Beaufort S. C. and Charleston S. C.

Shortly before entering South Carolina I added a small Marine Corps Flag to Ithaka's flag pole, where we proudly fly the American Flag. Knowing South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia are heavily populated with active duty and retired Marines, I wanted to make sure I was "flying the colors" as we  made our way up the Intracoastal Waterway to Norfolk, VA. It was a treat to cruise by Parris Island MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) where the huge white watertower was painted with the bold letters "WE MAKE MARINES". When I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1967 and went through MCRD in San Diego, I never had the "pleasure" of having to set foot on this infamous training base for Marine recruits. It was much more pleasureable to cruise by on our trawler and wave at them in the distance.

Next stop, Beaufort S. C. (Pronounced B'you-fort) or (byew-fert)

The best way to see a town, when time is short, is to take an organized tour. We chose a carriage ride tour in Beaufort. 

More beautiful southern homes 

A beautifully developed waterfront. If you look carefully, You can see our boat in the distance. 

Pat Conroy, the writer, was raised in Beaufort and wrote many of his books in this setting. 

During our stop in Beaufort, S. C. we went into one of the quaint bookstores in the historical district. It had a whole section dedicated to the works of Pat Conroy. The majority of books written by this author revolve around his life and growing up in the low country of South Carolina, they include The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, and many others. What caught my attention was his latest book Santini. It chronicles his dysfunctional relationship with his father and how he and his father came to terms with it before his father's passing.

This brought back many memories of THE GREAT SANTINI, because Conroy's book told the story of growing up in a house with seven siblings and having a Marine Fighter Pilot as a father. Their father called himself "THE GREAT SANTINI". I was a young Marine Second Lieutenant starting flight training in 1969 in Pensacola, FL. Don Conroy was my Commanding Officer. I did not realize at that time that this tall, imposing, hard charging Marine Officer would later be so brutely written about in his son's book.

One of my memories of Colonel Conroy that impressed me the day I checked into MATSG (Marine Air Training Support Group) was his policy of meeting and interviewing each new Marine the was starting flight training. On my day, 5 brand new Lieutenants and myself were ushered into his office. He sat us down in front of his desk and went down the line asking each of us where we were from. As we told him, about our relatively small towns, he would relay some personal bit of information that he knew from each of our home towns. He had visted each town at some time. To me, it was an impressive performance. 

It was not until well into my own Marine Aviation Career and after the book The Great Santini was written that I learned the whole story of this highly decorated Marine and his troubled family. Before leaving Beaufort, we visited the beautiful Beaufort National Cemetery, where The Great Santini, Colonel Donald C. Conroy is laid to rest.

Many books have been made into movies in this area. The Big Chill, Prince of Tides, and Forest Gump were filmed here. The story was told that Tom Hanks would come in the local Chocolate Tree Candy Store To fill up his box of chocolates for the days shoot. 

As recommended, we ate at Emily's restaurant and had the famous She-Crab Soup. Very Good. 

The way to Charleston from Beaufort is through more marshlands. The typical food of choice here is "low country boils" seafood: crab, shrimp, and oysters. 

We sometimes have a difficult time reading the numbers on the day markers that guide our way (road signs for you land lubbers), because the Osprey like to use the day markers for nesting sites along the waterway. 

As we pulled into St John's Yacht Marina, one of our boat fenders dropped into the bay. We thought it was lost and gone forever. As we tied up to the dock a couple in a dinghy pulled up behind our boat and handed our fender to the dock hand. They hollered at us, "Are you doing The Loop?" We answered yes. They said, "So are we. When we saw your AGLCA Flag. We said, we can save their fender for them." 

That is what Loopers are like. Good people helping any way they can to assist fellow loopers accomplish their dream. 

We spent Saturday touring Charleston S. C. and will move on to Georgetown S. C. on Sunday. 

This picture, taken in Charleston, is of two people made famous by traveling the loop in a trawler once know as NEXT TO ME. Everywhere we go the boat is recognized and folks commented on how much they enjoyed Catherine and Bob's daily loop blog. We are told we now own a celebrity boat.