Using All of the Senses

I last blogged at Turner Creek south of Savannah, GA. I failed to mention the fragrance of our anchorage at Turner Creek. We were anchored next to thousands of acres of marsh grass which glistened in the afternoon sun as the tide fell leaving the wheat colored grass wet. The next morning the wind had shifted over the marshlands bringing the flavors of the grasses to our boat. I was surprised to catch a hint of fennel in the air. I don't know if fennel or anise grows wild in salt marshes but the fragrance was definitely in the air.

After we left Turner Creek we ran to Kilkenny Marina on Kilkenny Creek. It's a rickety old marina with wobbly piers but pleasant locals and a friendly old dog who barked at you if you walked by but failed to pet him. The nearest town was Richmond Hill which was a couple miles away so we decided to cook on board. Mandy had started preparing a stove-top casserole when I commented that the locals must be having some kind of fishing tournament. I decided to check it out and after asking a few of the contestants if they had a fish or two for sale, a fellow held his bucket of 12 inch speckled tout out to me. "Take a couple," he offered. I pulled two slimy fish from the bucket and tried to pay him but, as usual in the South, he would accept nothing.

As I filleted the fish, biting gnats attacked me. Thousands of tiny needles pierced my skin from my face to my feet. I had never filleted a fish so fast. We rolled the fillets in crushed potato chips and fried them over the stove. What a treat!

For the past two days, we have been tied to a pier in the Brunswick Landing Marina adjacent to the town of Brunswick, GA. We are awaiting the arrival of our mail and a shipment of medication which should arrive today. We are also enjoying the local restaurants and the friendly smiles and the Y'alls. Last night we shared fried oysters over jalapeno grits with collards; a remarkable dish.

Yesterday we did two loads of laundry then hiked two miles to the nearest Winn-Dixie grocery store. Along the way we walked through the old historic district where the Christmas decorations are already out. Once out of the downtown area we passed over MLK Drive. I suspect most southern towns of any size have a tribute to Reverend King. Even though that part of the town is somewhat rundown we detected traces of jasmine and other wild plants growing in the yards of abandoned property. We stopped into a fortressed convenience store where the strong smell of patchouli slapped us in the nose.

When travelling by water, where the marinas are not conveniently located near a town, we find ourselves walking through fields, lawns, and wooded paths to reach a destination. Later yesterday afternoon, when running an errand to the hardware store, I found myself walking on a railroad track. I haven't walked on tracks since I was a kid when my short stride perfectly matched the spaces between the ties. As a grownup I had to do a silly dance where I bounced every second or third step off of the rail to make my gate match the spacing of the ties.

If our last package arrives today we will head to an anchorage a few miles south then we plan to be in Fernandia Beach on Saturday to find a bar where we can watch the Bucks hand the Overgrown Rats (that's what a wolverine really is!!) an embarrassingly disappointing afternoon.