A Walk in a Swamp

A Walk in a Swamp

Tuesday April 20, 2021

First thing this morning, Mike took the car to West Marine to get a dinghy repair kit and some engine oil.  Then he returned the car to the rental place and cycled back to the marina. The rest of the morning was spent doing boat jobs.  We put another patch on the dinghy—having found an additional leak.  We are both thinking that this doesn’t bode well for the Dumb Dog going forward.  She may be on her last leg—so to speak.  

I did more cleaning inside the boat.  Maybe it would be more correct to say that I worked on odor improvement.  I wiped over the hard surfaces with this marine deodorizer.  It has a powerful and pleasant smell.  In fact, Mike was on the dock working on the dinghy while I was “cleaning” inside.  He shouted out that he could smell the cleaner from outside!

In the later afternoon we went for a walk around this “gated community”.  We stumbled across a conservation area with a boardwalk.  Presumably this area is usually wet—a swamp I imagine.  Today the ground was mostly dry.  The lack of water didn’t seem to affect the bird population though.  We saw lots of birds in the trees there.  To our chagrin, there weren’t any new species to add to our bird list.  Still any time you see lots of bird life, it’s pretty fun.  A few less bugs might have added to our enjoyment!

On the way back to the boat, we stopped off at the Old Fort Pub.  We were able to sit on a deck overlooking the ICW to eat our dinner.  It was quite a fancy place, however, they did seat us despite our casual clothing (Can our boating duds even rise to the level of ‘casual’?). Mike ate bouillabaisse and I had the scallops in a mustard cream sauce with polenta and “haricot vert” (green beans to the rest of the world). It’s a long while since we’ve eaten dinner out.  The last time might have been Key West in February.  It was a treat!

Gloria 

32 14.742 N, 80 44.856 W

I realized just before we went on our walk that my camera battery was pretty much dead, so the following shots / video are all taken with my iPhone (Mike)

An excellent dinner at the Old Fort Pub - this southern low country version of bouillabaisse was excellent

The location was pretty cool as well ! What a great place to have dinner

A view of the outdoor patio at the Old Fort Pub

The beautiful Cedar Swamp that we visited this afternoon - a lot of birds and a enchanting atmosphere