Enjoying Charleston

One of the benefits of cruising is enjoying the cities you visit. Over the past several weeks we visited several cities, including Hampton, Coinjock, Myrtle Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Southport and Georgetown. We saw the sights, enjoyed the food and all in all had a great time...Visiting cities with their hustle and bustle, some more than others, provides a nice contrast to anchoring out.

These past few days we've been enjoying Charleston, a very cosmopolitan, historic, and charming city. We took a carriage ride through some of the historic areas, walked King Street (Charleston's version of Newbury and Boyleston streets in Boston) and ate exceedingly well

On Friday night we ate at the Oak Street Steakhouse - great food, great wine, great conversation with friends Hayden and Radeen

On Saturday night we ate at the Charleston Grille, a very upscale restaurant with outstanding service and food. One minor amusement was that - having lived on a boat for nearly three weeks and not having packed any "good" clothes we did not match the elegance of the surrounding, nor of the other diners. On seeing us enter the manager said we'd be much more comfortable in a "special" table which happened to be just behind a big column - somewhat hidden from the view of the other diners. But, as I said, the food and service was great and we didn't mind and very much enjoyed the evening.

On Sunday we toured Middleton Plantation with Hayden and Radeen It's about 10 miles out of town and sits on about 2,000 acres and features a fantastic garden, recreations of the buildings and activities of its pre-civil war heyday,  and some wonderful guided tours of the crafts and the house. We also took a carriage ride around the grounds and a guided tour through the gardens which are magnificent. I attach a bunch of pictures of the plantations to give a glilmpse of what we saw

Our Guide through the Gardens

Our Carriage Driver and guide showing us the grounds

the cruising tourists!

Today Molli heads home to Baltimore...It was wonderful that she enjoyed the trip and the experience and it was wonderful having her aboard. 

Later today Captain Robert Brown will arrive and we will prepare for the next phase of the trip, and offshore voyage to Miami. I look forward to continuing the most interesting conversations we enjoyed on last spring's trip from Miami to Baltimore.

We hope to cast off tomorrow (Tuesday)