Edisto River Anchorage to Beaufort SC
We awoke at our anchorage in the South Edisto River to a beautiful sunrise. Well, we were actually awake long before that, like 5AM.
The sun came up about 7:30. After coffee and breakfast we headed out to our days destination, Beaufort, South Carolina.
Just a short distance from our anchorage we passed through Fenwick cut leading to the Ashepoo River. The river was like glass and in the morning light looking across the water, it was hard to tell where the water and sky met. We were not in this river long before we took another cut off which put us in the Coosaw River. This was a wide river and it took us a good 12 miles west to the cut which would ultimately take us south to the Beaufort River. Once in the river we followed the channel being careful of the low tide.
We arrived at the Downtown Marina at Beaufort at about 11:30 in the morning. We were docked at the end of a long floating pier and immediately met a very nice couple from Columbia, SC who were busy power washing their boat. We did our usual clean up and relaxed a little before checking in with the dock master.
At about 1:30 we got into lighter weight clothing and took a walk around the city dock area. Beaufort has done a good job with a water front park with a pavilion, many benches and walkways. The water front park area is bordered on the street side by small restaurants. We walked with the intent of getting a light lunch. We ended up “crashing a wedding”.
Joe sighted a restaurant with a large deck out back. We went into the bar as I suggested because I thought it would be warmer than the porch. Well, was it ever! We walked by the seats and there were not two together so we started heading out. The bartender called out to us. Hey, don’t you want to join us? Can’t you find a seat? Here, I will move this drink, don’t know whose it is but you can sit here. Well, we sat down and Joe ordered a glass of wine and I started with a club soda. It was a festive atmosphere with several people moving along the bar talking with each other. We had joined a wedding. Earlier they had a wedding for one of their other bartenders there - in the bar. A long counter between the bar and restaurant area was setup with snacks including a warming tray containing making for breakfast burritos. The bartender told Joe to feel free to have something to eat, but that the warming tray may be cold because all they could find to keep it warm was a candle. Sure enough Joe fell for the bait. Yes, they were cold but we had one anyway. Sort of killed our appetites.
We then walked around the main street which gave us the opportunity or compare the changes in the town since we last visited it several years ago. On the way back to the boat we checked out the shower facilities. They were not good. Charleston has spoiled me forever with regard to marina facilities. We took the opportunity to sit on our upper deck and read our books. Later we had an early dinner at a restaurant called Panini. The food was very good - but expensive. We took home half of our dinners as the portions were large. On the other hand, maybe it was the crab bruchetta, the salads and the fresh baked Panini bread that filled our tummy. We watched an old movie when we returned to the boat and retired for the evening after planning the next day’s trip. We are going to leave just after sunrise.