SC: McClellanville - Leland Oil Company Marina

Day 326
June 1, 2016
NM Today: ~ 50
NM To Date: ~ 5148

To break up the trip to Georgetown and to give Jeff and Devon the true feeling of being "loopers", we stopped at McClellanville, South Carolina and stayed at the Leland Oil Company Marina. We all agreed that they need a more inviting name for their marina. We traveled the ICW through marshlands to get there. As soon as we hit the marsh area the flies appeared.

Green-head flies collecting on the ceiling
of the Bimini top on the boat.

 I don't mind the green-head flies as long as they stay attached to the Bimini top. It's when they get aggressive and bite my ankles that I get annoyed. Jeff, however, did not like the flies regardless of their location and decided to swat them with a flyswatter. The problem I have with that is I don't like the falling dead bodies landing anywhere near me or on me!

As the name implied, Leland Oil Company Marina appeared to be nothing to "write home about". The two guys that helped us tie up at the dock could not have been nicer though. The restroom facilities left a bit to be desired. We each decided that we would wait for Georgetown to take a shower. We have certainly stayed at a lot worse places along our Great Loop adventure. Again we told Jeff and Devon that we wanted them to have a true "looper" experience, and this marina certainly helped with that objective.

Leland Oil Company Marina

Devon and I wanted to get some laundry done. When we stopped in Isle of Palm, I noticed that the marina there only had one washer / dryer and one of them (I think the dryer) had an "out of order" sign on it. I inquired at the Leland Oil Company and found out that their dryer was broken with belt issues. Okay, we found one more thing to save for Georgetown.

We asked about walking into town and were told that if we hurried we could get to the restaurant before it closed at 1:00. Since we had eaten lunch on the boat, we had no interest in the restaurant. However, as the two guys mentioned the restaurant every time we said anything about going into town, I quickly gathered that they were saying that there was nothing in town except the restaurant.

I definitely got the impression that if we did not want to eat at the restaurant, they saw no other reason to go there. They did say after further discussion that a fish market with fresh fist was just a short walk away. That sounded inviting!

We decided to walk into town just to see what was there if anything. Sadly, remembering a beach at the end of yesterday's walk, Sierra thought that if she went for a walk today, she would also end up at the beach. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Along the way to town, we passed a very old and adorable Episcopal church established in 1706.

Old Church in McClellanville

Episcopal Church with Stained Glass Windows
looks like a cute cottage.

Sierra and Devon had set out on their walk a few minutes before the rest of us got ourselves together. We found them at a park along the way. The first store in McClellanville was established in 1867 under the shade of the old Deerhead Oak tree estimated to be over 1000 years old. At that time McClellanville thrived with the production of timber, rice, and cotton. In addition the town produced seafood which is still a primary industry for the town today.

Descendants of the founder of the first store in town, still own the land and maintain it as a "green space" for the residents of McClellanville to enjoy.

Continuing on our quest to find the heart of the town, we passed by some homes along the way. One was advertised for sale at $499,000. Jeff quickly looked it up on Zillow and got the inside scoop on the place. Even though the house is an historic home, the interior has been completely modernized while retaining the historic nature of the home. The listing said that the nearest grocery store is a 30-minute drive away and they like it that way.

Continuing on, we passed the school, found the restaurant (closed for the day), and then came upon an open coffee shop. We went in to see what they had to offer. Of course Clark asked for ice cream. They had no ice cream but did offer him a popsicle. Sierra wanted a juice pack and Jeff and Devon bought themselves each a "Mexican" Coke. That was a new one for Clark and me; we did not know that that even existed let alone what one might be. Jeff explained to us that "Mexican" coke is made with sugar instead of corn syrup.

We hung out in the coffee shop while folks finished their drinks and then walked next door to see the only apparent store in town. Voila, we found "downtown"!

"The Cottage"  - Art, Gifts, and Home Decor

 Having seen all that McClellanville had to offer, we decided to head back to the boat. When Sierra heard this, she had a "melt down". She had patiently held on throughout our long walk to town seemingly expecting that eventually we would find that ocean and beach. An announcement that we were going back to the boat did not go over well at all. Jeff ended up throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her like a sack of grain until she finally calmed down.

Before going back to the boat, we decided to make a stop at that fish market we had heard about. I offered to make a shrimp and fish dinner, and everyone jumped at it as a good idea. We bought a pound of large shrimp for scampi as well as some fish that I could saute. I figured with rice and veggies, we were all set.

Fishing boat near the Fish Market

Same boat, different view

 After dinner as Clark watched for a sunset picture, he spied an odd cloud formation, dove outside with the camera, and grabbed a quick shot before it changed shape.

Cloud that Clark named Pinocchio.