MARSHES AND RIVERS

The Lady in Port

The intercoastal north of Charleston offers wide scenic marsh views to the east and alternating marsh and forests on the west. We settled in at Isle of Palms Marina just outside of Charleston Harbor on Aug. 10. It was the most active marina we have been to for quite awhile--lots of families --having lots of fun-- on every type of water craft imagineable!

Also lots of sea gulls who were thinking we were shrimpers. The Lady does NOT look like a shrimp boat although it may smell like one from time to time!

We docked at Georgetown's Harborwalk Marina on Aug. 12 . This historic small-town deserves a closer look. It is South Carolina's third oldest city(1729) and it was the hub of the main avenues carrying plantation products(rice and indigo) to market and supplies to plantations. Aside from strolling along tree-lined streets enjoying the pre-Revolutionary and antebellum homes, a visit to the Rice Museum(originally the Old Market built in1842) is a must -see. Georgetown also boasts an awesome theatre group and one of the best yarn shops I've been in this trip! The girls in the shop even gave Captain John a popcycle and magazines while he patiently waited for me. Next stop Osprey Marina near Myrtle Beach, SC.

SOUTHERN TREES ALONG THE WAY

I can't help being taken with these southern oak trees and the moss they wear.

AND OOHH the Crepe Myrtle!!!

GEORGIA WILL ALWAYS BE ON MY MIND

Beloved Marshes

Welcoming Porches

Morning Strolls

View From the Lady

The time we spent in Georgia will always be a special time in my heart. I can't explain why, except for the beauty of the marshes and the oak trees that literally drip with moss. It was ,however, time to move northward to South Carolina.

On July 27, we motored our way to Skull Creek Marina , the first of Hilton Head Island's seven major marinas. It was a quite, very nice marina in which to spend our first night in South Carolina. The next day we made our way to the beautiful town of Beaufort, SC. The folks there like it when you remind everyone that their Beaufort is pronounced (BEW)fort unlike Beaufort, NC. Beaufort, SC is known as the Queen of the Carolina sea islands and it is well deserved. We throughly enjoyed our time there, staying at the Downtown Marina until Aug. 9. We spent a lot of time touring Penn Center, Parris Island and learning all about the rich Gullah culture. Our next stop was the very pleasant Bohicket Marina and Yacht Club, nestled on Bohicket creek between the resorts of Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. This was only meant to be an overnight stop, however, so we made our way up the intercoastal to Charleston, SC, the place "where the Ashley and Cooper rivers meet to form the Atlantic Ocean".

THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES

On May 26 ,we said goodbye to Sunbury and headed for the Isle of Hope near Savannah, Georgia. The cruise was beautiful through the marshes and uneventful, even through the section called Hell Gate a very narrow, very shallow canal. Captain John spotted two trawlers ,obviously on their way back to their home port of Savannah, and nestled in behind them. Normally, we would pass the slower trawlers but, he decided this was home territory for them, and they probably wouldn't go a ground hence we wouldn't either. We pulled into the lovely Isle of Hope Marina, which would become our home for the next two months.

Memorial Day Weekend turned out to be a great, special time. Cait and her boys surprised us by joining us on the boat. We spent a fun- filled day at the beach on Tybee Island and really enjoyed the weekend playing and catching up.

The next day, June 1, we rented a car and drove to Naples, Florida in order to see Tansy and the kids and celebrate dad's 88th birthday.

Hey, where's the rest of the candles!!!

We all had a blast going on our first airboat ride and enjoying one of our very favorite past times, swimming in the Gulf. Eventually, we had to leave GaGa's and Gramps' admitting that we all hope we can do it again next year!

Thea, our youngest granddaughter came back to the boat with us and spent almost three weeks.

We toured all the hot spots in the area and even made it up to Charleston for a carriage ride, played mini golf in Hilton Head, and swam,swam ,swam in the Atlantic. Well, not really swimming, just jumping and getting pushed down by the amazing force of the waves. I had lots and lots of fun and wasn't even all that sore!




Thea helping wash the boat????

We drove Thea back to Ky, arriving June 29. Captain John and I have been spending the last week enjoying the holiday and catching up with family and old friends--young ones too!! We truly enjoy our grand Loop adventure, but it's always nice to take a pause and revisit those we love and have cherished for years. See you back in Savannah next week.

GOODBYE FLORIDA, HELLO GEORGIA!!

We pulled into Fernandina Harbor Marina early in the day which left us plenty of time to explore this small, historic village on Amelia Island. We met up with Izzy R which is a looper boat that we had dinner with in Punta Gorda many months ago. It was good to see Izzy and Jeff again and we had a great Mexican dinner that evening and cruised with them to St. Mary's, Georgia the next day. It seems Jeff and Captain John knew about this submarine museum in St. Mary's they wanted to see. St. Mary's, too, is a small, quaint village and Captain John and I had fun exploring the town with all it's historic homes and art galleries. The next morning we decided to travel outside the ICW on the Atlantic Ocean. All and all we are glad we made that decision because we were able to view and almost participate in the escorting of a nuclear submarine into it's base at King's Bay.

We were told by the Coast Guard as we were leaving the inlet to stay OUT of the channel at a slow speed until the Submarine and it's 2 gunboats, 2 escort ships and 2 helicoptors were past us. It was a neat experience to see this and I just wanted a small, nice picture. As I was taking the photos one of the gunships turned and with guns pointed at us started to come toward us. I immediately put down the camera and they turned back around. I did ,however, get a pretty good shot after it passed by.

