June 22, 2009: Stono River

Today is our last day at the Charleston City Marina. Our new propellers came in today and we had the interesting opportunity to watch topside as diver, Josh, removed the old ones and installed the new. These propellers are 24 inches across with four blades and weigh about 75 pounds each. They were lowered by rope from the dock to assure they were not dropped in the process.




After visiting the Crab House for lunch we headed out into the ICW towards the Stono River for about 7 miles to the Ross Boat Yard. The fuel dock was closed when we arrived, so we anchored out near there for the night.



There we enjoyed again the quiet natural areas with green marshes, flowing inlets, and hunting egrets. The day ended with a lovely sunset.

June 21, 2009, Sunday: Charleston, SC

Today we attended the First (Scots) Presbyterian Church at 53 Meeting Street with its tall taupe columns and white cornices. This church was formed in 1731 by a group of Scots who left a Congregationalist church to align with the Scottish Presbyterian church. As the ministers processed this morning, they were led by the Beadle carrying the large church black leather bound Bible and wearing a plaid kilt in honor of the church heritage. The service music was provided by a full toned pipe organ with the pipes enclosed behind three ornate white wrought iron panels above the choir loft. It was a beautiful sanctuary with balconies above on three sides. They had a children’s sermon with the children gathered to sit in the center aisle which was paved with the original flooring masonry. The youth minister confided with the children about pencils and erasers; and God’s forgiveness of sins. The service included prayers for the people of Iran and we sang songs you might expect for the patriotic services in July, like “My Country, Tis of Thee” and “America, The Beautiful”. The following message was on Faith and Freedom with the challenge that government does not provide freedom... it is supported and protected by spiritual values and the moral strength of the people. He drew from the history “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire” along with Jesus’s words in John 8:31-38. For instance, no government can fulfill the lost of a father who does not love and nurture his children. It was a thought provoking lecture on freedom.

After church, we rode with Bob and Sue out to Shem’s Creek to have lunch at Vickery’s restaurant on the water. It was fun to watch the boats going by and the shrimp boats rafting up as we waited for a table there. We wondered how deep it was as it was a busy street but opted to eat inside due to the heat. Leaving after lunch we decided to see the Citadel where Bob had taught English for over 30 years. The striking campus was built to look like a fortress and provides facilities for 2000 undergrads who attend here. It is a solid part of Charleston’s history; my uncle graduated from here around 1926.

The lights on the marina boats at night give off a happy glow in the darkness of sky and water.

June 17-20, 2009: Charleston, SC

Our last several days have been spent in Charleston, with repairs to be made to our propellers and friends to be visited. The weather has been beautiful but hot, making riding the bikes unbearable. We have been graciously hosted by friends and I will share some pictures of the last several days. We are now docked at the Charleston City Marina near the large fishing boat, named Fish and Grits.

We toured the old part of the city with its long narrow homes built to the edge of the street. The front door opened onto a long porch that runs the length of the house and provided a place to catch the cool breeze. There was a farmers’ market downtown at the old Citadel parade grounds that was full of flowers and fresh produce. We bought Summerville blueberries, peaches, fresh silver queen corn, some flounder fillets and a pound and a half of shrimp

We visited Fort Moultree with Tom’s cousins, Bob and Sue, and had a great time walking over the fortifications. The ranger there explained the origin of the South Carolina flag as a follow-on to the battalion flag of Fort Moultree – a blue field with a white crescent in the upper left hand corner. While most folks think the crescent is a new moon, it is actually the soldiers’ insignia, a gorget, a piece of armor that evolved through the centuries and was worn at the throat in the days of the Revolution. It had come to be recognized as a symbol of the soldier, a metal plate around the neck, tied with ribbons and sometimes engraved with the Kings Coat of Arms.

We also took The Next Thirty Years out to Fort Sumter, passing under the tall bridge from Mount Pleasant into Charleston. I remember this bridge from crossing it as a Girl Scout on our way to Savannah. My mother was very concerned about driving over it because it was so tall and a narrow two lanes with no edges. The bridge has now been upgraded and is 8 lanes wide with a bike/ pedestrian path on the side.

Beyond the bridge in the harbor, we tied up at the high fort pier. We arrived at low tide, but luckily they had ladders down to the water so we managed to climb up to the dock. They still have cannons there that were from the Civil War days and also portions of the fort as it would have been during the time it was used to protect the coast during WWII. It was about 100 degrees, but there was wind from the water. The views from there were wonderful of the entrance to the Cooper and Ashley Rivers full of sailboats. There was a regata of several classes of sailboats running the course. We also saw the old mansions along the battery from the water as well as the US Customs House.

Saturday night we rode out to visit some old Kiwanis friends and saw the old farm house where they live. It is on the National Register as one of the out buildings of a southern plantation here. The tide water was high along side their pier and the rosey sunset glimmered on the water.

