Yesterday we left Beaufort SC after several wonderful days exploring the city and enjoying the local eateries.  Brenda and I really loved it, the food, homes.  Such a nice city.  What was even better is that the temperature has finally warmed up into the 70s and we didn’t even have to turn on the heat.  The last two days are the first since about a week prior to our friend Sandy that it has actually warmed up to something that is compatible with palm trees.

I can hardly decide where to begin with the wonderful architecture.  We went for a number of walks and spied these, and many other, fabulous homes.

It’s just wonderful to see the live oaks draped with Spanish Moss.  Some of the trees are too big and sprawling to imagine them staying up in a hurricane.  They are so stately and individual that you have to believe that the locals might be inclined to name each one.  How about this one hanging out over the street.  The last time that I saw a tree marked with sign on a road was in the Redwood forests in California where the tree had been carved out so you could drive a car through it. It’s hard to say where I should begin in posting about these houses.  Somehow, stucco doesn’t look tacky here like it does in NJ.  Far from it. Just like in Charleston, the locals must get a bonus or painting their homes white. You can just imagine a horse and carriage driving up to drop off the owner here. Not all the homes are old.  There are some lovely “contemporary” homes too.   Not to be picky but it would be even better if the posts on the porch were a bit more substantial.   But then, perhaps it’s just me.  Agree?We were told that one of the homes in the area was used in the movies “The Big Chill” and “The Great Santini”.  I thought that I had taken a photo of the right one but I am not sure.  We thought that this was the one.

I looked it up on the Web and see that this is the one credited with being in the two movies.   Not sure if I have a shot as it looks a lot like others that I saw.  Oh well, we saw a lot of great homes.   I loved this one.  The trees and gardens just swallow up the home in spite of it’s size. Speaking of a nice setting, how about this perched on a lovely marsh.   To come home to this means that you have arrived in more ways than one. This one was nicely nestled into the landscape.   Sitting on that rocker wouldn’t be tough duty. We saw some great gardens but none that could rival this one.  The photo doesn’t do it justice. There is a strong military presence with two bases nearby and a national military cemetery in town.   We were there on Veteran’s Day and were treated to a first class parade.
It’s great to see folks from the service in dress uniforms. Each branch of the service was represented. After enjoying the parade we did a bit of shopping in the local gourmet store.  Compared to prices in the New York area, this was a downright bargain.   What a great looking store.  I think that we bought one of everything in the store.  Perhaps not but we did buy plenty.  Not a great idea to shop when you are hungry.

Beaufort goes out of it’s way to encourage folks to visit.  The waterfront has a great park that is very popular.  There are plenty of places to eat that look out on this lovely scene.  I still haven’t gotten used to the palms that are everywhere.

As I write this we are tied up at the city docks in Savannah GA.  It’s hard to believe that we have made it all the way to Georgia.  Massive ships go by and the river isn’t that wide here.  As you can imagine, the current runs very hard.  As we were about a 1/2 mile from our destination today we snagged something big on our prop and it tangled it up badly. As  a result we were dead in the water.  Happily, we were traveling for the last two days with another boat and they towed us to the dock.

As soon as the tide is slack I plan on going swimming with my wet suit and dive compressor to untangle whatever is wrapped.  That should be fun in the 65 degree water.  Oh yea, did I mention that the visibility is about 6″?   Wish me luck.

And yes, the two cities, one in North and the other in South Carolina, are spelled the same but the pronunciation is much different.    So, we enjoyed both cities and it was fun to visit Beaufort.  That’s Byoofert to y0oou.

I guess it’s almost time for a dip in the Savannah river.  Yuck!  Make that a double yuck.

We left Charleston on Thursday to continue our journey south, working our way to Beaufort.  As we were leaving Charleston we circled under the bottom of Charleston and got a good view of the lovely historic homes on the waterfront. Yes, these homes look as good from the water as they do when walking around Charleston.  Love the whole palm tree thing.
I didn’t quite know where to put this photo of a local canine that we ran into the other day so here goes.  As random as it may be, how about this for a great looking dog?   What’s even more interesting is that the breed is fairly large, about the size of a Golden Retriever.   The owner said that she is a Briard, a Russian breed but this link says French.  Well, the French would say that they were there first.
 The cropped ears make her look, to me, like a breed that George Lukas would have conjured up for Star Wars.  I suggested to the owner that to me she looks more like an Ewok than a dog.   The owner didn’t seem particularly amused.   See the resemblance?After leaving Charleston we continued to head south and decided to anchor up a creek in a marsh for the night. The view was spectacular and we were treated to a brilliant sunset.    Did I say that I like sunsets?   Indeed, and made all the better when accompanied by a proper beverage. In the other direction there was a new bridge.  The contrast between the soft, flowing marsh grass and angular bridge was striking. Brenda and I arrived with Pandora to our current spot near Beaufort SC yesterday and are anchored in  one of the most tranquil spots we have seen to date.  We anchored here, as opposed to downtown Beaufort because there is a SSCA cruising station, the home of Rick and Carol, long time cruisers, who were highly recommended by other SSCA friends as a particularly nice place to stop.

