Oh boy - did Ken ever give us a good steer to come up to Captain Poo's at Anchor Marina (Mile 347) for happy hour last night!

Wings, oysters and tacos were on the menu for 25 cents apiece. The place was full of folks by 5 and the music started at 6. We were lucky enough to snag a table just as a group left so we had a prime spot near the musician and the dance floor. Our new friend Ken joined us for a spell, and we made the pleasant acquaintance of Marg and Bob from Calabogie, Ontario - not all that far from Ottawa. Who'd a thunkit? Here we are in South Carolina and the lady passing the tomato basket (more about this in a minute) is from just down the road? On the other hand, why am I still surprised by such meetings? They keep happening to us.

Now about the tomatoes: A big basket of them was making its way around the room. Apparently the owner was giving them away, and as folks from each table helped themselves, someone took the basket to the next table. I never did find out what made Marg say immediately, "Are you Canadian?" but she did and of course that led to lots of conversation about our trip. I passed the basket on to another table where the male recipients thanked me effusively and I couldn't seem to make them understand that they weren't MY tomatoes - I was just spreading them around. The saga doesn't stop here though, because much later in the evening a couple sat down at our table, the woman (probably 70 something) spotted the four tomatoes there and said - "Oh those must be mah tomatoes! Ah told Connor ah wanted some and he must have left them for me!" At that point she started popping them into her purse. I had to move quickly to clamp my hand over 2 of them, move them back to my side of the table, saying, "Actually, those are MY tomatoes." We called it a draw as she kept the 2 she had already stored away, and I kept my 2. The gentleman with her drawled, "All ah know for shoah is they ahn't mah tomatoes." and Jim breathed a sigh of relief that the showdown was ended.

We tried some boiled peanuts thanks to Marg who shared a basket of them. The texture is really different - soft, meaty and slightly salty. Apparently the US ambassador to Canada has been extolling the virtues of the South Carolina peanut and we are happy to add our approval too.

Don Drexler provides music here at Captain Poo's every Tuesday night, and he is certainly an entertainer. He has all his arrangements prerecorded, and he plays guitar and sings along with them. It is loud, familiar, enthusiastic music and we enjoyed every minute of it. He started at 6 and was still going straight out when we left at 9. Some of it was golden oldies, some rhythm and blues, the occasional bluegrass number and some Carolina beach music. We're learning about this. It started as Motown or R&B, and the local folks back in the 30's and 40's developed their own kind of dance to it - called the shag. According to Ken, the fellows used to do the fancy footwork while the women did a simple in and out step. Now they both do some pretty fancy footwork. I found it to be quite elegant to watch - a little like jive, a little like jitterbug. (Did I get this right, Ken?)

A couple of other singers did some numbers - and there was a good bit of South Carolina pride apparent.

There were some very good dancers in this crowd of mostly locals. We could tell that many of them knew each other and they were all out for an evening of fun and dance. There was a real sensuality about the women - many of them older than we are. Having just watched the Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood a few nights ago, we could see some of that same exuberance in these folks. I know that is likely way too much of a generalization based on one evening's experience, but there is something different and engaging about the people we have met and observed so far. We already have an invitation to visit on our return trip. How is that for warm hospitality?

We managed to dance quite a bit ourselves - to the slow numbers. There was no way we could manage the faster ones with all that shagging going on!

We called it a night about 9, wandered down the ramp to Madcap with its red and white flag proudly waving in the breeze, and buried ourselves under the down comforter. While the days are still warmish, the evenings are cool.

When we woke up this morning (Wed) it was downright cold - not much above 0 Celsius I'm sure. The hats and gloves were essential. We made a long trip today - all the way to Georgetown. We had to skip the pretty little anchorages along the Waccama River in order to have time in this historic town, but we certainly enjoyed traveling through the cypress trees with their draperies of Spanish moss, and turtles basking on every sunny log. Oooh - I long for a good zoom lens. Soon...

There was no northbound traffic through the "rockpile" so we had absolutely no difficulty transiting that rock-bordered part of the ICW. The engine purred. The current was with us and boosted us a good knot on the latter part of the trip. The channel here in Georgetown is pretty full - I'd get here before midafternoon next time.

We stayed aboard for a bit to make sure we don't swing into the channel - a working channel - and now having deemed it safe to do, we'll head ashore to see what delights await us there.