3/22/2024 to 03/31/2024 Charleston to Bird Island

 

 

3/22/2024

 We left the anchorage and headed up the ICW.

Although there was not a church in site - I think they wanted their pier to be blessed

A cruise ship on dry dock - looks like its under repair

A sinking boat - we are seeing less and less of them

I love feeding the seagulls while underway - they are such good catchers

A sinking barge

We finally arrived in Charleston to the Charleston Mega Dock Harbor. True to its name our pier was 1500 feet long (5 football fields long). They were building a dock next to us (to hold 500 feet boats) that would be 3000 feet long. i told them they need to build a moving walkway!! 

 

Nancy, Matt  & I took an uber into town. We went to the Charleston City Market a four block tourist trap market of souvenir booths.

We continued our walk to the Circula Church - Circular's congregation has been worshiping on the same spot in Charleston, South Carolina since 1681.

There was also an old grave site attached to the church. Also, established in 1861- I was surprised how many old graves were still readable. Hand-sculpted gravestones depict both life and death in the Circular Congregation Church Cemetery. Out of all of the cemeteries in the city, this is the only one where graves are decorated with portraits of the deceased.

Money was left on graves of soldiers for their future

I don't think we will be around for the opening of this Fort Sumter Time Capsule in 2061

This is still a functioning fountain from 1899

 We finally ended up at Big John's Tavern where Dave joined us for dinner.

We took an uber back to the docks under a torrential downpour. We were soaked by the time we got back to our boats after that 1500 foot long run!!

3/23/2024

The marina provides a bus which will take you anywhere around Charleston from 9 to 5. I hopped on the bus in the morning, hoping to go to the Farmers Market - unfortunately it did not open until April. The driver dropped me off at the College Campus.

 

This was a building of offices - it was beautiful

The bus picked me up with Nancy and Dave aboard and we went to the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon - Completed in 1771, the Old Exchange Building is a Charleston landmark and the site of some of the most important events in South Carolina history. Over the last two and a half centuries, the building has been a commercial exchange, custom house, post office, city hall, military headquarters, and museum. It has been the property of the British, United States, Confederacy and Charleston City governments. Between the American Revolution and the Civil War, the Exchange was Charleston’s most common destination for public slave auctions, making the site one of the most important in the history of the domestic slave trade.

Behind this wall was hidden gun powder and ammunition for years which several armies never found. 

We next went to the Old Slave Mart Museum

Possibly the only known building used as a slave auction site in South Carolina still in existence, the Old Slave Mart was once a part of a larger complex of buildings which consisted of a yard enclosed by a high brick wall, a four-story brick building known as a barracoon, a slave jail, a kitchen and a dead house. Charleston became one of the major enslaved collecting and selling centers. This museum takes you through the history of slavery in Charleston.

We continued walking until we came to the Heyward -Washington House. Built in 1772, this Georgian-style double house was the town home of Founding Father Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of four South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence. The house is most notably remembered as the home George Washington once slept in. We each did our own audio tour.

This was the room and bed Washington slept in

We headed over to Joe Riley Waterfront built in 1990 where the best views of Charleston Harbor can be seen. There are park benches and family swings for a relaxing afternoon. An   iconic Pineapple water fountain is in the middle of the waterfront.

03/24/2024

 

We got up early and headed to the dock to get the Ferry "Liberty of the Low Country" over to Fort Sumter. We were the first tour group of the day so the raising of the flag was to be held during our visit.

Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island to defend the region from a naval invasion. It was built after British forces captured and occupied Washington during the War of 1812. The fort was still incomplete in 1861 and was severely damaged during the Battle of Fort Sumter which sparked the American Civil War.

Many of the cannons were actually from the time period having been dug up from the ruins

This was a Columbiad which rifling (spiral grooves cut into the barrel) caused a shell to spin making it more accurate.

Several different size cannons were used to arm the fortress

We took the ferry back and had brunch at a very small quaint restaurant. We called it an early nite as we planned to leave early and head to an anchorage.

03/25/2024

The above picture putting supports under the home (for flooding)

New roof below (requires a crane !!)

 

Feeding the birds but the pelicans decided to join in 

A swing bridge - haven't really seen one since the Mississippi 

The plan was to anchor near McClenallville off Town Creek. It was windy and lots of shallow spots. We called the Leland Oil Company and Marina. They had one spot available - Dave docked and we rafted off him. This worked out well because we were able to just walk into town. 

McClellanville began in the late 1850s and early 1860s when local plantation owners A.J. McClellan and R.T. Morrison sold lots in Jeremy Creek to planters of the Santee Delta, who sought releif from summer fevers. The village became the social and economic center for wide area that produced timber, rice, cotton, naval stores and seafoods. The town is best known for its shrimp fleet and seafood industries with a small population of only 600.

