A quick note before you launch into this very long blog entry. Mark, Porter and I are back in Minnesota. We want to take care of some business here during the summer rather than come back for a Minnesota winter. We have Grateful “on the hard” in N Myrtle Beach. I think this will be the last entry for awhile, but start checking back in October. Our plans are to go back to Grateful then and spend the winter someplace warm. Till then…..

We left Charleston a day sooner than planned – partly because I forgot to extend our stay another couple of days and another boat was due in to take our spot. Charleston Maritime Center Marina said they would accommodate us, but that we would need to move to the fuel dock. Mark and I both decided that if we had to move, we would move on to another marina rather than move just to another slip. This was one of the harder marinas for us to get into a slip – combination of current, tides, and wind. The marina staff was very pleasant and the marina was a great base from which to see Charleston, but we were ready to leave the rocking and rolling behind. We intended to leave the next day anyway.

So Isle of Palms, 9 miles further up the ICW, had a space on their fuel dock and we reserved it. We gave Mom a tour of the Charleston harbor before we started up the ICW. She could see the Battery from the water side and she was able to get a closer look at FortSumter. The weather wasn’t the best, but it was a short ride.

I didn’t get pictures of Isle of Palms, but it was a nice place. What I remember was an incredible ship’s store that you have to see to believe. No pictures.

We were up early the next morning to go to Georgetown, SC. The trip was about 50 miles through marshes. Again, we had the giant flies swarming the boat, but this time we had the “happy swatter” keeping the flies from biting Mark – for some reason these flies LOVE him. Mark gave the helm to me for a short while and this is when Mom and I saw an alligator swimming in the ICW – yep, I guess the water is fresh enough. The salt marshes stretched out all around us, but were gradually giving way to more trees.

Georgetown, SC is the third oldest city in South Carolina and again we enjoyed beautiful old homes, streets lined with moss-strewn live oaks and magnolia trees in bloom, and wonderful hospitality. We did not rent a vehicle while we were here so our sight-seeing was limited. We walked to town our first morning and enjoyed a breakfast at Thomas’ – a recommendation from several folks at Hazzard Marina. We used the Captain’s lounge at Hazzard to play pinochle and watch golf. Saturday, Mom and I went to the farmers’ market. Of course we walked away with more to eat – terrific tomatoes and homemade pimento/cheddar spread.

A highlight on Saturday was seeing the motor vessels, Emily E and Queen Ann’s Revenge, come in to GeorgetownHarbor. We had last seen Jim, Debbie and Emily (Emily E) in Ft.Lauderdale, and hadn’t see Hank and Ann (QAR) since November. We all arranged to have dinner at Portofino’s Italian Restaurant. It was great fun to catch up on all our adventures. Unfortunately, no picture as I was too busy visiting.

Monday morning we left for Myrtle Beach with a stop at Osprey Marina midway. The ICW along this part is along the WaccamawRiver and was beautiful. The water was deep from side to side and scenic. Because it was Memorial Day, the river was busy with recreational traffic.

We got to pretty Osprey Marina early afternoon and picked up fuel. We had pushed to get here because their prices were advertised to be low and they also gave a Boat US discount. We needed 380 gallons and paid only $2.45 per gallon. We continued to check prices as we traveled along the ICW and we saved at least $.45 per gallon compared to all other prices.

We played tourists in Myrtle Beach. Unfortunately, Mark had been fighting his annual cold and he managed to get us to the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, but then it was “lights out” for him for two days. So Wednesday Mom and I drove all over and figured out where we were golfing, where the airport was and picked up stuff at West Marine. Thursday, Mark tried but could not generate enough energy to golf so Mom and I went. We had a great day and the River Hills Golf Course was very nice and friendly – think I only lost three balls in the water. Signs near the water warned not to try to retrieve any golf balls that went in – hmmmm, I wonder why???

Once Mark recovered enough to stand up, we toured more of Myrtle Beach, walked on the beach, had an early bird special at the Chesapeake Grill for seafood and then we went to play miniature golf. There are 49 miniature golf courses in Myrtle Beach area and some were pretty spectacular. We played at the course where they play the “Masters” of Miniature golf. We look forward to going back and playing the other 48 courses. I just hope it turns out better than this time as I owed both Mark and Mom $4.00 each once we were done. I will have you know that I pay my bills – between the two of them they owed me over $50.00 from playing pinochle that I have yet to seeJ