Myrtle Beach, SC - free dock

3/27/2017 

Clark and I both had our cameras out and were busy this morning to capture last minute pictures of historic Georgetown.

Reflections in Georgetown, SC

Blackbeard Fishing Boat

Blackbeard w/ Fumes

Before we could leave, however, we had to return the rental car. Since Clark has more boat-prep duties, I offered to be the car returner. When I arrived at Enterprise, I found one clerk and two people in line ahead of me. My primary concern quickly became getting a ride back to the marina based on the apparent lack of agents.

The two gentlemen in front of me in line started chatting – very friendly folks. I gathered from the conversation that one was, and the other had once been, a pastor.  The current pastor was returning a car that he used to attend a pastor’s conference in Virginia. That topic was the focal point of their conversation. I found their discussion so interesting I interjected a comment and became part of the conversation.

The second gentleman was picking up a car.  We continued to banter even after the first man left. As I had still not seen any sign of another agent or driver, I asked for confirmation that I would be able to get a ride back to the marina. The man renting a car asked me where I was headed, and when I said the marina, he offered to drive me there.

I don’t normally accept drives from strangers; however, in this case, I decided to accept. It turned out that the agent was at the shop by himself. His plan was to close the shop while he drove me to the marina. I had no idea what time of day I might finally arrive at the marina with that plan in place. As the agent worked with the man ahead of me in line, another customer came in. I pictured one customer after another coming in, and the agent (and me) not leaving the shop for hours.

As I talked with “my driver”, I learned that, besides his time as a pastor, he used to be a fireman and is currently a roofer. While driving down Front Street, he proudly pointed out a roof he had recently repaired. We chatted and laughed all the way back to the marina. 

I learned one very interesting helpful hint from him that he uses in his roofer job. He said the only repellant that works to keep the gnats away is Bounce Scented Dryer Sheets. He keeps them in his glove box and rubs them on his arms, hair, etc. He said everyone he meets asks him “why he always smells so fresh”!

Dropping off the car and getting back to the marina took over an hour. I expected to find Clark ready to go and wondering what was taking so long. Instead I found him merrily chatting with a fellow boater. I truly don’t know why I expected any other scenario. With some coaxing, I managed to get him focused on pulling in lines and readying for departure.

We saw lots of interesting sights today as we traveled the ICW through South Carolina.

Brush Fire - we could see the flames from the boat

Tree with roots mostly submerged in Channel

Sailboat on the ICW

Tree-lined ICW in SC

Reflections on the ICW

Wacamaw River - SC ICW

Carolina Bays Parkway – bridge under construction

Carolina Bays Parkway – bridge under construction

Carolina Bays Parkway - heavy yellow line on map
Our boat is at the blue dot
where the bridge construction is taking place.

Swing Bridge

Homeowner with a sense of humor “Make More WAKE Please”

Red / Green Buoy Repository

Red /Green Buoy Yard Ornaments

Meeting Barge Gold Coast at bridge

Waiting for Gold Coast to pass through bridge

Barge and Tug Gold Coast heading south on the ICW

Immediately after passing through the bridge we came to our stop for the night – a free dock at a boating facility. Seeing water depths below the hull of 2.5 feet made Clark uncomfortable during docking. He checked after we secured our lines and found that we had docked precisely at low tide, so water levels would rise from here. Yay!

The boating facility had a dual-lane boat ramp, a lovely picnic table area, and some bench swings.

Pelican Bird Sculpture at Boating Facility

Bench Swing and Picnic Table Area

Since we docked just after 3:00, we had plenty of time to explore the area. Clark suggested bikes which turned out to be an excellent plan. Looking at Google Maps, we could see a variety of shops located in two different malls in the area.

As we exited the boating facility with the free dock, we passed a stop sign that Clark said, "... makes no sense whatsoever!"

Perplexing Stop Sign

Street sign at entrance to the facility with the free dock

 For our first stop, we visited the Bass Pro Shop. I found the decorations of the store way more interesting than the merchandise.

Gator Sculpture in Pond at Entrance

Welcome Sign to Bass Pro Shop

Hunting / fishing lodge and giant fish “Myrtle Beach, SC”

Zoomed-in view of 3-D lodge

Something for the hunters to admire

Faithful Dog

Retriever at Work

Carved Tree Artwork

After visiting Bass Pro Shop, we biked across a major highway (fortunately at a traffic light) to a second plaza. Here I found a Dollar Tree and a Marshall’s where I bought some goodies to bring back to the boat with me. Clark had the backpack, so he got to carry my finds back to the boat.

Pickings were slim for sunset views but Clark found an interesting one.

Sunset under the bridge