Beaufort, South Carolina

Leaving Savannah, GA...

No more pelicans, no more manatees, but still seeing dolphins and seagulls, of course.

Also still seeing Palm trees and Palmetto,but no Mangroves growing along the water.

Now we are in the Low Country, with big tide variations (7-9 feet), lot of marsh grass, muddy bottoms and No See Ums (horrible little bugs that are blood suckers) & mosquitoes!  So we keep our bug repellant handy.

Homes along the waterway in South Carolina - Hilton Head Island

                                       Sunset in Battery Creek, where we anchored for a night.

Our marina here at Port Royal Landing for the week.

Met a guy here who's a retired local TV personality.  Name was DeYoung (DeJong) originally from South Chicago.  Knew my mother's family.  Lives on an ocean going sailboat built in the Netherlands when he's not visiting  family.  Also, shared tidbits about the brethern in the Chicago garbage collection business. (Know in some circles as the Dutch Mafia).

   

One day we rode our bikes to Beaufort(about 3 miles) and checked out the Historic homes, as well as the town.  There is so much history here - wish we could remember it all.

Beaufort has a dozen or more restored antebellum mansions.  Several were used as hospitals and command posts during the Civil War by the Union occupation troops. Thankfully General Sherman choose not destory Beaufort and Sanannah as he had done with Atlanta and other cities during his March to the Sea.  Remember the scene from Gone With The Wind.  

The trees are historic too - some over 400 years old!(See if you can find Don)

Just think, some of these trees were already growing when Columbus discovered the Americas.   Kind of puts our puny little lives in perspective.

We ended the week at the 9th annual Soft Shell Crab Festival - car show, music, vendors, crab races and seafood!
No I don't know who the lady in th pink top is.  She just happened to be sitting in front of the town sign.  

When you're on a boat you eat lots of seafood.  I'm starting to grow gills.  Makes me hungry for a good Iowa pork chop.

As we are spending a whole week in one place, I was able to do some maintentence items like polish the boat and varnish some trim.  I must say, she looks pretty good for an old girl.  If you want a boat to look good and not give you problems it requires a lot of attention.  That's why boats are referred too as being female. (With that remark I'll probably be sleeping on the dock tonight).

We plan to leave here on Monday and head for Charleston.  That will be a lot more history.  Looking forward to meeting our daughter, Jana and her husband, Brian, there. db

Georgia on my mind!

Let's start with Cumberland Island National Preserve, where we first stepped on Georgia soil.  They have wild horses there and Don was so happy to get a picture of them foraging there for their food and just leisurely walking around.

The linage of these horses date back to the 1600's when the Spanish first explored this area.  They have reproduced, lived and died on this island for almost 400 years with little or no interference from man.   There were about a dozen horses in the herd we saw. The white colt in this picture is about two weeks old.  The island is Federal property and can only be reached by boat.  We anchored several hundred feet off the island and took the dingy ashore.

This island also has the Dungeness Ruins (what's left of the Carnegie family's summer estates.)

The Carnegie's made a fortune in steel production in the late 1800's and are considered to be one of the last Robber Barons.  This mansion burned down in 1949 and is owned by the government.

We never tire of the Spanish Moss - we see it everywhere in Georgia!

St. Simons Island Lighthouse and grounds.  It's a lovely island and we had an awesome shrimp dinner there!  Walked on the beach and relaxed in the park.  The Marina there delivered 2 fresh muffins and the newspaper in the morning!  All right!!

A broken propeller (this happened not far beyond St. Simons).

As you can see one of the blades flew off due to metal fatigue.  This happened at about 3600rpm's and scared the crap out of me.  We were concerned that the sudden imbalance may have caused problems to other parts of the out drive so we had the boat hauled at a marina in Savannah and check out.  Everything was okay. 

Isle of Hope, just south of Savannah, where we spent several days, including Easter.

Lovely vacation homes, friendly folks and very southern.

Next Port - Savannah, GA.  A beautiful city with many historic homes and several historic parks and churches.  This is the riverfront Cotton Exchange building, which was the center of the community in the days when cotton was King!

