Another beautiful morning-is there any other kind on this island?
A barge was coming in while we waited for our water taxi. It was amazing to watch the captain "walk the dog" and bring that huge watercraft exactly where he wanted it.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Leaving Daufuskie Island
Since it was our last morning on Daufuskie, we thought we would mix it up. I sat in my favorite adirondack, but Mark sat in a dining room chair, stiffly I might add.
Another beautiful morning-is there any other kind on this island?
We had to pull ourselves away from this glorious spot because we had a boat to catch. So we (really I) had to pack up our golf cart because Mark was still hurting and moving ever so carefully.
A barge was coming in while we waited for our water taxi. It was amazing to watch the captain "walk the dog" and bring that huge watercraft exactly where he wanted it.
Daufuskie Island is a magical place. Part of its appeal is that one comes and goes by way of the water. When you come here you can leave all your cares behind you. I know I am already thinking about a trip back.
Another beautiful morning-is there any other kind on this island?
A barge was coming in while we waited for our water taxi. It was amazing to watch the captain "walk the dog" and bring that huge watercraft exactly where he wanted it.
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Thursday On Daufuskie
Woke up to our last full day on Daufuskie Island, and not wanting to change our routine, had our coffee on our favorite Andirondack chairs while we gazed at the ocean. It was a beautiful morning with warm breezes and clear skies. The perfect time for a morning stroll.
We were making our daily walk on the beach when we realized we were running out of beach because of the encroaching high tide. As usual we left our sandals at the reed line on the beach in front of our cottage, but we were about a half a mile down the shore, and if we didn't pick up the pace two things would happen. The first and most important would be that we would be swimming the whole way back, and secondly our sandals would be lost to the surf. We decided we would run back, and of course with Mark being the much faster runner that he is, sprinted ahead to save our sandals. I was about 50 feet back when Mark reached the shoes and pumped his fists over his head in a Rocky like dance.
We were warm from our exertion and decided we would go for a swim in the ocean. I want to prefice the rest of the story with something Jim had told us earlier in the week. He said if we planned to go in the ocean it was a good idea to wear shoes because the horseshoe crabs like to hang out in the shallows and were very sharp, when stepped on. After putting on my sandals I was in the ocean lickety split.
I was being tossed around in the waves and I looked back wondering as to what was taking Mark so long. Unfortunately, the look on his face said it all. As he bent over to strap on his sandals he felt a giant charliehorse in his lower back. How was pretty much "toast" the rest of the day, and tried to find comfort and relief from the pain. We were leaving on Friday and knew we had an hour long boat ride and at least another 12 hours in the car.
Mark alternated between spending the afternoon in and out of the non heated pool, which acted as a lower body ice pack, and laying flat on the floor. At least he could still see the ocean from where he was laying.
I made a couple back and forth trips from our cottage to the golf club so I could return our bikes. I surely got my exercise that day.
We had reservations for dinner at the Eagles Nest, and because there was no food left in the refrigerator Mark said he could make the drive over, but I would be driving the golf cart. We needed to take a much longer route because we wanted to stay on "pavement" and avoid the bumpiness of the dirt trails.
With no drug store, Mark eased his pain with a couple Driftwood martinis. After a wonderful dinner of stuffed eggplant and cannellonis, we headed back in the pitch black night, but this time we didn't turn off our headlights.
We were warm from our exertion and decided we would go for a swim in the ocean. I want to prefice the rest of the story with something Jim had told us earlier in the week. He said if we planned to go in the ocean it was a good idea to wear shoes because the horseshoe crabs like to hang out in the shallows and were very sharp, when stepped on. After putting on my sandals I was in the ocean lickety split.
I was being tossed around in the waves and I looked back wondering as to what was taking Mark so long. Unfortunately, the look on his face said it all. As he bent over to strap on his sandals he felt a giant charliehorse in his lower back. How was pretty much "toast" the rest of the day, and tried to find comfort and relief from the pain. We were leaving on Friday and knew we had an hour long boat ride and at least another 12 hours in the car.
