Dinner at Vick’s with desert.
Well my day began at 3:30 am in Northern Kentucky at a hotel close to the airport. My flight was suppose to take off at 6:30 am….it was delayed by an hour. Ugh! Finally got to Savannah. Joe met me at the airport and we took an Uber back to the boat. Amy and Barry were there waiting to leave to go back to Kentucky. Our boat was docked at downtown Savannah at the Westin. A great spot to visit the downtown. I took a long nap then got up to get ready for dinner. Joe had made reservations at Vic’s on the River which a fellow looper had told him was a great restaurant. It certainly was! I got a much needed martini with blue cheese stuffed olives. Joe and I ordered the fresh fish special, Mahi stuffed with crabmeat and a shrimp on top. Earlier in the day I had contacted my friend from grade school, high school, college and Delta Zeta…Paula Bayens Cates to let her know we would be in Charleston on Thursday afternoon. Paula and her hubby invited us to dock our boat on the dock behind their boat on Shem Creek.
Back to Savannah, we left early Tuesday morning passing many cargo barges. It’s amazing how many go through Savannah!
We traveled 38.2 NM this day to Beaufort SC. We went to Fishcamp for dinner with Jim and Jackie. Oysters were on the menu for me…we had gotten there early. You got chips/coins during happy hour.
There was a competition between the Picones and the Hubers. Jackie and I ended up ordering a bottle of Meomi. To say the least, we had a good time this night. We had dinner with their friends and fellow loopers Dave and Penny. After Joe explained to Dave about our Isolation Transformer, they decided they should have one installed on their boat.
We left Beaufort at 6:57 am and traveled to St John’s Marina where our friends Jim and Jackie were docked. It was a long day traveling 66.4 NM. We traveled on the outside. The Atlantic was nice and smooth. Made our way into the marina at 3:22 pm. The Picones came over to greet us. There was a Looper Docktails which we attended. There were several people we had already met like DougOut and then a couple we took a Captain Chris Class with…Kissed a Frog which were just getting ready to begin their adventure. Dinner tonight was just the food from docktails.
We left at 11:23 am to get to Shem Creek which was Paula Bayens Cates House. We dodged the sailboats as this was race week in Charleston. There was a fierce current Joe had to fight…We got there going past some shrimp boats. One was Miss Paula, not Paula’s boat though. Paula met us at the dock…I got off the boat and gave/got a big hug.
We walked over to a restaurant close to her house and I had a salad with oysters. Paula and I had been communicating and had invited my friend Marta Hayne over to our boat for docktails. During my treatments she had told me she wanted to meet us along the way and have docktails. And….she did, she brought a surprise guest with her. As I walked up to Paula’s House I saw Harold Tate. What a surprise! We made our way to the boat and opened a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. I had roasted beets, truffled cheese, smoked salmon, celery and some tomatoes. We visited for about 1.5 hours as they had a dinner reservation and Paula was cooking for us. A delicious red pepper, Italian sausage pasta in a cream sauce. Yum!
The next morning we woke up had coffee, I worked and Joe went down into the engine room. We had been to Charleston before and since it was sooo crazy with race week we ran errands today. Costco, Walmart and Whole Foods. Joe bought oil so he could change the oil in our generators and engines. After running errands we drove out to their house on Isle of Palm. Of course, we had a glass of wine on their dock. It was sooo nice to reconnect with Paula!
We wanted to take Paula out to dinner to thank her for her hospitality but she said we’ll never get a reservation. Plan B was to buy brisket at Lewis’s Bar B Que. Omg, it was delicious! She was right, may be the best brisket I’ve ever had! Paula told us she would come out to the dock in the morning to say good bye. At 7:08 on 4/13 we left, Paula and I said it won’t be so long this time. Of course not, we’d be 101 if we did….we will get together within the next 2 years.
Off to Georgetown to meet up with Jim and Jackie again! A cute little town that ya smush history! Use to be the world’s # 1 rice grower when they had slaves. We went to the rice museum. Boy was that interesting. Our tour guide, Shawn was 3 sheets to the wind! When he started the film on the area he disappeared. We are pretty sure he went out for another nip. Interesting tidbit, the oldest boat in North America is here. Brown’s Ferry Vessel built in 1710 a 50’ river freighter. It was carrying bricks when it sank in 1730. It sank in the mud which helped preserve it all those years. If I remember correctly it was found in the 1970’s.
We walked around the town and ended up having lunch. Joe and I split of bowl of she crab soup which was delicious. Very filling! Later that evening we listened to a free concert on the Main Street. There was a young man singing that was really good, Presley Barker. Joe and I ate at Rollin Local where a nice local gentleman bought us each a drink. We had filet roll, shrimp roll and a combo fish n beef roll. It was good/interesting!
