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.

 

Posted with Blogsy