Day 98 - Carolina Here We Come

It was overcast and about 70 degrees at 9:16am when we left for Field’s Cut to the Cooper River and Hilton Head Island, 7 miles back down the Savannah River. There was some debris in the river from the storms that passed through and Greg and I kept an eye out to assist the Captain.  We got all excited when the Captain spotted a nest on top of a light post as he thought it might be an eagle’s nest.  After some research, we now think it was an osprey nest.  We passed Dau Fuskie Island to our starboard.  The name translates to “The First Key”.  There is a “Waving Guy” statue, similar to the “Waving Girl” in Savannah, both dedicated to greeting or saying good-bye to all the ships that passed through to the port.   At the northern tip of the island, there was a ferry boat, Haig’s Point II, leaving the dock; probably going to Hilton Head.  We were now in the Cooper River.

 

We docked at Harbor Town, Hilton Head, at 11:10 am and our plan was to shop and have lunch before moving on to Beaufort, SC.  The shops here are more upscale, serving the golf resort nature of the island.  The island was named for the 17^th century explorer, William Hilton, and is the best known of the South Carolina sea islands.  It is one of the largest barrier islands on the Atlantic coast.  It is host to the RBC Heritage PGA Golf Tournament played in April and the bleachers were still up on shore.  This is the best of 4 golf courses on the island.  We had grouper and shrimp sandwiches/salads at the Crazy Crab, then left for Hilton Head Harbor on Skull Creek for fuel.

 

Beautiful mansions line the Hilton Head western shore.  At Hilton Head Harbor there was a marina as well as an RV Campground.  There was also a friendly blue heron walking the dock, looking for fish.  A small fishing boat pulled up to the fuel dock and when the occupants left, the bird jumped on board!  It was 2:40 pm by the time we were finished here.  We left Skull Creek for the Beaufort River, coming to St. Helena Island on the starboard and Parris and Horse Islands on the port.  The Naval Hospital Beaufort is a large complex just past Battery Creek, the shipping canal leading to Port Royal.

 

We docked at the Downtown Marina of Beaufort at 4:25 pm.  We were anxious to pump out as there was no pump out available at Hilton Head Harbor.  Although we tried to empty the head, this marina’s pump out was not working.  The dock master assured us that they would send a pump out boat by in the morning.  We walked into town but the shops were closed.  The guys wanted to eat barbecue that night so we went to Q on Bay (Street).  Both of them ordered the Barnyard, an enormous plate of pulled pork, chicken and brisket.  Laurie and I were happy to see Brunswick Stew on the menu and we had that.  After dinner we left the patio and went inside to listen to The Bull Grapes, a local band that plays “soul with a Carolina twist”.  They did tunes by Bill Withers, Grateful Dead, Jackson Brown and other “old school” artists and we had a great time with the local crowd as they danced and sang along.