The view that greeted us this morning was so tranquil in the soft morning mist.  You could almost imagine a hippo surfacing to look around.   Our hosts, Rick and Carol lived aboard and traveled to the Bahamas for something like 10 years.  In their travels, Rick and Carol were looking for a place to live when the time came for them to “swallow the anchor”.  Just like us, they anchored where we are now and found out that there was a piece of property on a point that was for sale and the rest is, as they say, history.

They open their home to visitors from SSCA whenever they arrive and even have dock space for some.  When Pandora arrived we were instructed where to anchor and last night they hosted a cocktail party for the 15 to 20 cruisers that were visiting.   What a great time we had making new friends and even seeing a few who we had met along the way.

Rick and Carol have done a wonderful job of crafting the design, siting and details of their home and it is an inspiration for me and Brenda.  What an attention to detail, from the kitchen cabinet details, built from Rick to the huge copper mobile hanging from the tall ceiling in the living room complete with a flock of our favorite, the pelican.

Windows dominate the front of the house.  This is the living room and the bedrooms are behind.  It’s a bigger house than meets the eye.Rick is a retired Navy skipper and you can certainly see an attention to detail in the house with a nautical flare.  That and a penchant for keeping everything ship-shape.  Even his dock, which is nearly 600′ long is carefully painted and in excellent shape.   Rick told me that he had the house framed up and covered and then spent three years finishing the inside himself.  His work is really impressive.  The floors are cherry and trim is carefully varnished and looks for all the world like mahogany.   The kitchen cabinets were built from scratch by Rick and there are wonderful cherry accents on the counters and cabinets.  The moment I walked into the home I realized that Rick had done the work himself as nobody pays for that level of detail.

Perhaps the most elegant room in this amazing home is a diminutive bedroom up in the loft that Rick designed and built to look like a ship’s cabin.  The room has bunk beds just like you would see on a ship.  Notice the wainscoting on the walls.  The room doubles as a place to keep artifacts from his time as skipper of ships in the Navy including commissioning pennant from his commands.The details are impressive, including ships knees and curved deck beams overhead.  There are even port holes, complete with blast covers.  You can almost imagine the movement of the ship if you sat here to write a letter.

This box with cutouts is actually the AC and heat vent crafted to look like it belongs.  Nice work, really nice work. He even went to the trouble to install a speaking tube that was once used on a ship to speak from the bridge to the engine room.   Alas, this one does not go to the kitchen as one would hope.  Perhaps commands from a disembodied tube “please bring me my slippers” wouldn’t sit well with Carol.Among the many details in their home, Rick was once given a porthole by a friend.  The gift was contingent on Rick promising to use it in the finishing of their home.  After much thought, Rick decided to install it in the one room in the house without a water view, the bathroom.  So, he had the mirror over the sink specially cut and now there is a water view, all 10″ of it that you can see as you brush your teeth.How’s this for a view of the water from their back yard?   At night the live oaks are lit with flood lights.

Their side yard has an equally brilliant view.  This is a wonderful setting to share with friends and share they do. Rick and Carol have hosted some 500 cruisers over the last 10 years and even keep an old pickup truck on hand to lend to those who need to make runs to the market.  He told me that they call it the “magic truck” as it is used all the time and yet never needs gas.  Visiting cruisers always put in a gallon or two to replace what they have used, enough so that the tank always has enough gas for the next visitor.

Even though we have only known Rick and Carol for only a few hours, we feel like we’ve been friends for years.  I guess that’s the best way I can describe this trip, making new friends that we have already known for years.  This whole trip is turning out to indeed be “our little slice of heaven, one bite at a time” and we aren’t even in the Bahamas yet.

I should note that Rick visited us aboard this morning to give us a very thoughtful tutorial as to what makes a successful cruising couple.  Words of wisdom and great advice for us and me in particular.   Perhaps I will share some of his advice here soon.

It’s Wednesday morning and we are still in Charleston and look forward to our last day of sightseeing after a week in this wonderful city.   Our loose plans have us heading down to Beaufort SC over the next few days, perhaps on to Savannah and then on to St Mary’s GA for Thanksgiving.

