Days 80-84: April 7-11, 2023

When traveling on the Great Loop there are times you can’t or don’t want to boat to a location that you really want to see. In this case, it was Washington DC. Yes, you can boat there. However, we chose not to for a few reasons. The boating distance and time to get there would have added to many days to the schedule. And a bonus was we could get direct flights to Seattle for our upcoming planned trip back to Seattle. The plan included driving up, getting an Airbnb for a few nights, and checking out what DC has to offer.

National Mall

The first stop in DC was the National Mall area to check out the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and all the stuff in between. We used the Capital Bike Share, which turned out to be pretty convenient (our Airbnb was only about a mile and half away) and quite cost effective (was just $20 flat rate/person/month with unlimited rides). Below are pics of the Hodak family making their way past us at the Washington Monument.

Smithsonian Natural History

The next stop on Day 1 was the Natural History Museum. Lots of cool things to see! We especially like the ocean exhibit. 😉

National Zoo

On Day 2 while having morning coffee, the question came up of what we should do today. I grabbed the DC guidebook and said we’d do whatever I randomly selected. The random draw was the Smithsonian National Zoo. After a few minutes of discussion, we were off to the zoo. It was a great excursion and only line was for the pandas, of course. Pro tip: The lumpy blankets in the photo with the sign are the orangutans hiding for a nap!

Smithsonian Stamp Museum

On the Day 3 we decided to go check out Union Station. While walking over we got sidetracked by the Stamp Museum. That’s right! The Stamp Museum. Who could pass that up!?! It was on a whim though actually turned out to be surprisingly neat. Tonia found the Bugs Bunny stamp of which she still has an original – saved from the year Emily was born. Can you find the misprint stamps? We also could create our own Forever stamp and it surely would be a collector’s dream! We even mailed postcards from the post office there.

Union Station

Once we had our fill of stamps, we trekked next door to Union Station. Tonia had pictures of it from high school, so we were reliving her past trip. It has a cool design and houses lots of shops and places to grab grub on your way.

Dinners: Croatian restaurant & Easter dinner

During the trip we had a couple memorable dinners. One was at Amber Shaw, a restaurant that specializes in cuisine from Boris’ homeland of Croatia. It was a fun night trying the various dishes and listening to Boris converse with the restaurant manager. We were treated to

Another memorable dinner was for Easter. Tonia and I stopped by Safeway and picked up all the fixings for Easter dinner. We made due in the Airbnb and made our traditional ham with mashed potatoes and corn. Yum!

It’s all illusions

A fun stop was the Museum of Illusions. We enjoyed going thru the different rooms and seeing all the ways you can trick your brain. My favorite was a room that had a walkway in the middle and the sides spun around you. It really felt like you were going upside down. I couldn’t stay in there long though Tonia fared better in it.

Around DC Part 2

We decided to hit some of the areas we didn’t get to see on the previous days. We biked out to the Jefferson, FDR, and MLK Jr Memorials and took in other sites along our way to the White House.

DC at Night

On our final evening in DC, Mayli declared we were going to see the National Mall at night. We hopped on the bikes and were soon viewing the wonderful images of DC lit up. It’s a perspective not to miss!

Into the travel stats? Not to disappoint, here are the ground travel deets:

Car Trip Details:
217 Miles, 3.5 Hours
Atlantic Yacht Basin to Washington DC

Days 77-80: April 4-7, 2023

We departed Coinjock and traveled up to Chesapeake, Virginia. The trip up was pretty mild. We had two bridges that needed to be raised in our path. They are timed on the half hour so we had to pick up the pace in between so we could make it through without waiting.

We landed at the Atlantic Yacht Basin, the temporary home for Saga and Lil Sudden for the next month while we traveled to DC and Seattle. We chose this marina and boat yard so some work could be done on the boats. Lil Sudden had some preventative maintenance and Saga repaired the damage from Ocracoke. Both required haul outs so they were “on the hard” while we were away. Steve decided to stick with the original plan of Bennett’s Creak. I don’t blame him. $400 for a month’s moorage is hard to beat!

Once settled in, Barbara was nice and gave Steve and I both haircuts before rushing off with friends that were giving her a ride to the airport for her trip back to San Diego for a couple months. We know we’ll miss her scrumptious desserts, salads, and sparkling drinks!

