato pie, kind of a cheese quiche topped with roasted tomato slices. I had never heard of it before, but seemed to be a low country specialty. When in Rome...it was awesome. We saw photos on the wall where it had been on the Food Network's, "Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins" in 2011. Just goes to show looks can be deceiving. 

Man weaving a Sea Grass Basket, a skill handed down by generations of the Gullah people.

We walked over to the City Market. It's a four block outdoor market. Pretty much arts and crafts; including many Gullah Sea Grass Baskets. They are not cheap; our guide showed us a good sized basket can go for over 700$! She said that's over 40 hours of work at $15 and hour. No wonder! They are beautiful, so intricate and smell good too. I bought a drawing of the Charleston Lighthouse for my collection. 

Steve Colbert's Family home, they are big supporters in the Charleston area.

We definitely got in our 10,000 steps. From the market we walked to  White Point Gardens and the Battery area, passing a lot of the old homes so the kids could see them. We ate at the Variety Store Restaurant by our marina for dinner. 

Saturday, was not a good start to the day, 80% chance of rain. Daniel's dad and step mother drove over from Columbia. We took a ferry to Fort Sumter, more cool history.

 We then drove to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. One of residents was related to the Grimke sisters; which inspired the recent book "The Invention of Wings". We all went to The Hominy Grill for dinner. It had good reviews, but we did not think it was anything special.

Newlywed photos

Sunday, it rained again, all day! The kids left around noon and I caught up on laundry. Otherwise we just read and watched several old movies. We fixed pasta for dinner. 

Garbage bag rain coats

HILTON HEAD to BEAUFORT / Sunday to Tuesday, March 20-22 (Days 58-59)

Admiral's Log:     9:10am, 3/20/16
                         Temp:   60
                         Winds:   13 mph
                         Speed:   7.7 knots

It was a kind of misty and overcast leaving Hilton Head. Not a very springy day for the first day of Spring. We started out in the pilot house, but did move to the flybridge once the sun came out. We passed Parris Island, where all the Marine's east of the Mississippi go for Boot Camp (my mom's Dad trained there). 

Parris Island, the blue dot is our boat

Paris Island from our boat

It's a short ride to Beaufort, we got there at 12:30, but only 55 degrees. We borrowed the courtesy car and made a run to BiLo for a few groceries then to the main shopping street, where we bought some infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a Sea Grass basket made by a local Gullah women.

Low Tide

High Tide

The tide change here is just crazy compared to what we get in the Gulf. These pictures are at low tide, you can see the oysters on the walls. At high tide they are all gone and the ramp is almost flat. The tides average about 6-8 feet.

Monday, we rented a car and went to the Hunting Island Lighthouse. It is no longer in service, but was pretty cool. We walked up the 167 steps.

                                         

The Lens

We went to Parris Island and went through their museum. It was  pretty interesting, we both learned a lot. Lunch was at Plums, on Bay street. Mike had been craving soft-shell crab and they happen to have a soft shell crab sandwich on special. He said it was really good. I had a wrap with turkey, bacon, brie and a raspberry spread, mmmm, good. We also went to the Chocolate Tree. Oh my gosh...they were making tons of Easter goodies. We could not resist and got quite a few treats for ourselves.

The time my Grand Father would have come here

Semper Fi means "Always Faithful"

Tuesday, we went to breakfast at the Rhett House, a bread and breakfast before our  two hour walking tour with Janet. If you ever go to Beaufort you must take this tour with Janet. She is funny and adds a lot of little tidbits you won't find in the history books. We found out that Beaufort was never involved in conflict because it was a hospital town. A lot of the nice homes were summer homes for the plantation owners. 
Over twenty movies have been filmed in Beaufort in the last 20 years.

Prince of Tides House

The Bill Chill & The Great Santini House

This was the bridge Tom Hanks ran across as Forrest Gump. The sign said Mississippi in the movie, but it was really here in Beaufort, SC

                                                                                 

SAVANNAH GA to HILTON HEAD SC / Friday to Saturday, March 18-19 (Days 56-57)

Admiral's Log:   8:45am, Fri. 3/18/16
                       Temp:   65
                       Winds:   4mph
                       Speed:   8.4 knots

We bid Morningstar II goodbye with plans to meet one more time for dinner in Hilton Head. The Zephyr crew drove to NC for a few days for a grandchild's birthday. We hope see them in Charleston. Mike and Tonya from Sweet T had to go to Gainesville to check on his ill, elderly mother. (We found out the next day she had passed away). We may see them as well in Charleston.

Tall Sailboat Mast!

Crossing GA/SC State Line

More low country scenery of marsh and bugs! Lots of twists and turns on the ICW along the Georgia Carolina borders. Hilton Head is only 30 miles from Savannah, but took us a little over 3 hours to get there. We had lunch at the marina, then I took a 4 mile walk. I did not intend on it being that long, but I got lost. Thank goodness I had my phone so I could use my GPS to get back to the marina. 

