Day One

I don’t even know where to begin with this place. And if you’ve ever been to Daufuskie Island, you’re probably laughing right now because you know.

The only way to get to the island is by ferry boat, which was very exciting to me because you guys know I LOVE boats and basically just being on the water. The ride took about an hour. We saw a dolphin, so obviously my heart was full. Everything was going exactly as I imagined.

And then we arrived.

I don’t know what I expected when the ferry pulled up. A welcome center? A little building? A sign telling us where to go?

There was nothing.

For a few minutes, I wondered if we had gotten off the ferry in the wrong place. Everything looked abandoned. This is where I realized that whatever version of Daufuskie Island I had created in my head before this trip was not the Daufuskie Island I had just stepped onto.

I knew there was a winery. A rum distillery. Restaurants. Shops. Two general stores. In my mind, I had somehow translated all of that into a cute, bougie little island town.

Nope.

This place is completely untouched by commercialization. There aren’t even streetlights. Yesterday I basically walked around with my mouth open, trying to process everything.

I don’t mean any of this in a bad way.

I think I like it. I just don’t know what to do with it yet. There is something disorienting about arriving somewhere that hasn’t been packaged for tourists. There isn’t a shiny little downtown waiting to entertain you. The island doesn’t seem interested in impressing you.

It just exists.

People live here. Generations of families have lived here. Gullah history and culture are still very much part of the island. Deer wander around like they own the place. We’ve already seen so many that JP would absolutely lose his mind.

Everyone we’ve met has been ridiculously kind.

Our neighbors helped us almost immediately. Our Airbnb is exactly as advertised and absolutely lovely, which definitely helped during my brief “WHERE HAVE WE COME” crisis.

And then we found the Old Daufuskie Crab Company. Thank the Lord.

The food was fresh and excellent, we ate, settled in, and I started thinking that maybe I could get used to this little island after all.

Also, there are TWO cemeteries. So obviously we’re going to those today. Priorities, right?

Have any of you been here? At the end of Day One, my official review of Daufuskie Island is:

I have absolutely no idea how I feel about Daufuskie Island.

And that may be exactly why I’m already fascinated by it.