4/23/14 - 4/25/14 - North Carolina

4/23/14 – We docked at Town Creek Marina in Beaufort, NC.  They are working on the marina and it was not in the best shape when we were there.  The town, however, is very cute and I would go there again.  We found a small bar/restaurant that had pool tables, so we played two games.  John 1, Miss Deb 1.

4/25/14 – We docked at New Bern Grand Marina at 10:20 a.m.  It is a very nice marina with free pumpout.  We met an old friend of John’s, Billy Sawyer, for lunch at Morgan’s.  John hadn’t seen him in 15 years but they acted like it had only been 15 months.  I liked him a lot.  Very down to earth.  His son is the sheriff of this county.

The next day John’s sister, Martha, and her husband, Reed, came to New Bern.  We sat on the boat and talked for three hours over Bloody Marys.  We walked to Persimmons Restaurant on the water, but it was a little disappointing.  Afterward we walked downtown New Bern and out to Tryon Palace.  We saw a total of four brides.  It’s always so uplifting to see a new bride.  We even witnessed one outside wedding.  We went back to the marina and sat on their deck listening to the music and having another drink before going back to the boat and talking some more over more drinks.  It was a very nice evening.

The next day we went to breakfast at the Kitchen Bakery.  What a great breakfast.  And… we didn’t have any drinks.  Imagine that.  Martha and Reed left for home after breakfast and John and I walked around town again.  We decided to tour Tryon Palace.

Tryon Palace was built in 1767 by Royal Governor William Tryon, the first governor of North Carolina, who actually represented the British Crown.  New Bern became North Carolina’s first official capitol at that time.  The home and gardens are beautiful but I was a little disappointed when they told us that the original house burned in 1798 and the home we were touring was reconstructed from the original architect’s drawings and documentation from the mid 1770’s.  It appeared to be the original house.  It is furnished with beautiful 18^th century English and American objects, some of which were originally owned by the Tryons.  Sadly, no pictures were allowed to be taken inside the home.

Included in our tour was the John Wright Stanly house that was built around 1780.  John Stanly was a businessman whose merchant ships raided British vessels to aid the American cause during the Revolutionary War.  I enjoyed the tour of this house much better than Tryon Palace because it was the original house.  It was passed down for several generations before it transferred out of the family.

Did I also mention that New Bern was the birthplace of Pepsi Cola?  It was developed by a pharmacist in the 1800’s.  There is a store in the original pharmacy building that sells all sorts of Pepsi paraphernalia.  

South Carolina - 4/12/14-4/22/14

Seagulls following in our wake

The seagulls followed us for a very long time.  I thought they were looking for us to kick up some food, but I never saw them dive, so maybe they were just playinginI the wind we created, kind of like the dolphins play in the wake you create.  Anyway, they were fun to watch.

We crossed over into South Carolina on Saturday, 4/12/14, and traveled 77 miles to an anchorage in Tom Point Creek..  Very nice anchorage with only one other boat.  We traveled two very long days and I was looking forward to a short day.  77 miles may not sound like much, but it was a ten and half hour day.  As much as we love being on the boat and moving, it is very, very tiring.  On Sunday we only went 22 miles.  YIPPEE!  We stayed at St. John's Marina on John's Island, just outside of Charleston.  It was one of the nicest marinas we've been to.  Very clean, friendly staff, and a fairly new courtesy car.  Not to mention a free pump out. 

John's Aunt Gloria and cousin Lolo picked us up at the marina and we went to dinner at The Crab Shack.  The food and company were excellent.  Unfortunately we only got to spend a short time with them.  His aunt is 87 years old and the only living aunt he has left.  Maybe next time we can spend more time together.

Lo lo and Aunt Gloria

The next day we traveled to Leland Oil Company in McClellanville, John's paternal family home.  We put a load of laundry on and then walked town.  The laundry facilities at this marina are free but it takes a good 1.5 to 2 hours just to wash a load.  The water runs slower than a turtle going uphill.  The dryer works well, though.

On Tuesday, we met John's cousin Ellen at TW Graham's for lunch.  After lunch, she took us to the John Graham House.  It looks great!  Better than we have ever seen it.  Sara Nell Scott has done a wonderful job of cleaning, painting and decorating.  When we got back to the marina, John's cousin, Gerilyn, and her husband, Alston, drove up and we all went to the Bonnie Blue for a drink.  Alston brought a couple dozen oysters for us.  Good 'ol Alston.  He's a sweetheart.

Alston

Cousin Ellen
 

Sara Nell's husband, George, came by to take John to the liquor store "out on the highway".  Unfortunately, they were closed.  After John got back, Little Rutledge (harbormaster), Chandler, and a friend of theirs also came on board.  Needless to say, we had a boat load, but it was fun.

After everyone left, we steamed the oysters that Alston brought and John ate what he could.  I made oyster stew with the remainder of them the next day.

John enjoying Alston's oysters

It was not a good travel day on Wednesday, so we stayed another day in the Village.  We walked to town but most places were closed by the time we got there.  John wanted to walk to the liquor store "out on the highway" but I said no, it was too far.  So we sat down and he said, "somebody will come along and ask us if we need a ride somewhere."  He was right.  After five minutes, Alston pulled up and said "I thought y'all might still need a ride to Larry's."  LOL!  You gotta love Small Town America.

