Go BackTravels of the TER-BARB part 3
TER BARB HEADING SOUTH – PART 3
After spending the Thanksgiving holidays at home in New Jersey with family and friends, we returned to Dock Holiday Marina in North Myrtle Beach on Monday, November 26. I am now going to sound like I am being paid by the Chamber of Commerce for Myrtle Beach. There are so many things to see and do in Myrtle Beach that I do not think you will ever get bored. There are many entertainment venues – Dixie Stampede ( Dolly Pardon’s place), The Carolina Opera House (live entertainment, not opera per se), Alabama Theater, The Blues House and many more. Tons and tons of miniature golf places and along with "real" golf course for the so inclined. Barefoot Landing and Broadway on the Beach which have acres of shopping, and restaurants. Barefoot Landing also houses an alligator attraction and tigers. At Barefoot Landing the stores are all built on pilings and connected by boardwalks with fountains shooting water in the air on several of the lakes. You can also tie up your boat to the docks that are connected to the Landing. Broadway on the Beach has a large lake in the middle and the stores are built around the lake. This lake is large enough to have a paddle wheels boat take you from one end to the other. And, of course, there is the fantastic ocean beaches. We have made friends at Dock Holiday Marina and we are welcome to join in on the fun with Jim Rogers, Skip and Sharon, and several others that we have met during our stay. They ask us if we need anything from the store, post office, etc. as they are more than willing to assist us with whatever we need. They got a laugh when we decorated our boat for Christmas. We have a 3 foot tree on the back deck and Christmas lights on the bow rail and outside of the bridge. On Saturday, Dec. 1 we drove into town and along with a lot of other people watched the Christmas Parade on Main Street. This is the first time we have ever seen decorated golf cart in a parade – there had to be at least 50 golf carts decorated for Christmas. The parade also included local TV people, girl scouts, boy scouts and every local business in town. The dance schools had kids dancing in the street and local singer singing as they paraded through town. On Sunday, we drove over to Merrills Inlet and were also part of their town’s Christmas parade. Again, small town parades are different. The town Sheriff rode in a golf cart (decorated) and all of the local business participated. During both parades, they throw candy to all of the children along the parade route. All of the kids came prepared with bags to gather their loot.
We have had a good time during our stay here but all good things must continue and on Tuesday, Dec. 4 we depart Myrtle Beach. The weather has been great. We have been sunny and warm (65 – 70 degrees) since we returned from NJ; however, last night we dropped into the 30 degree range. It was quite chilly as we left the dock at 7:30 am. We have a 6 ˝ hour ride today to get to Georgetown, our next stop. It is only 57 miles, but we need to navigate the Rock Pile and there are quite a few "no wake" zones along with stretch of the ICW. We also go under 9 bridges (one is a railroad bridge {usually open}, and one bridge we need to have them open for us as it is only 13 feet above the water), the remaining 7 bridges are 65 feet above the water so we just cruise on under. Just prior to going under the Route 501 bridge there use to be a small forest – not any more. They leveled the forest to build more condos. We saw three (3) deer standing on the side of the ICW looking at where the forest use to be and they seemed to be saying – Hey, what happened to our home!!! We have dolphins traveling with us off and on during the day, which is always fun to watch. They jump out of the water or ride along side of us in our wash. The ride today is chilly and we have on our winter jackets. Usually is gets quite warm on the enclosed bridge when the sun is shining. But no sun means the bridge stays chilly. It is windy today. Winds are out of the northwest at 20-25 mph, but since we are in an enclosed area (the banks along the shore line are above us) we are pretty well protected for most of the trip down the Waccamaw River.. Georgetown is a quaint town. There are a lot of older homes, quite a few have a widow walk on the top (for looking out into Winyah River) and date back into 1800-1900. There is a main street to walk down with quite a few businesses to window shop and several small restaurants.
On Wednesday we continue heading south. The wind is howling at 25 mph, gusting into the 30-35 mph range. Again, this part of the trip is pleasant because of the high bands on each side of the ICW. I think ICW stands for "In Continuous Winds". We slowly move down the Winyah River and enter several land cuts, passing McClellanville and Andersonville. As we pass these towns there are houses and docks along the waterway and you need to slow down. We continue to Isle of Palm. Another one of my favorite stops along the way. Again, it is a 6 hour trip, and while it is still chilly (45-50 degrees) the sun is shining and Bob and I (of course Tiger) are just in shirt sleeves, no jacket necessary until we get ready to tie up. We will be leaving here tomorrow to Charlestown. It is only about 14 miles across Charlestown Inlet and we want to arrive early so we have all day to walk around town.
Well, that all for now. Will write again when we have time.