Charleston

Scenes from Downtown

We're back from vacation! It was a wonderfully relaxing trip. We stayed with our friends the Brinsons, who moved to John's Island from Gaithersburg about 6 months ago, and their amazing hospitality allowed us to get plenty of R&R. To more fully appreciate the extent of their hospitality, realize that South Carolina in July is HOT, and our hostess Christine is 8 months pregnant.

We opened and closed our stay by enjoying the 83-degree water on Folly Beach. In between, we toured the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown, wandered around downtown Charleston's stately old homes, and watched boats.

The South Carolina flag against the backdrop of the new Ravenel bridge, quite a lovely bit of architecture.

U.S.S. Yorktown, CV-10 (Essex class)

If you can imagine a floating airport, with a hotel/dormitory and a dining hall underneath, along with an entire level devoted to machinery, and another to a cluster of lecture halls, and a third to storage of ammunition and sundry supplies and services such as a post office and a laundromat, then you can begin to imagine the size of this ship. We found ourselves wondering how long it took the sailors and aviators on board to learn their way around their ship.

The ship is actually the second Yorktown. The first Yorktown sank after being heavily damaged at the Battle of Midway. The present ship was being built when the sinking occurred and was promptly christened Yorktown in honor of the first. Yorktown the second played an important role in the victory over Japan during WWII. It was a bit of a thrill for me to be strolling the decks where men became heroes, courage conquered, and freedom was bought with blood, after Samuel Morison depicted Yorktown's battles so vividly in the naval history series I'm reading.

Our wonderful hosts, who will probably have to see this vessel many more times than they wish.

After seeing the aircraft carrier, Joshua and Chris built their own.

When we went downtown, the boys climbed all over the cannons and cannonball piles in White Point Gardens. They ran around pretending to fire and load, fire and load, and fought off an invading armada of about "200 battleships," according to Joshua.

Here we are...this restaurant was situated just below a drawbridge, with an excellent view of passing pleasure craft. The bridge didn't open while we were eating, but we did have to wait for it once while driving. And for the record, while it's nice to watch other people's boats, we cannot imagine ever owning one or wanting to.

This is Miss Sharon, spunky gal!

During afternoon naps and after bedtime, the grown-ups talked, read, rested, and played lots of games (by the way, if anyone has a copy of Rail Baron lying around not being used, we are now on the prowl for one). While we were cooking and cleaning up, Joshua and David enjoyed playing with 18-month old Sharon, who has bright red hair, the chubbiest cheeks, and a big grin that lights up her whole face. She is as bright as her hair and smile, and as bold too - she has no qualms about running right into the ocean or squishing unwelcome little ant visitors with her fingers, and she passionately loves fire trucks.

The Presbyterian church the Brinsons attend is renting space in a historic Lutheran church downtown. Next door, some members of the church are renovating a historic home, and they opened it up for light refreshments and tours after church.

I loved how they were blending new and old; I've always had a fancy for interior brick walls for some reason. And the bathrooms! Marble this, granite that, my goodness it was gorgeous.

Joshua and David best loved the beach, the bridges, the boats, the horses, and - maybe tied with the beach - the cannons along the Battery. We ALL enjoyed quality time with our friends, visiting a beautiful place, gelato at Charleston Candy Kitchen, and getting lots of rest! (I even read a whole book - A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.) Thank you, Rob and Christine, for giving us the gift of this refreshing vacation and all the memories!