Norfolk

The next day we headed into Norfolk to explore. The first stop was a St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with a cannon ball in one of its sides (the area points to the small circular orb stuck in the brick wall). We visited the MacArthur Memorial and then strolled around a bit seeing the city. We checked out the Taiwanese Pagoda and Oriental Garden on the waterfront in Freemason Harbor where there was a pond with BIG koi fish. We then made our way through the historic Ghent district with unique home architectures on our way to the Chrysler Museum of Art.

Chrysler Museum of Art

After everyone had their fill of walking around, we went to the Chrysler Museum of Art. This is a very cool place and highly recommend stopping. They have glass of all different kinds and from all locations. Amazing! There’s other art too, including an exhibit from Alaska that we recognized right away from our travels there a couple summers ago. Below are just a few highlights of art pieces we especially liked: a cool chess board with glass figurines, Tiffany glass windows, a standing glass chandelier lamp (told Tonia that would not be boat stable), an art restoration in progress, a “tapestry” of multicolored electronic wire over motherboards (my fave), and a hanging steel sculpture with a single lightbulb inside.

Glass blowing at the Perry Glass Studio

Tonia, Mayli, and Michael liked the Chrysler Museum so much they went back the next day to watch glass blowing demonstrations. They even got to watch Grace Whiteside, a contestant on the “Blown Away” glass blowing competition, make a piece in the Hot Shop for the performance art show that weekend. The narrator, Robin Rogers, was also a guest judge on the show. (We watched that full season over the upcoming week that followed!)

Big Pizza!

Meanwhile, the guys were checking out the local fare. The ultimate choice was Benny Damato’s. It was a great slice! We keep reminiscing about that pizza!

USS Wisconsin

After the pizza outing was over, we headed to the USS Wisconsin, a World War II Iowa-class battleship. It was in the Pacific during the war and took part in the Battle of Iwa Jima and Battle of Okinawa. It was in service long enough to be refitted with modern missiles and take part in Desert Storm. What we marveled at was how big it was, especially compared to the aircraft carriers we’d already toured this year.

Video Game Exhibit

The Nauticus museum also had a gaming exabit that went thru the progression of video games thru the ages. Tonia had to check out Tetris of course.

Amazing Glazed Donuts!

Close to the marina was a donut shop called Amazing Glazed. They made fresh donuts just like Pike Place market. The difference is they were then topped with glaze, chocolate, peanut butter (for those with Tonia’s taste buds) or pretty much whatever your heart desires. YUM!

Coda & The Great Bridge

On our last day in the Norfolk area, it was time to move Coda up to Bennett’s Creek. That required the Great Bridge Bridge (yes, that’s the full name) to be raised and a locking thru the Great Bridge Lock. It was about a 2.5-hour journey to get Coda settled in. Then I was picked up for our road trip to DC (to be continued in next post).

Day 77 Trip Details (April 04):
Waterlily, US to Atlantic Yacht Basin, Chesapeake, US
Time 4 h 47 m (09:17 to 14:04)
Distance: 31.67 nm

Day 76: April 3, 2023

The weather calmed down and it was time again to brave the shallow waters around Manteo. We made it out of the shallow channel with only a few “pucker up” moments. After that excitement, the rest of the day was a lazy cruise up to the Coinjock Marina.

This is another relax destination. We walked around the property and down the street a bit, though there just isn’t that much to see. We had a happy hour at the restaurant and then prepared for the night’s dining experience. Steve and I decided it was Hawaiian shirt night. We were the only ones that participated thou.

The marina at Coinjock is known for their restaurant and the restaurant is known for their prime rib. So, you know what we had for dinner! Ok, in full discloser I had the ribeye, which was still amazing, and Tonia had a seafood fare. The others had the prime rib.

Day 76 Trip Details (April 03):
Manteo, US to Waterlily, US
Time 5 h 11 m (08:00 to 13:12)
Distance: 37.04 nm

Days 73-75: March 31-April 2, 2023

Our final stop in the OBX (Outer Banks) was Manteo, a small town on Roanoke Island. We headed out for the day’s trip with a beautiful sunrise. The transit from Ocracoke to Manteo had some narrow channels and the entrance to Manteo basically required a hard ninety degree turn to get in but we navigated successfully and docked up at the Shallow Bag Bay Marina.

