Georgetown

This is one of the bridges that passes over the ICW in Myrtle Beach.  It was more stylish than any of the others so MaryLou decided on the shot.  There was still some haze in the air from the morning fog. 

 

 

We did notice an aquatic plant floating in the waterway.  It is water hyacinth which is an invasive species filling in the slower moving waters and choking out the native plants.  Its also becoming a problem for navigation since it collects in huge mats making it almost impossible to motor through.

The Georgetown SC area is rich in the history of our country and was also the center of commerce for this part of the state.  Besides fishing and tourism there are two different mills that add to the local economy.  We walked down Front Street near the paper mill and found this old cannon along the way.  Made in the early days of our country it is a 24 pounder that was found burried in the sand.  It has a federal stamp and number, but its uncertain on how or why it is here.  There are only two others remaining of this size in the US.  I think I remember they are in Savanah.

 

 

The cannon could shoot a 24 pound ball a mile so it would have been used to fortify any port along the water.  I did notice something different in the two pictures.

 

 

 

If you didn't notice, there was an armoured car stopping at the local bank just behind me.  We walked back through town to the fish market to get some local shrimp and did a little shopping.  There were also several historical points of interest.  One was the sinking of the USS Harvest Moon during the Civil War.  

 

Four nautical miles from downtown Georgetown is the wreck of the Harvest Moon, a Union paddle wheeler. During the Civil War, Georgetown was taken without resistance, but soon afterwards an angry local resident placed a mine near the Harvest Moon in the middle of the night. The mine exploded when the ship got underway the next morning, and the Harvest Moon sunk - in the shallows, where the rusting smokestack can still be seen today (the rest is buried in mud). 

 

If you would like more info, here are some local webs http://www.cogsc.com/History/History.cfm  and http://www.georgetown-sc.com/history/historicgeorgetown.shtml .

 

By the way, the shrimp was good on the grill.