Trip #9 Wilmington, NC - Savannah, GA

Length of Trip: 17 days

Nautical Miles Traveled: 230

Hours of Cruising: 20 hours

Longest Cruising Day:  5.5 hours, 60 NM, Myrtle Beach, SC - Georgetown, SC

Pleasant Surprise: No damage from the hurricane!

Biggest Disappointment: American Airlines (Delta definitely superior as all the awful airlines go)

Favorite Destination:  Charleston, SC

Favorite Activity:  Historic tours by horse-drawn carriages & the roof top bars!

Favorite Meal:  Magnolia's, Charleston, SC

We took a very hot and dirty cab (no Ubers in Beaufort) the hour drive to Savannah.  After checking into our hotel, The Bohemian, we grabbed a quick lunch on their rooftop restaurant overlooking the Savannah River.  We then started our Savannah sightseeing with a Segway tour where we visited many of the 22 squares that intersperse the city and provide little green oases amid all the businesses and historic houses. The squares are surrounded by some beautiful churches, homes, museums and are all shaded by huge live oak trees. We walked back to the Cotton Works for for refreshments on yet another rooftop bar (our fourth this trip) overlooking the river.  Then it was off to dinner at the Treylor Park which was fun and different with a Southern accent (PB&J chicken wings, tacos filled with shrimp and grits).

We began our morning with a brisk walk through the historic homes of Beaufort followed by a horsedrawn carriage ride providing lots of historical context for what we had seen and then finally a bike ride along the Spanish Moss Traill.  The Spanish Moss Trail is a 13 mile paved multi-use path between the cities of Beaufort and Port Royale, SC.  We rode until we could ride no more due to a huge downed tree blocking our path (but almost at the end of the trail).  Beaufort, SC (pronounced BEW-fort) is often confused with Beaufort, NC (pronounced BOW-fort).  Something the locals including our carriage tour guide are quite used to and take in stride from tourists like ourselves.  

While Mike, Debbie and I were doing some shopping, John learned that the yard where he planned to leave the boat at the end of the trip in Savannah, GA would not be able to haul the boat for a couple of weeks due to damage to their docks from the hurricane.   He called every other marina in Savannah looking for short term dockage until the boat could be hauled but found nothing with so many boats needing to be relocated due to damage at their home marinas.  Fortunately the boat could stay here at Beaufort during this time and the Savannah yard was willing to make the hour drive to pick up the boat and haul it once their docks were repaired.  We thus accepted having to "abandon ship" early tomorrow head to Savannah by car, staying in a hotel for two nights.

After a final night of cocktails on the flybridge, we enjoyed dinner at Wren with a quick after dinner drink at the Breakwater.

Our cruise to Charleston, SC took us through beautiful marshes with almost no other boats or houses.  To me it looked like the Serengeti - while I have never been there, I thought that based on photos and films I have seen. During my visual hunt for alligators I saw a small dolphin and decided to also turn my lookout into one for dolphins. No alligator sightings but did see more tiny dolphins and lots of birds -  all in all a really peaceful and pretty cruise.  The state tree of South Carolina is the Palmetto (actually a grass but still the state tree).  It wasn't long before the first palmetto tree was spotted and then within 30 minutes there were palmettos everywhere. 

Debbie and Mike arrived at 4:30 - their arrival delayed 5 days by the hurricane but otherwise as we had planned.  They delayed their departure from San Jose as well as spent a couple of days in Dallas and Waco doing some touring they had always wanted to do.  We quickly got into the swing of things in Charleston (originally Charles Town in honor of King Charles II) by heading up to the rooftop bar at the Hotel Vendue for drinks, then to the Charleston Grill for dinner.

We headed out early to reunite with the boat.  There was no traffic so the 5 hour drive was easy.  We found the boat exactly as we left it with only one minor issue where the lid for the sun shade had blown open causing a few screws to pull out which John repaired later in the day.  We were very fortunate the boat weathered the storm as it did allowing us to resume our trip as planned, though delayed by five days.  John Ubered to the hardware store for some parts for a few projects on his list while I headed to the marina's laundry facility only to find the dryer was broken, requiring me to also hail an Uber to a laundromat.  The Uber driver couldn't find the laundromat we had punched into his navigation as for some reason the navigation kept trying to take us back to the marina.  My phone was on 2 percent battery (that I needed to save to catch an Uber home), so I was of no help.  We finally stopped at a dry cleaner and she directed us to a laundermat and all went smoothly from there, but it was quite the juxtaposition from being pampered at a luxurious hotel and spa to Ubering to a laundry mat to do the laundry in a strange town 20 minutes away. 

I returned to find John busy getting the boat put back together returning the cushions and all the bits we have stored to prevent them blowing off the boat into their proper spots on the boat.  Tired from the drive and chores, we walked to the hotel at the marina and enjoyed a casual dinner in the hotel bar/restaurant.

Saturday was a catch up day with a workout, laundry followed by trying out the various therapy pools in the spa. We were thinking we would leave early in the morning to head back to the boat and resume the cruise but just before dinner at The Golden Fleece, John checked with the harbormaster and he recommended we wait one more day before returning.  While the storm had passed, roads were flooded, trees were down everywhere and power still out for hundreds of thousands of people. 

This Sunday we enjoyed more "forced" R&R which included a giant buffet Sunday brunch, getting caught up on email, some online shopping and lots of pool time.  With the storm now off Virginia there was not a cloud in the sky.  I also managed to fit in a facial before dinner.  To cap off our relaxing stay at Grove Park, after cocktails in the Club Room we had room service and watched the classic movie Bringing Up Baby in the room followed by the Presidential debate.  Tomorrow we plan to be up early and on the road back to Myrtle Beach by 7:30.

