This morning, we cruised along from the Winyah Bay Channel to the Western Channel to the shallow Estherville Minim Creek Canal. We saw a lot of Marshland, a few eagles, some dolphins & a flock of interesting black & white birds with orange beaks. We planned our cruise taking into account the high tide so we didn't have any bumping issues. While motoring along Isle of Palm I texted my cousin who lives with his family there off a creek close to the ICW. He actually watched us travel for a short distance on the ICW-how cool is that!
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| Sullivan's Island Light |
We arrived at Charleston Harbor Marina & Resort on Hogs Island in Mt Pleasant. This is our 95th stop and we have traveled 3500 miles since June 1st when we left Toledo Beach Marina. We chose this Marina because my Aunt Carmela & Uncle Jerry live near here. It is a big marina, not as well taken care of as it should be. The lobby, bar & outside deck of the resort complex connected with the Marina was nice. There is a white sand beach area around the decks. One of the nights they had fires going in the fire pit & we sat & enjoyed. The weather has taken a turn to cold since we arrived so the fire felt wonderful.
Our first night, my cousin Mark, Kerie & Matthew paid us a visit. We enjoyed appetizers & drinks and were able to reminisce & catch up on family news. Doug showed Matthew all around the boat & how some of our electronics work. He is a good looking, intelligent young man.
On Saturday morning, Doug walked over to the Yorktown, aircraft carrier that is docked as a museum nearby. We had toured it & the submarine years ago while we were in town for Mark & Kerie's wedding.
In the afternoon, my Aunt & Uncle came by & picked us up & took us to Charles Towne Landing, a state historic park which was the first English settlement along the Ashley River and the birthplace of Charleston. It is a beautiful place with many varieties of trees, flowers, ponds & rolling hillsides. It was cool but the sun was out which made it very comfortable to walk around & take in the smell of campfires & folklore. There were tents & reenactments going on and we were treated to a display of live cannon firing with all the pomp & circumstance.
Mark, Kerie & Matthew met us in the parking lot & then chauffeured us to Costco with a quick detour to Total Wines, my new fav store. My Aunt & Uncle have a busy social calendar, so they left us to attend a cocktail party.
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| Mega Dock |
On Sunday, we woke to rain. We had to wait till 11:00 AM, when it was raining even heavier to move our boats to Charleston City Marina. We planned on docking here for a few days so we could bike into Downtown Charleston. We traveled a whopping 4 miles today, that gives a whole new meaning to slow. The City Marina is huge & they put us on the Mega Dock with all the Mega Yachts. We were the second smallest boat on the 2000+ foot dock and it was full! We definitely were rubbing fenders with the big guys. Later on, it stopped raining, so we got our bikes out & rode around downtown Charleston. The homes, churches & landscaping are truly breathtaking. Lots of history in this city too.
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200 ft Carpe Diem $400,000 for 1
week charter |
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| replica of SY Atlantic, 1903 |
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| And then there is us! |
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| Now that's a big ball! |
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| @ the Market, I'm getting hair bobs |
On Monday morning, we took the courtesy van downtown & were dropped off right @ Market Street so of course we had to saunter through the famous Charleston Market. We even found a few Christmas presents. From there we perused King Street in the Fashion district, in other words clothing stores. Found a few items there too. Garry & Jacque's son in law's childhood friend manages & is Chef @ Five Loaves Restaurant on Cannon St, so we walked there for lunch. My Aunt, Uncle & cousin met us there. Garry & Jacque were able to reconnect with Steve & his wife Ruth who will soon be opening their own Five Loaves in Summerville. Food was tasty, everything fresh & healthy. It started to rain but that never stops us so we continued on from King to Market & East Bay. We ducked into Kaminisky's Bakery which has a full bar & a dessert case full of delicious cakes & pies. So Doug had warmed Cherry pie ala mode, Garry had Key Lime Pie & we girls had Brandy Alexander Milk Shakes to die for. What a great find!
On Tuesday, Doug & I took the daily 11:00 AM courtesy van to West Marine. We haven't missed too many West Marines along the way. There was also a great grocery store in the shopping center so we stopped in there while waiting for the van to return to pick us up. After lunch, we again hopped on our bikes and rode around some more of the residential area downtown. There are lots of one way streets & alleys with cool homes tucked everywhere.