St Mary’s is home to perhaps the largest Thanks Giving Feast/Party on the ICW and attracts nearly 100 boats and hundreds of cruisers who make it a point to stop there on their way south each fall.    As I understand it, the Riverview Hotel hosts the event and volunteers provide turkeys and help run the event.   Here’s a description on the hotel’s website that describes what is involved.

“Every year the St. Marys boating community hosts a Cruiser’s Thanksgiving at the Riverview Hotel.  Local volunteers bring the turkeys and hams, set up tables and chairs, and organize the annual feast.  The cruisers bring all the side dishes.  We gather the night before at Seagle’s Saloon for an Oyster Roast and pot-luck social to meet new and old friends.  On Thursday, the Captains come over early to set up tables along with the locals.  Complimentary coffee and donuts are served.  During this time tables may be reserved for your party and decorated however you like.  The Captain & First Mate, and their Crew bring over the side dishes around noon with dinner at 1:00 p.m.   Also, on Friday morning there is a Swap Meet Sale and Book Exchange in the side yard of the Riverview Hotel.  Coffee and refreshments are served.  (Because of limited seating, the Cruiser’s Thanksgiving dinner is not open to the general public.)  To RSVP please email:  gailabrandon@tds.net“

I RSVPd today and look forward to learning more.

As we have headed south over the last two months we have met many cruisers who say that this is one of the highlights of their trip and a visit to St Mary’s should not be missed.

While we have done the entire ICW to date inside, we do plan to head out into the ocean from Beaufort or perhaps Savannah and do a run outside to St Mary’s.   Me, I am looking forward to sailing again as the mainsail cover hasn’t been off since we left the Chesapeake.  Going outside is a must for us as we draw 6′ and there is considerable shoaling in Georgia.  In order for boats with our draft to make the trip, we would have to time much of our time underway according to the tides which would make the trip very tedious as there just isn’t enough water at low tide for us to make it through.

Last evening we hosted two couples aboard Pandora for cocktails having met them both while doing laundry at the marina.   One couple, aboard an IRWIN 42 has been sailing to the Bahamas for the last 5 winters and it was fun to hear of all the great places that they have visited.   Hearing more about where we are headed was inspiring to us both.  The other couple, new to cruising, are heading south on their first trip. On top of that, they were also new to sailing so this is all new to them.  We learned a lot and it was fun to make some new friends.

Another highlight yesterday was the arrival of a Volvo Ocean Racer 70 footer.   Maserati was at the face dock at our marina and had just arrived from Spain with a full crew.  Their next step, after clearing customs here, will be to head north to New York City where they plan to make an attempt to break the New York to San Francisco monohull record originally set by the clipper ship Flying Cloud in 1854, a record that she held for over 100 years.   Interestingly, the Flying Cloud captain’s wife, Eleanor Creesy was the navigator and is credited with much of the success of the record run.

I didn’t take this photo of Maserati.  However, if I did, it would have looked much like this.   What an awesome machine. 

This is her under speed.  It seems that she can run 40kts.   That’s cooking.   Besides, at the dock she looks like she is moving fast already.  
As Maserati is an Italian boat, some of the crew feeds on their site are in Italian although much of it is in English.  The site is worth checking out.  There are also videos and photos worth looking at as well.  This is one slick looking boat.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough on the trigger to get any photos before they shoved off from the dock.  It seems that the captain of Maserati was with the customs officer in the same room as the laundry, trying to stay warm, where Brenda was doing the wash so she was able to listen in as the officer went through the clearing process.  She overheard the captain say that their plan is to have Maserati in New York soon and that they hope to leave around December 11th to begin their attempt.  They fully expect to break the current record.  So where was I while this was going on?  I was off doing grocery shopping.  Bummer.

From our standpoint, Maserati is headed in the wrong direction and a NYC to San Francisco run certainly isn’t in Pandora’s future.  With regards to records, I don’t expect that the crew of Pandora will be breaking any records today with the possible exception of the most visits to the local grocer in a single day.   Well, you have to have goals in order to do your personal best.

Ready, set, grocery shop!!!

As we were having morning coffee today we heard a low rumbling and looked out to see what it was.  It was a wall of steel slowing moving by.   This shot doesn’t begin to give a feel for how the ship blocked out the sky, or how close it was to us as it slid into the dock.  I am perplexed as to why they can’t build attractive cruise ships these days.  I guess that if “form follows function” then these floating feeding stations should look at least as bloated as their passengers.   By that measure the designs are just perfect.  Yesterday, Sunday, we went for another walk through downtown Charleston and although we had visited some of the same neighborhoods the prior day, we found ourselves noticing things that we had not yet seen.  Being here for a full week is very nice as it takes some of the pressure off and makes us feel less like “ohmyGod,ineedtoseeeverythinginasingleday”.

