May 2014 – Page 3 – Cruising along the East Coast and Bahamas

I am writing this in Rutland, VT fresh on the heels of a wonderful, no rain graduation morning. With one ear and eye I am monitoring the local NBC station to see what’s happening with the Preakness Stakes (go California Chrome!), which thanks to our dinner reservations, I will miss seeing live. This post will probably not get finished tonight either.

In an effort to get caught up, this post will be light on words and heavy on photos.

Charleston Crab House by the Wappoo Creek Bridge as we wait for the 10:30 opening… just for us.

We bid farewell to St John’s Yacht Harbor and caught our third and final Wappoo Creek Bridge opening as we headed into Charleston harbor and closed in on Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War landed.

Fort Sumter… as we sneak up to anchor

Russ got to check off another item on his wish list; to visit the fort via our boat, not some overloaded tour boat. All you need to do is check the tour boat arrival times and join in with the group for the ranger’s talk about the fort.
Much larger than we imagined, most of what you see has been repaired and/or restored.

Inside the fort- spacious enough for a soccer game

Early in the attack an explosion rocked the powder room walls enough to move them

Ferry from the Aquarium arrives with a boat load

Tuesday night we anchored in a creek that led from the ICW out to the coast, in between Bull Island (the largest uninhabited barrier island on the east coast) and Capers Island. Wednesday morning we planned to explore (read that: beach comb) Capers for a bit before heading off on a rising tide and some favorable current.

Cannonball jelly fish lay washed up all over the beach

Capers is an uninhabited barrier island just north of the Isle of Palms with about 3 miles of beach front. What makes it so interesting is that since the island’s existence, storms and tides have wreaked havoc on the shoreline. The whole deal is the place; the island, the wide flat beach at low tide or the high tide that flows right up into the forest of Palmettos, small oaks and pines. And as the ocean has been taking 15 feet of beachfront annually since time started, the trees have been uprooted, bleached by the sun and sea, and rearranged by nature’s order. The result is an awe-inspiring primitive appearance as if you’d gone back in time … an incredible place! Picture Jekyll Island’s Driftwood Beach with oodles more sandy beach.
We came across cannon ball jellyfish (how appropriate after our fort visit); not just a few, but hundreds scattered, left behind by the tide. I found three new conch-like shells; they look nothing like Queen or Milk Conch. A huge percentage of the shells were pre-drilled with perfect round holes near the top; how thoughtful of those worms to do that so I could string them up into a mobile or such other shell thing. (the shells, not the worms)
Our next stop worth mentioning was Georgetown, SC; a darling town with a fantastic fresh seafood market and a smelly paper mill. Between spring allergies and the paper mill (tolerable in certain wind directions, nauseating in others) Russ prefers to avoid Georgetown.

Several buildings were lost in the fire last year

We hadn’t stopped here in a while and not since a fire destroyed several old buildings on Front Street. We anchored in an odd spot, just off the ICW channel in Winyah Bay and took Bunting in to the town floating docks. A quick walk around, fresh shrimp etc at Independent Seafood, finishing up with lunch.

Folly Beach and the lonnnnng pier shortly after low tide

We’d gotten a great tip the day we took the loaner car out to shop. Aye mates, shark teeth can be found on Folly Beach. If I can quote our son, “Shark teeth would definitely complete your collection!” Sunday morning off we went, returning with a handful of shells, mahi mahi from Crosby’s seafood and yes, one small shark’s tooth.

Shrimp boats ready and waiting for the season to begin

The remainder of the day was devoted to feeling the spirit of an earlier age as we left behind the 21st Century and explored Middleton Place with the oldest landscaped gardens in America. This restored and multi-faceted plantation was first established in 1705 and Henry Middleton acquired it through marriage to Mary Williams in 1741. For 125 years the property was the family seat of four generations of Middletons who played important roles in American history. It has stayed under the same family stewardship for over 300 years.

Near the remaining house. Mill Pond and bridge to the left

The gardens, laid out in 1741, were expanded during the 1800 and 1900’s with “romantic” additions. In addition to Middleton Place House two brick flanker houses were constructed one on either side of the three-story brick main house. In 1865 Union troops set fire to Middleton Place, destroying the main and the north flanker houses beyond repair.

Butterfly Lakes with the Ashley River in the background

The less severely damaged south flanker was restored by the family in 1869-1870 to be their residence. Not long after the Civil War and the Great Earthquake of 1886 the property slid into neglect. Early in the 20th century direct descendant of Henry Middleton inherited Middleton Place and together with his energetic bride spent many years restoring and enhancing the gardens.

Somewhere beautiful along the Mill Pond

But the former plantation, situated overlooking the upper Ashley River is more than gardens; secret, sunken and otherwise. Today we can walk around the grounds and find the Carriage House; spinning and textile stall; candle, soap, corn grinding and tanning stall; a Cooperage stall, pottery stall, blacksmith shop; a slew of various farm animals; a demonstration rice field and more.

Our first stop was the restaurant (the booklet didn’t say it was anything prior, so maybe it was added in the 1970s) with indoor and outdoor seating. Your choice of a tasty Low Country buffet or order a la carte from a soup and salad menu. Excellent food and sorry, but I had to snicker when the ladies at the table nearby asked what She Crab Soup was. The waiter said, “You must not be from around here.” No ma’am; they were from California.