Beaufort, SC to Myrtle Beach, SC
Why are the SC and NC towns of Beaufort pronounced differently? Perhaps to better differentiate them, although they are in different states. The South Carolina town is pronounced “BEW-fert vs. “BOW-fert” in North Carolina. Confusing as all get up, especially when you are someone like me and get things reversed. AUGH. We greatly enjoyed “BEW-fert” SC and looking forward to a 3 day stay in BOW-fert, NC next week.
Our journey north from Beaufort, SC began by winding through low country marshland, with a great 3 day stay in Charleston, my all-time favorite US city. A cold front blew through while we were there, taking the temps down to the 30’s for 2 nights; hopefully, that was the last cold front of the season. After departing Charleston, we cruised past Ft. Sumpter in the harbor, the home of the first shot of the Civil War in 1861. We then anchored near Casper’s Island, an uninhabited island with a beautiful beach and short hiking trail, where Murphy enjoyed the freedom of running in and out of the surf and fetching sticks both the day of arrival and the next morning before we departed (even though it was a chilly dinghy ride to the island as the temp was in the 40’s…brrr). The top blog picture is of me sitting on a top of a what looked like a giraffe to me on the island. We enjoyed exploring the island with our new friends, Roger & Chris, also aboard a Mainship 400.
Georgetown, SC was our next stop of the loop. Did you know the world’s largest paper mill was built in Georgetown, SC by International Paper in 1936? The plant is still active today and the distinctive paper processing smell was quite evident during our walk along the historic downtown waterfront. We enjoyed an Easter brunch at a local restaurant known for its good southern cooking (my Egg Bowl included collard greens and it was very scrumptious).
Continuing on to Myrtle Beach, SC we stopped at a quaint marina which gave us the best SWAG bag ever (I’ve included a picture below). It included a jar of Hot Pepper Jelly. I am not much of a jelly fan, but I was hungry and there were crackers included, so why not try it? It had such a great flavor that I am now addicted to this jelly, so much that I had to go to the grocery store for more crackers. I ate it on toast the following morning with peanut butter – yummy!
As we cruised north, we passed Myrtle Beach’s tourist trap, I mean..er…destination. It reminded Dave and me of International Drive in Orlando. My oh my. I’m glad we were in a quaint little marina south of town.
Two quick things to note.
- A/C Problem. Our A/C (which also runs our heat) has gone kaput. Dave is currently troubleshooting and so far, the A/C water pump relay board and the forward A/C control panel have both failed. We will order news ones, but Dave really wants to understand what caused them to blow. At least the weather has warmed and is not too hot that we need A/C.
- Floating Tiki Bars. Pictured below is a group having a great time as they floated by. I want to go on one!!!
We are now entering week 2 of the loop and the next blog will take us to Beaufort, NC (yes, you to now know how to correctly pronounce it). 
Dave, Brenda, & Murphy
Wow! Great write-up!
We are almost there with you guys—
As much as I enjoy Murphy’s journals, you take much better pics 😉
Enjoy!
Now that is the kind of history I could enjoy. I was never good or liked history, I always felt it was biased, and the old I get the more I truly believe it is biased. But, learning locally is much different. It is more factual. Yes Myrtle Beach is such a tourist trap. I was there in the 60’s. The east coast has so many interesting things that one misses unless you have been there. You are doing the loop, and people like ourselves will never experience. What a journey you are able to enjoy with all the amenities, including MURPHY. I can tell you, your dad is enjoying your trip right along with you. He is there enjoying all the sights and sounds and thinking how proud he is of his daughter that she is so successful, enjoying one of his hobbies, and touring the “loop” . He is one happy Co-Captain. He loved the water, boating and many other experiences to numerous to mention. He even shot a hole in his 12’ aluminum. I could never imagine the concussion from the shotgun blast did to his ears. The garage door was closed which would make the noise even worse. I tell that story, because after all said and done, no one hurt, that we can laugh about events such as this. Don’t kid yourself, we all have events in our lives that we wonder, “why in the world did I do that”. No one got hurt, so it will be a memory we can laugh at and enjoy. Thank God it was in his garage and not out on the water.
Sorry for rambling on. I have many stories and experiences to share with you about your dad. He was a very dear friend, a boss, a co-worker and a person very near and dear to my heart.
Yes. He did. He had some old brown cushions that Rob Whitney had 2hen he moved. Jerry had them in his garage forever. Anyway he, like you said, leaned about 4 -5 cushions against the boat and fired his 12 gauge shotgun and right on through the cushions and through the the aluminum. (With the garage door CLOSED) Not sure what the gauge of the aluminum.
So it doesn’t sound like Jerry was completely nuts his purpose of firing the round into “the cushions” was we had been shooting a lot of trap,Jerry was reloading our shells and he was adjusting the loads and wanted to try one out. After that. We took the loads to the range to shoot some trap @nd see how the loads were doing. I am not kidding when I say this: after we fired abou5 3-4 rounds apiece, the guy that worked at the range came over to us and ask what kind of loads we were shooting. Jerry told him and he ask us to leave. He said MAN!!! Those loads are too HOT!!! Get off the range…. we left and took the loads and dismantled them and went back to loading by the book…..all in all, the whole process was funny, because no one got hurt, Jerry had a hole in his boat and our shotguns made it through without being damaged and Jerry and I was a little bit more 2iser through another dumb experience. Godward with us every step of the way. There are several more incidents
LOVE being included on your adventure😘
I need some extra clarification on Beaufort NC, is it BOW as in bow-wow, or BOW as in bow tie? Charleston is awesome, loved it there. Enjoy your Merchberger cruise!