Charleston SC

We are spending a whole week in Charleston as there is so much to do and see here; especially for Civil War buffs.  The day we arrived, the weather changed for the better; and so did our spirits.  First order of business was to find a place to park the boat (and ultimately the car), as this is the last town on this "leg" of our tour.  We also wanted to stay in the historical downtown, and didn't want to live on the boat in a marina... so we needed to find Freedom a new home.  We found an excellent covered parking space for the boat, and an indoor garage for our car (filled with our "stuff").  They will live here while we are back home for a few months, and then again for another month or two while we take the boat up the ICW.

Once our "business" was accomplished, we headed to Mt Pleasant and Sullivans Island over the beautiful Ravenal Bridge:

While we thought this bridge was beautiful, we were shocked to discover that it rates as the #1 attraction to see on Trip Advisor!

Charleston is a peninsula between two rivers: the Ashley on the west, and the Cooper on the right.  This bridge is over the Cooper; and is very high because it accommodates a lot of ship traffic.  Charleston is the 10th busiest port in the US; and also host to cruise ships.

Since we are staying here for so long;  I'll probably post several separate blogs about specific areas we found interesting, but here is our itinerary while we are here.  I'll put an * next to any that were deemed interesting enough to post about.

Day 1: arrived and took care of the car and boat parking; stayed at a motel in Mt Pleasant.
*Day 2: saw Ft Moultrie, The Hunley and then headed to our B&B "apartment" in the historic center.
*Day 3: did a city tour and took the boat to Ft Sumter
Day 4: did the Gullah tour; took our bikes all around the city.
Day 5 &6: Moved over to West Ashley (across the Ashley river from Charleston) and stayed at the Inn on the Middleton Plantation; toured the plantation and readied the boat for our departure.
Day 7: HOME!

We will have been gone 5 weeks and 2 days; and I think we both agree that we'd like to ensure that our further adventures are shorter legs.  It's partly the weather and the long days of driving, but we will be glad to get back to our own beds!

Beaufort SC

We didn't make it to Beaufort  pronounced BYOO-fert" (as in "beautiful") because we were cruising by land, not by sea; and its a bit out of the way from major freeways..  I should have made the effort, though, because it is a town I would love to see.  I guess that is reason to come back.  I'm adding it to the blog because, had we been cruising by boat, this is an important stop on the ICW.

There are two towns named Beaufort on the ICW, this one in SC, and another in NC (pronounced BOH-Fert, as in  the name Beauregard.  I fell in love with the idea of a southern coastal vacation about 25 years ago when I first read books by Pat Conroy, who wrote about Beaufort SC.  Since then, I've read dozens of "low country" books.

Many movies have been staged in Beaufort, including the shrimpboat scenes from Forest Gump; The Big Chill, The Great Santini (by Pat Conroy), GI Jane, Something to Talk About, The Prince of Tides (by Pat Conroy), Forces of Nature.  There is even a movie tour.

Pat Conroy's books first introduced me to the Gullah culture; and it is something I would enjoy learning more about.  The outer banks of the South Eastern coast is officially now designated as the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor by the Nathional Park Service.  The area extends from Wilmington NC to St Augustine FL.  The Gullah/Geechee are descendents of slaves who lived in very remote and isolated lands and islands.  Many worked on the rice plantations, others "farmed" the sea.  Even after emancipation, they continued to live on these remote islands, making their living from fishing and farming.   Because they lived remotely all this time, they retained much of their African culture.  They also developed their own language which is a mixture of English,Spanish,French and of course African words. We met a "Gullah"man on our tour of Savannah who taught us some phrases, but now I can't remember them!  It is not really like the Creole culture you find in the swamps in Louisiana as that was chiefly French and African influence (and maybe some Osage Indian).   The name Gullah is given to the residents of South Carolina, however, in Georgia, they are often referred to as Geechee.  Either way, it is a fascinating segment of the melting pot which is America.  We are going on a "Gullah" tour when we reach Charleston SC.
Beaufort SC

Savannah GA

After a night of pouring rain at the campground in St Augustine, our boat looked a little cleaner but everything seemed wet.  We headed out in a storm and drove to Savannah in a storm and found a motel some near to the historical center. We knew we wouldn't be able to find good parking near the sights.

For the past several months, I've been reading book after book about Savannah, Charleston and lands in between.  I was psyched to see the town depicted in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt; which of course I re-read for the occasion.  If you haven't read it, it focuses primarily on a murder trial where a local antique dealer and restoration architect, is tried for murder 3 times (2 were mistrials).  Other eccentric townspeople who befriended Berendt are also important characters in the book.

Our first impressions of Savannah weren't too great, but then, we were staying on the outskirts of the downtown.  Much of it is, well, decrepit, and in need of restoration.  As we approached downtown, though, we could see the beautiful streets, bordered by huge live oaks, dripping in mysterious Spanish moss.  We hopped on the trolley tour and saw street after street of beautiful old homes, back to the 1700's, each facing lovely squares (outdoor living rooms).

Savannah was declared too beautiful and charming by General Sherman, and so escaped his burning and plundering on his march to the sea.  Instead, he presented the city intact to Lincoln as a gift.  So most of the military history we were seeing and hearing about was of Revolutionary heroes from South Carolina.  Of course, there was some talk of "that recent unpleasantness.. the war of Yankee aggression".

We learned that Savannah is the 4th busiest port in the USA which surprised us.  (First is Los Angeles, followed by Long Beach, then  New York/New Jersey.  (I'm not sure why New York and New Jersey count as one, when they didn't combine Los Angeles and Long Beach?)

Everywhere we were reminded of "Forest Gump" sitting on his park bench, eating his box of chocolate.

I wished we had stayed in town in one of the many charming inns, wandering the streets and exploring the shops and churches would have been wonderful... in better weather.  Instead we made it back to the burbs and continued to dry out the boat.

Savannah GA