Friday we went for a walk around the beautiful neighborhood and grounds, then off to tour the the Biltmore Estate. Built by George Washington Vanderbilt II in 1895 it's the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet and one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age. Vanderbilt employed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the several thousand acre grounds.  Olmsted is considered to be the father of American landscape architecture and was famous for co-designing many well-known urban parks including Central Park in New York City and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Following our tour we spent the afternoon exploring downtown Asheville which included a comedy tour by bus of the city and the Friday Art Walk where all the galleries stay open late and serve wine and other appetizers. Much to our surprise, the town, the estate and the hotel were crowded as thousands of people from coastal towns in the path of Hurricane Mathew had also 'fled' to Asheville. 

A spa, gym, hiking, art galleries - so many choices!  After a day long journey across the country on American Airlines (not my favorite airline), followed by unpacking and prepping the boat, followed by a 7 hour cruise on the boat, followed by a 6 hour drive in the car... it's been alot of sitting, sitting, sitting!  So we were excited to move again and began our day at the gym.  We spent the afternoon by the pool and spa (this is the last sun we expect to see for few days) and had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants with gorgeous sunset views. 

We left by 9:30 for Asheville but due to others evacuating the area, our 5 hour drive ended up more like a 6 1/2 hour drive.  The most harrowing part of the drive was because "the navigator" was working on his email, I missed a turn, and after learning it was 13 miles to remedy the mistake, John peer-pressured me into using the police connector lane to turn around even thought there were cars flying up behind me.  This almost killed us as I was going way to fast when pulling off. Girls, remember never to listen to peer pressure - it could be your demise!

We stopped for a late lunch at the Beacon Drive In in Spartenburg, SC.  Self service style, you start by giving your order to "the caller" who shouts it out to the staff behind him using their own special language.  John ordered the Chiliburger "aplenty" which means topped 6" high with onion rings and fries.   I thought a pimento cheese sandwich would be slightly healthier, while still local.  

We finally arrived at the Grove Park Inn, a historic resort hotel on the slope of Sunset Mountain within the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It is in the Arts and Crafts style and features a 40,000-square-foot modern subterranean spa, which placed #13 worldwide in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Hotel Spas.  We had a lovely room on the Club Floor with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and a tree covered valley below us. We arrived in time to enjoy the hosted cocktails and appetizers in the Club Lounge which served as our dinner given we were tired after the long drive.

While we knew Hurricane Matthew was a potential threat to our schedule, this morning it became clear continuing was not an option.  John made arrangements to stay through the weekend at the Grande Dunes Resort and Marina which as luck would have it was in a reasonably good spot to minimize damage in a hurricane.  John also made reservations at the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Asheville, NC, a place out of the storm band he had been on the Trip Across America and that he thought I would particularly enjoy given its artsy culture.  

With all the hurricane planning complete, we picked up a rental car and stocked up the boat so it would be ready to resume our trip as soon as the storm passes.  We also carefully tied the boat and stowed all the loose bits and cushions on fly bridge and deck anticipating what could be 100 MPH winds.  Most importantly we lowered and secured the bimini top which was sure to be blown to tatters if left up.  John wanted to wash the bimini cover which was adorable with a hurricane coming which would either act as a giant washing machine or smash the boat leaving the bimini cover totally unimportant!  (I was able to talk him out of it.)

We finished our day with dinner and a walk down the Myrtle Beach boardwalk.  It was a lovely evening and aside from the news reports there was little to foreshadow the impending hurricane.  Our walk included drinks at Duffy's on the Boardwalk, which falsely advertised "Hot beer, lousy food and bad service".  While we didn't try the food, the beer was cold and service by some very colorful locals, was excellent.

Following a good night sleep, we 'set sail' around 11:00 am down the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) fueling up while having a quick lunch on board in Southport, NC.

Coming out of the river into the intercoastal waterway there were many branches and logs floating with the current that we had to carefully dodge.  At one point we almost hit what appeared to be a giant telephone pole!  John had to swerve mightily and put on the brakes (which is just throwing the boat into neutral so the propellor won't get bent if it hits).  I thought if we hit this pole we would just bend the props - as we have done once before and just had to take a day to get it fixed.  But later John mentioned that a GIANT pole like this one could've put a hole in the boat big enough to sink us!  I was super uneasy about that as I didn't think that was a possibility.  Between me and this page, we don't have a tender anymore, so with no life boat and only life vests, if we began to sink, we would have to abandon ship and swim to shore.  The swim would be short since we're in rivers and canals for most of the rest of our journey, but I think it is still super scary given sharks and maybe alligators in the south?  So now I'm wanting to give up my yoga deck and get another tender!

The cruise was pretty and peaceful with perfect weather but through a very narrow channel with sand bars on each side so we had to be super careful ... and lucky :).  And, there was a slight miscalculation on the mileage... John thought it was 50 miles and it was more like 80 so instead of arriving at 2:30 it was 6:30 before we finally got to Myrtle Beach, SC as we can't go more than 8 or 9 knots due to the towns, docks and houses along the ICW.

After docking, travesty ensued as when John was ready to make an evening cocktail, he found we were on the last inch of Crown Royal!  And then, Hurricane Matthew was reported to be coming our way!  And only one drink for John :/. We had some serious planning to do!

We arrived in Wilmington, NC in the evening, stopped for dinner at the Pilot House and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the Cape Fear River.  We then ubered to the boat and unpacked.  While the boat yard did a wonderful job preparing the boat, unfortunately they set the refrigerators too cold and all the drinks exploded making for a major cleanup job for Captain John which because of our late hour of arrival lasted almost until midnight.