Port Royal, SC-Bugs, Bourbon and Basketball

This is my second and final blog about my recent spring sabbatical to Port Royal, SC. In past trips I have written a weekly series of blogs, but this trip was different and fraught with a lot of difficulties. So, I have decided two book end segments would be enough.

First, I want to say that the accommodations I booked through the VRBO website were first rate. A former two-car garage had been converted into a one-bedroom apartment that was roomy and well-equipped. There was nice kitchen and a full bathroom with a spacious living room and separate bedroom. The apartment had a dishwasher, and a washer-dryer set.

Outside the front door there was small seating area that opened onto the large driveway that serviced my apartment and two full-sized houses. My apartment was located about a half-block from Paris Ave. that is the main street through the center of the “downtown” area.

My hosts Debbie and Tim were very accommodating and told me about interesting things to do and see in the area. They had assembled a binder full of information about site-seeing, shopping and restaurants in the area. 

After I had been there about a week, I began to have problems with bugs—specifically sand fleas. On my second weekend there, I spent a couple of hours outside reading and drinking some Bourbon near dusk. After I went inside, I noticed that I had to scratch several itchy insect bites. Later that evening I noticed my legs and arms were covered with red blotches. I remembered being covered with bites like these when I was a young boy going out to play after dinner on summer evenings in Columbus, Ohio. We called them chiggers and they itched like crazy. 

I didn’t have any anti-itch medicine, so I went through a miserable night. The next day, I stocked up on some anti-itch cream and triple-antibiotic cream.  My research showed that March through May is the worst time for sand fleas in the Low Country and then the mosquitos start.

I wanted a place to start researching and writing my next project and I had hoped I could find a suitable outside location rather than being cooped up in an apartment. Afterall, that’s why I drove more than 700 miles south and spent a lot of money to rent a space for about five weeks in a warmer climate. 

So, I started to look for alternative outdoor spaces that I could use to work when I wanted to escape the confines of my apartment. One promising spot was the nearby Fort Frederick National Monument that was only about a five-minute drive away.

It’s a rather small park of only a few acres on the inlet that separates Port Royal from Beaufort, SC. The main feature of the park are the remains of a fort made of oyster shells, lime and sand constructed by the Union forces during the Civil War to enforce the blockade of the port at Beaufort. More than thirty years later, the fort was reactivated to protect Beaufort and Port Royal from a potential invasion during the Spanish-American War. Another interesting feature is the site of the Emancipation Oak where several hundred Black slaves gathered in 1863 to hear a reading of the document that they had been freed.

This park featured a large, covered picnic pavilion with more than a dozen tables. It had a nice view of the river and seemed like the perfect place for me to work. But, on three occasions when I went there, a group of ham radio operators decided to set up their equipment and meet there. And on two other occasions, I had begun to work when a lawn mowing crew showed up.

To top all of this, Port Royal had a small beach area on the river that seemed very nice. But when I arrived there the beach area was closed for construction of a new parking lot. I emailed the city and was told the beach would not reopen until April 24, long after I was scheduled to depart.

I did spend one nice afternoon at Hunting Island State Park that had a very nice beach about a half hour away.

I am a huge fan of March Madness, but the apartment didn’t have conventional cable TV. It had Roku. Unfortunately, there were no channels that were carrying the NCAA tournament. So, I contacted my son Brian, and he suggested I install Dish Anywhere on my computer and that worked somewhat, but I had more success using the March Madness app on the NCAA website.

I had booked the unit for five weeks, but the bug bites caused my legs to get swollen and that convinced me to leave about 10 days early. So, I packed up my Honda CRV and drove for 13.5 hours through several major downpours to reach home just before midnight.

This trip was as much a disappointment as my visit to Las Vegas in 2020 that was cut short because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Better luck next year.

Port Royal, SC - Week 1

So, I’ve been in Port Royal, SC about 10 days and things have not gone as smoothly as I would have liked. Still, it has been an interesting experience, and this area has a lot of interesting recreational and historical opportunities that I hope to explore over the next few weeks.

I arrived after an uneventful trip from my home in Ohio on a Thursday afternoon. I met my VRBO host Debbie at the property and unpacked my car. The rental is a separate building that was probably once a two-car garage. It is nicely appointed with a large kitchen, eating area and living room in an open space at the front door. There is also a nice size bedroom and full bath with a washer and dryer in a separate closet.

I will be here for five weeks, so having laundry facilities is a great convenience.

The first night I arrived, I decided to treat myself to dinner at the Fish Camp restaurant. I ordered sea food pasta, and it was excellent. The restaurant was packed, and I had to sit at the bar to eat, but the service was great. After eating the large salad, the pasta dish was so large I had plenty left over for next evening’s dinner.

After a good night’s sleep, I went to a Food Lion store the next day to stock up on groceries and snacks. While driving to the store, I took a wrong turn and ended up the main gate for the Marine base at Parris Island. After I stored the groceries, I drove around town to get acquainted with things.

Port Royal has a population of about 14,000 and it is situated on a peninsula between Beaufort, SC and Parris Island. It is a primarily residential community, where people are allowed to drive golf carts about town. Paris Street, the main street through the middle of town, has a unique speed limit of 22 miles per hour. The speed limit on side streets is 15.

On Friday, I began to have a headache, runny nose and coughing. I looked at the hood of my dark blue Honda CRV and noticed flecks of yellow powder—tree pollen. That pretty much shot the weekend as I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I did watch some hoops on Saturday after Brian helped me set up Dish Anywhere on my computer. I still didn’t use the large TV much because it is Roku and not regular cable or satellite. 

Sunday was the day the time shifted to Daylight time, and it was cool and rainy and dark in the morning, so I slept in until almost 9:30. I downloaded the Akron Beacon Journal and spent the rest of the morning reading that and some online news sites. That afternoon, I drove up to Beaufort. The main street is lined with shops, art galleries and restaurants and it was very crowded. The weather was not conducive to going to the beach, so the tourists went shopping instead.

I went back to the house and decided to do some reading. Pam gave me a book before I left called “The Other Einstein” the book is a well-researched historical novel about Mileva Maric of Serbia, who became Einstein’s first wife. According to this book, she was an excellent student and met Albert when both were in graduate school. She was also majoring in physics at Zurich and the story goes that she was intellectually his equal and that her insights contributed to Einstein’s theories. 

The rest of last week was spent finishing the Einstein book, watching conference tournaments and getting some rest. I attempted to pair my MacBook with the TCL Roku TV, but I was unable to get it to connect. Finally, I went to a local Walmart and bought a USB-C to HDMI cable, and I will be able to watch March Madness on a larger screen.

In addition to my pollen woes, I discovered that the local beach on the Beaufort River is closed until late April for improved parking and access. I did find another park nearby on the river called Fort Frederick. It has ruins of the fort that was constructed of seashell concrete and a nice, large shelter. I hope to go there to write to get a change of scenery.

That’s all for now, but there will be more later.