Up early the next morning we were off to Little River/North Myrtle Beach. We spent 2 nights here. The first night we were by ourselves. We ate on the boat since we got there late in the day. The next day Jim and Jackie arrived. We invited them over for dinner which was short ribs I had made two days earlier. Joe hanged out and changed the oil in both main engines and both generators. 13 gallons of used oil and filters to recycle. The marina had a used oil shack with 3 55 gallon barrels to handle our used oil, no charge.
Sandy from Chica came over and took Jackie and me to the grocery. She was sooo sweet to us! She said she knew what it was like being on a boat. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see Alan. He was bringing his boat back with a friend. J and J came over and we feasted on short ribs and mashed potatoes. Yum!
Our next stop, April 16th was Southport NC! What a cute little town! Getting there we went past some charming areas with shrimp boats. We docked and walked into town where we ate lunch. I had a salad with oysters. Joe had a burger and fries.
600 year old Oak Tree 
We walked around then went to Robert and Kay Creech’s porch. We talked about our next stops and how we followed his suggestions from a class we took with him last year. It was his handout. We ate leftovers tonight!
We wanted to anchor out but the winds were going to be picking up. A storm was going to hit Friday night, we needed to dock to be safe. Joe and Jim decided we needed to dock at Surf City. A crappy little dock with the bathrooms in back of a restaurant. It was a short walk to the beach. Great location but, had to be the worst marina so far, only held 8 boats total.
The washer and dryer was in the bathroom…weird place. Picone’s and Huber’s walked to the beach where we had lunch. Jackie and I split a burger and onion petals/fries. We went to the grocery and a bakery. Endorphin Voyager and Dona Pacem came over for drinks…..No dinner tonight! We were all still full from lunch. We got the heck out of there early the next morning. Rushing to get to Beaufort before the storm.. 52 mile trip 7 hour trip.
Passed through some Marine / Navy trading area. We had to call to make sure there was no live firing that day. We even saw some of the target they have been firing on.
We cruised 52.5 NM today to get to Beaufort NC which by the way was my favorite stop so far as the city goes. We stayed here for 4 days to wait out the storm. Coming into the marina was a little weird. The current was already rolling. It freaked us out a bit. But we got in fine. We got all set up and met Jim and Jackie for a stroll around town. It is a cute town with lots of history. The whole afternoon the wild horses were on the shore of the island across the marina.
We shopped and bought hats, shirts and salsa. The Cape Fear bacon medium heat salsa is delicious! We were going to Herb’s boat for docktails and I needed something easy to serve. We met some new people at Herb’s….we saw Island Drifter there whom we had met at Southport and Georgetown.
The next day we were expecting rain all day. It didn’t come til the evening so we went to the Maritime Museum. We walked around the town more. Joe and I went to Beaufort Grocery for lunch.
Then we got one of the marinas loaner cars. I can honestly say I’ve never ridden in a vehicle like that before. 🤣 We ate on the boat expecting the storm to hit around midnight. I didn’t sleep well…Joe and I both woke up about 3 am because of the thunder. Ugh! Saturday we decided to take the double decker bus tour. Jim and Jackie joined us on the tour, we learned more about the history of Beaufort.
This little town is worth visiting. After our tour we walked across the street for “the best burger” in town. I would not totally agree with that…maybe best $2.00 burger in town.
We walked around the town more and ended up staying close to the marina. This evening we ate leftovers and I made creme brûlée for Easter dinner.
The current this evening was worse than Friday night.
Easter morning we went to church with Jackie and Jim. Jim had gotten the 1991 Buick Roadmaster. What a beaut! We got lots of finger pointing when we left mass. We walked around town after church then went to work preparing Easter dinner. Jackie made scalloped potatoes, green beans and baked ham. I made spinach salad, kale and collards and creme brûlée. Herb brought up 6.5 lbs of banana pudding. Cooking on the boat didn’t slow Jackie or me down! Everyone left and Jackie and I washed dishes the rest of the evening on our boats.
The Bus tour left from the local history center. There are old building on this site that were the jail, aporicayry, & doctors office.
There were several museums through out town. One dedicated to wooden ships.
We were able to use the marina loaner cars for groceries and such. Here is picture of one of the two 1991 Buicks woody roadmaster station wagon.
We were taking off early in the morning to take advantage of slack tide. The 4 night stay was great. We got to explore the city and meet lots of local throughout town.
Hope you are having a grand time.
Miss you.
Kent
We are having fun but, I still miss home, Family and friends!