A cloudy, dreary morning with intermittent showers added mood to the passing scenery. The ICW winds through miles of what appears to be remote marsh and heavily treed islands with no signs of civilization, until nearing Charleston. A few sparsely placed camps in the remote areas turn into large opulent riverside retreats with floating docks and larger boats the closer we got to Charleston Harbour. We watched as a local brainless boater, with the usual complimentary "bimbos"on deck , flew through a no wake zone rocking us a little, and almost swamping some teenagers in a small outboard! (of course it was a Sea Ray!) No wonder I prefer remote anchorages rather than the hub bub of the metropolitan areas. Oh well, it was Sunday (I think!) and I guess the boys need to get rid of all that youthful testosterone.
Elliott Cut Inlet
We got a slip at the Charleston Maritime Centre as it was the closest to Charleston City centre. This is the one of the cities municipal marinas and although somewhat rocky-roly was within easy walking distance to the restaurants, old southern homes, horse drawn carriage rides, water taxi, and aquarium. The marina is open to the public, meaning no locked gates but the dock master reassured me that they generally have no problems unless the Canadian Navy is in port. The Canadian sailors apparently will go on a "3 day bender" getting drunk and bringing girls down to the dock for some extracurricular activities! Imagine that--those frisky little Canadians!
Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. This is the site where the civil war began.
View from our slip this evening. Tug pulling a barge. Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in the background. This bridge is 2.5 miles long crossing the Cooper River.
We met up with Karyn Hinson's daughter and son-in-law, Wendy and Dan who filled us in on the "going's on " in Charleston. They have lived here for the last 12 years, Dan successfully running a flooring business and Wendy successfully running an advertising business for home and apartment rentals. They are very proud of their city which just usurped San Diego as the number one tourist food destination in the USA. Charleston has become a mecca for gourmet chefs because of the mild climate, the water and in general the people. Dan told us that people here find it rude to beep their horn in traffic..so they don't! Friendly people with southern hospitality and Dan and Wendy reflect it all. They took us to Hank's Seafood Restaurant located in a turn of the century warehouse overlooking the Historic Market. The decor was that of an old fashioned saloon style bar with an exhibition raw bar recreating a classic Charleston Fish House.
Wendy ordered the crab cake appetizers. These were blue crab cakes, almost no filling and chunky with a crisply singed top and bottom. For those of you who haven't tried fresh swordfish, your are missing out on one of life's most tasty food. The grilled swordfish was meaty, had absolutely no fishy smell and had a succulent sweet taste. The highlight of the meal for me was of course, dessert. Creme Brule and Irish coffee quickly disappeared once I offered a taste to Beth....no not her ...me... I wasn't about to share any more than a taste!
It was fun reminiscing about Jay and Karyn Hinson-- stories about parties in the tower, laughing and singing into the wee hours of the morning. Jay is now approaching age 90 and I hope still able to come on the boat ride I promised him when we get to Eastport, Maine.
Thank you Dan and Wendy! Tomorrow we explore the streets of Charleston.
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