A surprisingly cold night. I had not dressed properly for the temperatures in the low 40s. Up early to layer on some clothes. Walk around the docks just to warm up, then head to Mameem's, the little cafe, as soon as it opens for a pastry and tea.
Adam comes down to the dock to help me cast off. I thank him for his hospitality. Motoring out of Factory Creek, I pass under the bridge. I have heard some visitors call it the Forrest Gump bridge as it was the stand-in for the Mississippi bridge in the running sequence of the film.
I head to the fuel dock in Beaufort to top off the gas can. Kathy, the dock master, remembers SPARTINA from earlier visits. I tell her I just need gas, not a slip for the night.
But as I look at the pretty Beaufort waterfront, I decide maybe I would like to spend the day there. Why not? A nice little southern town, good restaurants and a great book store. SPARTINA becomes a bigger boat when I go to pay for the slip, the minimum docking fee is for a 25' boat. Still a modest price for a visit to town.
Lunch is at Luther's Rare and Well Done of Murdaugh fame. Then back to the docks to clean up the boat and visit with some cruisers tied up there.
Lots of walking around town, a visit to the bookshop to look at the collection of Pat Conroy books. I take a moment to read from The Prince of Tides and smile.
"I was born and raised on a Carolina sea island and I carried the sunshine of the low country, inked in dark gold, on my back and shoulders. As a boy I was happy above the channels, navigating a small boat between the sandbars with their quiet nation of oysters exposed on the brown flats at the low watermark."
Dinner is a wood-fired pizza at Hearth washed down with a cold beer, or maybe two.
1.1 NM
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