Mark & Kerie picked us up just in time for happy hour. We started @ Sermets Downtown Restaurant sitting @ the bar where Aunt Carmela & Uncle Jerry met us. We all had a couple of drinks then we walked down King St to Hall's Chophouse where we had reservations for dinner. Dinner was excellent: Doug & I had the Grouper Featured Entree & it was delicious along with the mac & cheese with lobster, oysters & 2 bottles of Lodi Zin. After dinner, we returned to Sermets & moved upstairs to the Mezz where there was a Caberet show. The show was singing & jokes but no dancing. It was entertaining. My Uncle Jerry is my Dad's youngest sibling & he is the last of the family. I loved hearing his stories about him, my Dad & my Grandparents. He reminds me of my Dad and it is really nice to be with him, my Aunt & of course cousin Mark & Kerie. We had a great time with lots of laughs! Thank you for spending time with us and making more family memories.
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| The King |
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| & The Queen |
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| leaving Charleston City Marina Mega Dock |
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| A cold blustery day ends in beauty! |
We spent our second morning @ SJYH completing chores; Doug worked on the teak & I vacuumed, dusted & did laundry. After lunch, we used the courtesy car once more & drove to Skip & Linda's condo on St John's island. This is their winter get away place & it is great. I can see why they chose this location. They toured us around Kiawah Island's beaches & golf courses. We saw an alligator sunning himself on a bank of a pond-(yikes), in a residential neighborhood. We enjoyed cocktails in the Ocean Club bar which overlooked the Ocean & the famous golf course that hosted the 2012 PGA. What a fabulous place. For dinner, Skip & Linda took us to one of their fav hangouts in their neighborhood: Fisher's. We ended a great day sharing after dinner drinks @ their condo. Thanks for a fun filled day, Linda & Skip!
We left SJYH and cruised another whopping few miles to Church Creek anchorage on the Stono River. We were surrounded by marsh, salt marsh (not sure of the difference) and lovely green trees of many varieties including Palmetto trees, Palm trees, Cypress & Live Oaks. The marsh lands look like golden waves of grain to me @ times and the land & trees are so lush with color. Our weather continues to be cool and rainy so we did not venture out from the anchorage. 
On Saturday, we finally are cruising farther & out of the Charleston area. We cruised along the Stono, the Wadmalaw & Edisto Rivers. We passed Toogoodoo Creek and turned off @ the Ashepoo Coosaw Cutoff. Don't you love the names of these waterways? Don't ask me to pronounce any of them. We passed Beaufort (pronounced Bew-fort) SC. If you remember Beaufort NC was pronounced Boe-fort. We also passed Lady's Island. I wanted to stay @ lady's island Marina because it had been recommended to us, but they were full. Instead we docked @ Port Royal Landing Marina, 3 miles south of Beaufort & we are glad we did. It was another super place. A long walk to land but well worth it. The staff here are very accommodating & really friendly & sincere. They know what boaters need & deliver it. The immediate surroundings are beautiful. There are big Live Oaks dripping with spanish moss making a canopy over the parking area & exit out to the road. There is a residential neighborhood bordering both sides of the marina with cute mid size homes nicely landscaped. 
Our third day here, it was still raining on & off. We had hoped to get our bikes out & ride into Beaufort but instead we had one of the staff drop us off in Beaufort so we could walk around some before the heavier rain started. Beaufort is a cute place, the residential area is heavy with trees, flowers and historical houses. The downtown has some great shops, restaurants, a pretty park & a marina. A small cruise ship was docked there on its way from Charleston to Savannah. We helped the local economy by buying a new wooden Captain's chair for our pilot house, some christmas presents and chocolate. We checked out the house where parts of The Big Chill, Prince of Tides & Forest Gump had been filmed. There is an electrified fence around it & a sign that says it is a private residence so no trespassing allowed. We were able to get a couple of pics from a distance. There is a Seafood stand near the Marina so we bought some fresh Grouper, shrimp & salmon for the grill-yum.