I made a couple back and forth trips from our cottage to the golf club so I could return our bikes. I surely got my exercise that day.
We had reservations for dinner at the Eagles Nest, and because there was no food left in the refrigerator Mark said he could make the drive over, but I would be driving the golf cart. We needed to take a much longer route because we wanted to stay on "pavement" and avoid the bumpiness of the dirt trails.
With no drug store, Mark eased his pain with a couple Driftwood martinis. After a wonderful dinner of stuffed eggplant and cannellonis, we headed back in the pitch black night, but this time we didn't turn off our headlights.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Wednesday On Daufuskie
Slow Down! The week is moving way to fast. Wednesday morning starts like every other morning that we have been here. We decided to take the golf cart this morning because they were calling for some rain this afternoon (it never happened, in fact it cleared up). Our first stop was the fire station.
Pretty nice place, We spoke with a retired Hilton Head Firefighter who had been recently hired with Daufuskie FD. He said he loves it here. They work a 48-on 96-off work week. I'm envious. We met Fire Chief Eddie Boys, a very nice guy. Got to take a picture in the Fire Chief's vehicle. While we were there Pat Beichler came in. Pat runs the Daufuskie Community Farm, which interestingly enough, was our next planned stop.
We did a little more exploring after that, checking out Boody Point Cemetery. Bloody Point is named after a violent battle in 1715. It is said that the beach at Bloody Point ran red with blood. We headed back to our usual late afternoon at the pool. We just finished some great chicken sandwiches that Jane made and now are enjoy a special bottle of wine that we had brought back from Italy.
Ahhhhh..... the island life.
Pictures from the farm.
The turkeys were hungry, food was on its way over in the barge.
We continued on with some more historical exploring.
In the 1940s and 1950s Daufuskie Island was known for it's oysters. Oyster harvesters and shuckers used to meet in this hall. Pollution in the Savannah River killed the world famous Daufuskie oysters.
We then grabbed lunch at Marshside Mama's, an eclectic place and very much an island institution.
Not fine dinning but the food was good.
Our next stop was the Iron Fish. Chase Allen is the artist and proprietor of The Iron Fish. We got a chance to talk to Chase while we were there. Chase chucked it all 12 years ago and followed his dream to Daufuskie, where he now makes iron sculptures. He tells the story better then I do so check out his website.
Ahhhhh..... the island life.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Tuesday on Daufuskie
It was nice to have the windows open last night, we woke up to the sound of the ocean. Typical morning start; coffee, ocean, chillin. When we did finally decide to venture out, we grabbed our bikes and headed to The Island T-shirt & Gift Shop.
Sylvia is the proprietor there, running the shop out of a small room in her house (of course, I forgot to take a picture). Sylvia and her husband, Capt. John came to the island 26 years ago. Sylvia happens to be from Garfield Hts., Ohio and started her journey to Daufuskie on a sailboat with her husband. The plan was to sail to Florida. They ran out of money around Hilton Head and pulled in to port to find work. They found work the very next day and after a few years headed over to Daufuskie where they are now an institution. We bought some her cool stuff there. Sylvia can be reached at marshycat1@hargray.com.
While we were in Sylvia's shop we got to talking with another friendly lady by the name of Leigh Anne W. Hoover. She is the author of the children's book The Santa Train Tradition. The Santa Train is a real life event that has served the Appalachian community for over 60 years. As a writer, Leigh got an opportunity to ride the Santa Train. That ride turned into a passion and The Santa Train Tradition was born. Leigh was kind enough to give us a signed copy of her book. Our grandson Max will love it. Thanks Leigh! Be sure to check out Leigh's website.
Just down the road from The Island T-shirt & Gift Shop is another local institution, The Silver Dew Pottery. This establishment is run by R. Lancy and Emily Burns. Lancy's grandfather first came to Daufuskie in 1898, moved there in 1913 as a lighthouse keeper. In the mid-50s he own and operated the Silver Dew Winery which is where their name came from.
