Sorry, New York, but I have to admit I have a hardcore crush on Charleston. I love the beautiful architecture that combines Caribbean, English, and African influences (and I’m completely in love with the porches!), and there’s so much rich history – not all positive, but all important to understand. Of course there’s also the food, but that’s a separate post.
I took a morning to visit the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum and toured the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10), the destroyer USS Laffey (DD-742), and the Cold War-era submarine USS Clamagore (SS-343). I was bummed to only have a couple hours before I had to get to work, but I got to see most of all three ships, even if it was a bit rushed. The views from the Yorktown‘s flight deck were beautiful, but I can’t imagine trying to land a plane on it. Even though I was running out of time, I was drawn to explore her engine room. It’s there that the ship seems to feel most alive – I can almost feel her pulsing, droning heartbeat.
Thursday was a wash for me, and pretty stressful at that. I had to take Jack to the vet to get his shots and a check-up in preparation for going to the Bahamas. He hates cars and hates strangers, so I was super anxious. But he did great and seemed calm in the car, and the Animal Medical Center of Mount Pleasant was fantastic – I wish they could be his regular vet. After I took him home, I had to run to the post office to pick up our battery combiner that I tried to have delivered to the marina. It’s been an ongoing saga to get that fixed, and I felt like it would be just my luck for the package to get lost, especially since I didn’t have the undeliverable package notice. Fortunately they found it, but after all that, it turned out we still couldn’t install the new battery combiner as we needed more parts.
We took Friday off from work so we could spend the day enjoying the city. While I have mixed feelings about horse-drawn carriage rides, we decided to do one with Charleston Carriage Works, and it was a great way to see the Holy City (so named not for the abundance of churches but as a sarcastic nod to its port city roots) and learn some of her history. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and our horse, a Belgian draft horse nicknamed Blue, seemed to be well cared-for. After our tour, we walked back over to the Battery, Rainbow Row and The Tavern – the oldest liquor store in the US, selling spirits since 1686. I loved just walking around the streets, taking in the beautiful homes with their little secret gardens and the little old side streets. We took the ferry out to tour Fort Sumter, and Ranger Andy gave a great talk about the fort’s history and the 36 hour battle and eventual surrender of the Union soldiers that began the Civil War. I wish we had more time to explore and visit some of the museums and plantations, but I’m hoping to have a chance on the way back north.
I don’t think there was a single day we didn’t see dolphins. One afternoon, I was working out in the cockpit and suddenly there were dolphins feeding just off the stern. Of course I was in meetings most of the time, but they were there for a good couple hours, and as I was standing on the dock trying to get a shot, a baby surfaced right in front of me (of course I didn’t get a photo). Other than not being closer to downtown, the only real drawback to the marina was the monstrous shipping wake that rolled through regularly and woke me at least once a night.
With a fantastic week in the books, I can confidently say that Charleston is our favorite spot so far.
