From Wrightsville to Charleston

Our next stop after Mile Hammock was Wrightsville, Va. We had an easy trip through the ICW and a cloudy, cool day in the morning. Very few people can imagine a group of boats racing to make a bridge opening but often the bridges have restrictions and if you miss the opening on the hour you have to wait a full hour before the next opening. At times that could be extremely frustrating since we need to keep our boat from drifting into other boats and/or shallow water. Today we missed the opening which meant waiting the hour and then trying to get to the next bridge which we did with only minutes to spare. However, while waiting the sky cleared up, the sun warmed up the air and I changed into a pair of shorts…with continued warm days for several days until we reached Charleston, SC. The weather turned nasty and we spent a cold day walking around the city. The old parts of Charleston are quite beautiful. The southern architecture and lush gardens are lovely. Even though the homes are close together there is a quiet charm as we walked around. Then, there are the huge, stately homes facing the harbor dwarfing everything around them. At the park we were able to see Ft. Sumter and the guns that were fired to start the Civil War. History was all around us, homes that had historical significance and battles that were fought. The market place in downtown Charleston was the site where slaves were bought and sold and is now a market for tourists to buy anything from jewelry to spices to fabulous and expensive woven baskets. There were men and women making the baskets all through the market.

I think Charleston must be exquisite in the spring when all the flowers are in bloom and we may stop there on the trip home. We spent time with old and new friends = going out to dinner, having cocktails on our boat, and just hanging around discussing boat stuff. Bill did have his quota of ice cream.

We left Charleston and headed towards Beaufort, S.C. We stayed on the dock for 1 night so we could see the wonderful homes here as well. Fortunately the weather has been incredibly gorgeous for the last few days and the temperature was perfect. I walked around for almost 2 hours with many old live oak trees and Spanish moss. I followed the track of a tourist buggy by finding the horses you know what on the road. Great fun.

Our travel today was also easy, no thin water under our keel and blue skies. However the morning was quite chilly (remember we leave just as the sun is coming up) and the temperature didn’t really warm up all day. However, we were comfortable and bundled up when necessary. After we settled down at anchor, Bill and our friend Andrew took the dinghy to a nearby marina and bought back shrimp that just came off the boat. I made a fairly good spice rub and we grilled them on wooden skewers. What a treat especially since we were also celebrating long distance our friend Jan’s birthday.

According to the captains we should be in Florida in just 2 or 3 days….

Will be sending more photos soon...