Day 181 - April 12, 2013: The Rice Museum and more

After sleeping to the sounds of rain tapping on the deck and thunder rolling across the river, we walked over to see the Rice Museum. This would give us a better understanding of the emergence of an entire society surrounding Georgetown, which was based on this one crop. The museum is located in The Old Market building adjacent to the river and was erected in 1842. Our tour was led by a very nice and very Southern lady who showed us a large hand-painted map of the area along with many dioramas depicting the steps involved in rice production.

The Old Market (1842)

Our tour leader

This tour included the Maritime History Museum which is on the third floor of the Kaminski Hardware building also built in 1842. This museum houses the "Brown's Ferry Vessel," which is the oldest vessel of colonial manufacture known in the U.S. Built locally as a commercial transport, it sank in the nearby Brown's River between 1830 and 1840 and was discovered and carefully raised in 1976.

Brown's Ferry Vessel

Model of the vessel

Later, we bought some seafood and Carolina rice at the Kudzu Bakery (recipient of a Trip Advisor award for excellence) and more seafood at Independent Seafood just down from the marina.

Docked next to us is the "Trade Wind," a wooden-hull Alden Motorsailor built in 1938 and fully restored at Rockport Marine by the current owner. It won the Judge's Choice Award in the Concours d 'Elegance at the 2011 Boat Show in Mystic, CT. This is a stunningly beautiful vessel of a type and condition that you rarely see in person. The owners travel from NY to stay in the Bahamas yearly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwfRlHiEGFU

Trade Wind (1938)