Carolina Shore - Ocean, Seafood, History & More!

[scifan57113]

Yep - several times but has been years since my last visit - I've also been down a sub - the one in Mobile, AL (WW II USA); visited Patriot's Point in Charleston several times, main attraction USS Yorktown but no subs - doing a ChatGPT, there are about 10 submarines in the USA that can be visited, so I'm WAY behind - the one I've loved to see is shown below (been to Mystic Seaport, so was close) - now does the H.L. Hunley count - Dave
.
View attachment 107298

The H. L. Hunley is important as it was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat.

 

[giradman111]

The H. L. Hunley is important as is was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat.

Yes, in earlier posts in this thread I described our visit to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, SC where the Hunley is still currently housed (thought it would be moved by now?) - for those interested please search the thread - I bought a great book on the sub there - the experience was amazing (even Susan was fascinated - ) - if anyone is in the Charleston area, definitely worth a visit! Dave

 

[giradman111]

Nor'Easterly hitting the eastern seaboard with heavy damage and flooding extensively!

Pertinent to this thread, the Outer Banks were yet again hit with hundreds of feet of HW 12 unpaved - we were on the road just last year, the major artery up and down the barrier islands. A few pics from the web and plenty of videos to watch for those interested.

Currently Susan and I are vacationing for 4 nights on Wrightsville Beach - the weather has been beautiful - plan to post a short thread but the internet in the condo is 'flaky' - the Roku TV and all our devices intermittently lose their signal and connections just stop despite a fast internet speed - more when I get home. Dave
.

 

[scifan57113]

Nor'Easterly hitting the eastern seaboard with heavy damage and flooding extensively!

Pertinent to this thread, the Outer Banks were yet again hit with hundreds of feet of HW 12 unpaved - we were on the road just last year, the major artery up and down the barrier islands. A few pics from the web and plenty of videos to watch for those interested.

Currently Susan and I are vacationing for 4 nights on Wrightsville Beach - the weather has been beautiful - plan to post a short thread but the internet in the condo is 'flaky' - the Roku TV and all our devices intermittently lose their signal and connections just stop despite a fast internet speed - more when I get home. Dave
.
View attachment 108872View attachment 108873View attachment 108874View attachment 108875

Very informative. I expect that insurance for disasters like this is quite expensive.

 

[giradman111]

Very informative. I expect that insurance for disasters like this is quite expensive.

Hi Scifan.. just did a Google AI below - will obviously be in the millions of dollars - HW 12 has been knocked out a lot over the decades and keeps getting rebuilt (no other options!). We made likely our final trip there last year - I wanted to go over the new Oregon Inlet Marc Basnight Bridge, which was not damaged (see below) - built to
withstand this level of storm; and also see the Hatteras museum 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' (did some posts in this thread in '25). Dave
.

 

[giradman111]

Wrightsville Beach - New Trip End of September 2026

We usually do an annual 4-night trip to Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington, a 4-hour drive from our house. This time we stayed in a 4th floor condo with a magnificent view of the ocean (see first pics below). Despite the weather disaster to the Outer Banks discussed in the previous posts, we had glorious sunshine with temps in the 70º Fs - every day. Susan is physically limited so we were less active and relaxed more in the condo - however we have some good food with oysters x3, most sourced from the Carolina Coast.

Our first day was a light oyster lunch downtown at the Shuckin' Shack and then a visit to the 'new' relocated Cape Fear Museum, more convenient for tourists being in the historic downtown area - pics below from the museum; the first floor is the most interesting for me, a chronological history of the area from pre-Columbian times to the present. Second floor concentrates on people and technology of the area - the upper floor is a kids playground area with a LOT of activity. Now this museum often has special exhibits (earlier posts in this thread show previous visits) - not sure were these will be located. Also there is a planetarium which we did not attend (Susan ofter gets 'sleepy' when the lights go down). Next post just a continuation of the museum pics.
.

 

[giradman111]

Cape Fear Museum (a continuation):

More on the chronologic history of the area with fewer pics of 'Cape Fear Stories', about people, industries, and more modern events.
.

 

[giradman111]

Cameron Art Museum

Another visit and a brunch at their excellent cafe - both had the day's quiche - we come to this museum on every visit - there are always interesting exhibits - this and the next post will show some pics of the current ones (unfortunately another gallery was temporarily closed) - this one toward the end of the exhibit went into some of the Gullah Geechee culture and art, a brief topic coming up soon.
.

 

[giradman111]

Cameron Art Museum (continued):

Some of the last pics more on the Gullah Geechee culture and arts - further discussion in the next post - but notice the basketry and a placard showing how these intricate baskets are made with sweetgrass, pine needles, and likely other materials.

P.S. Yes, there seems to be an abundance of carved ducks and some other birds - many of these were hunting decoys some going back to the 1800s.
.

 

[giradman111]

Gullah Geechee Culture and Arts

If interested, checkout the Gullah Website - the quotes below are from there but much more information is available. A while back on a trip to Hilton Head Island, we took a boat ride and tour of Daufuskie Island and learned a lot about the people and culture - quite unique to the area (and the country).

We even have the basket shown at the bottom - bought in Charleston from a Gullah lady sitting on the steps of St. Michael's Church at Broad & Meeting Streets, selling her wares while weaving a basket - many are available at the Market but are more expensive (this one was likely 2/3 the cost we would have had to pay). Dave

The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved on the rice, indigo and Sea Island cotton plantations of the lower Atlantic coast. Many came from the rice-growing region of West Africa. The nature of their enslavement on isolated island and coastal plantations created a unique culture with deep African retentions that are clearly visible in the Gullah Geechee people’s distinctive arts, crafts, foodways, music, and language.

Gullah Geechee is a unique, creole language spoken in the coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The Gullah Geechee language began as a simplified form of communication among people who spoke many different languages including European slave traders, slave owners and diverse, African ethnic groups. The vocabulary and grammatical roots come from African and European languages. It is the only distinctly, African creole language in the United States and it has influenced traditional Southern vocabulary and speech patterns.

The ancestors of the Gullah Geechee people brought to this country a rich heritage of African cultural traditions in art, foodways and music. Today’s Gullah Geechee arts and crafts are the result of products designed by their ancestors out of necessity for daily living such as making cast nets for fishing, basket weaving for agriculture and textile arts for clothing and warmth.
Deeply rooted in music traditions brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans, their music evolved out of the conditions of slavery that characterized their lives. The influence and evolution of musical forms that arose out of Gullah music can be heard in many musical genres such as spirituals and gospel music, ragtime, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and jazz.

.

 

[scifan57113]

Another wonderful pictorial travelogue. I enjoyed all those photos. Thanks for posting.

 

[giradman111]

Another wonderful pictorial travelogue. I enjoyed all those photos. Thanks for posting.

Thanks Scifan.. - the new Cape Fear Museum is well done and a more spacious space - just hope that revolving exhibits will continued (posted on plenty in the past in this thread) - and for those visiting the Charleston area, look for the ladies making the baskets - they are beautiful and a bargain after you watch the time needed just to make one of those coils. Dave