South Carolina - Hilton Head to Charleston

Hilton Head

South Carolina is our 7th state that we have traveled to. We didn't stop in Hilton Head but we saw it from the water. Although it is hard to see from this photo, the Harbour Town Lighthouse is dressed in plaid with a half mile of vinyl. It was dressed this way to celebrate it's 50th golf tournament.

Beaufort, SC is situated on Port Royal Island.  It is known for its antebellum mansions.

The marina is pictured above as you walk up from the docks. In the photo below, you can see Second Wave (line 7) is one of 5 boats that arrived on 4/26. Notice the headings on top of the board. There's a lot of information there each marina tries to juggle when accommodating so many "transient" boats just passing through their area.

The tides here can reach 8 feet. This becomes more apparent when you look at the growth that accumulates on the piling below as the floating docks rise up and down the length of the piling with the tides.

Downtown Beaufort, SC has many cute little shops lining both sides of the street.

The homes below are just outside of the retail area downtown. Some are over 200 years old.

Historical plaques are all around the waterfront.

That's a good boat name!

Welcome to Charleston, SC

Charleston is a port city founded in 1670.  It is defined by its cobblestone streets, horse drawn carriages and pastel antebellum houses.

At the Charleston City Marina, however, big boats a big fuel bills are the name of the game on the Mega Dock.

These were our wheels while we were in Charleston. A courtesy car was provided by the marina to go get groceries or run errands. This is always a huge plus at any marina especially if the marina is not within walking distance to grocery stores, marine stores or restaurants.

We visited Magnolia Plantation and Gardens-North Charleston.

We enjoyed our day at the plantation with Meg and George Sanders who we met at the marina and also are traveling the Great Loop. The plantation is a historic house with gardens located on the Ashley River.  It is one of the oldest plantations in the South.  

Quite a large alligator in that pond.

Again, a lot of history here (in both the above and below photos!)

So this is what they sell in the Gift Shop of a former plantation.

Downtown Charleston - Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

Another historic church that we attended Sunday mass at.  It was a very formal church and we were way under dressed. The congregation said many prayers in Latin so Brent's broken Spanish was of little use.

Historic walking tour in Charleston-after mass we took a tour with a professional guide. The picture below is of Philadelphia Alley; infamous for being the location of many pistol duels up until the end of the 19th century.

This is our walking tour guide.  He is a retired history teacher from Virginia.  His knowledge of Charleston's history was amazing or just history in general.  The tour was supposed to go for 2 hours and over 2.5 hours later it finally concluded and he could have gone on for another 2 hours.  He really enjoyed his job!!

This is the tomb of former Vice President John C. Calhoun.

The Pink House of Charleston, SC dates back to 1694.

The building above was the Slave Market in Charleston. Charleston was one of the major ports of entry for Slave ships. At one point, 35-40% of slaves entered the United States through Charleston. Today it operates as The Old Slave Mart Museum. Unfortunately it was closed when we were there.

Charleston also has a huge maritime past as evident by this street sign.

After we leave Charleston, we head for an anchorage in Awendaw Creek for a one night stay before cruising up to Georgetown, SC.