SCIWAY News, No. 30 – November 2000

This holiday season you can send friends and family a little bit of Charleston by visiting ShopCharleston–http://www.shopcharleston.net - site no longer exists. On this site you'll find everything from She Crab Soup to Steven Jordan Artwork, Sweetgrass Baskets to Spoleto Merchandise. Choose from a variety of gift baskets, home decor, and jewelry. Unique Charleston gifts are just a click away ... at http://www.shopcharleston.net - site no longer exists

In This Issue

1. Happy Shopping from the Shop SCIWAY!
2. New and Notable South Carolina Web Sites
3. SC State Government Launches Improved Web Site
4. How to Add Your Web Site to SCIWAY's Search Engine
5. New SCIWAY Advertisers
6. Take a Learning Holiday at the Beach
7. Upcoming Festivals and Events
8. Voyage of the Month: Orca Visits the Georgetown Lighthouse

1. Happy Shopping from Shop SCIWAY!

There's a great new place to shop for holiday gifts this season, and you don't have to drive in any traffic to get there. You don't have to park. There are no crowds. There are no lines. And at the end of the day, not only will you have found some really special presents, you won't have to lug them back home to wrap.

Shop SCIWAY (https://www.sciway.net/shop/) is an online marketplace full of local flavor and fun. In this collection of over 30 South Carolina owned and operated stores, you can find anything from sweetgrass baskets ... to Pawley's Island hammocks ... to ball caps and sweatshirts for your favorite USC and Citadel fans.

And Shop SCIWAY doesn't sell just South Carolina-related products. It's also a great place to get camping gear, t-shirts, photo mugs, sportswear, golf equipment, art, and books. It has an incredible collection of food baskets too, overflowing with such delicacies as saltwater taffy, shrimp and grits, benne seed wafers, fried green tomatoes, pralines, and hoppin' johns.

So instead of lacing up those running shoes, wrap up in your robe. Fix a hot cup of cider and throw on some Christmas tunes. With Shop SCIWAY (https://www.sciway.net/shop/) , it's easy to find a present you'll be proud of.

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2. New and Notable South Carolina Web Sites

Harvest Hope Food Bank - provides food for the hungry in central SC

http://www.harvesthope.org

James Island Charter High School "Pride of the Island" Band

http://www.jichsband.org

Lexington County, SC - two good sites!

http://www.lex-co.sc.gov - county government

http://www.lexingtonsc.org - chamber of commerce

Lowcountry Foodbank

http://www.lowcountryfoodbank.org

Private, Resort, and Golf Communities - we are rich in contrasts

https://www.sciway.net/reloc/private.html

School District of Greenville County - Best in Southeast by 2005!

http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us

South Carolina Business Hall of Fame - 60+ biographies

http://www.myetv.org/television/productions/legacy/ - page no longer exists

South Carolina Literacy Resource Center

http://www.sclrc.org - page no longer exists

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control - new

http://www.scdhec.gov

South Carolina State Employees Association

http://www.scsea.com

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3. SC State Government Launches Improved Web Site

On Monday of this week, Governor Jim Hodges launched a new Web site that is going to save South Carolinians time and make it easier for us to do business with state government. This new site is called MySCGov, and you can find it at http://myscgov.com (or http://myscgov.org or http://myscgov.org - site no longer exists). Site is now called SC.gov (http://www.sc.gov/).

MySCGov provides new information and online services, and it is organized in a way that makes it easier to find useful resources than it was at its predecessor (http://www.state.sc.us). One of the most welcome additions to the site is a fast, comprehensive search engine licensed from AltaVista.

MySCGov was designed by the State Budget and Control Board's Office of Information Resources (http://www.state.sc.us/oir/), and it is managed by Jim MacDougall.

In the months ahead SCIWAY News will focus on some of the most useful and interesting resources and services available through MySCGov.

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4. How to Add Your Web Site to SCIWAY's Search Engine

In the last few weeks we have made significant improvements to SCIWAY's search engine. If you haven't used it recently, you'll find that it's fast and produces extremely relevant results. Just click the search button on the navy blue menu bar at the top of every SCIWAY page and give it a try.

The reason SCIWAY's search results are so on target is that our search database has been developed and progressively refined by people who live in South Carolina, not by computer software "robots" or "spiders" that often produce results so complete that they aren't useful.

Now for the first time you can add your business, organization, or government agency Web site to SCIWAY's search engine ... and we will guarantee that a direct link to your site will appear at the top of the search results when SCIWAY visitors look for you.

To see how this works, go to SCIWAY's home page (https://www.sciway.net) and search for Carolina Home Realty, Hutto Wood Products, Columbia Kiwanis Club, or South Carolina Legal Services Programs.