When we got into the ocean we were sorry that we made the decision to go this way. The sea report was wrong and what was predicted to be 1.8 ft waves were more like 3ft. and the winds were NOT 5-10 they were more like 10-20. Fortunately, we only had 40 miles and were able to come in at St. Simons Sound, a well -marked ships channel. It seems south Georgia is a different (to us) geographic area. The ICW goes through Sounds with lots of swift current which are connected by rivers with VERY shallow channels and the tides now are 8ft. So far we have not had any problems but one has to be very careful.

As we approached St. Simon Island from the ocean side,one of the first things you notice is the lighthouse. It was great for me to see it this way, because a few years ago I climbed up there with a few of my grandchildren in the rain. Remember Kids? We stayed overnight at Golden Isles Marina, very nice, they know what they're doing. We took off north and are now at Sunbury Crab Co. Restaurant and Marina on the Medway River. It is a little gem of a place tucked into the marshes of Georgia. We will wait here until we have a good weather window to go to Isle of Hope.

ST. AUGUSTINE

We departed New Smyrna on May 13 and spent the nite in Palm Coast , a laid back newly developing retirement area. The folks there were really friendly and we ended the evening by dining with a financial analyst and his wife from Toronto, Canada. The Italian restaurant was superb and we even found a place that served Gelato! The next morning we headed out for St. Augustine passing through the infamous Matanzas Inlet. Again we didn't go aground and nothing or no one got hurt. Captain John and I looked forward to visiting St. Augustine, since neither one of us remember being there before. We were not disappointed. We love it there. A vibrant city full of history,art and music. We toured for two days and met up with our good friend Dick Wilson, who escorted us to all his favorite haunts. Thanks Dick for a wonderful time!! Castillo de San Marcos

Me volunteering as a helper in a antique music box demonstration at the Lightner Museum. Why must I raise my hand everytime someone asks for a volunteer. The Lightner Museum is a fabulous place. Visit if you get a chance.

Tiffney Glass Windows at Flagler College. Flagler College was Flagler 's first primo hotel in St. Augustine. The kids now go to school in this awesome facility. The tuition is only about $20,000 a year covering everything but books. The original guests had to pay $275,000(in today's $) for the three winter months they were required to stay AND they got no classes or lectures

The city was beautiful. The beach nice and wide and white. The food was great and lots of upscale art galleries. Music seemed to be everywhere. This is definitely a place to revisit. All good things do come to an end it seems and we need to be out of Florida by June 1 to make our insurance company happy. Next we travel to Fernandino, Amelia Island, Florida and St. Mary's and St. Simon, Georgia

More Pics From the East Coast

The Gangs All Here!!

Bridge Art on the ICW

Our Beautiful Anchorage in New Smyrna

Lighthouse at Ponce Inlet

CONTINUING UP THE COAST OF FLORIDA

Approaching Haulover Canal

As we were cruising through the haulover canal I heard a terrible racket being produced by some bird or other. As I turned to look I realized it was a Bald Eagle screeching at us!
We then heard another noise that was definitely not a bird. ARE THEY AFTER US. We were approaching the secured area on Mosquito Lagoon which was now a security zone due to the eminate launch of Atlantis on Friday,May 14. We called to Coast Guard and assured them that we were going to continue on the ICW and not even consider approaching Cape Canaveral. At that point all was well and we continued on to our great anchorage in New Smryna,

UP THE EAST COAST

Shopping For Our Next Cruiser in Miami

Atlantis on Pad

Captain John and I left the Marathon on April 27, a beautiful Tuesday. We decided to go outside up Hawk Channel until we reached Channel Five and then cut back into the ICW. It proved to be a great decision. The ocean was smooth, we made good time and once we crossed back the water was the aqua blue that we have become used to seeing. It was very skinny and we could see bottom most of the way to Jewfish Creek, but we didn't go aground and all went well. I tried to take photos of the crystal waters, but that blue color just didn't show well. I guess it's the kind of thing you just have to experience for yourself!
We proceeded up the coast staying in Key Largo, Miami (where we dropped a few bucks on 4 new AGM batteries) and Lighthouse Point in Hillsboro. The stop in Miami resulted in the bow thruster now having enough juice to work. After the shock of that bill(not planned) we decided we needed a few days of rest and stayed in Lighthouse Point for the weekend. Monday, May 3 we departed for Lake Worth which was VERY windy . Tuesday was equally windy, but we found a great anchorage in Fort Pierce. The following day we cruised to Melbourne and were impressed enough with the small town to stay a few days. We rented a car and explored the area. The most awesome treat was to see the space shuttle Atlantis on it's pad ready to launch. We were able to go to Harbor Branch Oceanographic Research Center as well. Now I can't decide if I want to be an Astronaut or an Oceanographer! There are such amazing careers available. After all the touring it was time to move on, so we continued up the ICW and found a great anchorage in Titusville. The winds were back again, actually they have hardly ever left, but we had a good night so we were ready to go when dawn cracked.

BUT SERIOUSLY, THE KEYS ARE MORE THAN PARTIES

Just wanted to edit my impression of the Keys for you. They offer much, much more....warm sun, aqua water and nature beyond compare!

MARATHON & KEY WEST

The Keys were everything we'd thought they would be!!! We had a great time and I really think I could live here except for the liver issues that would probably arise. Capt. John and I met up with David and Julie in Key West and spent a few days shopping, drinking and laughing--what fun. WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY!

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