We left McClellanville of 4/17/14 headed for Osprey Marina where John's best friend since 8th grade, Kenny, was going to pick us up and take us to his house to spend a couple of nights.  We didn't realize we were so far from Kenny's house - about an hour and a half.  I promise, Kenny, that we will stay someplace closer next time.  We spent that night at Kenny's and next morning the three of us played golf.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Kenny is a very patient person and gave me a few good tips.  You gotta love that guy!  After golf we went back to Kenny and Mishelle's (his wife) and had a potluck dinner.  They had invited quite a number of people to come over.  The plan was to play corn hole and ladder ball, but it rained cats and dogs that afternoon and all night, so we sat in the garage and talked and drank.  Another one of John's friends from junior high school, Jerry MacKnight, and his wife were there, as well as, Kenny's two sisters, Kenny and Mishelle's sons, Kyle and Kaleb, and several other couples.  It was a great night.  Thank you Kenny and Mishelle for being great hosts and letting us spend a couple of nights on land.

l. to r. Jerry MacKnight, Kenny Caddell, and John.  The Fat Knight Boys, as they were called in 8th grade.  Everyone kept calling John, "The Pretty One".

Kenny took us back to the boat on Saturday, 4/19/14, the day before Easter.  We spent Easter at the marina doing laundry.  I had a crying jag because I was missing my grandchildren at Easter.  I swore I would never miss another Easter "at home". 

We left Osprey Marina on Monday and traveled 56 miles to Beaufort, SC.  We got a free dock at the Provision Company where we met other Loopers that we had met at Osprey.  We went to dinner with them at a pretty pricey restaurant that wasn't that good (Fishy, Fishy).  Good thing the dock was free or I'd be a little perturbed at spending that much money.

We will cross over into North Carolina tomorrow.  

Georgia April 7 - April 11, 2014



Alligator on the St. John's River.  I forgot to post it when I typed about the St. John's, so it's getting posted here.


We left Florida on 4/7/14.  It was overcast and in the mid 70's.  We anchored off Cumberland Island.  If you read my earlier post from the Fall, you'll remember JFK, Jr. got married on Cumberland Island.  It was too rolly to get off the boat in the Fall and tour Cumberland, but this day was gorgeous.  What a beautiful, beautiful island.  I can see why somebody would want to get married there.  We probably walked five miles or more touring.

Live oak forest.  Camping is allowed in this area of the island.


The ferry brings campers to probably the most beautiful camp sites you will ever see.  There is no electricity and no hot water in the bath houses.  But they do have large bags filled with water that are laying around being warmed by the sun and you can take a "sailboaters" shower with them.  It is very peaceful and serene.

We walked to the historic district of the island where Thomas Carnegie built a house in 1884. It was originally 37,000 sq. ft. in size.  That's not a typo friends.  All that remains today are the ruins, but it was so huge that I could not get it all in one picture.  The brochure says there are rattlesnakes living in the ruins.  Thank goodness I didn't read the brochure until we were back on the boat.  I don't think I would have gone there if I had.

The ruins of Dungeness (Carnegie mansion) 

Front gate to the Carnegie mansion
 

We saw wild horses, wild turkeys, and deer.  One of the original owners of the island stated in her will that her horses were to freely roam the island after her death, and they have been doing so for over a hundred years.  A park ranger explained to us that if you see one or two horses by themselves, then they are males that have been outcast by the stronger males.  The strongest males keep a "harem" for themselves and the younger and weaker males have to hang out with no mares, at least until they get older and can fight back.  John walked right up to the horses, even though they tell you not to.  They claim that they are dangerous and will kick and/or bite you.

John with wild horses on Cumberland Island

John made me put this next picture on here because all "stallions" think alike.  I got to tell you, this stallion was not at all loving.  He was all business.  Slam Bam, Thank You Ma'am - - and right in front of the young 'un. 

You'll have to zoom in fellas if you want to really see what's going on.

We also saw Henry Lee's tombstone.  For all you Yankees out there, he was Robert E. Lee's father.  He was on his way home to VA when he took sick and died on Cumberland Island.  His body remained interred there for a very long time until the family had his remains removed and re-interred at the family graveyard in VA in 1913.

We left Cumberland the next morning, 4/8/14, and headed to Jekyll Island.  Anyone looking for a very nice vacation should consider Jekyll Island, GA.  There are a number of places to stay that are all very beautiful.  This is also a very historic island.  This island was once the private winter retreat of America's wealthiest families, including the J. P. Morgans, the Rockefellers, the Pulitzers, and the Vanderbilts.  They each had a "cottage" on the island, but their idea of a cottage is very different than most people's idea of a cottage.  Their cottages have bedrooms that number in the double digits, as well as bathrooms in the double digits.  And... none of them have kitchens.  Their servants would fix their meals at the club hotel and everyone would gather there at mealtime to socialize and eat. 

There are nine miles of beach, numerous golf courses, horseback riding, a water park in the summer, plus lots of other things to do at this place.  We visited here by car a couple of years ago and fell in love with it, so we had to stop by boat on our way north. 

