Month: October 2020

Isle of Hope, Savannah

Isle of Hope Marina is in a beautiful area just on the edge of Savannah. The streets are lined with picturesque live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. The marina has an old wreck of a courtesy car but it got us to Savannah for a great dinner and out to Kroger to replenish groceries when we returned from Ft Myers. Today we took the bikes to Wormsloe Historic Site, an estate built in 1736. Wormsloe was the home of Noble Jones, a physician colonist who arrived in Georgia with James Oglethorpe in 1733.

This was a one room house on the estate. It was pretty small quarters for a family. I supposed if someone really got on your nerves, this is what could happen! Actually, the skeletons were part of a kids treasure hunt for Halloween.

Beaufort, SC

We were disappointed that our favorite restaurant is no longer open for dinner. Plum serves breakfast and lunch only now. I miss this biscuits with honey pecan butter! We had a good dinner at SaltUs but the flies were horrible outside. I did meet a couple with a darling little 8lb piebald dachshund. I asked if I could take her photo and the man had to show me videos of her and pictures of their last black and tan. The t-shirt store in town had several dachshund themed shirts. Someone must be a fan. The town is still nice but there are too many vacancies. I spoke with the shop owner where I was buying candles and she said their merchants are really struggling with the impact of COVID. When we returned to the boat, we found that we were locked out of the dock. The marina emailed a gate code to us but it did not work. We called all the office numbers we could find, including the police, but no one was open past 5. After about half an hour, another boater came and let us in. It turned out that the person who emailed the code had transposed a couple numbers.

They have swings lining the waterfront in the city park.

The Beaufort Marina was fairly quiet. It was much busier last time we were here.

Charleston, SC

Charleston is the port of the mega yachts. The boats around us were so big that they blocked our view of the harbor. We spent two days here but it rained the first day so we did not get off the boat. Sunday we went downtown and had a delicious king crab Benedict brunch at a restaurant called Tempest. We then took a carriage ride around the city with a great tour guide who worked as a high school history teacher during the week. After the tour, we splurged on a Charleston praline!

There was a 12 mile Swim Around Charleston event in the morning. This guy swam by our boat. The participants must be in great shape. The current is strong and the water is choppy.

City market was closed inside but vendors were selling from the outside units

Our horse named Trevor. Jeff was the guide.

Georgetown, SC

We made reservations at the wrong marina and ended up at Georgetown Landings instead of Harborwalk which is located in the middle of town. We were about one mile outside of town so we had to get the bikes out. Georgetown is a pretty town with many beautiful, old southern homes. We had grouper at a small local restaurant that gets their fish fresh from the docks daily. Tomorrow we head to Charleston.

North Myrtle Beach

We were planning to stay at Barefoot Marina but they were full so we ended up at the North Myrtle Beach Yacht Club. This was a large marina but not a great place to be without a car. The roads were highways that were not conducive to safe bike riding. We decided it was best to stay here and have turkey burgers at the Officers Club which is the onsite restaurant .

Carolina Beach, NC

We had planned on stopping at Southport but did not realize that Hurricane Isaias had destroyed the docks at Southport in August, 2020, and the marina is closed while being rebuilt. We found Carolina Beach and docked at the city dock. The town is a great resort area with beautiful beaches. There were bike lanes for biking the area and there were bike trails we didn’t get to. Wilmington is about 14 minutes from Carolina Beach. October is a good time to visit this area. The weather is still good but the crowds are way down from what they see in the summer. The two days we stayed, temps were in the high 70’s to low 80’s. There are plenty of fast food places and bars but I think we found two of the best restaurants in the area. We had wonderful dinners both nights and the dock was such a bargain that the savings covered the cost of our dinner.

Scallops with plantains in mild curry sauce at Salt Fish

Beaufort, NC

Once again, we had a great time in Beaufort, NC. It rained all day the first day but the second day, we took the ferry over to Shackleford, Island, home to a herd of about 130 wild horses. We were told that the Spanish brought these horses over in the 1500’s. We walked around the island admiring the horses we saw and did a little shelling. The island was very pretty and it was a perfect day. After returning from the island, we had a great dinner at the Grocery Company, a great restaurant that we visited the last time we were here in 2017.

This guy walked right up to us to say. “Hello.”

Oriental, NC

We spent one day in Oriental, NC. This was an interesting little area where very few people wore masks and most did not seem concerned with COVID. There was a nice art gallery and a large marine supply store that also carried organic foods. The little marina we stayed at had a restaurant and a bar but we did not visit either. Tonight was karaoke night on the porch outside the bar. We listened to a few songs from the back of the boat but we found Netflix more entertaining. Internet here worked well!

Belhaven, NC

Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina fairly hard in 2018. Dowry Creek, the marina we stayed at in 2017 had most of their docks wiped out. When we arrived, we found that a new owner had purchased the marina. They rebuilt the docks and the facilities and are in the process of building a large restaurant onsite. They are trying to turn this into a resort destination. The manager said the 2020 season has been good for them. Many New Yorkers opted to stay here for several months while COVID numbers calmed down. We were able to use the courtesy car to go to the grocery and our favorite restaurant in Belhaven, Spoon River Artworks. I was surprised to see that downtown Belhaven was looking more depressed than the last time we were here. Paul had a photo of the wine we had in 2017. The owner was happy to find one bottle left in their wine room. She said COVID has affected the availability of wines that are available to them. Once again, we had a great dinner!

Norfolk, VA

We arrived in Norfolk on a rainy Wednesday. We stayed two days but it rained all day and all night Wednesday so we did not go out until Thursday. The marina offered a free taxi ride to Harris Teeter grocery store so I took advantage of that in the AM. There was a Dillards in a shopping mall about a half mile from the marina so I walked there and got my shopping fix. We had a wonderful dinner at Luce , an Italian restaurant which was also about half a mile from the marina. Norfolk seems like a great city.