Festival Park

The town of Manteo is a nice tourist area. It has a small downtown area with shops and restaurants. Next to downtown they have the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse. It shows a great example of the historic lighthouses of the area. Also close to downtown is Festival Park. The park sports the Adventure Museum, an American Indian town, and a full-size reproduction of the Elizabeth II sailing ship. They tell the experience of what it would have been like for the early English explorers. The museum was pretty neat and showed a lot about the travels and adventures of the explorers. It also told the story of the missing Roanoke settlers—the ones that were to be left for a few months and were actually left for a couple years. What happened to those settlers is still a mystery today.

The ship was very cool to see. I don’t know how 50 people lived on a ship of that size crossing the Atlantic. We have enough angst just going out in the Atlantic up the coast for a few hours.

Axe Throwing

We found out that close by was a trampoline park that had an axe throwing range. After Michael was done bouncing off the walls, we tried throwing a few. It was a bit tricky getting the timing and distance figured out though after a while we got the hang of it.

The Christmas Shop

On one of the afternoons, Tonia and I walked about. During that walk we passed the Christmas Shop, we saw many interesting things in the window, from a whole two-story window of wind chimes and another window with a creepy doll peering out. We decided that we’d need to visit the next day when it opened.

We recruited Mayli and Barbara to join us, and we headed to the store the next morning. The shop has been open for over 50 years and during that time they kept expanding with new rooms and areas. There was so much to see. My favorite was the Bob Ross ornaments! Tonia was partial to Who-ville.

The Christmas Shop had pretty much any kind of ornament you could every think of and much, much more. While shopping the General Store area with lots of food stuffs and candies, we hit up the wine section where they were doing free tastings and, well, couldn’t pass that up. Found a cool mini keg on the sale rack that passed muster.

There was even a Halloween section, where we found the creepy doll window from above spotted the day before. It sported many scary items and was fun, except Tonia said she’d have nightmares. We did think of a couple friends (Jamee and Paula) that would have really enjoyed this part though.

Elizabethan Gardens

The girls did a thing at the place! Okay…time for Tonia to chime in here…

Mayli really wanted to check out the gardens at the north end of the island. The kids and guys were less keen so she grabbed Tonia and Barbara to check it out. While it was still early in the season for some blooms, it was still quite pretty and a lovely little getaway.

Just outside the gardens was the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site where there was a well-detailed museum and there was also The Lost City theatre.

Day 73 Trip Details (March 31):
Silver Lake Marina, Ocracoke, US to Manteo, US
Time 7 h 48 m (06:34 to 14:22)
Distance: 58.23 nm

Days 70-72: March 28-30, 2023

The end of March took us to North Carolina’s Outer Banks or OBX for short. Steve and Barbara are engrossed in the Outer Banks TV series and were excited to go.

This voyage pretty much switched me from Navionics to Aqua Map. Or maybe at least favor Aqua Map. I’ve had many people ask how you run aground. Usually with the added comments don’t you have charts? Don’t you have a working depth sounder? The answer is yes! Well then how? The reality is the southeast coast is shallow and it’s not always the same as the charts. The hurricanes and storms cause shoaling. Then what about the depth sounder? Yep, it will certainly tell you when you are aground. You will not necessarily be able to stop when the sounder tells you one second you are in 7 feet of water and the next you are on land. It just happens that fast.

As we approached Ocracoke, there were two ferries that went inbound, and I actively tracked their AIS track in Coastal Explorer. I dropped a waypoint anytime there was a change to course. This gave me the correct course to follow as it was a good assumption that if they could make it, we could make it on the same path. I took a screen shot of the troubled area and sent it to the group. Upon approaching the channel, one of the ferries was making the return trip out. I told Tonia it was too narrow to enter with a ferry and we’re going to have to wait. Normally, that isn’t a problem, but the waves were not being friendly, and we had to bob around for about 10 minutes. She was not a fan though a trooper and put up with it, and in hindsight was glad she did as we did not run aground.

When entering the channel, I strayed a bit to the starboard of the planned line and went into 4 feet of water. I quickly corrected course and, phew, was through. Not the case with Saga and Coda. Coda can go aground without damage if going slow and if it’s not rocky. Luckily it was a sandy bottom and Coda was able to back up, change course, and push on to find deeper water.

Saga was not as lucky. It came in at the same time as another ferry was leaving so was pushed too far to the starboard edge of the line. And to make things worse, it took a big wave at the exact time it was in the shallower area. Thus, Saga was picked up and slammed down. What was that loud noise? About 5 grand!

