April 29 – Little River, SC

Myrtle Beach Yacht Club

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination." —Alfred D. Souza

We've enjoyed two pretty days on the water. Yesterday was a little warm and it reminded us why we need to keep moving north. Most of our travel since leaving Charleston has been in the Waccamaw River. The scenery is very pretty as it runs along the lowcountry in South Carolina. As we moved closer to Myrtle Beach it changed from marshland to cypress woods. Besides a noticeable change in vegetation, I also noticed we have gotten rid of the noseeums…they’ve been driving me crazy the last couple of weeks.

The Internet is a great tool for us as we travel. We keep up with the weather and waterway conditions, we can do research on the places we stop and the best part is it helps us keep up with family and friends. It also allows us to be a part of boating communities online, which gives us a chance to exchange experiences and knowledge with others. I’ve made a lot of boating friends online through our blog and Facebook boating groups and tonight I got to visit with one of them. We had a great time getting to “really” know each other and I hope we see her and her husband on the water again.

A beautiful day on the Waccamaw River

Our sunset at our anchorage last night behind Butler Island 

Typical scenery from today 

We've noticed these gondolas each time we've come into Myrtle Beach. They run golfers across the ICW, but it looks like the golf course has been closed and they were not running.  

We see a lot of wildlife when we travel, but today was the first time we've seen a coyote swimming across a river...we also spotted an alligator and an eagle.

Socastee Swing Bridge

April 27 - Isle of Palms, SC

Wild Dunes Yacht Club

“It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop.” – Confusius

We're finally on the move again. Although we didn't go very far today...we stopped at Isle of Palms to visit with the crews of Smiles and Swede Dreams. It was just a ten mile day and we were tied to the dock at Wild Dunes Yacht Club by 9:30.

Isle of Palms, especially the Wild Dunes community is amazing. We can see why our friends enjoy living here. Golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, the beach and a great bike trail that runs through the whole area. It's just over the bridge from Mt. Pleasant and a short drive into Charleston, so anything you need is close at hand.

We enjoyed exploring the area on our bikes and spent a little time at the beach. This afternoon we visited with our friends and spent the evening with Jim and Betsy from Smiles. It's a lot of fun catching up with friends we haven't seen in awhile and we've met some great people during our five years of cruising.

The beach on Isle of Palms

Wild Dunes is a beautiful place...I was too busy enjoying the ride to take many pictures.

Wing night at Dunleavy's Pub with Jim and Betsy

April 26 – Charleston, SC

Maritime Center Marina

"On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it."— Jules Renard

Sometimes I forget how much I love Charleston...then we come back and I remember all the reasons I could live here full time. It's still my all time favorite place we've visited. The people, the food, the architecture, the history, the parks, the shopping…the life. I love it all.

We had a wonderful week in Charleston. We spent time with friends, rode bikes, went to festivals, sat in the park, shopped, ate a lot of good food and soaked in as much of the scenery as we could. It's a fun place to be with so much to do. Most of the blog entries from this past week were repost from our time here in 2013...I took the week off so I could enjoy every minute we had in the city. Here are a few of the highlights of our week.

Charleston is a great city to spend the day sightseeing. This is the United States Custom House on East Bay.

Waterfront Park is one of our favorite places to just hang out when we are Charleston 

Tourists can take horse drawn carriage rides or the local trolley to learn a little more about the city.

The City Market is a historic market complex in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Established in the 1790s, the market stretches for four city blocks from the architecturally-significant Market Hall, which faces Meeting Street, through a continuous series of one-story market sheds, the last of which terminates at East Bay Street.  

Broad Street 

St. Philip's Church 

The Charleston's Farmers Market is something we have always enjoyed. It is more than just fresh veggies...it's a festival in itself. This lady sells locally made sea salt. 

Some of the fresh vegetables offered this week 

The view from the top of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. We rode over the bridge Sunday to go to the Blessing of the Fleet in Mt. Pleasant. The span of the bridge is 2.7 mile. This is a view of the Maritime Center Marina...you can even see The Pearl if you zoom in.

