The End of the Line - Almost

 

 

 

 

from SC

First photo of us with our friends Char and Steve in Beaufort; they are traveling the ICW on their 36 foot sailboat, Namaste.

Second photo of our Roadtrek van with the boat trailer.
We had driven a rental car to FL to pick it up and we were on our way back to SC.

Last two in Charleston at the Mega-Dock at the City Marina. We were pretty far down the 3000 foot dock and our boat could barely be a mascot (or dinghy) for those BFBs -- uhhh, big boats.

This is where we pulled out just yesterday morning. And our timing was good..we had been thinking about boating further north. Our friends and others are delayed -- many bridges are closed in the NC area due to the wildfires.

History Lesson in Charleston

We took another walking tour, this one in Charleston, SC, a larger city than Beaufort
with another character. We really enjoy touring with one-person companies.

Marianne, a British transplant, came to Charleston in the 1960s and has been leading walking tours for 25 years. She is older than us, recently celebrated a birthday, and will not divulge her age. Can you guess from the photos? She's oh-so-proper with just-so make-up, a straw hat, her slim body in neat top and skirt, adorned with a double strand of pearls and matching earrings.

She too had a shipwreck story (so did Jon Smart,our tour guide in Beaufort and he milks it for all he can) but gave us only the briefest of detail -- it was off the coast of spain when she was 19.

Alan and I were her only strollers today and she lamented that April is usually very busy. Maybe it is the end of an era...this walking and talking. We saw a number of full horse-drawn buggy tours go by but they don't stop and go into gardens, churches, museums, etc.

Of course, the city history is full of rich white men, the slave trade, the churches (which are beautiful) and the natural disasters (hurricanes and earthquake).

Marianne is interestingly opinionated with first-hand knowledge from her experience with historical preservation projects and serving on local boards.
She, and we, were appalled that in the recent renovation of City Hall rather than restore it with Georgia marble, the city had it imported from Italy.
As part of the changing of the town she also related how she used to be invited into certain neighbors yards, whose inheritors are not so welcoming.

There's a hint of school marm when Marianne seems slightly disappointed that we can't correctly answer her southern history quiz-type questions and
she doesn't warm up to me, I don't charm her, probably less so the more I try.
Alan reassures me later it is her, she is very British

And an unplanned but serendipitous meeting along the way...
a woman in her side yard as we go by asks if we'd like to see her enclosed garden. Which we do and chat and then I ask her a few questions and from her answers can tell that she's probably an academic, maybe a writer which she is and then I figure out that many decades ago I was in a class with her sister-in-law at the
New School (taught by Letty Cottin Pogrebin, a founding editor of MS magazine).

The tour ends with tea in her small courtyard garden. It has seen better days just like she has. Overgrown weeds and former hopes, shabby elegant.A real delight.

History Lesson - Charleston, SC

 

 

One Complaint...Oh, My Aching....

I haven't felt this way since 1976.
Two weeks after I returned to NY, after my second round-trip across country (lasting almost a year), I went for a medical consult because I had a recurrence of vertigo and insomnia. When the practitioner questioned me, I replied that I had driven a U-Haul van from CA. That was the real source of my problem she said... Seems like my body was still vibrating from the travel, especially when I lay down to sleep.

Although this time my body is being moved even when we are standing still as well as taking the vibrations/movement with me. When I am on land I still feel the rolling. Alan keeps reminding me it will take a few weeks to get my land legs back.

But I am not sure I can really say I have my sea legs either. When we first started this part of the trip I felt like an agile salty. I could lithely go forward with a line and jump off onto shore from various points on the boat. But after days of that and nights in the small cabin with no headroom, I am withering and tightening. A little sciatica here, another discomfort there.

I'm gonna need a vacation from all this leisure!

The Dance of the Details

Logistics....we knew we would be looking for the confluence of services and convenience. Weren't sure when we began this part of our trip how far or long we would go. Thought for a number of reasons that we'd pull out before the end of April.

So, based on the stars...the weather, a place to rent a car, a launch ramp, a place to leave the boat securely while we drive down to Stewart FL to get the van and trailer, Charleston seems to be it!

Tomorrow for touristing and Tuesday for driving to FL.
A few days of travel.

We can see home.

Charleston, Charleston (da-da-da-da)

We took another long leap...for us in the boat that is....about 70 miles from Beaufort to Charleston, SC. A large and busy port. We stayed by the maritime center dock last night and got bounced around so moved over to the larger city dock and are getting bounced around...more expensive and the restrooms/facilities are a looong ways to go.

But enjoyed our sojourns today. I walked around the historical district and to the National Monument (for Fort Sumter and the civil war history) and Alan sailed for awhile as he wended over to the other marina.

Then we met at the downtown market....interesting booths and wares, including local specialties from pecans and pralines to sweetgrass baskets.

Tomorrow more touring and then...
stay tuned.

A Friend's Request... Participate?

Hi...
When was the last time you heard someone make a truly outrageous statement?
The one statement that causes you to say, “What the …?” For instance, the mechanic who said my right tires wore out faster because I “made so many right turns,” or the car dealer who said if I’d wanted a good paint job (on my brand new Corvette) I “should have gotten a Cadillac.”

I’m looking to collect as many outrageous, ridiculous, unbelievable (and yes, even bitchy and sexy) of these stories as possible and I would like to add yours to my collection.

Send whatever you can – things your lover, first date, last date, boss, co-worker, mother, brother, in-laws or neighbors have said to:
please cut and paste this to your e-mail address line.

whathaveyouheard@hotmail.com

Then, please send this e-mail to people you know. I would like to get as many responses as possible and could really use your help in casting a wider net.

Everyone who contributes will get a list of the compiled outrageousness.

I appreciate your help with this endeavor and look forward to reading your best outrageous declarations. This should be fun! At the very least, it will provide a reprieve from the daily grind . ... and maybe get that little something “off your chest.”

Michael