To the right are the boat tracks through the area. Red-orange (far right) was the correct route. Blue was Lil Sudden’s path and pink was Coda. Green was Saga that ran aground. You can check out their first-hand account of the event on JustABitLoopy.com.

The first thing you are going to say is the chart above says 2 feet so of course you are going to hit. However, the chart is wrong. The red-orange track maintained 14 ft depth the entire way through this area. What? Yep, it was dredged, and the NOAA chart was not updated. Plus, one of the biggest problems is the green buoy that is shown right in the middle of the chart is not actually in that spot. I added a pink dot where the green buoy is actually located now. So, saying to hug green, which makes sense from the chart, will run you into trouble unless you find the sliver of green area (see left graphic) and turn precisely on it.

You mentioned Aqua maps? Yes, I did. What makes it better is that it has a setting allowing you to overlay Army Corp surveys over the charts. It also has a config that lets you choose if you want old surveys or just new ones. If you choose older ones, it fades them out, so you know it’s older data. As you can see with the image to the left, the channel is nice, deep, and straight. Just keep you boat in the middle – barring any oncoming ferry traffic, and you’ll have 14 feet.

We made it! Ocracoke has a great government dock. You just pay per day and, if you have the annual park pass, it’s half price. A great deal at $28 a night including power.

The surrounding area definitely has the touristy island feel. Golf carts and bicycle rentals everywhere. We were a bit ahead of the tourist season so it was quieter, though that can be nice other than some limited shop hours.

Tonia and I ventured out for a walk of town, which was about one mile down the main road from the boats. At the end we found 1718 Brewing Ocracoke that offered a fun selection of brews as well as a local Wild Pony White wine for Tonia. We treated ourselves to some beverages on the rooftop seating area.

After Tonia’s much-needed massage, a special treat from Mayli, we checked out the Ocracoke lighthouse…

…and took in the sights of the town, including a British Cemetery…

…and other sights, refreshments, and signs.

Day 70 Trip Details:
Pamlico County, US to Silver Lake Marina, Ocracoke, US
Time 4 h 41 m (09:14 to 13:55)
Distance: 69.33 nm

Days 68-69: March 26-27, 2023

We had a fun ride up to Oriental, NC. Well, depends on who you asked. We got caught up in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. Visibility went from unlimited to about 10 feet in the matter of a half an hour. Tonia and I with our Midwest roots didn’t mind the experience and it brought back some old memories of Iowa. On the other side, SteveO was not impressed. The lightening got too close for his comfort.

Random sightings along the way…

As we got closer to port the skies cleared. The plan was to check out the free dock, which had had enough space for two boats but not three. Therefore, Lil Sudden and Coda opted to check into the Oriental Marina and Inn. The public docks were just a few feet down the seawall, so it was like we were in the same marina anyway.

We were greeted by the marina manager, Mr. Cat. Made Tonia’s day after the crazy storm.

The safe arrival drinks were at the Toucan Grill, and we may have had one or two at the Inn’s tiki bar.

Tonia, Barbara, Mayli and the kids walked the town and scoped out the public utilities that have been converted into dragons. It was a cool idea to pretty up the town and goes with the town’s theme.

Oriental has a wonderful marine supply store and a few sites to see while walking around but is a pretty small area overall. We had a lunch over at the M & M Cafe. Tonia and I walked to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and that was pretty much a wrap.

They also had some great sunsets!

Stay tuned next time for the shallow waters leading to Ocracoke.

Day 68 Trip Details (March 26):
Beaufort, US to Oriental, US
Time 3 h 11 m (11:52 to 15:03)
Distance: 20.53 nm

Days 65-67: March 23-25, 2023

Tonia and Boris had to work so I headed into town with Steve, Barbara, Mayli and the kids. The walk to town was just about a mile so a nice stroll. It also passed most of the historical items listed on the map.

We arrived at the information center, and I gave Michael a tutorial on how to play checkers. I was able to prevail. 🙂 However, he vowed to beat me in a rematch later.

Touring didn’t last very long. There was a joke earlier in the day that if it wasn’t for Mayli’s planning that all we’d see were bars. Well, Steve got hungry, so we had to stop at the pub for 6-dollar burgers and 2-dollar hotdogs. That led us to the brewery next door and finally a Mexican restaurant for chips n salsa and margaritas where Tonia joined after work.

