Charleston was as delightful as I remembered it, if not more so. We arrived there at around 10 AM on Wednesday and got dock space at the Municipal Marina. The wind was really whipping and the current in Charleston is strong, so I was very glad to be tied to a good, solid dock. The forecast was bleak; it called for thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, and basically every other type of formidable weather catastrophe possible. Luckily for us, this weather system didn’t bother Charleston, but unfortunately, much of the South has been devastated by it in the past few days. I know many friends/ family members/ blog readers have been concerned, so I just want to clarify that my family and I are safe and sound.
I have to say that the Municipal Marina was the nicest marina we've stayed at so far. When my mom went up to the office to settle up, they gave her a complimentary bag full of brochures, coupons, pens, and maps for the city. They had a laundry facility that was conveniently located, as well as a courtesy van that took marina guest wherever they pleased. The facilities were very well maintained and service was nice. And most importantly, we had access to the cleanest, nicest, hottest showers yet.
After having lunch on the boat, we all walked into town. We explored south of Broad Street (the exclusive district with beautiful, historic Antebellum homes) for a while, absorbing the grandeur and smelling the sweet jasmine that was blooming all over the city. (My mom decided that she wanted to get a jasmine plant for the boat. Yes, a plant. On a boat. Is it just me, or is that a ridiculous idea? Small sailboats and potted plants just don’t mix well.)
After wandering around for a while we got hungry and decided that it was time for some grub, so we picked up a couple deli sandwiches from the grocery store. I had forgotten just how much I adore chicken salad sandwiches. Oh, how I miss having a refrigerator. I’m going to eat chicken salad every day when I get back home.
I recently got hired as a hostess in a restaurant back home, and I had to buy a pair of professional looking black pants to complete my required uniform. My parents poked around in antique shops for an hour or so while I shopped at Forever 21. When we met up later, they were rather disappointed but not altogether unsurprised that I hadn’t exactly accomplished my mission. In my bulging bag of newly purchased clothing I had a printed skirt, a gray sweater, a blue cardigan, a tank top, and a sundress- but no black pants. I ended up coming back the following day to buy pants.
Across the dock from us was the sailboat Calypso with Jonathon and Christine onboard. We became friends with them in the Bahamas and we ended up spending a good chunk of the evening on their boat. They’re very nice. They also have the world's cutest little dog.
We spent Thursday afternoon walking around town some more. Every now and then the sky would spit a little, but for the most part the weather was pretty decent. We went into a beautiful church with brilliant stained glass. We stopped in at an antique shop that specialized in recovered treasure from sunken ships. My parents got pita pocket sandwiches at a tiny little café downtown. My mom and I tried on a hundred different hats at an overpriced little shop on the east side of town. There’s a whole lot to do in Charleston, and we did as much as time would allow us to do.
This morning we left for Georgetown, South Carolina. We actually got boarded by Customs/ Police officers. It wasn't a big deal though, they had been boarding pretty much every other pleasure vessel in the harbor. They checked our passports, vessel documentation, and asked us all about our trip. It was all over in about 15 minutes and we were free to go.
In the next few days we will pass through some beautiful places that I loved on the way down, including the Waccamaw River. It’s interesting to be doing the Intracoastal backwards and seeing everything I saw last fall again from a different angle. Even though I have passed through these places, I am still loving the trip north!
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| Walking down by the Battery with my dad. |
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