While I may not be, or may never be, in full cruisers mode, (I’ll get to that manana dude) I am trying REALLY, REALLY HARD not to overachieve.  Wish me luck as it will be tough to unlearn a lifetime of time management in the extreme.  I am not optimistic that “laid back” will ever be a phrase that others will use to describe me.  Perhaps if I get a pierced ear with an anchor earring and a tatoo and let my hair grow out it will be a start.  Hmm…

Not sure where that was going so I’ll just drop it.  In any event, I thought that it would be fun yesterday to take photos of some of the nicer, as if that’s even possible to decide, doorways that we saw.

We also visited another mansion, one of several that are open to the public.  This particular one, the Calhoun Mansion, is still in private hands and we were told that the owners, when they are in town, live there.   Not sure that I buy that but it’s what we were told.  They didn’t allow photos inside, but the website has an impressive slideshow that gives a feel for how much stuff is in the home.  It’s PACKED in the extreme, the fashion of the day we were told, where the rich collected massive amounts of stuff to prove how rich they were.  It seems that the current owner is making the same statement and I am convinced that he has firm footing as a member of the 1% club.

I like doorways as it tells you a lot about how the owner wants you to think about their home.  Some are very spare and shabby chic.  Old money perhaps?Some make it clear that a 15 year old SAAB doesn’t live there. Some seem to say “I am above it all”.Some, like this door onto a porch, seem to say “enter, but you aren’t there yet”.Some seem to say “my life is very orderly and if you saw my sock drawer, which you never will, you’d agree”.This seems to say “if you think my patio is nice, you wouldn’t believe how nice it is inside my home”.    Me, I believe!!!

Ok, this isn’t a door, but it’s certainly a window into another world.  No, it doesn’t really fit in this post but I like the shot.
This seems to say, “If you like this door, you can only imagine what’s behind it”.  And, indeed it is an OMG moment when you enter this one, the front door of the Calhoun Mansion. This one?  Not sure what it says.  Me?  I say it’s very nice.I can only guess what is behind all the wonderful doors in Charleston.   However, it’s fun wandering around and imagining.  If there is a common theme here it’s probably “I have money and am not afraid to show it!”   And, I expect that you won’t run into many of them at the buffet table on the cruise ship docked near by.  “Go away you bloated thing, you.  You are blocking my view!”

Perhaps to say that this post is in some way a documentation of the gardens of Charleston overstates it a bit. However, when Brenda and I went for a walk yesterday I thought that it would be fun to find some nice gardens to include in a post.  The weather continues to be wonderful if a bit chilly but it’s perfect for walking around town.

Into every life a bit of rain must fall and our day will likely be Tuesday.  I guess that will have to be our chore day.  Besides, the engine oil needs to be changed and wash needs to be done.  At some point I also have to change the zincs on the prop but will have to wait until we are in a place with less current.  I’d hate to be swept under the dock with the current, pretty creepy thought.

It’s amazing to see just how scenic Charleston is.  The level of detail that goes into everything is inspiring.  In lusting after the gardens I do have to remind myself about the cost of all this.   However, taking pictures is cheap so here goes.   We were told that when a gate is let open to the street it means that the owner is welcoming you to explore their gardens.  Alas, on a Saturday with loads of tourists, no gates open.  These photos were taken through a hole in the gate or bars.   Most of the best gardens we saw were very compact and some, like this one, surround a driveway.

Some are very simple with meticulously sculpted hedges.   Not a lot of oil stains on this driveway.  Very elegant. The architectural details are a visual feast.   This patio/driveway wouldn’t last a single winter in Essex.
Some are perhaps better described as intimate vistas.  It was hard to tear myself away from this one. Imagine an evening pitcher of mint juleps here with friends.  Mmmm…
Container gardens are wonderful and there are plenty to feast your eyes on here in Charleston.
And an endless variety of window boxes, most with automatic watering systems.  You’d surely need them in the heat of summer.
There is an amazing amount of ivy growing everywhere but it’s nearly always very carefully maintained.  I expect that it is trimmed nearly as often as the yards, as small as they are, are mowed.  Labor intensive is the standard here in the nicest neighborhoods.
You can be pretty lavish with your attention to detail when your front yard is only 5′ deep.  I wish my yard was smaller.  How great that would be.
Intimate of not, these gardens are nothing compared to the homes that they surround.  I can’t imagine keeping such a work of art looking fresh for a hundred years.  This would be a good example of the house owning you.
However, in all their grandeur, no house, even here, can rival the beauty of today’s sunrise as viewed from Pandora.  And the cost is only the willingness to be up early enough to enjoy it.
I am blessed to be here with Brenda.  What a wonderful city.   So, what to do today?  So much to do, so little time.