We caught Lancy hard at work. Lancy has lived on the island all his life. He did venture off for a time but he told us there was nothing better than Daufuskie. He has been here "bust to boom, and boom to bust.". He was even here when the island had a population of 45. He told us all about his art and his way of tieing in the style of Indian pottery (remnants that he has found on the island) into his pieces. He shared stories about his life with his wife Emily. He was very interesting to talk with. Besides the great conversation, Lancy makes some very beautiful handcrafted pieces of pottery. We left with a berry bowl and a couple of great coffee mugs. Lancy makes his cup handles with an indented spot to rest your thumb. As he says, there is something comforting about it. I can't wait to have a cup of coffee in mine. Lancy can be reached at rburn@isic.net.
So as not to over tax ourselves we spent the rest of the day laying by the pool then going for a long walk. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Sylvia is the proprietor there, running the shop out of a small room in her house (of course, I forgot to take a picture). Sylvia and her husband, Capt. John came to the island 26 years ago. Sylvia happens to be from Garfield Hts., Ohio and started her journey to Daufuskie on a sailboat with her husband. The plan was to sail to Florida. They ran out of money around Hilton Head and pulled in to port to find work. They found work the very next day and after a few years headed over to Daufuskie where they are now an institution. We bought some her cool stuff there. Sylvia can be reached at marshycat1@hargray.com.
While we were in Sylvia's shop we got to talking with another friendly lady by the name of Leigh Anne W. Hoover. She is the author of the children's book The Santa Train Tradition. The Santa Train is a real life event that has served the Appalachian community for over 60 years. As a writer, Leigh got an opportunity to ride the Santa Train. That ride turned into a passion and The Santa Train Tradition was born. Leigh was kind enough to give us a signed copy of her book. Our grandson Max will love it. Thanks Leigh! Be sure to check out Leigh's website.
Just down the road from The Island T-shirt & Gift Shop is another local institution, The Silver Dew Pottery. This establishment is run by R. Lancy and Emily Burns. Lancy's grandfather first came to Daufuskie in 1898, moved there in 1913 as a lighthouse keeper. In the mid-50s he own and operated the Silver Dew Winery which is where their name came from.
So as not to over tax ourselves we spent the rest of the day laying by the pool then going for a long walk. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Monday on Daufuskie
Okay, typical Daufuskie morning start, (Sorry sitting on the porch right now writing the blog, about 8 pm and a buck just ran past us heading to the beach) anyhow, morning started with a cup a joe while sitting outside looking at the beach. Placed a call to the rental agent to complain about a few issues with our cottage, like the bedroom windows don't open, and the TVs don't work. They said they would have Jeff come by around 12 to fix it.
We worked our way up to the club house around 9:30 to rent some bikes. Susan, who manages the the Melrose Beach Club fixed us up. We are finding that people are very friendly on Daufuskie and we spent about an hour talking with Susan about the island. We spent about 2 hours tooling around the island before making it back to our cottage. We then spent a couple hours in the sun by the pool were we met another nice family.
We got back to our cottage around 3 to find Jeff hard at work programming our TV. He said he had to take a crow bar to the windows but they now open. We found out that Jeff is a retired anesthesiologist turned island handyman. An interesting combination to say the least but a very nice fellow.
We ended our afternoon by taking a walk on the beach at low tide. We walked down to the 18th green of the Jack Nicklaus designed golf course that is now falling in to the ocean.
We made reservations for pizza night at the Eagles Nest. We originally thought we would ride our bikes there but at the last minute decided to take the golf cart. I think the following two videos will show why that was a good idea.
We worked our way up to the club house around 9:30 to rent some bikes. Susan, who manages the the Melrose Beach Club fixed us up. We are finding that people are very friendly on Daufuskie and we spent about an hour talking with Susan about the island. We spent about 2 hours tooling around the island before making it back to our cottage. We then spent a couple hours in the sun by the pool were we met another nice family.
