Scenic, historic Waccamaw River flows across Horry County from its northern boundary of North Carolina to its southern boundary at Georgetown County where it empties at the end of its 140 miles journey. Stately live oak trees draped with Spanish moss border the banks of the black water that has served Horry citizens from beginning days of Native American settlements, Revolutionary battles, Civil War skirmishes and African-American communities to the present. Exerpted from www.horrycounty.org

The cruise up the Waccamaw River was spectacular. There was almost no other boat traffic, always a plus, and the weather was superb — clear blue skies and the sort of sparkling clarity in the air one only gets following a passing cold front. The river is wide, getting gradually narrower as one heads upstream, and the foliage on either bank was lush and green. The smooth water was marred only by it’s brown color. This was once big time rice-growing country, and the fields by the river are open and flat with what once were active tidal dams at intervals along the river banks which were used for controlled flooding of the rice paddies. It was cool and sunny, and the current was with us. What more could one ask for?
Checking back to the log of this stretch a year ago, one will find that we were bedeviled by black and yellow flies on this portion of the cruise, and while they didn’t seem to be hungry, they were a disturbing distraction to our enjoyment. Nothing of the sort marred this beautiful day, and we were almost disappointed when the river became narrow and meandering, meaning we were almost at our destination.
Ted Jones