From Beaufort NC to Charleston SC - Shaking off the cabin fever with amazing Spring multi day trips.
After the (not so) long winter, nothing says spring time like a long boat trip up the waterway with friends and family to really kick off the season! We were incredibly fortunate to have 2 great back to back journeys with some fantastic clients. Here’s the rundown on some of the sights and sounds on Civility.
March 26 - 28 Beaufort Bound!
Such a cool town! One of my favorite destinations for a weekend getaway or even a stopover on the way up to the Outer Banks, Beaufort is a quaint waterfront town that boasts wonderful shops, restaurants and a rich history (Blackbeard anyone?!?). We left Wrightsville Beach around 10am on a warm but breezy Friday so we decided to run in comfort up the Intracoastal waterway for the 80 mile trip up. One of the more interesting stretches is 15 or so miles going through the Camp Legeune Military base. The ICW goes from beautiful beach homes to an almost desolate stretch broken up only by the occasional shot up tank!
Even with a leisurely pace, we arrived by midafternoon and cruised through Taylor Creek to our accommodations at the gorgeous Beaufort Hotel. The clients (3 couples) could not have been happier with the amenities, from a restaurant right on the property to the convenience of a golf cart rental for trips to town, we were set up for success. The icing on the cake was this stunning sunset!
Saturday gave us the the perfect weather (mid 70’s, no wind) and tide (mid height and rising) to run Civility through the skinny backwaters over to Shackleford Banks in search of the famous wild Spanish Mustangs which have roamed the island since 16th century shipwrecks brought them ashore.
Not only did we see horses, we even had a sea turtle surface right next to the boat on our way back to town! After another successful adventure the crew spent the rest of the day shopping, dining and enjoying one another’s company.
After a late brunch on Sunday we started our cruise back down the ICW. I usually mention in passing that Civility has wifi and TV although clients rarely use it (for obvious reasons). However, nothing says Sunday in spring like March Madness basketball! We had an absolute blast hanging out and watching a game or two with a backdrop you’ll never get out your living room window. I told my wife after, they were having so much fun we could have kept going right past Wrightsville Beach and nobody would have even noticed!
April 3 - 8 Civility In The Low Country
Probably the #1 most inquired about trip, Charleston is a bucket list journey that doesn’t disappoint. While it’s certainly possible to accomplish in one day, it’s a much better if broken up into two. We had the great fortune of having an amazing family of 5 as clients and had a blast! We started out from Figure 8 Island on an unusually crisp April morning (turned out to be the LAST day using the heat in the cabin but it sure was nice to have a 72 degree salon when it was 40 outside). Even though it was chilly to start we caught an amazing piece of good fortune with slick calm offshore seas. Running offshore is not only beautiful but cuts travel time significantly, especially bypassing the busy Little River/Myrtle Beach section of the ICW
Along the way we trolled for Spanish Mackerel, watched dolphins feeding and enjoyed the view before we stopped at Georgetown for the evening. Georgetown SC is a quaint but sometimes overlooked town about 2/3 of the way between Wrightsville and Charleston. It grows on me every time I stop there and has a beautiful downtown area with shops, restaurants, historic homes and a cool little riverwalk. It also feels like the entrance to the low country of South Carolina, so for day 2 we decided to cruise down the ICW for the remaining 50 miles or so to Charleston. One of my favorite stretches of ICW, there is pretty much nothing but stunning marshland as far as the eye can see with the historic fishing village of Mcclellanville being the only sign of civilization. The waterway narrows to almost a ditch during this stretch and we were treated to 3 Bald Eagles fishing in the shallows and a pod of dolphins playing in our wake. Being Easter Sunday, we celebrated our arrival in Charleston with one of the best lunches I’ve ever had from Halls Chophouse!
From the historic waterfront, Fort Sumter, a day trip to Kiawah Island and trip through a creek no wider than the boat in Daniel Island, it was truly a great time. I’ll spare the details of our 3 days and let you fill in your own when you book this memory making dream trip.
Well all good things have to come to an end so we headed back north on the 7th. We decided to mix it up and try a stay in Little River on the way back. We were once again fortunate with a great offshore forecast so we were able to hang in Charleston until noon before departing. We ended up timing it perfectly and were greeted in Little river with maybe our best sunset of the entire trip!
On the final leg of the journey we cruised up the ICW into NC and after a stop at the always popular Provision Co in Southport for lunch we made our way back to Figure 8 and home.
When we started Airlie Pointe we knew multi day trips were an untapped niche in the market and it has been a blast! This is of course just the tip of the iceberg, we’ve got clients on tap with their sights set on the Outer Banks, Florida and beyond. Stay tuned for many more good things to come. Take care, stay safe and see you on the water!
