Enjoying Charleston

Brunswick, GA to Charleston, SC.

We are now in Charleston after uneventful passages from Brunswick, GA and Beaufort, SC (pronounced BUE-FORD).  We left Brunswick, GA on Saturday morning after a 3-day stay there; Denise had to fly to Atlanta and visit a client on Thursday and Friday.  We found Brunswick Landing Marina to be a great location to put the boat for a few days. It is a well-equipped marina with free water, pump-out, great diesel prices, and have several restaurants within walking distance.  Its airport is small (4 gates) with only 3 Delta flights arriving/leaving per day, but made traveling to Atlanta very easy.

Brunswick Manatee

South Carolina Welcome Committee

Our Saturday night was spent on the “hook” just outside of Beaufort. It was quite peaceful and we were surrounded by awesome homes with private docs less than 100 feet away.  We had a great time watching a handful of dolphins dancing around our boat with the incoming tide, until it got dark and bugs started to eat us alive; then it was time to go in.  As we had made a long passage that day, we both went to be early and got a great night’s sleep.

Our original intent was to get up early and go to 8:00 am mass in Beaufort, and then head north to Charleston. However, when we woke up early Sunday morning, the forecast looked like we were going to get really wet all day, with severe thunderstorms threatening later in the day.  Also, because going to church would require a dinghy ride and we didn’t feel like getting wet on the way, we decided to just leave early for Charleston. So at 7:00 am we picked up anchor and got underway, but had little to worry about as we barely got any sprinkles all day.

By noon we were tied up at the dock at Bristol Marina; home to Coastal Carolina Yacht Sales who actually sold us our boat.  Since we are a past customer, they allowed us to stay in one of their slips and they were very gracious hosts.  We are grateful for their hospitality, and I am especially thankful that they had a package waiting for me: my running shoes!  I had accidently left them behind and my terrific friend and neighbor Kim was kind enough to ship them to me.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Sunday evening we were able to take a taxi to church and attend mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It is a beautiful church and just as we got inside the skies opened up and there was a torrential storm. Fortunately, by the time mass was over we were able to walk to the restaurant for dinner. We ate at BASIL which is a fusion-Thai restaurant that we had tried to get into several time before. It was delicious and worth waiting for.

On Monday we both had a little work to do in the morning, and then mid-morning were joined by my brother John and his wife Cathy.  Together we explored some of downtown Charleston, shopped in the Market, ate some good seafood at Noisy Oyster (lunch) and Hanks Seafood (dinner) and hung out on the boat.

Mark, Denise, Cathy & John

They also took us to Wal-Mart and Publix so we could get a few things we needed.  In the evening we had a chance to just sit around and chat and I got lucky enough to actually beat John at a game of Cribbage! They stayed overnight on the boat and this morning we went on another adventure; to check out a sailboat that my sister and her son are interested in.  After lunch and talk of future travel plans we had to bid them goodbye.  We really hope they will join us along the Tenn-Tom waterway in the fall.

Bristol Marina at sunset

This morning we will leave for the 56 nm run up to Georgetown, SC and from there begin making our way towards North Carolina.  Denise will have to leave and go back to Atlanta next week, so we hope to get up to Wilmington, or near there so Mark can have some fun areas to explore while she is away.  In the meantime, we are trying to juggle our work schedules with enjoying our cruising destinations, while still trying NOT to be on a schedule!