One of the "cottages" where you can rent a room.

The chapel on Jekyll Island.  It is no longer used for regular service but many weddings take place there.

Our first day was spent doing laundry and other boat chores, but the second day we rented a "red bug", which was the main means of transportation in the early 1900's.  Today's red bug is quite different than the ones used back then.  The red bugs are a great way to get around the island, not to mention a lot of fun.

Original Red Bug; only one known to exist today.

Today's Red Bug

While at Jekyll, I decided I wanted to try my hand at golf.  Why should John have all the fun?  We played Indian Mound, which is very pretty.  We saw white-tailed deer standing right next to the tee box and when we tee'd off, they never even moved.  I guess they're pretty used to people.  On the 13th hole, I hit my tee shot within 50 feet of an alligator.  John wanted me to "take a drop" but there was no way I was going to lose a stroke because of a silly eight-foot alligator.  I figured I could outrun him to the golf cart and then take off.  Dumb, huh?  Anyway, I should have taken the drop because I only hit the ball about 30 feet.  I guess I was a little more intimated by that gator than I thought.

Now don't pay any attention to that fat ass and zoom in on the gator.

We left Jekyll Island on April 11th, heading for South Kackalackey.




Finally leaving Florida

We left Marathon early on the morning of March 19, 2014, after six weeks.  As much as I loved Marathon and the warm weather, I was ready to go.  I needed a change of scenery.  We anchored the first two nights and then got a slip in Ft. Lauderdale at Las Olas Marina.  I liked Ft. Lauderdale but don't think I would go out of my way to stay there again.  At least not at Las Olas.  I would try a different marina next time.  Don't get me wrong, the marina was nice, I just didn't like the downtown area of Ft. Lauderdale at that location.  The beach was beautiful but we're not beachy people.  We spent four days in Ft. Lauderdale before moving on.

Dolphin swimming in our bow wake

We anchored three of the next four nights and got a mooring ball one night.  We also experienced our first "grounding" on March 26th.  We were coming out of Manatee Pocket and didn't pay attention to the red nuns at the entrance.  They were placed fairly close together and were warning us not to go between them.  Well.... we went right between them.  Immediately, the boat came to a halt and we knew we had run aground.  It was easy to back right off, though.  The bottom in that area is all soft mud or sand.  All the anchorages were great and we would stay there again.  They were Manatee Pocket, off St. Lucie Inlet; Causeway Island at Ft. Pierce; and Matanzas Inlet.  We picked up a mooring ball in Titusville.  We're trying to do the return trip as cheaply as possible.  The trip south was "no holds barred", but the trip north is going to have to be done "on the cheap".

Sunset at Manatee Pocket

After four days of no dock water and/or electricity, we decided to go to Palm Cove Marina, which is close to John's sister's in Atlantic Beach, and stayed two nights.  Gay and her son, Lawson, brought us one of her cars to use while we were there and we greatly appreciated it.  We were able to re-provision at Wally World without renting a car.  Life is good!

We fueled up at Palm Cove on Monday morning (3/31/14) before heading to the St. John's River.  We decided to take a 200 mile detour and do the St. John's because we had heard so much about it.  The first night was spent at Jacksonville Landing, which is a free dock with water.  Can't beat that.
 

Jacksonville Landing free dock

Gay met us for lunch before we headed up river (or down river).  The St. John's River is only one of two rivers in the world that flow south to north.  The other is the Nile.  How about that for a piece of trivia?  This river is quite beautiful.  The water is the color of iced tea - brown, but clear - just like iced tea.  Back home the water is also brown, but it's a murky brown.  The brown water of the St. John's is caused from all the tannins coming from the cypress trees and it is very clean.  It's also the bass capital of the world.  You never saw so many fish camps and bass boats.

This picture doesn't do the water justice.  It's actually very pretty.
 

St. John's River

We anchored the first night on the Black River off the St. John's and that night I had one of the most unusual experiences of my life.  In 62 years, I have never, not ever, seen stars reflected off the water.  The Black River is so black and it is so still with no outside light, that the constellation Orion was as clear on the water as it was in the sky.  The river is also so deep that the constellation appeared to be at the bottom of the river.  It was like looking at the sky but you were actually looking down.  When I looked down the stars naturally appeared to be very far away, even though the reflection was quite close.  I know it was some sort of optical illusion, but the boat seemed to be floating 20 feet off the water.  I can't explain it very well, but it was a really cool feeling.  John wanted to know if the drug cartel had dropped off some "good stuff" while he was asleep.  LOL!  I told him yes, and I wasn't sharing.

After cruising by ourselves for four days, we met Gay and Lawson at a restaurant on the water.  They spent the night with us on Friday and Gay left on Saturday morning.  Lawson spent two days with us on the boat.  I think the highlight of his time, though, was shooting the .22 pistol that we have on board.  We had a sort of competition and he won. I was glad that he won and not John.  John and I tied. 

Captain Lawson

We dropped Lawson off back at Jacksonville Landing where his mom picked him up on Sunday.  The next morning we were headed for Georgia.