The stop in Beaufort was pre-planned to be longer due to storms passing thru with high winds. If you’ve been following, wind has been a common theme for our trip.

Day 2 was one of productivity. A nice walk, a jaunt to the hardware store and couple other quick stops thanks to the marina’s courtesy car—a super-nice perk, and then a stroll into town to get lunch with the peeps.

After an excellent lunch at Moonrakers, we popped across the street to the maritime museum, which had some great exhibits about the area, sea life, and well-known pirate legend Black Beard. He was said to have lived in Hammock House in Beaufort and he also ran his ship aground offshore from what’s now Fort Macon State Park.

We wandered around town a bit more, stopped at an ice cream/coffee/wine shop for refreshments, and hit up Big Daddy convenience store for a couple quick items on our way back.

The last full day in town, the guys and kids headed to the local arcade for the afternoon. It had some good vintage games though was kind of like going to Chucky Cheese.

Meanwhile, Tonia and Mayli decided to check out Fort Macon State Park. The fort was well maintained with some interesting history to peruse. They then hiked a 3-mile trail through the park and surrounding beach bluffs. The little bit of rainy misty weather did not deter them and they had a lovely time.

We found out the restaurant upstairs at Town Creek Marina was supposed to be pretty good…so much so that we couldn’t get in. We called in for a takeout dinner and they accommodated us, and the grown-ups ate on Lil Sudden. And, yes, it was quite tasty!

Departure morning: We managed to get some extra walks in while at dock, which was quite nice. On our last morning in Beaufort, the two of us popped back into town to get a morning beverage (don’t tell Steve) and cookies from Cru.

On the way back, we walked through the Old Burying Grounds cemetery, which has quite the history with many graves from the late 1700s through 1800s. This cemetery even had a brochure about some of the notable gravestones, including a curious grave that Mayli gave a heads-up on was the Girl in a Barrel of Rum (the one adorned with toys; see description photo below).

We then made our way back to the boat passing the former train depot, an artist’s house, and a St. Pat’s chicken. It was time to hit the seas again!

Check out the next blog entry for the day’s quite exciting voyage to Oriental, NC.

Days 61-64: March 19-22, 2023

Bucksport

The day to leave Georgetown arrived. First, we got up early to get Jason, Austin, and Brantley to the airport. It was lots of fun having them and Tonia was sad to send them off, though Keely was surely happy to have her boys home.

The original plan was to head north and find an anchorage. Upon passing the Bucksport Marina, the plans changed. Boris called over and they had space. Just like that we were docked and having a safe arrival beverage on their nice dock. We met Maria on her boat Do It Now doing the Loop. We had a great time getting to know her.

There is not much at Bucksport other than a dock. They have a restaurant that is probably hopping in the summer for boaters and the adjacent campground though it wasn’t yet open for the season.

Onward to Myrtle Beach and beyond

This part of the trip is up the intracoastal to Myrtle Beach and surrounding area. It’s a narrow human-made channel that is pretty populated as you expect. After coffee at Barista Steve’s and checking the weather –sunny on our coast though not so much beach worthy, it was time for our leisurely voyage that included a low swing bridge.

We did an overnight stop at the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes, a nice marina just off the waterway. Not much to report here other than lunch at a place called Drift and a little provisioning at The Chef’s Store.

Barefoot Landing for a little Dick’s Last Resort

We decided to mix things up a bit and do a short stop over to have lunch before resuming the longer day’s voyage. So where else do you go? Dick’s Last Resort to spice up your life. While half the group was ambivalent on this lunch location, they conceded and had a good time anyway. You can’t beat being harassed a bit during lunch.

After lunch we continued the cruise up the intracoastal thru the area named the rock pile. Don’t go out of the channel here or it would be a bad day. We navigated through unscathed. The long voyage brought us to Southport for the night and another nice sunset. 🙂

A bumpy ride to Beaufort, NC

The fleet decided that the weather would be good enough to go into the ocean and save 2-3 hours versus the intracoastal. The problem was the day was 10 hours. The overall weather was fine. However, the swells were enough to make the crew of Lil Sudden and Saga very unhappy. A few were pretty green when we arrived in Beaufort.

