From Key West To Charleston

A few days after the fish fry some of the guys came by the cottage. One of the guys in the group they called Gator, and he would believe almost anything anyone told him, he asked me, “Mrs. C B where did you meet C B?” 

I knew instantly that Chuck had told him the tall tale because he told it so often to others just kidding around teasing me. He always added to the tale that I had never worn shoes till he caught me and put some on my feet!

I answered, “Well, he didn't actually meet me; he caught me in a bear trap in a swamp up in the Panhandle of Florida.” He said, “Ah you’re kidding me, he told me that story, but I didn't believe him!”.

I said to him, “No I m serious it didn't hurt me too much, but see, I do have this scar on my leg!” I really did have a scar on my leg and showed it to him, and he thought I was being truthful, and was convinced.

From then on he told everyone about it. The guys got a lot of mileage out of that one too!

Not long after he came home from the North Atlantic trip he took a short leave and took me to Charleston to find a place to live and get settled. The Boat would be going into dry dock for yard overhaul. I had never driven that long of a trip alone and he didn't want me to travel alone.

I had everything we owned packed in the car when he got off duty that evening. We knew there was a tropical storm headed our way, but we hoped we could stay ahead of the worse part, because we had to leave I had already turned the keys to the cottage over to the landlady. It was the last storm of the "57" season.

Mainland End of Bahia Honda Bridge

By the time we reached the mainland end of the old Bahia Honda Bridge the seas were beginning to wash over the low places and were splashing against the side of our car.

We had to keep going there was no safe place to stop. Numerous boats had been left alongside the road. 

It was a rough crossing at Lake Surprise in the upper Keys too, we were being buffeted by the winds and water splashing over the road. At last we made it off the Keys and onto the mainland and it was somewhat calmer, but we had rain all the way to the Florida/Georgia line.

It was also a rainy night in Georgia all the way through the state. The only route in those days being the old and narrow, two lane ~ Highway 17.  Neither I-75 nor I-95 existed at that time! When we arrived in Charleston the next day we stopped and had a very late breakfast and bought a Newspaper and searched for a place to live.

As luck would have it the very first place we looked at suited us just fine. There was a sign inside a small window in the door that said, open come in and look. We opened the door and went inside. There was a note on the table that said if you like it move in and I will catch you later for the rent, $ 50.00 per month.

Map of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina

We moved our gear in, I put sheets on the bed and we sacked out. We were exhausted from the trip, but with both of us taking turns driving we had driven straight through on the over a thousand mile trip. We went grocery shopping the next day, and then he had to catch the bus back to Key West and ride the Boat up.

Our little mobile home for the time the Boat was in the yard was on Carlton Street, it butted up against the Base fence and was four blocks from the Main Gate. 

One night I heard someone talking outside my bedroom window, and I peeked out through the window; there was a hole in the fence behind our trailer where the guys coming back late or for whatever reason climbed in and out through. I soon became used to it; it was an every night occurrence!

For those interested in the history of the Naval Shipyard click here.