11/5/13-11/10/13 McClellanville, SC

Left Thoroughfare Creek at 9:10 a.m. heading for McClellanville, SC, home of John's ancestors.  We saw three eagles on the way.

Eagle on the Waccamaw River

Arrived in McClellanville at 2:00 p.m. and docked at Leland Oil Co. (the only marina in town).  John's cousin, Alston, picked us up at the dock and took us to his shrimp boat where we cleaned about 30 lbs. of shrimp.  He offered to cook some up right on the boat using his secret recipe, which of course, we took him up on.  As John and I cleaned shrimp, Alston made preparations for cooking them.  He went to the galley, got a pot, took it down to the fish hole and got a pot full of crushed ice.  He went back into the galley and came out with a half gallon of rum and some cans of Coke, and proceeded to explain that this was his secret ingredient to making the best fried shrimp - - Rum and Coke.  I don't know if it was the rum and Coke or the fresh shrimp, but they were the best fried shrimp we'd ever eaten.  He gave us the rest of the shrimp to take back to the boat for our freezer, but he kept the Rum and Coke.  Jim Blackstone - - you might even like these shrimp.

Throughout the evening, he entertained us with his Low Country wit.  It was one of the best nights we've had since leaving the Bohemia River.  A few of his quotes were:  "My mom is the only person I know that graduated from hospice."  After eating his shrimp, he said, "with that behind ya, you can walk through Hell and back."  He also told us of a recent boarding by the Coast Guard.  When asked where his head was (which the boat doesn't have because he removed it some time ago due to all the regulations), he told them "we go to the bathroom the same place the porpoises do."

Alston cooking shrimp in the galley of his shrimp boat, Regulus

Shrimp boats on Jeremy Creek, McClellanville, SC

Alston's boat, is on the far left.

The local Jeremy Creek dolphin.  They say he's all but tame.

  

On Wednesday, John's aunt and two cousins took us to lunch at T.W. Graham and Sons restaurant (formerly John's great, great grandfather's store).  Thanks Lolo for buying.  His cousin, El, took us to his ancestors graveyard, many of which have CSA (Confederate States of America for you Yankees that don't know that) markers on them.

John by his great, great grandfather, Thomas William Graham's grave.  Note the CSA marker beside the headstone.  He enlisted at the very end of the war at the age of 16.

CSA marker.  There were many in this cemetery.

 

John in front of great, great grandfather's store.

 

Thursday morning, John went shrimping with Alston.  They were gone for 14 hours and he was bone tired when they got back.  They caught about 400 lbs. of shrimp (before heading).  Alston wanted to give us some more, but our freezer is already full with mostly shrimp.  What a problem to have.  The striker, Pickett,  could head shrimp five to one over John.  Pickett used his thumbs and forefingers of both hands and just plucked the heads off, two at a time.  John had to use both hands to head one shrimp.

 

John ready to go shrimping

John on the shrimp boat at 5:30 a.m.

 

On Friday we hung around the marina doing laundry.  John's cousin, Tommy, came to the boat that afternoon and told us he would take us out to the Cape Romain lighthouses.  Tommy is restoring the lights and has keys to both of them.  John's sister, Gay, came in that night.  She is going to the lighthouses with us.

 

Tommy picked us up Saturday morning at 10:30 so we could catch the tide at the island.  The weather was pretty cold and windy.  It was a 40 minute ride in an open john boat.  When we got to the island, Tommy took the boat part way through the mash so we wouldn't have to walk too far in the water and mud to get to dry, hard land.  Don't you know, I hadn't taken four steps from the boat when my feet got stuck in the mud.  When I tried to walk, my body moved, but my feet didn't.  Needless to say, as my body moved forward and my feet stayed stuck, I went face down in the marsh.  Well, my face didn't actually go in the water, but I was wet up to my waist and my forearms up to my elbows.  I was covered in pluff mud from my lower thighs down to my feet.  AND IT WAS COLD!!  I sat on a log, pulled off my gloves, boots and socks.  I wrung out the gloves and left them on the log to dry.  I poured the water out of my boots, wrung out my socks, and put them back on.  I thought I was going to freeze to death.  Did I say "IT WAS COLD??!!"  When we got back to the dock, I went straight to the laundry room and stripped.  John brought me clean, dry clothes and guarded the door as I changed.  Did I mention that it was cold?  Everything from head to foot went into the washer.

Muddy Miss Deb

 



Tommy did a great job giving us the history of the waters and islands in the area, as well as the lights.  The smaller light was built in 1827, but it wasn't very efficient.  The taller light was built in the 1850's.  They were de-commissioned in the 1950's, but vandals and time have taken their toll on them.  Tommy Graham has spent his own time and money restoring them for the past few years, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

The older light

The newer light

Tommy Graham, keeper of the lights

 



Our last night in McClellanville, we went to the local oyster roast which benefited the Village Museum.  The soups were delicious and John and his sister, Gay, said the oysters were very, very good.  I'll have to take their word for that. Based on John's face, I'd say he was enjoying them.

John at Oyster Roast

 

We are 637 miles from the Bohemia River.  Tomorrow, we're off to Charleston.