We got back to our cottage around 3 to find Jeff hard at work programming our TV. He said he had to take a crow bar to the windows but they now open. We found out that Jeff is a retired anesthesiologist turned island handyman. An interesting combination to say the least but a very nice fellow.
We ended our afternoon by taking a walk on the beach at low tide. We walked down to the 18th green of the Jack Nicklaus designed golf course that is now falling in to the ocean.
Our ride during the day
At the Eagles Nest (not a video)
Our ride at night
Until tomorrow .......Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sunday on Daufuskie
Sunday morning found Jane and I in what has come to be our favorite spot, on our porch having coffee and greeting the sunrise over Hilton Head. We went to the First African Baptist Church with the couples we met up with yesterday.
Having never been to a Baptist Church we didn't know what to expect. I'm not really sure if it was a typical Baptist ceremony but it was nice never the less and we left feeling lifted. Once we got back we said goodbye to our new friends, Joyce, Dave, Jim and Becky. They were headed to Joyce and Jim's sister's house on Hilton for the day before heading back home. As if they hadn't been generous enough, they passed on to us what was left in their refrigerator. We wished them safe travels and moved on to our next adventure.
We jumped in our golf cart for a short ride over to Freeport Marina, which was buzzing with activity. There was an island book signing billed as the Second Annual Daufuskie Literary Throwdown. Multiple authors where there to meet folks, and sign and sell their books. They also offered up spirits, food and music. Jane and I decided to have the low country boil. I of course liked it but Jane didn't like the hard work it took to get at the shrimp. Anyhow we stuck around to listin to a couple of guitar pickers. We had pretty good seats, at least for a back view.
These are some cabins you can rent at Freeport Marina. I'm not sure if I'd stay there but perhaps they would be good for someone who came over on their boat and got to much into the island spirits.
We left Freeport and explored some more back country roads before heading back to our cottage. We spent the rest of the afternoon laying by the pool, following that up with a nice long walk on the beach. I had scoped out a fire pit area early on and tonight seemed like a good night for a fire. So here we are ending our day sitting by the fire, listening to the ocean and blogging. Oh well, enough blogging, now time for chillin.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Saturday on Daufuskie
It's 9:30 p.m. and I'm sitting on the back porch listening to the ocean as it hits the shore. Our first full day on Daufuskie was wonderful. We started the morning with a cup of coffee in hand and moved from the kitchen to the back porch, and what is becoming our favorite chairs where we watched the sun come up.
After a relaxing morning we pried ourselves off of our chairs and ventured out do a little exploring. We took a walk down the Avenue of Oaks and looked at some of the other homes that line the avenue. We decided to venture back to the beach and that's where the day got interesting.
As soon as we got there, we immediately noticed the massive crowds of people that had decided to spend the morning in the sun and sand. Okay maybe not massive crowds but there were 2 other groups of people on the beach, a group of 3 adults and a young family. As we started to walk by the group of 3, Jane stopped to ask a question about the pool. That was how we ended up meeting Joyce, Dave, Jim then eventually Becky.
Joyce, Dave and Jim were very friendly and quite knowledgeable about Daufuskie Island. Joyce and Dave have property in Melrose or the Oceanfront Residence Club (not sure of the POA it's a little confusing) the area we at staying in. Jim, Joyce's brother, and his wife Becky, are staying with them. They invited us up to their place to show us the set up. They have been coming to Daufuskie for many years, and as we later found out know many of the people on the island.
Joyce invited us to join them for dinner at Eagle's Nest which is located at Bloody Point. We ended up back on the beach where we were introduced to Jim's wife, Becky. We learned that Becky was a yoga instructor and we made plans to join her for yoga later in the afternoon by the pool.
Since we rented a golf cart for the week at $65.00 a day (a bit expensive but we will learn a better way for the next time), we decided to do a little island exploring. We quickly realized that the map that came with the golf cart would never make it to Google maps. There are just as many dirt roads as asphalt ones and it is quite easy to get lost. We did drive by some beautiful homes and managed to find our way back to our cottage.
