The Freya, Angela, Martha and Dylan Visit

We made it to Charleston in time to get the boat and us cleaned up and the water tanks filled before meeting our daughter Angela and her family.  They surprised us by letting us know, visually, that another grandchild is on the way!!!  A grandson will be added to our joy in March of 2020.  We had been looking forward to seeing them since it had been a long year since our last visit.  This was due to be extra special since we'd be with them on Freya's second birthday.  She is at that stage where she is definitely a cling-on to Mama's leg or Papa's shoulder but we got our cuddles and kisses in too.  She had decided that our names were Peepaw and Memaw.  She even corrected herself one time when she accidentally called David Grandpa.  I don't care what she calls us, just call!  It was a great visit despite the water being turned off to the marina for 3 days due to a city water main leak and weather turning stinky cold and wet.  We managed to make the most of the sun days and with full water tanks we could outlast the lack of shoreside facilities.  We did things that amused a 2 year old so we had a great time watching and hearing her precious OHS and OH NOs when she was pleased or surprised.  You have never seen a chicken until you see it from a two year old's perspective.  It was hard to see them off but look forward to the next visit when we have one more to love.  After they left we were joined by our youngest, Martha.  She is moving from Atlanta to the West Coast so this was a chance to see her before she heads out in December.  She only had a weekend but we made the most of it.  Fortunately at least one day was pleasant and we walked all over the old part of Charleston.  We consider ourselves tremendously blessed to have such great kids and now if we could just get Mary and her family up from Australia....

The 4 of us on Freya's birthday visit to an amazing place, Magnolia Plantation.

The three and one-half of them.

Freya was so fascinated with all the animals at the petting zoo.  Mama
picked the perfect spot to entertain her birthday girl.

Peepaw playing games.

This park had such fun toys.  The  bowl would turn in circles just by the
weight of the kid inside.  She was the perfect size to make it go.

The little girl with the  big laugh.  I made this dress for her cousin
Genevieve and now she fits it.  Made my heart happy to see her wear it.

Come here little chickie!

Waiting for the marina courtesy van.  

Magnolia Plantation had a fascinating display of lanterns.  Even in daylight
they were delightful bits of whimsy that she loved to look at.

Peepaw's arms area  perfect height to see something amazing.

Can't see enough smiles or hear enough laughs.

Maybe if I climb in there.....

This is a cover for a concrete barrier at the van parking area.  She
saw Peepaw hold it and she wanted to as well.  We were all amazed
that she could hold it so long.

Not so sure about something but oh baby, what blue eyes.

Papa watching his budding artist at work. The Children's Museum was
a perfect spot to spend a rainy day.

Mama and baby 2.

Dad and daughter getting creative in the kiddy room.

Love their smiles.

Party central on Blue Moon.  We had fun picking out all the
decorations back in Solomon's.  Some things she liked and some things terrified
her like the horns.  

And she's 2!.

Memaw had to get this tutu.  It just seemed perfect for her.

She was fascinated by all the birds around the marina and ran to
the sides when she saw them.

A fun but tiring day.  

Martha and her dad at the Pineapple Fountain.

Martha is a museum professional and we truly enjoyed touring some of the
old planter's homes in downtown Charleston.  I wish more of the pictures
had turned out but that's life!

Georgetown, SC

Our next spot to stop for a while was Georgetown, SC.  This was a "only a few days" stop but we ended up being there almost a week since we both really enjoyed everything about it.  The town is extremely welcoming to cruisers and make it easy for you to visit.  Good strategy since we did manage to spend money dining and shopping and touring and on and on.  The town had several events in our short time there and we enjoyed the seafood festival, the Halloween town party, and the music fest fund raiser.  They also have great museums and parks.  As with so many places we've visited, the town has a long and colorful history.  They were pivotal in both the American Revolution, War of 1812 and the Civil War (or the War Between the States in Southern parlance)  Many of the houses are from  the Colonial times and Civil War era.  Unlike other towns, we did not see a lot of decay in these old homes.  They were almost all private residences and lovingly maintained.  It was nice to see that the owners valued their part of history.  The people we met were all so friendly and welcoming and seemed genuinely happy to meet us.  We also visited our first cat cafe, the Purr and Pour.  It is a non-profit that sells you coffee and the opportunity to spend time with the kitties in hopes you'll adopt one.  The owner told us that they had placed over 24 during the summer alone.  Turns out they are a growing trend nationwide so we'll be on the lookout in the future.  No, we didn't adopt a boat cat.  We also met a few fellow sailors who made the adventure of cruising all the better.  Overall, one of our favorite stops with more than a few unexpected treasures.

They want you to know where you are and that you are welcome.