Our boat from top of Lighthouse

Gator on my walk

We got a great slip at Harbor Town Marina. It is in the Sea Pines Resort. There are lots of biking  and walking paths. It's also a great resort for golfers. They were even setting up for the RBC Tournament coming up in April. Our slip was right at the sea wall of the resort. Shops and restaurants were a stone's throw away. Mike sat out on the cockpit and was constantly asked about the boat. People were very friendly and curious.  

Harbor Town Lighthouse (mainly tourist attraction now)

18th Green at Sea Pines

And, to show you what a small world it can be. The second owner of our boat happened to be there and recognized it! He owned it from 2000 to 2012. He asked if he could come back the next day with his wife and take a look inside. Of course we said he could. We grilled sausage, peppers, onions and squash for dinner.

Saturday, I did some laundry, then Mike and I took a short walk before it started to rain. We stayed in and read awhile until the weather cleared up. We met a nice family from Ohio and told them about out Loop plans. Then Dave the 2nd owner of our boat came for his tour. He did not bring his wife after all, she said it might be too depressing. He was so funny, he got on FaceTime with his daughter in California and showed her the boat. She was his first mate many times. He lives in the San Francisco area but keeps a smaller boat at this marina.

We met Mel and Ann of Morningstar and their guests Ed and Helen for dinner at Annie O's, a low country home cooking restaurant. Mike got fried chicken livers and fried chicken (it was not near as good as what we had in Brunswick). I got fried catfish, it was good, just different. We said another goodbye to Mel and Ann until we meet again the first of May in Norfolk at the Looper Spring Rendezvous.

SAVANNAH / Monday thru Thursday, March 15-17 (Days 53-55)

Tuesday, me and the other ladies took the Courtesy Car (which is a HUGE plus for boaters) to run errands. They dropped me off at a hair salon while they went to Walmart. I was getting "bushy" as Mike so nicely told me. But I was way overdue, just had not been in a place long enough to get it done. It turned out pretty good. I can live with it until we make a quick trip home the end of April.

Mike washed the boat because the pollen is HORRIBLE! He said we had a yellow stream running down the boat. You would no sooner wipe it off and there's more. Very frustrating. He had also been having some issues with Garmin, so he spent quite a bit of time on the phone with them. He had to download an update and it takes FOREVER to do on WIFI at marinas. He finally did it overnight and all worked out. That's part of the reason I can't keep this blog too current. It takes forever to download photos. So I either have to do real early or real late, (sorry Casey, ;-}).

We had tacos for dinner and watched the Lighting. Thank goodness for Direct TV, we don't have to miss a game.

Coast Guard "Eagle"

Gun Boat!

Wednesday, six of us went on a 3 hour open sided van tour of historic Savannah. Our guide was very knowledgable. He has been a guide for 24 years, so he knew his stuff. Dates and names just flew off his tongue. He even changed his voice when he was in character for the times. We made a pit stop on River Street and saw the Coast Guard Boat "Eagle" arriving. We figured they were here for security for the parade tomorrow. The guys were fine for about and hour and a half. Then started to get antsy. But they muddled on because they were looking forward to eating at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House for lunch.

"Garden of Good & Evil" House

Gingerbread House

 

                     Smallest house in Historic District from 1800's

War Eagle house! 

Whoa, do they put on a spread. They are only open from 11 to 2 and you have to wait in line. We got there around 1:30 so the line was not too bad. You sit family style, with other people and the food is already on the table. All comfort, country food. Fried chicken (not as good as we had in Brunswick tho), meatloaf, stew, greens, limas, black eye peas, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, mac and cheese, green beans, creamed corn, boiled cabbage, baked beans, tomatoes, squash and okra mix, dressing, muffins and banana pudding. I may have left some out, but it was wayyy more than enough. Needless to say we did not eat any dinner. Instead we watched Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks and had popcorn.

Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House

Family style comfort food

A bit o' the green

Thursday, was St. Patrick's Day, the main reason we came here. Just so happened that our timing was right and we had been told on several occasions we had to be in Savannah on St. Patty's Day. We were going to do a limo, then we were going to rent cars. Then we finally decided to Uber in as close as we could. We also heard the Uber fares would be higher than normal, but we did not think they were too bad, because it all worked out perfect for us. We stayed way south of the crazy area around River Street. It started to rain and luckily we found a building with a covered porch. It was also perfect, because it was a two story and we could stay out of the rain and have a better view of the parade! We must have had a bit of the Irish luck today. 

Our 2nd story viewing perch

Supposedly this parade is 4-5 hours long! We watched for about an hour and a half and decided if you've seen one parade, you've seen them all. Been there, done that, bought the T-Shirt.   But hey, when in Rome...We then took Uber to Driftaway Cafe for lunch, which is near the marina. Another fine meal. Mike read and napped and I worked on the blog. We had docktails on Morningstar, cereal for dinner and watched the Lightning game.