Today I got to cross off one of the things on my Charleston Bucket List! This morning, we woke up early, put on our grungy clothes and painted the Folly Boat!
Here's the back story on the Folly Boat: On the drive down to Folly Beach, there is a landlocked row boat sitting off the side of the road. The boat washed up here during Hurricane Hugo back in 1989. When no one claimed the boat, locals turned it into a Folly Beach landmark by painting it to greet all beachgoers. Because of its close proximity to Folly Road, the only road in and out of Folly Beach, the painted boat has become a free-for-all billboard. Nowadays it has a new painted message almost everyday, from birthday wishes and farewell tributes to silly phrases and advertisements. It's legal to paint the boat. The only catch is your message is likely to be painted over as soon as the next passerby decides they need to proclaim something roadside.
To see what other people have painted, check out the Follyboat.com website for a full gallery of pictures. Some people are really creative!
But this morning, it was our turn to have our message on the boat. Our couple friends Connie and Daniel both have birthdays this week. So Connie asked us if we would help her paint the boat for Daniel's birthday and surprise him. He's turning 30 after all--- this is a pretty boat-worthy birthday.
The before picture of the boat. First we used white paint to erase the previous message. The previous message was also a birthday message though, so we left the "Happy Birthday" part. Less work for us!
Just so you can get an idea of how many times this boat has been painted. Look at all those layers!
Connie is about 7 months pregnant, so John and I were in charge of the spray paint. This was the best part! Who knew vandalism was so much fun?
Connie handled the white paint like a champ.
John decided polka dots would be a nice touch. Daniel loves polka dots after all....
Me and Connie with the boat.
Me and John on top of the finished product. I think the 30 is the best part. What do you think?
Apparently we weren't the only ones who discovered a newfound love for vandalism. Everything around the boat was painted too. These trees and some pine cones on the ground-- now multicolored.
The street in front of the boat. Once you start, you just can't stop.
And of course, we had to leave our own mark, too (on the back of the boat.)
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