Guided Discovery: Streaming North: Downtime in Downtown Georgetown

Reader's Note: This article was finally completed on May 31.

Well it's the Great Loop all over again. Well, at least in terms of the activity on this stop. During our Great Loop adventure Diana and I (and, of course, Kodi) visited 135 cities as part of the experience. Our visit to Georgetown on this trip was necessitated by the need to stop to wait out a massive low pressure system that brought high winds and big seas to the coast between Charleston and Norfolk.

Back in the Great Loop days our first action when visiting a new city was a get a feel for the area. We did this by visiting www.city-data.com and www.wikipedia.com.

Georgetown has a population of 9,054. Median income is $25,481 as compared to South Carolina's $47,238. Estimated median condo and home value is $121,514 versus SC's $148,600. The data suggests a small town with a low cost of living.

Drawings showing Georgetown and its location on Winyah Bay and location in South Carolina

Georgetown, founded in 1527, is the third oldest city in South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw and Sampit Rivers, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year.

Closed steel mill

The principle employer is a paper mill. A steel mill originally owned by the Kork company of Germany opened in 1973. The steel mill was subsequently financed in 1993 by Bain Capital (Mitt Romney) and was called Georgetown Steel. It declared bankruptcy in 2001 and closed the plant in 2003. The plant subsequently reopened under new ownership but closed in 2015 due to the influx of cheap foreign steel.

Cruise ship Grande Mariner arriving in Georgetown

Tourism has become a booming business. In addition, many retirees have chosen to settle in this area of beaches, plantations redeveloped as residential communities, and pleasant climate. This was evident by a downtown that had restaurants, tourist oriented stores, a harbor walk, tour boats and a visiting cruise ship.

The Grande Mariner, a 184 ft cruise ship of the Blount Small Ship Adventures line, visits Georgetown on Day 4 of their 12 day 11 night Savannah to Baltimore cruise (starting at $3,699). The ship docks at Harbowalk Marina and takes up the entire gas dock and blocks the slip that Larry had put us in.

Here's what Blount says about Georgetown.

Day 4

Georgetown, SC

Georgetown, widely accepted as the probable site of the first European settlements was at the center early American history. Today, the Georgetown Historic District is a picturesque, coastal town filled with buildings and sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You can take in its southern charms on walking or tram tours, visit one of its four museums, or test your nerves on its famous ghost tours.

184 ft Grande Mariner blocking the 50 ft Hatteras

Grande Mariner arriving at the dock

The folks on the Grande Mariner had about 6 hours of "shore leave," which is not a lot of time to get to know a city. We had two full days and even engaged in "commerce" as we did some light provisioning at the Piggly Wiggly and purchased a hose at a plumbing supply store in a fruitless attempted to fix a broken waterline to the master head toilet.