Southern Style: Isle of Palms Weekend

We left Georgetown on Friday morning about 7:15 AM as soon as we had enough light to see. We were trying to get past a very shallow area on the intracoastal waterway while the tide was not too low. Luckily everything went well and we got through the shallow area around McClellanville with 6 inches (yes you read that correctly at 6 inches) beneath our propellers. Had we been an hour later in the morning going through this area, I don't know that we would have made it.

We got into Isle of Palms early in the afternoon. This is the view from the back of Southern Style into the marina area.

Isle of Palms is about 10 miles north of Charleston, SC and has been a popular destination for years. Back in the 1800 and 1900s people from Charleston, Georgetown, and surrounding ares; often came to Isle of Palms to get out of the cities and away from the heat during the summer. Being along the beach there is often a nice breeze and relief from summer weather. This area continues to be a destination and there are beaches and a resort with golf ( a Tom Fazio course) and tennis. The marina is busy with boats, boat rentals, kayaking and many water activities. View of the moon over the marina Saturday morning.

Good friends Robin and Ron Terry came from Raleigh and spent the weekend with us on Southern Style. All 4 of us, as well as their daughter Lacey, were invited to the home of Carla and Scott Toney here in Isle of Palms for an oyster roast Saturday. Carla and Scott's son Davis is Lacey's boyfriend.

Saturday morning found the Mackeys and Terrys out for brunch at Page's. They have a famous Bloody Mary bar.

Davis and his younger brother Parker came to the boat on Saturday afternoon and helped Keith put in a new battery for one of the generators. This is the new battery. Bigger and heavier than a car battery. This battery weights in at over 170lbs.

And this is the contraption to lower it into the engine room.

We are forever in their debt for their help as the battery is very heavy and akward to move and in a very difficult place to get to. They were troopers.

The party at the Toney's was great. As always we had way to much food. Miss Carla's chicken tortilla soup was to die for. And of course the oysters were stellar as well. Shout out to Captain Ron for the expert oyster cooking.

Miss Robin's homemade Baileys is a staple at these events and is better than the store bought variety. She really needs to bottle that stuff.

The Toney's, particularly Davis, are huge Clemson football fans. Clemson played NC State on Saturday as the oyster party began. We were worried for Davis as it was a very close game. However, in the end, it turned out okay as Clemson won 38-31.

Sunday morning the Mackey's, Terry's, and Toney's all had a brunch cruise on Southern Style down into Charleston harbor. The weather was unfortunately overcast and not that pretty, but you can't order the weather. This is a picture of Patriots Point Marina with the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and the Ravenel Bridge in the background. You can see how hazy and overcast it was.