Ahoy there!

Following on from our last marooning in Breakfast Creek , Georgia , we decided to stay put an extra day and moved off on Monday which was a very long day - 75 miles. But we found a very quiet anchorage where we saw our first baby dolphins. This was better than our previous wildlife encounter when Andrew saw a whale!   Sharon got a bit nervous with visions of it coming over to investigate! We worked out that it was a Northern Right Whale which breed   in this area and he was very lucky so see it.

Tuesday we decided to take the I.C.W to Charleston . It was a really nice day, lots of beautiful scenery and some gorgeous waterside properties. We could even smell honeysuckle as the scent wafted across the water.   We started to feel quite Southern.

We are currently in Charleston which is a beautiful town.  It was a bit scary at first as we hadn't talked to anyone for five days or left the boat. There are some lovely old buildings and we found a microbrewery with some great beers. Sharon had her first taste of fried green tomatoes which were surprisingly tasty and non-greasy. The only problem has been the heat in the last couple of days. Today it is 94 degrees, humidity 100 per cent and a heat index of 105 (no idea what it means but it sounds impressive!). Tomorrow, Thursday, we are off again, probably on the ICW but we are definitely planning to return for a longer stay and more exploration when we head south in the autumn.

The people in South Carolina are very friendly, they have a reputation of being hospitable and smiley although the smiley bit can get a bit wearing after a while. Andrew thinks it's something to do with having lots of cousins or something. The women can be quite scary, a lot of them very ‘Southern Belles'. Even in the heat they are immaculately dressed (lots of ‘frocks') and full make-up. There was a splendid array of cartwheel hats and even women wearing gloves. And this includes girls in their twenties were too not just ‘oldies'.

To get an idea of the state we can give you some of their state symbols & emblems:

State Song:	Carolina on my mind.
State wild game bird:	Wild Turkey
State beverage:	Milk !
State dance:	The Shag - our waitress said she could do it but refused to demonstrate!

We found a wonderful supermarket called Harris Teeter, a bit like Waitrose (or Publix ) and were able to stock up. This was particularly easy as the marina we were staying in had a courtesy shuttle bus into town.

Thank you for all you laundry suggestions. So far we have had nappy wash - we've been trying to get some since we arrived but people just look blank.

Eucalyptus oil - sounds fragrant will try.

Kitchen paper & an iron - only if it gets cooler

And the most worrying came from Sharon 's parents. We're concerned that they might have taken out a life policy on us as they suggested we wear all our dirty clothes and stay in the sea for 8 hours!

There is still a possibility of winning that weeks cruise so keep the suggestions coming.

We've had quite a few e-mails and phone calls from people we haven't been in contact with for a while which is really nice. You've no idea how excited we get when we get internet access & check our mail - really quite sad as we fight for the mouse. We've even resorted to getting regular updates from The Archers so something will be waiting for us!

Next stop Georgetown & then North Carolina . Wonder what their state dance is?

Warm regards

Sharon & Andrew