4/10/18: This was a short travel day – only 28 miles to Georgetown from McClellanville. No crazy shallow shoaly spots to plan around. Tides were not a big concern. Although, if we had planned a little better, we might have had the tide working with us instead of against us all day! We fought a 1-2 knot tide the whole way. It was COLD again – the high today was only 57 degrees. So as soon as we were out of the creek and into the ICW, we headed downstairs to the warm and dry comforts of our living quarters. Some people might think that two helms are not necessary. And for a long time, Captain refused to drive from down here. But on this long journey, we both are thankful for the dry and warm place to be! He still docks and undocks (good word, right?😉) from the flybridge for better visibility.
The ICW here looked like something we are familiar with! It is actually a canal here, with trees! We had a seagull and pelican entourage following us, apparently finding some good treasures getting stirred up in our wake. And I saw a bald eagle swoop down and snag something just about 50 yards in front of us.
We haven’t had to open any bridges for a very long time, which is nice. Our “air height” (from the surface of the water to the top of our radar) is under 17 feet. Most bridges on the Atlantic ICW are 65’. Today we saw a very unusual bridge – a floating pontoon swing bridge. Actually, it looks like a barge that swings across to connect one side to the other for vehicle traffic. It was open, so no problem for us today!
One of Chief Provision Officer Karen’s duties is to find cheap fuel, and plan out in conjunction with Navigator Karen where we should get fuel. (It’s a good thing they get along with each other.) Diesel prices have been averaging around $2.90/gal or so. McClellanville was $3.10. The marina where we would be staying in Georgetown was $2.80. But right there in the same basin was another marina with $2.50 – the least expensive we have seen ANYWHERE this whole trip. So – could we make it? We did all kinds of calculations and yes – it wouldn’t be a problem. So, we pulled into Hazzard Marine’s fuel dock, and took on 222 gallons. Then we pulled out of there, and immediately hailed the Harborwalk Marina for instructions to our overnight spot. The dockmaster told us to go west past the dock on our starboard (right) side, and turn back around, and we’d dock with our starboard side on the inside of the dock. We went by, and as we were turning in, we saw him standing on the dock closest to land – we expected him to be on the outside of the U, and that we would just do one 180* turn, and be facing where we just came from. I called out to him – “You want us over THERE?!” Yep. What he REALLY meant, was to go west past the dock, turn around and go east into the U shaped dock, then spin a 180 degree turn and put our starboard side on the dock closest to land, heading west again! DUDE!? He said there was plenty of room to pivot. Captain was amazing. He just turned Island Girl on a dime and set us on the dock. AH-MAY-ZING! Ba-zinga! He and the Girl are gettin tight!
We docked right in behind our buddies on Sum Escape! It is so fun to keep finding friends -new and newer- at each marina! We went for a nice walk around town. Georgetown has a nice Harborwalk dock along the waterway.
We only had coffee for breakfast, and now it was afternoon. We were hungry. We found this awesome little place for lunch! The Big Tuna! Of course we went there!
It was such a fun little rustic place – we loved it!
Captain has been seeing “she crab soup” on menus at several places. Out of curiosity, he ordered some. Wowza, how could it be yummier?! Check out this smile! It was delicious! He wanted to buy a quart to go!
After lunch, we wandered around town. Georgetown is the 3rd oldest town in South Carolina, after Charleston and Beaufort. It had earlier settlers, but was officially founded in 1729. The original trade was primarily rice and indigo (dye). It has a natural harbor entry from the Atlantic, and became an official port of entry in 1732, which included a customs officer. Prior to this, all import and export shipments had to go through Charleston. The crops were very dependent upon slave labor. By the 1840’s, almost half of the rice consumed in the U.S. was grown around Georgetown. Of course the Civil War (the War Between the States as it is referred to here) changed that, with the eventual abolishment of slavery. With technology changes in the Industrial Revolution, lumber replaced rice as the primary trade. In 1914, Georgetown had the largest lumber producing plant on the east coast. This is really cool to me, since I retired from Weyerhaeuser Company after over 30 years. I have a real affininty for the wood products industry.
Back to the historical buildings of Georgetown. Like Beaufort, Georgetown has a historical district on the National Register. There are over 65 homes that are on the register that date from 1737-1855. I captured just a few. This one made us laugh. Of course the sidewalks weren’t here in the 1700’s. But this sidewalk goes right up the steps to the porch. So the sidewalk had to be rerouted to go around.
This one shows the robin-egg blue ceiling on the porch. This is very, very common in the south. I believe it is a traditional precaution to ward off evil spirits. And spiders.
This one has the little entry way under the stairs – either for the resident troll, or carriage meister, or the grandchildren – I’m not sure which.
Not all old homes are grand. All four of these houses are over 150 years old. And the little tiny blue one is from the 1700’s.
Central to town is the clock tower, built 1842-1845.
This is the Robert Stewart House built between 1740-1779. It is brick rather than wood, and is set right on the river. It is the only brick residence in Georgetown built before the Revolutionary War. George Washington was entertained in this home in 1791.
Many homes were actually built with the side of the home to the street, like this one. I remember seeing this in Charleston too. This one built in 1760, was the family home of Joseph Rainey, the first African American elected to the US House of Representatives 1870-1879.
This is the Kaminski House Museum. It is set right on the river, next to the Stewart House. It was built in 1769, belonged to a “prominant businessman known as the king of Georgetown” and is just a beautiful setting. It is open for tours, but we didn’t go inside. Apparently it has a very impressive collection of antique furnishings.
I tried to get a picture that shows the wood siding on some of the homes. It is very thick! Hooray for wonderfully built wood homes, some that have withstood nearly 300 years of hurricanes and are still standing to tell about it!
We picked up a map of the historic district from the visitors center, right by the marina. Some of the stories for the homes are just amazing. To read that a house was taken over by Union officers during the civil war, or used by militia troops is just amazing history that you can’t discover without being here!
We really enjoyed Georgetown. Beautiful homes that have been taken care of and restored to retain their historical significance. All of the homes are privately owned. I am thankful for people that have a passion to love and restore these homes! Most of them are not “plum” straight. We saw several where the windows are not level, but slant down on one side. One home was like something you might see in a fairy tale, it was so saggy – not a straight line on it. But someone lives there, and it was clean and tidy and taken care of! There is so much history here, and I’ve just touched the surface. I love being here and seeing it in person!