When last we wrote we were at the Osprey Marina on the Wacamaw River heading north, but we never did fill you in on our adventures in Charleston. Here are a few images of our tour of the city.
As you would expect there were many restored buildings and churches
One interesting point that our tour guide gave us was the difference between a grave yard and a cemetery. A grave yard is next to a church.
You could only be buried in the grave yard here if you were a native of Charleston. One story started with a young wife from the city dying and being buried in the church yard shown above, but her husband the Governor was not from Charleston. When it was his time, he was be buried across the street in the cemetery. Who knew?
James noticed a lot of cool bars with inventive names.
The town is cut in two by Broad St. So you are either Slightly North of Broad or South. This makes you a SNOB or SOB. Apparently in the social structure you want to be a SOB.
After a day of touring we returned to the boat to prep for guests. The crew of S/V Veranda stopped by in Charleston but we missed them. To Bill and Christy we hope your travels south are safe and we look forward to meeting you somewhere down the road. Keep on cruising.
Bob and Ann arrive for an overnight stay. After a nice visit and a final dinner with Jerry and Sue, we left the next morning for our trip back north
Waving goodbye on a beautiful morning. (Thanks Bob, we didn't have pictures of us underway)
Leaving the marina and turning right.
We had great weather for traveling (see previous post for the beginning of our trip back). After leaving the Osprey Marina we headed up to North Myrtle Beach to a little place called Cricket Cove marina. At the outer dock where we tied up the depth was 6 ft. That is how deep we are at the keel. After "kissing the bottom" on the way in we finally made it to the dock. We were sitting in the mud during low tide. While the marina got a good write up in the guide, we could have done with a little more of their reported depth.
At "O dark 30" the next morning we got the engine stared and left for the final push to Southport. We had to get through three inlets that have very shallow depth and were racing a falling tide. Of course our beautiful weather was gone and fog/rain showed up to make our day a bit more interesting. With the wind coming dead on our nose with gusts at 15 to 20 knots we were little cold to say the least.
With my foul weather gear on and Pat under a ton of fleece, we rounded mile marker 315 at around noon and were tied to the dock in St. James Marina by 1230. It was a sad homecoming and not the place we planned to be. We unloaded some clothes and food and headed for the house.After settling in a bit and unloading more stuff to the house, we thought some trip planning was in order. Pat used her "Harry Potter like" powers to scour the internet for deals on travel. After a few hours she found us 6 days at Disney World in Orlando so we can visit my mom. After that there is a cruise ship headed to the Bahamas for four days. At the least we can say we made it to the Bahamas by boat. Then there is the killer airfare to Europe that we can't pass up. We think some time backpacking Germany, France and Austria would do us well. Although, the 24 day trip to the Caribbean and South America sounds kind of fun. Which one?? So many choices, so little time.
Over the next few weeks we will be working with the electrician and Raymarine repair folks on the boat issues. Before that drama begins, we decided that a retreat to the Outer Banks to Bob and Ann's place for Christmas was needed. There was a wifi connection that needed a workout and a hot tub that needed testing. It is good to have friends.
Pat and Bob testing out the hot tub. It passed!
We have to be back to St James by the 27th. The movers are delivering the final shipment of household goods for the parents. We have a number of our land things in the truck, but honestly haven't missed any of it over the last few months. OK that is a lie, there are the golf clubs. Poor planning on my part to say the least. Pat has retrieved her paint sets from the boat and is looking for subjects to paint everyday. I think that gnome in the yard is in serious trouble.
We just had a Christmas dinner of roast lamb with gratin potatoes, sugar carrots and asparagus. Not your traditional Christmas dinner but then again we are kind of playing things by ear these days. It really is a nice way to live your life.
Everyone out there have a wonderful holiday and keep yourselves warm and safe and dry.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
JT and Pat
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