The town provided free of charge several places to tie up your dinghy or
your boat for the day.

This beautiful fountain was at the end of the boardwalk lining the river
through the downtown area.

One of the dinghy docks was next to a park where the festivals were set up.
It was also close to the excellent maritime museum, county museum and rice museum.
Georgetown was the place where rich planters came to gather.  First came Indigo then Rice then
ship building.  As economic realities changed so did the town.  Rare to see such long term
adaptive skills.  

This buildings were old but well maintained and the facades were colorfully decorated.

The Halloween Parade and trick or treating went from one end of town
to the other.

This house is the oldest one still standing in Georgetown, circa 1740.

I loved the colors, unique windows and uncommon gingerbread on this
Colonial Era house.  

Not to mention it had great plants too.

The streets for most of the town are well kept and shaded by large oaks.
It really did seem idyllic.

One of the streets lined with historic homes.

Cute guy walking the beach.

As always, we really on the trusty bikes to get us around.  Since Uber and cabs
weren't around we even went to the laundromat on the bikes carrying
our wash in backpacks.  Where there's a will there's a way.

This old steel mill was where we anchored.  The mill closed about 15 years
ago and is now a metals recycler.  Most of the property is deteriorating but
there are rumors of possible other uses.  The folks in this town will probably
figure out how to reinvent it too.

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

I rejoined the boat in Wrightsville Beach, NC.  They made really good time getting south from Maryland.  Hopefully Eric has a better idea of what they want from a cruising sailboat and lifestyle. 
Wrightsville was a nice spot with the look of a million other tourist destinations.  If that is what you want then it's great.  But I can only go to so many shops with same sort of things and bars/restaurants all trying to outdo their neighbor.  The best thing was a very lively and inspiring Catholic Mass.  They were definitely not cookie cutter tourists!   From Wrightsville we moseyed on down the ICW enjoying scenery we skipped on our way North in the spring. Everything from crazy new development to raw, natural beauty.

Unique water fountain at the park where we landed the dingy in Wrightsville.
Art with a purpose and a sense of humor, perfect!

This teeny tiny new moon was still visible just after dawn.

Sunset on the ICW.

Lots of development along Wrightsville Beach

We enjoyed seeing the change of seasonal colors along the way.

One of many, many bends along the way.

Now that is one, big fuel station!  They fuel big ships on their way to far
off places and need a lot of fuel.

A large, classic beauty slowly rusting away at anchor.  She looked
to be aground at low tide.

The new little flowering bush nests in the hollow of an old cypress trunk.

This was a very old and gnarly cypress trunk.

You can see the clouds threatening a storm but the trees made
the day better.

This was an approach to a very scary stretch of the waterway.  A narrow
waterway lined with unforgiving and sharp rocks on either side.

Just in case you can't read a chart, the sign warns you.

This guy wasn't so lucky to stay in the right place.

And this one was even worse!!

So much cheek to jowl new development along the Myrtle Beach stretch of the ICW.

This lone cypress stands up in the river.

At least the houses had really nice landscaping.

The Grand Strand Bridge.  

This house was covered with vultures.  It made us think we should call
someone and have them do a wellness checkup on the occupants.

Neighboring house, no vultures.

This was a first.  A floating bridge to get folks from one side of the waterway
to the next.  Apparently they call for the bridge and it floats across and locks in
for them to cross then is refloats back to it's waiting position.  We didn't get to see in
it action but that also meant we didn't have to wait for it to deploy.

The high dunes at Cape Fear Inlet.

Cape Fear Inlet.  It was calm when we passed but apparently it has
earned it's name on many other occasions.

We never could figure out what this was built for but we could tell
that it was a massive tent over something.

And the AIS starts to be installed.  It will be a multi-step process as
he figures out all the bits and pieces required to integrate it with our
current spaces and systems.

Annapolis Part 2

Actually there is no Annapolis part 2 because none of the pictures turned out, sorry.  At the boat show we spent a lot of money on the list of items we had, mainly a new AIS which will send our data to other boats.  Right now we only have a receiver and no other boats can see us.  Amazingly, many boats use AIS but don't have radar so we have had some near misses since sometimes other boaters don't pay close attention to little details like what is actually in front of them!  They only check their displays then get back to other stuff.  Anyway, it will be a chore to install but will provide another layer of safety and peace of mind.  We also got some great info on equipment and scratched a few things off the dream sheet since it would be so expensive.  On to dreaming about other things!  From the show we returned to Solomon's and resupplied the boat.  Diane and I drove back to Fort Walton Beach and David and Eric headed the boat south.  They had a great time until Eric's i phone flew overboard.  Then is was just a really good time.  No pictures from the trip on our camera so this is a plain old blog post.  I promise more to come.