We made it over to the pool where we again met up with Joyce, Dave, Becky and Jim. After some relaxing in the sun, Jane and I got in some yoga that was lead by Becky. It was evident from the start the Becky loves yoga and we had a very nice yoga practice. We picked up some very useful tools from Becky that we will use in our practice.
We met later at their place and headed over to the Eagle's Nest for some dinner. Like I mentioned earlier, Joyce, Dave, Becky and Jim seem to know many people and we were introduced to Kevin (President and CEO of Bloody Point Golf and Country Club), Patrick (Director of Golf and instrumental in the renaissance of Bloody Point Golf Course), and Tai (Member and Resort Services Manager). We also had a fabulous meal and wonderful conversation. We are grateful for having met these gracious people who shared with us their stories and love of Daufuskie. Jim, thanks for dinner and for sharing your 9/11 artifact story.
We left with much more information about the island, our bellies full and a promise to meet up in the morning to head over to the First Union African Baptist Church (the only church on the island).
All in all, not a bad way to start a vacation.
After a relaxing morning we pried ourselves off of our chairs and ventured out do a little exploring. We took a walk down the Avenue of Oaks and looked at some of the other homes that line the avenue. We decided to venture back to the beach and that's where the day got interesting.
As soon as we got there, we immediately noticed the massive crowds of people that had decided to spend the morning in the sun and sand. Okay maybe not massive crowds but there were 2 other groups of people on the beach, a group of 3 adults and a young family. As we started to walk by the group of 3, Jane stopped to ask a question about the pool. That was how we ended up meeting Joyce, Dave, Jim then eventually Becky.
Joyce, Dave and Jim were very friendly and quite knowledgeable about Daufuskie Island. Joyce and Dave have property in Melrose or the Oceanfront Residence Club (not sure of the POA it's a little confusing) the area we at staying in. Jim, Joyce's brother, and his wife Becky, are staying with them. They invited us up to their place to show us the set up. They have been coming to Daufuskie for many years, and as we later found out know many of the people on the island.
Joyce invited us to join them for dinner at Eagle's Nest which is located at Bloody Point. We ended up back on the beach where we were introduced to Jim's wife, Becky. We learned that Becky was a yoga instructor and we made plans to join her for yoga later in the afternoon by the pool.
Since we rented a golf cart for the week at $65.00 a day (a bit expensive but we will learn a better way for the next time), we decided to do a little island exploring. We quickly realized that the map that came with the golf cart would never make it to Google maps. There are just as many dirt roads as asphalt ones and it is quite easy to get lost. We did drive by some beautiful homes and managed to find our way back to our cottage.
We made it over to the pool where we again met up with Joyce, Dave, Becky and Jim. After some relaxing in the sun, Jane and I got in some yoga that was lead by Becky. It was evident from the start the Becky loves yoga and we had a very nice yoga practice. We picked up some very useful tools from Becky that we will use in our practice.
We met later at their place and headed over to the Eagle's Nest for some dinner. Like I mentioned earlier, Joyce, Dave, Becky and Jim seem to know many people and we were introduced to Kevin (President and CEO of Bloody Point Golf and Country Club), Patrick (Director of Golf and instrumental in the renaissance of Bloody Point Golf Course), and Tai (Member and Resort Services Manager). We also had a fabulous meal and wonderful conversation. We are grateful for having met these gracious people who shared with us their stories and love of Daufuskie. Jim, thanks for dinner and for sharing your 9/11 artifact story.
We left with much more information about the island, our bellies full and a promise to meet up in the morning to head over to the First Union African Baptist Church (the only church on the island).
All in all, not a bad way to start a vacation.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Taxi to Daufuskie
We leave Tortuga's (Spanish for turtle, don't ask me why that's relevant) and head to Savannah Bend Marina to catch our taxi to Daufuskie.
Here is Captain Randy getting our boat ready. First Mate Josh, was helping with our luggage. Two other couples accompanied us for our three hour cruise. The weather started getting rough, our tiny ship was tossed....no wait a minute, the cruise took 1/2 hour and the weather was perfect.