June 16, 2009: Edisto Beach, SC

Edisto Beach is a place my mother reminisced about where her family vacationed visiting an Aunt and Cousins when she was a small child. We thought we would retrace her steps. We turned out of the ICW to follow the South Edisto River towards the inlet to the ocean. Edisto Beach is a triangle that juts out into the sea. We passed the end of the beach as we turned up Big Bay Creek to anchor inland to the beach. There were low country shrimp boats lined up along the fisherman's docks on the bay.

Our 10 mile bike ride took us on a narrow paved trail by the golf course, by the Edisto Realty where Tom stopped to get some papers notarized, to the PiggyWiggy to get a Father’s Day card and on to the beach. The island is full of beach cottages with a family atmosphere and almost no business. The public beach access wooden board walk led us over to a narrow beach reinforced every 50 yards with huge stone jetties. We went swimming in the warm waves and got out as we saw storm clouds in the distance.

We had several miles to ride back to the dock where we had left the dinghy.

We quickly packed up the bikes and pushed off into the wind that had picked up and was blowing us into shore. But we were not quick enough! Soon we were being pelted with rain as we proceed back up the choppy creek to where we had left the boat. It was tricking getting the dinghy on the lift with the wind and current, but totally drenched, we made it back. The afternoon ended in an hour of rain, but later cleared up enough to see the sun set.

June 15, 2006: Hilton Head to Beaufort, SC

As we continued on our journey today though lonely wetlands, we saw birds and dolphins for company as we went. We cruised up to Skull Creek Marina to meet a engine serviceman to check out our engines. One of the engines was getting really poor mileage compared to the other. After a test drive and some computer diagnostics, he recommended having our propellers tuned, meaning having the blades smoothed and pitched. A storm kept us tied to the dock for most of the afternoon but we made it off soon enough to make it to Beaufort tonight.


We passed the very famous Parris Island, home of the US Marine Basic Training Center. The water tower was noticeable with its 1-800-Marines painted in red. We saw a true Marine trawler flying a big Marina Corp ensignia flag along the way.


We anchored out near the public pier in Beaufort (pronounced Beeoofort). Beaufort is the second oldest town in South Carolina and has many beautiful old country homes near the water front. We rode into town planning to eat at Sergeant White’s BBQ Pit for some pit roasted pork. Unfortunately, it turns out St Whites is only open for lunch and we had to settle for an Applebees nearby.

Returning to the dock as the day waned, the water was turning to pink. Tom took the wheels off the bikes to load them into the dinghy. This picture was taken just before we had the excitement of having the floating dock tip enough that my carefully balanced bicycle flipped overboard. Tom was quick to throw himself flat on the dock and catch the last tire as it was sinking out of sight. He was able to pull it all back to the dock. We were really glad to have not lost it to the deep.

June 14, 2009 Sunday, Savannah, GA

We had a wonderful ride through Savannah today beginning with visiting First Baptist Church at 223 Bull Street at Chippewa Square. The Greek revival sanctuary is Savannah’s oldest house of worship built in 1831, though the church was established in 1800. The church has a rich old history including that in 1884 the pastor of this church left as a missionary to Burma to join Adoniram Judson, one of the first Baptist missionaries. This church was one of the few southern churches that remained active during the Civil War and held services before and after the city fell to the Union forces. We arrived early and were invited to attend a Sunday School class which was great. The class was involved in a discussion of 1 John 4, love being a fruit of the spirit–they were very friendly, and we felt at home. Isn’t it wonderful where you find God. The worship service music was led by a huge pipe organ that filled the front of the sanctuary. The pastor’s message from Mark 4 encouraged us that God works through our small gifts just as the tiny mustard seed grows into a great tree.

We left our bikes in the park guarded by the 9 foot bronze statue of James Oglethorpe. He was the great soldier who founded the colony of Georgia in 1732 and there are many stories of his philanthropy and bravery.

After the service, we continued our ride through the beautiful city, back to the Trustee Gardens, to eat lunch at the Pirate House. Here was the Herb House, built in 1734, the oldest building in Georgia where the Gardens manager originally lived and worked. Next to it was built a bar and inn run by Captain Flint. It was here that Robert Louis Stevenson was staying when he got the idea for the novel Treasure Island. There is now a restaurant which includes both buildings and Pirate Molly was there to take us on a tour of the house including sharing the legends of local men being carried off to sea from a tunnel from the cellar. In addition to being interesting pseudo-history, they had a wonderful southern buffet luncheon. The table board included collards, sweet potatoes, chicken pot pie, butter beans, Savannah red rice, fried tilapia, pulled roasted pork, squash casserole, etc.

Our ride brought us to the John the Baptist Cathedral where we stopped to sit in on a few minutes of an afternoon organ recital. This Catholic Church was built in 1873. The stained glass windows and wall murals inside were quite beautiful and the music echoed from the lofty vaulted domes.

Returning to the boat, it was time to leave Savannah, and we passed the statue of the Waving Girl as we cruised away with her saying goodbye.