Winter in Charleston

Jan 30 thru Feb 3

—Blogpost written by Bob

Wednesday, January 30

There was thin ice on the docks this morning when I went to the bath house for my shower.  When the polar vortex came thru apparently a lot of water condensed out of the atmosphere and accumulated on the dock.  The freezing temperature made it into ice.  It was already melting where the sun was shining on the dock.

Since Maggie is driving to Sarasota FL for a couple days, we have a rental car today.  We drove to JoAnn Fabrics to try and hunt down some fabric that Maggie used for the curtains in the main salon because we want to make a curtain across the opening to the quarter berth.  We found one with an identical pattern but in a different color.  From there we tracked down the exact fabric and a source on line.  We then drove to Folly Beach.

A dead tree on the beach with the ocean in the
background.  (This photo was taken on
the south end of Folly Beach in
the County Park.)

Sea grass growing on a sand dune in
the County Park on the southern
tip of Folly Beach.

Rocks and shells on the beach provide
an endless fascination for
beach combers.

I was very pleased to learn today that my "Egret on the Wall" photo made "Photo of the Week" for the digital publication of the latest Waterway Guide!  This is my second photo to achieve this recognition.

A recent announcement in Waterway Guide
about my "Egret on the Wall" photo
making "Photo of the Week"!

Thursday, January 31

Maggie left early this morning to drive to Sarasota, FL to visit an old friend--she'll be back late on Saturday.  It is always sad when Maggie leaves home on trips to visit her family and I stay behind to care for our cats.  Today is more sad than usual for some reason.

This is the last day of January and hopefully the last cold day (it might reach a high of 50 degrees today) for a while--a warming trend is expected for the coming weekend and into next week, reaching a high of 72 degrees by next Thursday.  Today is the mid-point of our winter stay here in Charleston.

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I had some communication with our attorney back in Maryland who is handling our car accident claim.  Allstate is still delaying payments, I'm sure some deliberately and others through their incompetence.  It is situations like these that lead me to believe that insurance companies are the biggest leaches on mankind, making a profit on people's fear of their troubles.  Even though a different type of insurance is involved, I'm coming around to the idea that "medicare for all" is not such a bad idea after all.

Friday, February 1

Today started out sunny, clear, and warm.  Our cats wouldn't allow me to sleep in this morning, walking all over me while I was still in the v-berth.  I have found that I like a hot beverage every morning and I switch between coffee and tea, depending upon my mood.  This morning I enjoyed my favorite tea, Bigelow's Constant Gourmet Decaffeinated.  (It is grown nearby at the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island.) 

My favorite tea is Bigelow's Constant Gourmet 
Decaffeinated.  (This photo was taken 
with my iPad.)

While I was updating this blog at about 11:30 AM, the pump out boat was attending to our neighbor's boat.  A wake from a passing boat made the pump out boat ram into our port stern—it sounded like fiberglass-on-fiberglass from below but all I could see was a little black mark from the pump out boat’s fender.  At this point, I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.

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I had to run into town on my bike to pick up a prescription refill--turns out that the refill was made in Annapolis, not Charleston.  Since I didn't feel like biking quite that far, I stopped for lunch at Sixty Bull Cafe on Bull Street.  Maggie and I stopped here once before and liked it--so, I thought I would try it again.  It is one of many excellent neighborhood cafes in Charleston.

The carpet in the entrance
of 60 Bull Cafe.

I just finished reading a good book on creativity.  Creativity is important in my writing and my photography.   The book's premise is that there is nothing new under the sun--everything is an adaptation from something or someone else.  For example, the Beatles started out by playing songs by Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley and in the process they developed their own adaptations/creations.  So, the author believes that by surrounding yourself with like-minded writers/musicians/painters/photographers and continuing to work hard on your craft, creativity will happen naturally.  There are many good suggestions in the book to assist the creative process.  The name of this book is Steal Like an Artist and it was written by Austin Kleon.

The image of the tea bag envelope earlier in today's post was an adaptation from someone else's photo on Flickr that resulted from reading this book.  I have to keep adapting...

