Neuse River – Anchorage
“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” – Roger Miller
There was no sunrise on the horizon this morning…only storm clouds. We enjoyed a second cup of coffee as we waited for the thunderstorms to pass. When the thunder and lightening stopped and the rain had let up slightly we released the lines. We don’t mind traveling in the rain as long as it’s not too windy. Things were really wet on the flybridge so Stan drove from below this morning.
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May 3 – New Bern, NC
May 2 – Swansboro, NC
Dudley’s Marina
“The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others.” ― Norman Vincent Peale
We left the little marina at Carolina Beach State Park this morning with cloudy skies and traveled north along the ICW. The weather the next week or so doesn’t look promising. The ICW along this section of North Carolina is close to the ocean and lined with large homes. It also runs through the Marine base Camp Lejeune. We’ve used an anchorage there many times, but today the weather had cleared and it was too early in the day to anchor, so we moved on to Swansboro. Our plan was to anchor there, but with the threat of thunderstorms we decided to go into a marina. We enjoyed a nice dinner and quiet night onboard…I didn’t even get off the boat.
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May 1 – Carolina Beach, NC
Carolina Beach State Park
“Tension is who you think you should be, relaxation is who you are.” —Chinese Proverb
We’ve been at Carolina Beach State Park the last two days. We stopped year five years ago. It’s a small marina but very nice. The park has a lot of nice hiking trails and the town of Carolina Beach has a great bike trail.
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April 29 – Little River, SC
Myrtle Beach Yacht Club
“Happiness is a journey, not a destination.” —Alfred D. Souza
We’ve enjoyed two pretty days on the water. Yesterday was a little warm and it reminded us why we need to keep moving north. Most of our travel since leaving Charleston has been in the Waccamaw River. The scenery is very pretty as it runs along the lowcountry in South Carolina. As we moved closer to Myrtle Beach it changes from marshland to cypress woods. Besides a noticeable change in vegetation, I also noticed we have gotten rid of the no seeums…they’ve been driving me crazy the last couple of weeks.
April 27 – Isle of Palms
Wild Dunes Yacht Club
“It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop.” – Confusius
We’re finally on the move again. Although we didn’t go very for today…we stopped at Isle of Palms to visit with the crews of Smiles and Swede Dreams. It was just a ten mile day and we were tied to the dock at Wild Dunes Yacht Club by 9:30.
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April 26 – Charleston, SC
Maritime Center Marina
“On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.”— Jules Renard
Sometimes I forget how much I love Charleston…then we come back and I remember all the reasons I could live here full time. It’s still my all time favorite place we’ve visited. The people, the food, the architect, the history, the parks, the shopping…the life. I love it all.
We had a wonderful week in Charleston. We spent time with friends, rode bikes, went to festivals, sat in the park, shopped, ate a lot of good food and soaked in as much of the scenery as we could. It’s a fun place to be with so much to do. Most of the blog entries from this past week were repost from our time here in 2013…I took the week off so I could enjoy every minute we had in the city. Here are a few of the highlights of our week.
Charleston is a great city to spend the day sight seeing. This is the United States Custom House on East Bay.
Waterfront Park is one of our favorite places to just hang out when we are Charleston
Tourist can take horse drawn carriage rides or the local trolly to learn a little more about the city.
The City Market is a historic market complex in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Established in the 1790s, the market stretches for four city blocks from the architecturally-significant Market Hall, which faces Meeting Street, through a continuous series of one-story market sheds, the last of which terminates at East Bay Street.
The Charleston’s Farmers Market is something we have always enjoyed. It is more than just fresh veggies…it’s a festival in itself. This lady sell locally made sea salt.
Some of the fresh vegetables offered this week
The view from the top of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. We rode over the bridge Sunday to go to the Blessing of the Fleet in Mt. Pleasant. The span of the bridge is 2.7 mile. This is a view of the Maritime Center Marina…you can even see The Pearl if you zoom in.
At the top of the bridge
The Blessing of the Fleet in Mt. Pleasant
See the bridge? That’s what we rode over to get to the festival. Lots of music, food and crafts.
Dinner with our friends Charlotte and Magnus at The Darling Oyster Bar. We had a great time.
Our last day in Charleston we ate at Slightly North of Broad…it was very good.
S.N.O.B. kitchen
Stan’s flounder…it was amazing
My shrimp & grits…the very best I’ve had in Charleston
Our home for the week
The view from our flybridge this past week…not bad
April 25 – Charleston Churches
Maritime Center Marina
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you’ll ever know.” —A. A. Milne
Charleston is known as the Holy City because it was one of the few places in the original 13 colonies that practiced religious tolerance. From the beginning, the city was a melting pot for people of all faiths, especially those who had been persecuted elsewhere because of their religious beliefs. Along with religious freedom came a skyline of some of the oldest and most beautiful houses of worship in the country. Here are just a few of the wonderful churches that are in Charleston.
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April 24 – Charleston, SC
Maritime Center Marina
“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” —G.K. Chesterton
There is a little know walkway in Charleston, called the Gateway Walk. It hat connects the Unitarian Church and St. John’s Lutheran Church, located along Archdale Street to the Circular Congregational Church on Meeting and St. Philips Episcopal on Church Street. It’s situated in the historic heart of Charleston and yet off the beaten path, Gateway Walk provides a break from the busy main streets as it meanders through old graveyards and secluded gardens, much of the way is in the quiet shade of moss draped live oaks.
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April 23 – Charleston, SC
Maritime Center Marina
“Life isn’t about getting and having, it’s about giving and being.” –Kevin Kruse
We’re having a great time in Charleston and I will do a post next week of the highlights, but for now I’m enjoying a vacation in one of our favorite places and not spending time blogging…so here’s a previous blog that was originally posted a few years ago. Enjoy!
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Charleston’s Rainbow Row
Maritime Center Marina
“If we were meant to stay in one place we’d have roots instead of feet” —Rachel Wolchin
Charleston is full of history…everywhere you look and every street you go down has a story to tell. One of the most photographed areas of historic Charleston is Rainbow Row. This charming row of colorful homes is a perfect example of the old row houses that were very distinctly Charleston.
Rainbow Row was built in the mid 18th century on East Bay Street. At that time, this was the commerce center on Charleston’s waterfront, built to serve the wharfs and docks of the very vibrant and busy Port of Charleston. Merchants worked in their stores on the first floor and called the top floors home.
Unfortunately, conditions of these homes were severely deteriorating after the Civil War. In the early part of the 20th century a woman named Dorothy Porcher Legge purchased some of the homes and began to renovate them. She painted these homes pastel pink, for the popular colonial Caribbean color scheme. Eventually other homes in the row were purchased and renovated and their owners followed her example, painting the homes in different shades of pastel colors.
As with any historic area with lots of character, there are many stories as to the reasons for the different paint colors on Rainbow Row. One story says the houses were painted in different vibrant colors so drunken sailors coming from port would know which house they were supposed to sleep in. Other stories tell of merchants who used different color paints so illiterates would know which store to shop at without having to read the sign. Either way, the results are delightful.
Today, Rainbow Row consists of 14 private residences that are part of one of the most famous architectural landmarks in Charleston.