Savannah is the 2nd busiest harbor on the eastern seaboard.   We were tied to the wall on River Street and these huge (and I do mean huge!!) ships would go by a hundred or so feet from us.  This picture is the back of a container ship that had just passed us.  Don't know how long it was but seemed to go on forever. I couldn't help but wonder what was in each of those semi size containers.

We found that being on the riverfront in Savannah was okay for a day or so, but then it got very tiresome with the big ships going by and the tugboats and the ferry boats, so we were ready to leave again Sunday afternoon.  It was good access to a lot of the downtown sights and sounds of River Street - artists, performers, shops and restaurants, but also many tourists, noise and much rocking of the boat due to the boat traffic.  We met some nice folks and will have some good memories of Savannah.  TB

On Sunday morning we attended services at the Independent Presbyterian Church which was established in 1755.  They have a large and very beautiful building.  The service was very traditional.  Many members have ties to the old Dutch Reformed Church.  These folks were very friendly and one of the congregation pointed out the separate doorway and stairs to the balcony were the blacks attendees had to sit back before integration. 

Savannah has a lot of history like so much of the East Coast.  One can spend weeks and see something new everyday.   We barely scratched the surface after several days.  But it was time to move on.   We traveled up the ICW on Sunday afternoon past Hilton Head where the Heritage Clasic golf tournament was still in progress.  Saw the MetLife blimp overhead taking pictures.  Maybe we brought Zach Johnson some luck.  He came in 2nd and won $615,000.  Not bad for an Iowa boy.  Tonight we're in Port Royal,SC.  We'll probably stay a few days and catch our breath.  DB

Goodbye, Florida!

Don and I returned to Jacksonville after our visit to Iowa, which was very enjoyable - springtime arrived that week - lots of blooms everywhere - trees, bushes and flowers!  We enjoyed spending time with family and friends!  Our flight to IA was delayed by 1 day, so we went to the Jacksonville Zoo (just across the river from our marina) since we were packed and no place to go.  Then we went to the zoo in Des Moines also when we were there - it was fun to enjoy it with our kids!

While in Iowa we met with our accountant.  Good news!!  We can be "boat bums' for awhile longer!  Speaking of boat bums, we met a few at Seafarers Marina.  All interesting people with stories to tell.  Wayne, the guy who gave us a ride to the airport, gave me a Florida Gators cap as we where leaving.  He lost his mother, his job and his house in the past two years.  He now lives on an older sail boat.   And Greg, a 20 year member of AA looking towards open heart surgery in a few weeks.  He really was trying to accept life as it comes, no complaints, all in God's plan.  Then there was the real estate developer and his family (wife and 3 boys) from the Midwest who was over extended and lost it all in the economic down turn.  Out of the financial ruins he was able to hang on to was his older boat.  Instead of a 7000 sq ft home they now all live in a space that is smaller than the master bedroom in their former house.  He says it's a blessing.  He now has time for his kids and wife, sleeps at night and doesn't throw up blood every morning from ulcers.

The zoo in Jacksonville was busy as the local schools where on spring break.  It was as interesting to watch the kids watch the animals as it was to watch the animals.

Today is our last day in Florida.  After having our boat in Florida water for 4 months, we are leaving tomorrow.  We are currently in Fernadina Beach on Amelia Island - we can see Georgia across the waterway.  This is a touristy town and the beach on the Atlantic is outstanding - went for a walk there this morning - lots of people and kids (still some on Spring Break).  The tide was low, but coming in, so lots of beach area, gentle waves rolling in.  It was good to walk in the water and sand.  The temperature hit 90 today, so I guess it is time to head north!

 This is the life!!  Should have done this years ago. 

Fernadina is an interesting old town - it is on Amelia Island - very touristy, lots of Victorian homes, boats, trains and even container ships.

The picture below is of the Dames Point Suspension Bridge, one of the longest spans of its kind in the USA.  We passed under it coming to and leaving Jacksonville waters.

 Below is a picture we took at Seafarers Marina.  Seafarers was an experience we will not soon forget.

This is a man-o-war, we think.  Good thing the tide was coming in to rescue him.

"While traveling in a boat on the waterways, the world is your home, and it's good to wake up each day to adventure on the water."  Till next week...