Their shrimping fleet and an old crabbing boat aground

We rafted up to a very quite night

The above oak is over 1000 years, a 30.6 ft circumference, longest limb is 70 ft, and the height is 67 ft this was listed as several years ago

The oldest church in town

We stopped here - Nancy bought some crab dip that had actual large chunks of crab

03/26/2024

Left Jeremy Creek to head towards Georgetown

A small boat turned upside down and the Coast Guard has spray painted on the bottom that it was OK (first time we ever saw this)

We anchored at Georgetown and took a dinghy into town. Nancy , Dave and I visited the Kaminski House while Matt went and got a haircut.

 

The Kaminski House was a single house with a central staircase between 2 rooms. It was typical of the Low country “single house” style of the mid-18th century. The narrow ends of the home faced the street and the river with the main entry door located midway down one side of the building. The original  house was built by Paul Trapier, a leading merchant, who later gave it to his daughter to increase her marriage prospects. She married a merchant who was active in importing slaves and the Sheriff of Georgetown. It went under several owners and reconstruction before the final renovation by Harold and Julia Kaminski. Harold served as Mayor of Georgetown and was instrumental in the development of the Coast Highway, improvements in the Intercostal Waterway, and bringing inexpensive electricity to Georgetown. He served as an officer in the United States Navy during both World War I and World War II, and was on duty at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941 when it was attacked by the Japanese. She donated the house to the City of Georgetown as long as the interior and furnishing were never to be changed.
Ship recessed on the shelf with backlighting to make it look like a photo

Harolds bag from the navy. He also had a built in closet with racks for his hats (most people had armoires for their clothing )

Every bedroom in the house had an adjoining bathroom

We met up with Matt and stopped at the Maritime Museum

This was removed from a sawfish caught by Georgetown resident Joseph Kaminski

Old anchors and prop

We continued to the Harbor Walk to eat at the River Room (Everybody had dinner but I chose to have desert instead - always to full for desert at end of meal)

Pirates are always easily found !!

3/27/2024

Talked to a local fisherman. This boat is sitting on the bottom of the water (the guy forgot to check his bilge pumps) He also owns the other 4 sailboats rafted together. Unfortunately he passed away 2 weeks earlier (age 67) and only has a 92 year old mother as a surviving relative. So not sure what will happen to all 5 boats

Matt took Nancy and I in the dinghy into town. We went to the rice museum which was the main industry of Georgetown before the cotton industry. The lands were originally swamp and had to be redeveloped. Trees with strong roots had to be pulled and the land recultivated. The laborers in the rice fields were primarily West Africans who had been captured and sold into slavery. By 1840 the Georgetown District (later County) produced nearly one-half of the total rice crop of the United States. The decade of 1850s was the most profitable decade for rice planters.

This boat had to be brought in thru the roof of the building. The Browns Ferry Vessel, built in the early 1700s and sunk in approximately 1730, is on permanent display in the Kaminski Building’s third-floor gallery. This is the oldest vessel of colonial manufacture on exhibit in America and predates by 50 years all vessels previously found. The vessel is approximately 50′ long and was a general-purpose freighter used on the rivers and coastal waterways during the 1700s. Discovered in 1974 at the bottom of the Black River near Brown’s Ferry crossing, the vessel was reconstructed, stored, and treated by the University of South Carolina until it was brought to the Museum in 1992.

This is what they speculate the original vessel looked like

We walked past the George Hotel with very old fashioned decor

We next visited The Gullah Museum. "Bunny" Smith Rodrigues founded the Gullah Museum with her husband, Andrew Rodrigues, JD. Both have since passed and their children continue to keep the museum open to maintain their ancestry. Bunny made and sold quilts in her store which eventually became the museum.Bunny’s story quilts are prized and sought after by museums and private collectors.  Michelle Obama Story Quilt is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.   Her Gullah O’oman Story Quilt  records the history of the Gullah Geechee people, from a West African village to Emancipation from slavery in the Low country.

This was a board of folk medicine which is still the base of medicines today !!

The Gullah brought their basket weaving skills using sweetgrass to Georgetown and helped to teach the locals the trade.

The basket above was for sale for $800 and the one below was $450

Dave picked us up in his dinghy and we went back to our boats for the night.

3/28/2024

We pulled anchor and went to Wacca Wache Marina which is located on the Waccamaw River in Murrells Inlet.

We stayed on the boat since we were not feeling well.