Below are a couple short clips crossing the Crossing Carolina Beach Inlet out to the ocean. This part was pretty choppy though doable compared to the 8+ hours of “gentle” swells that followed.

Upon arrival to Beaufort, NC, we were great by wild horses on the beach. A welcome sight to the end of the looooong trip.

Day 61 Trip Details (March 19):
Georgetown, US to Bucksport Marina, Bucksport, US
Time 4 h 11 m (08:49 to 13:00)
Distance: 26.66 nm

Day 62 Trip Details (March 20):
Bucksport Marina, Bucksport, US to Myrtle Beach, US
Time 2 h 45 m (09:42 to 12:28)
Distance: 16.52 nm

Day 63 Trip Details (March 21):
Myrtle Beach, US to North Myrtle Beach, US
Time 0 h 49 m (10:17 to 11:06)
Distance: 4.22 nm

Day 63 Trip Details (March 21):
North Myrtle Beach, US to Southport Marina, Southport, US
Time 5 h 51 m (12:57 to 18:48)
Distance: 38.61 nm

Day 64 Trip Details (March 22):
Southport Marina, Southport, US to Beaufort, US
Time 10 h 42 m (06:58 to 17:41)
Distance: 88.77 nm

Days 58-60: March 16-18, 2023

On our way to Georgetown, we caught dolphins playing in our wake. Jason ran up to attempt to get video too.

We arrived in Georgetown in the evening in time to take the kids to a nearby park and it just happened to be the Sip & Stroll night so after the park, Mayli, Barbara, and Tonia popped into a few stores. It was a fun time with very friendly shopkeepers, sips of wine, and bites along the way. The guys checked out a nearby pub for the March Madness basketball games. Random Georgetown pics follow.

Fun antics on the boardwalk!

Coda at anchor in the sunset.

A preview of tomorrow’s activity…?

Yep, the kids were 100% on board with visiting the cat cafe! Aunt Emily would be proud!

Random pics from March Madness, St. Pat’s celebrating, and more…

Day 57 Trip Details (March 15):
Charleston, US to Charleston County, US
Time 7 h 1 m (09:24 to 16:26)
Distance: 38.63 nm

Day 58 Trip Details (March 16):
Charleston County, US to Georgetown, US
Time 3 h 14 m (13:19 to 16:34)
Distance: 24.59 nm

Day 60 Trip Details (March 18):
Georgetown, US to Georgetown, US
Time 0 h 14 m (13:39 to 13:54)
Distance: 0.19 nm

Day 60 Trip Details (March 18):
Georgetown, US to Georgetown, US
Time 0 h 13 m (19:04 to 19:18)
Distance: 0.28 nm

Days 57-58: March 15-16, 2023

To Steve’s delight, we left Charleston. He had been there over a month prior to us meeting him and was chomping at the bit to get moving north.

The trip took 7 hours, and the kids were not impressed. The first question from them was whether this was all the faster we were going to go. They are definitely not into long cruising and the South Carolina back country did not hold their attention. They did enjoy the multiple dolphin encounters though and played some games along the way.

Before anchoring for the night, we stopped in McClellanville to take on fuel. Boris had called around and they gave us a bulk discount if we paid together. Nice experience and we got permission to tie up by dinghy the next day to check out the little town.

After fueling we headed out to the anchorage. Steve wanted to try something new. Coda and Saga anchored separately and when we arrived, we took a line from Saga and pulled them over to Coda with Lil Sudden in between. It took a bit of finagling. and at one point we were perpendicular to both boats. Bow at Coda and stern at Saga. But we got it to work. Two anchors down gave us extra security for slipping but opens us up to wrapping the anchor chains together, which thankfully did not happen.

Fishing

Boris, Annette and I spent the morning fishing. We caught a few rays, both from the sun and literally sting rays. There were also a lot of small fish biting, so it was a fun even with them being too small to keep.

Meanwhile, in McClellanville…

Everyone else took dinghies and headed into the small, quaint town of McClellanville. There they found tree swings – an obvious hit with the boys, saw Deerhead Oak – an over 1000-year-old tree, had lunch at T.W. Graham & Co. – great seafood, and walked around a bit. Made for a great day!

There was even time for the boys to kayak!

Day 57 Trip Details (March 15):
Charleston, US to Charleston County, US
Time 7 h 1 m (09:24 to 16:26)
Distance: 38.63 nm