16th Dec 2012 - 8th Jan 2013 Christmas & New Year in Charleston Part 2
Nimue
Fri 4 Jan 2013 18:06
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I think 2012 was the most unusual Christmas Eve yet! Emmett knew of
some hidden forts, which Dave naturally wanted to see. This involved a
speed boat ride along part of the ICW to a remote river location.
The first fort is only usually accessed from land, but after Emmett
nudged the bow of the speed boat onto the mud, Dave and Mecca went ashore to
explore. The second of the two forts, meant negotiating the boat up a
shallow, snaking inlet, where long reeds were growing on either side of
the banks. Again, a spot was found, but this time when Dave and Mecca
jumped off the boat, they were immediately knee deep in mud and sinking!
The next half hour was completely hilarious as the two of them tried to pull
themselves out and move further in, whilst Emmett was calling out for them to
“use the reeds”. The mission was finally aborted and both ‘caked in mud’,
they eventually got back onto the boat. As it happened the fort was just a
mound of mud, which I couldn’t really see, but it meant something to Dave.
Anyway a fun day out and one we’ll both never
forget!  A stop along the ICW to view an old planation site
– white building in
mid-centre)   Dave & Mecca after exploring the site of the
first fort and stuck in the mud at the
second!   Apparently, the site of the second fort is
somewhere in these woods and Dave was happy to have made the attempt to see
it! We were both invited to spend Christmas Day with all of
Emmett & Mecca’s family at a beach house overlooking the Atlantic on Folly
Beach. I offered to roast some potatoes and take one of Waitrose’s best
Christmas puddings, which I had brought from the UK! In all there
were 17 of us for Christmas day and ‘Southern style’ dinner was excellent
It was also a great opportunity to meet Emmett & Mecca’s delightful family
and we did so enjoy spending time with everyone, it really did make our
Christmas special. Another party on Boxing Day at the Folly
Beach house and the following day we helped take down and pack all the wonderful
decorations that had been transported over from Emmett & Mecca’s
house.   The Folly Beach house overlooking the
Atlantic   Christmas at Folly Beach house with ‘The
Johnsons’   Folly Beach and the Atlantic
Ocean
The day after Boxing Day we accompanied Mecca and Dave on an
historic tour of downtown Charleston by a horse driven cart. The narrator
gave every minutia of detail about the landmarks and various houses, as we
slowly trotted through the streets. The most interesting location was the site
of a civil war submarine, which had dried out and when the land was reclaimed,
it was literally just covered over. Apparently, if they tried to excavate
it now, it would collapse!
  The horse and one of the residents who
came out to show us a picture of the submarine during the land
reclamation!
A nice guy who we met at the Charleston Yacht Club arranged
for us to use a marina berth at the City Marina for a couple of nights whilst
Michael replaced the hot water cylinder (heat exchanger). The old one had
been leaking, so we managed to source a new one which we had delivered to
Emmett’s house. The slip at the marine was tricky to get into and with
only 0.1m under the keel at LW, we were only inches from the shored.
  Nimue in the slip at Charleston City
Marine with the falling tide, so we were literally inches from the bank at low
water
We both had a terrific time in Charleston and many, many
thanks to Emmett & Mecca and all the Family for making it such a special
Christmas for us both.
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