A good time to show all the azaleas in full bloom throughout our stops

 

A Prickly Pear cactus which blooms orange flowers but the pears are edible

 

3/29/2024

Nancy and I took an uber to Myrtle Beach Airport to rent a car. We went to Brookgreen Gardens a is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve. The property that now comprises Brookgreen Gardens was four rice plantations. Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington of Redding, Connecticut purchased the four plantations in order to develop gardens to showcase her sculptures. They first visited the area in 1929. Because they were captivated by its beauty, they purchased nearly 9,100 acres  of forest, swamp, rice fields , and beachfront. They intended to establish a winter home on the coast, but Anna saw the potential of the property. They began to develop her vision of making it a showcase for her sculptures and other artists. The Gardens contain about 1445 sculptures today.Washington also visited here on April 28th, 1791 when it was a plantation. He left at 6AM to have breakfast at Clifton Plantation near Georgetown. (So Washington was here a mere 233 years to the date before us !!)

Two people in love , yet lost to one another

After a young girls untimely death as a volunteer at a psychiatric hospital the sculpture portrays her radiant spirit depicted receiving solace of cool water from a spring just as she provided solace to the hospital patients.

Below is Fighting Stallions one of Anna Huntington's sculptures - she loved animals

A sculpture dedicated to the Huntington's for their generosity to the artistic community

Turtles enjoying the warmth of the sunny day

An alligator also enjoying the sun. Many said he was fake since he was out in the open-I wasn't getting much closer just in case LOL 

After spending a couple of hours walking around, we drove over to the beach and sat for awhile enjoying the warm day. The pelicans also enjoyed searching the waters for lunch.

Next stop was Atalaya (a spanish word meaning watchtower)  Castle the winter home of Archer and Anna Huntington. Soon after their marriage Anna was diagnosed with tuberculosis. While seeking treatment for her illeness they sought out a warmer climate to spend their winters. They were a very wealthy couple.  This was a very strange home indeed. 

Archer's office (all of the rooms were constructed like this)

The master bedroom

The outer building

The entryway a long walk to the main house

Anna used only live models for her sculpting. She kept them in pens on the property, at one time she housed bears or other animals while she was sculpting them.

We headed back to the boat to pick the guys up for dinner. We went to Murrell's Inlet to the Dead Dog Saloon. There had to be at least 30 restaurants on the main drag.

3/30/2024

Nancy and I left early to drop off the car back at the airport and uber back. We were not in a rush to leave since our next stop (an anchorage) was only about 15 miles up river. We had a late lunch at Walters the restaurant at the Marina. After lunch we headed to Bull Creek a very nice anchorage. Dave offered to pick me up for a dinghy ride but I declined as I had caught the fever and cold Matt and Dave had had for the past 3 days. 

This is another boat where the owner passed away. It was anchored near the marina. It has been in litigation for 7 years, again not sure what is going on with it.

This was a fishermans old rental property (no longer in use). It was a nice cottage at one time
but has been let go and is falling down.

This is our anchorage. There were several boats that stopped near us and pulled their boats up onshore to party. This area was known as the Waccamaw Wildlife Refuge also - apparantly there is lots of wildlife in the wooded area we did not see nor hear any. The only sound we heard were the woodpeckers in the morning.

03/31/2024

We pulled anchor on Easter Sunday and headed to Barefoot Landing, just a stop to check out the area since they had free day docking. Matt and I ate lunch at TacoMundo a recommended mexican restaurant. There was also a LuLu's (Jimmy Buffets sisters restaurant) here !!

After lunch we walked around the boardwalk and into some of the tourist trap stores !! A photo op with a VW beetle.

Turtles enjoying the sunny day

We left Barefoot Landing and headed to our next anchorage - Bird Island Reserve

Dave, Nancy and I took the dinghy ashore to check out the special kindred spirit mailbox which had been put on the Island:

Over 35 years ago, Frank Nesmith and his girlfriend left behind a single mailbox for travelers to share their thoughts and intimate secrets. Today, it still stands (although there has been a repair or two) with notebooks constantly replenished with amazing stories of life, love, loss and triumph. After all these years, the Kindred Spirit Mailbox is letting others share their stories in amazing ways that surprise everyone who opens them. And, it’s only here on Bird Island, NC.More than just a receptacle for pieces of paper, the Kindred Spirit Mailbox on Bird Island holds the wishes, thoughts, prayers and dreams of those who walk the 30 minutes to share and bare their soul and draw comfort from the act of doing so while enjoying the soothing sounds and sights of undeveloped beach, ocean and horizon.

How appropriate that we should visit here on Easter Sunday and add to the notebooks. 

We headed back to our boats in time for a sunset

04/01/2024