At the top of the bridge

The Blessing of the Fleet in Mt. Pleasant

See the bridge? That's what we rode over to get to the festival. Lots of music, food and crafts.

Dinner with our friends Charlotte and Magnus at The Darling Oyster Bar. We had a great time.

Our last day in Charleston we ate at Slightly North of Broad...it was very good.

S.N.O.B. kitchen 

Stan's flounder...it was amazing

My shrimp & grits...the very best I've had in Charleston

Our home for the week

The view from our flybridge this past week...not bad

April 25 – Charleston Churches

Maritime Center Marina

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you’ll ever know.” —A. A. Milne  

Charleston is known as the Holy City because it was one of the few places in the original 13 colonies that practiced religious tolerance. From the beginning, the city was a melting pot for people of all faiths, especially those who had been persecuted elsewhere because of their religious beliefs. Along with religious freedom came a skyline of some of the oldest and most beautiful houses of worship in the country. Here are just a few of the wonderful churches that are in Charleston.

The Circular Congregational Church, the present building, is the third structure to be built on this site, and was constructed circa 1892. In spite of its name, the plan of the church is more complex than circular; shaped like a clover leaf with three semi-circular parts and one rectangular.

Bethel Methodist Church was the only Charleston Historic Church, which remained open during the Civil War, and it survived the earthquake of 1886 intact. Although there have been interior alterations, the exterior has been well preserved. 

St. Philip's Episcopal Church, a National Historic Landmark, houses the oldest congregation in South Carolina and was the first Anglican Church established south of Virginia. This church is the third building to house the congregation; the first church was built in 1681. This building was completed in 1838.  

First Baptist Church, often referred to as the "Mother Church of Southern Baptists," is the oldest Baptist Church in the South, dedicated in 1822. 

This picture was taken from the Internet...I liked it! It shows the Unitarian Church (1787) and St. John's Lutheran Church (1817) 

April 24 - Charleston, SC

Maritime Center Marina

“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” —G.K. Chesterton

There is a little known walkway in Charleston, called the Gateway Walk. It connects the Unitarian Church and St. John's Lutheran Church, located along Archdale Street to the Circular Congregational Church on Meeting and St. Philip's Episcopal on Church Street. It’s situated in the historic heart of Charleston and yet off the beaten path, Gateway Walk provides a break from the busy main streets as it meanders through old graveyards and secluded gardens, much of the way is in the quiet shade of moss draped live oaks.

The walk was the first civic project of the Garden Club of Charleston and opened on April 10, 1930 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of Charleston. Gateway Walk is one of Charleston's best hidden treasures and very pretty on such a nice spring day.

St. John's Lutheran Church - Established in 1742

The Unitarian Church - the oldest Unitarian church in the South

Part of the cemetery at the The Unitarian Church 

The Gateway Walk between the The Unitarian Church and Charleston Library Society 

Circular Congregational Church and Parish House - Organized in 1681, it is one of the oldest continuously worshiping congregations in the South 

A view of St. Phillips from the Circular Congregational Church Cemetery 

Headstones in the Circular Congregational Church Cemetery - these are from the mid 1700s 

Headstones in the St. Philip's Episcopal Church. John C. Calhoun is buried in this cemetery. 

April 23 – Charleston, SC

Maritime Center Marina

"Life isn’t about getting and having, it’s about giving and being." –Kevin Kruse 

We’re having a great time in Charleston and I will do a post next week of the highlights, but for now I’m enjoying a vacation in one of our favorite places and not spending time blogging…so here's a previous blog that was originally posted a few years ago. Enjoy!

One of the first things you notice while wandering around Charleston, especially south of Broad is the abundance of stunning window boxes overflowing with beautiful flowers on almost all the homes. Many of these homes in the historic district were built during the 1700 and 1800s. These homes were built close to the street, many sharing exterior walls with little green space; therefore planters are the only gardening space available…at least on the front of the home. Although many of these houses have small gardens or patios in the back, hidden from the street.

If you look closely at some of the photos you'll see the boxes have a drip irrigation system, so the owners don’t have to water these window boxes…the secret to why they always look so pretty.

Here are just a few of the wonderful window boxes. If you'd like to see more click here to visit my photo album.