Sunday Nov. 21, 2010: Georgetown, SC to Charleston.

We left the marina at Georgetown, SC at 9 AM traveling south through Winyah Bay at Georgetown and back into the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway).  Much of our passage was through marshland sprinkled here and there with higher land allowing for beautiful pine and oak forests.  Much of the marsh both coming into the Georgetown area and traveling south from Georgetown was once devoted to growing rice that was renowned around the world.  Rice growing prospered from slavery and was the financial mainstay of coastal South Carolina from the 1700s until the end of the civil war.  Knowing that history, it saddened us to think of the many slaves that toiled and died hand digging the canals and clearing the marsh grass to permit the rich way of life afforded the slave owners. 
As we continued our motoring south we passed a few remote cabins along the ICW.  These cabins were accessible only by boat and were built on higher hammocks close to the waterway.   There also were several upscale housing areas that we came upon.  Some had dock walks that were up to 1000 feet long to get over the marsh to the water's edge.  As we approached the outskirts of Charleston,  the housing became quite dense as people have been tempted to live by the water.  I wondered what kind of damage another hurricane like Hugo would wreak on these wood framed homes all built since Hugo.  We saw just how strong a tidal surge can be in the remains of a concrete bridge that was close in to Charleston.  The concrete road surface was carried away by the tidal surge of Hugo and the concrete piles were twisted and broken.

We arrived at Charleston City Dock about 4 PM and tied up for the night.  We decided to stay in a marina so that we could meet up with Sherry and Bart who have been very good friends of my sister Judy for over 40 years.  We will spend two nights here before heading south again on Tuesday morning.  We are in no hurry to get anywhere and want to spend more time touring when we can.

Some of the coastal forest

An island barge

We saw a lot of open marsh

Marshland cottages