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5. New SCIWAY Advertisers

Alfie's Compliments - Columbia - 10% off all basket orders through Dec 5

http://www.alfies-baskets.com - site no longer exists

Urban JungleWear - Manning - Apparel and more for fans of the "big cats"

http://www.urbanjunglewear.com - site no longer exists

VIP Image - Charleston - Pawleys Island, Hatteras Hammocks–and more!

http://www.vipimage.com - site no longer exists

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6. Take a Learning Holiday at the Beach

Do you like to learn ... and meet new people ... and relax and have fun in beautiful places? Well, Coastal Carolina University may have just your ticket: a Learning Holiday at the Beach, February 4-9.

Designed for active adults, this six-day vacation package includes five nights at the Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort, a full-service resort located midway between Myrtle Beach and Georgetown (http://www.litchfieldbeach.com).

It also includes 14 meals ... more than 50 noncredit courses on topics related to art, technology, history, health, business, and current events ... afternoon excursions to Brookgreen Gardens (http://www.brookgreen.org) and Ripley's Aquarium (http://www.ripleysaquarium.com) ... and all taxes and gratuities.

Total cost: $499 per person, based on double-occupancy.

To learn more about Coastal's "Learning Holiday at the Beach," visit http://www.coastal.edu/learn/gshol.htm - page no longer exists. For a free brochure or to register, call Audrey Johnson at 843-349-2544.

Who knows ... could be a special Christmas present for you and someone you like to camp out with.

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7. Upcoming Festivals and Events

For the latest information on upcoming South Carolina events, please see https://www.sciway.net/calendar.html.

Holiday Festival of Lights - James Island - Nov 10-Jan 1

A Christmas Celebration - Lexington County Choral Society - Dec 1-2

Christmas Craft Show - Aiken - Dec 1-2

The Nutcracker Suite - Columbia Youth Ballet - Dec 2

Raid On Gramling Mills - Civil War reenactment - Dec 2-3

The Lion in Winter - Columbia - SC Shakespeare Company - Dec 7-16

Christmas in Hopelands - Aiken - Dec 9-26

First Night Charleston - Charleston - Dec 31

First Night Varnville - Varnville - Dec 31

Learning Holiday at the Beach - Litchfield Beach - Feb 4-9

Tidelands Birding Festival - Huntington Beach St Park - Feb 23-25

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8. Voyage of the Month: Orca Visits the Georgetown Lighthouse

Because many of South Carolina's most interesting structures are located on islands or face rivers, few people ever see them. This is especially true of our lighthouses and rice plantation homes and fields.

As a partial remedy, Orca and I have resolved to travel the state's coastal and inland waterways and bring back pictures and information we hope you'll find interesting.

Orca is an old friend of mine who has been cruising the sea islands south of Charleston for 62 years.

On this particular day, Orca, my daughter Julia Anna, and I took some special Georgetown friends–Marvin and Anne Marie Marozas and their sons Michael and Jason–to see the Georgetown lighthouse. We left our marina on the Sampit River Basin shortly before noon, and as you can see from the map beneath Orca's picture, we headed south, then southeast to the old light that still guides large ships entering Winyah Bay.

It was as beautiful a day as I can imagine. The October sky was deep blue, the sun was bright, and the water was calm but sparkling in the low fall sunshine. It also turned out to be an unusually uneventful day (nothing bad happened), probably because Julia, Michael, and Jason did most of the steering.

Orca seldom hurries, so it took more than an hour for us to reach the lighthouse and drop anchor just off the beach which is its doorstep. There the receding tide swung our stern seaward, and we relaxed and enjoyed the feast the Marozas family had prepared ... the welcome chance to renew our friendships ... and, of course, the seldom seen light.

This round, white tower stands near the southern tip of North Island. The current light was built in 1812, renovated in 1867, and manned by the Coast Guard until 1986. You can learn more about it from the pictures and text below the map of our course. It's worth learning about too, for it is the only historical lighthouse still operating in South Carolina.

Toward the end of the afternoon, we retrieved our anchor and headed back to Georgetown's historic district. Along the way we passed the still visible smokestack of the USS Harvest Moon, the only Union flagship sunk during the Civil War. Then we quietly watched a massive freighter plow its way down Winyah Bay toward the ocean. This orange giant was riding high in the water, for it had just deposited its cargo at the State Ports Authority Docks on the Sandpit.

I slept well that night, thankful for one of the most beautiful and enjoyable days of my life ... and looking forward to the next day's journey up the Black River. Stay tuned!

Top of SCIWAY News No. 30

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