On the boat ride over we find out that Heather and Carrie, two of our boat mates, are staying in the same area we are. Heather has been here before and knows her way around. Our golf carts are waiting at the end of the pier. Pretty laid back here, our names are on them and the keys are in the ignition. We follow Heather to our new home for the week.
This is the view from the back porch of our cottage. After we unpacked all or our stuff we went for a walk on the beach. Apparently this is the off season and the number of other people here is limited-we had the beach to ourselves.
So now we are sitting in these two chairs, just like the Corona Beer commercials, (except with wine) and relaxing. I think this will become our favorite spot this week.
Tortuga's
Felt good last night so I kept on driving getting almost all the way in to Hilton Head. Stopped at the Comfort Inn Suites in Blufton. Loved the pillows! Drove to Hilton Head to pick up our keys at Hilton Head Rentals and Golf (our keys were a code, could have saved a trip), before heading to Savannah to pick up our boat ride to Daufaskie. Arrived early, picked up some groceries and Jane had time to get a hair cut. Since we were early we got turned on to a local joint, Tortuga's Island Grill to grab some lunch, glad we did because the food was awesome!
Jane had the Vegis Panini (roasted red peppers, goat cheese, tomotoes, carmalized onions and spinach with herb mayo) and homemade chips.
I had the Jamaican Hot Mama (Tortugas chicken breast topped with goat cheese, fresh spinach and reps berry jam) and fried buffalo grit cakes
This was a great way to spend some time before we caught our boat to Daufuskie.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
And we're off!
Our Garmin says, "Please drive to your highlighted route."
Our eventual destination? Daufuskie Island, a small island near Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Hilton Head is 808 miles from our home in Ohio, and that is where we will pick up the keys to an ocean front cottage on Daufuskie. With keys in hand we will then head to Savannah where we'll meet our water taxi captain who will take us on our final leg of this part of our journey by boat to the island.
Today we will drive as much of the 808 miles that we can. It's a beautiful fall day and Fall is showing her colors against a remarkably cloudless blue sky.
We are on I77 south now and just popped in an audio book. Mark and I enjoy listening to books on long drives. Some of our past favorites include, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King, Skipping Christmas and Playing for Pizza by John Grisham, and most of the Bobby Lee Swagger novel series by Stephen Hunter. Today we are listening to another Hunter novel, I, Sniper, and I am going to sit back now, in my "copilot" seat, and listen.
An afterthought. I wonder if the reason we listen to so many books on road trips is so that Mark doesn't have to listen to me talk. Hmm...
Our eventual destination? Daufuskie Island, a small island near Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Hilton Head is 808 miles from our home in Ohio, and that is where we will pick up the keys to an ocean front cottage on Daufuskie. With keys in hand we will then head to Savannah where we'll meet our water taxi captain who will take us on our final leg of this part of our journey by boat to the island.
Today we will drive as much of the 808 miles that we can. It's a beautiful fall day and Fall is showing her colors against a remarkably cloudless blue sky.
We are on I77 south now and just popped in an audio book. Mark and I enjoy listening to books on long drives. Some of our past favorites include, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King, Skipping Christmas and Playing for Pizza by John Grisham, and most of the Bobby Lee Swagger novel series by Stephen Hunter. Today we are listening to another Hunter novel, I, Sniper, and I am going to sit back now, in my "copilot" seat, and listen.
An afterthought. I wonder if the reason we listen to so many books on road trips is so that Mark doesn't have to listen to me talk. Hmm...
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Anticipation
OK, so work has been tedious and the weather has started to turn so a last minute decision to take a little vacation is in order. We found a little cottage on Daufuskie Island and made arrangements to get there. There are no cars on the island and you have to bring everything with you including your groceries. Feeling adventurous, I grabbed my backpack and stuffed it with some clothes (Jane packed a large suitcase). Now we wait until tomorrow to start our journey, we intend to blog along the way. Of course this is my first crack at blogging, and I have to figure out how to blog from my iPad, but we'll give it try. Until tomorrow....
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