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In the evening around sundown I was walking back to the boat from the bathhouse and I saw what I thought was a muskrat swimming along the floating pier.  It stayed about 10 feet ahead of me as I was walking and then it dove deep into the water.  (The next morning I found out from one of our boat neighbors that it was most likely an otter.)

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In the evening I did more work on my current short story, titled "Love in the Low Country."  I expect to publish it on this blog on Monday or Tuesday.  (I came up with the title for this story before I developed the final story.)

Saturday, February 2

Today is groundhog day!  Punxsutawny Phil, the famous groundhog in western Pennsylvania, emerged from his burrow this morning at 7:30 AM and did not see his shadow--so, the legend goes that we will have an early Spring.  The sky is overcast here in Charleston but it is still relatively warm (low 50's).  Rain is expected later in the day.

The sun appeared around noon!  For lunch I was feeling creative and made some sausages in a tortilla with Mexican cheese.  First, I heated the sausages since they were already cooked.  Then I sprinkled Mexican cheese blend over the flour tortilla and rolled the chicken sausage into the tortilla.  I placed toothpicks through them to hold them together and placed them in the frying pan for completion.  They turned out great!

Two chicken sausages wrapped in a
flour tortilla.  (I should have poured
tomato sauce over them.)

This afternoon, I played around with my "Egret on the Wall" photo and I think I've made it better by eliminating most of the wall.

My "Egret on the Wall" photo
with less wall.  Is less more?

My constant companion, Lola, on
the companionway hatch.

In the above photo you will notice Lola's large paws.  She's already a big cat, weighting approximately 15 pounds and she's not yet 1-1/2 years old.  She has an amazing amount of dexterity with her paws.  She can pick up a penny our of a jar of loose change and throw it onto the floor.  I've never seen a cat do this before.

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Maggie got home around 9 PM because she got a late start leaving Sarasota.  It's great to have her home (even though she takes up a lot of space in the v-berth)!

Sunday, February 3

Today is Super Bowl Sunday.  I don't really care for either team in this year's Super Bowl, even though I love football.  In my opinion, the Saints should be in this game instead of the Rams because of the "no call" pass interference near the end of the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago.  I really don't want to see the Patriots win--I'm tired of seeing the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick combo in yet another Super Bowl.  So, I will be rooting for the Rams, even though they shouldn't even be in Atlanta for the big game. (Last year we watched the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots while we were in Marsh Harbour.)

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It was overcast and raining lightly from the get go (whatever a "get go" is?) today. The temperature was in the high-50's to low-60's--the rain made it feel cooler than it actually was.

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One of the things we have noticed about being here in Charleston City Marina for the winter is that there isn't much socialization between cruisers.  We think this is because there is no central meeting place (like a boaters lounge) at this marina.  In the future, this will be something we look for in places we stay during the winter, if we are not in the Bahamas.

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We went out for lunch at Leon's, a restaurant specializing in oysters and poultry which sounds like an odd combination.  We have been thinking about going to this restaurant for some time now.

Leon's building used to be a service station
and they have carried the theme of the
service station throughout.

The interior of Leon's restaurant.  Note that the
overhead lights are very much like those
used in a 1950's service station.

I had oysters on the half shell as an appetizer--the oysters I had were from Massachusetts.We had two pieces of chicken each--I had white meat and Maggie had dark meat, cucumber salad that was made with champaign vinegar, and we shared a side of scalloped potatoes.  The batter used for the chicken was pleasantly spiced--some might consider it too spicy but we loved it.  This turned out to be one of the best lunches we've had in Charleston.  We are definitely coming back to this spot!

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After lunch we returned to the boat and started switching locations for where we sleep.  We have been sleeping in the v-berth but our legs are cramped since they are in the forward (narrowing) section of the berth.  (We would simply turn end-for-end but there is not enough room for our heads forward either.)  We are moving our sleeping quarters to the quarter berth which is directly across from the navigation station.  We're going to try this for a while and see if our sleep improves.

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I'm publishing this blogpost before the start of the Super Bowl.  Go RAMS!  Our next blogpost will be my fictional short story entitled "Love in the Low Country"...

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