Monday, December 7, 2009 On to Charleston SC

Pearl Harbor Day. As we were going under a bridge near the Isle of Palms we watched a fire truck, lights flashing, stop atop the bridge. The firemen got out, lowered the flag, and then raised it to half-mast. Pearl Harbor. A time when we thought we were invulnerable to such attacks. Such ideals and innocence shook our nation to the core and officially entered us into a world war. Our freedoms are not free, nor have they ever been. Generations have paid great costs for these freedoms we take for granted. I don’t want to make my blog/journal a political tirade so I’ll stop here with a remembrance of 911 as well as Pearl Harbor and say only that it’s so sad that so many are willing to squander and give up our freedoms.

The Ben Sawyer Bridge has cranes and barges in place for the removal and replacement of the swing span. We pulled up to it with our anchoring buddy at Dewees Creek and waited for another sailboat to catch up to us. The bridge is now open on request instead of “on the hour”. That’s good for us since we got there on the ½ hour. He opened at 10:45am and we continued through the maze of mixed channels through Charleston Harbor to the Ashley River. I spotted the wineglass backend of a Bayfield at the end of the MegaDock. At first I thought it was Windborne – the young couple we’d met last year – and was confused because I thought it was on the hard (on hard land) back in Oriental. As we drew closer to the dock I saw the name MadCap and had to laugh! I was so tickled pink to see them there. I’d read their blog a couple years ago and felt like I knew them. We were great followers of several blog/websites throughout the years. Theirs was one we both enjoyed reading. We yelled greetings to them from boat to boat as we slid past them looking for our spot on the dock. I also spotted Jade East at the dock but didn’t see Hampshire Rose, so figured they were in the anchorage or on the inside portion of the MegaDock. I couldn’t wait to jump ship to go and say hello to fellow Bayfield 36 owners and to see how Jade East and Hampshire Rose were faring. We had to wait for the dockhand to pull up before being allowed to dock and for some strange reason he wanted our stern line (back line) before our bowline even though I had the bow in to the dock and was ready to swing the stern in once he had the bow. It was a little unsettling but we managed. Then I went to see the other pretty Bayfield at the end of the dock.

MapCap was getting ready to head out with Oz today for Fernandina Beach (hmmm this Oz theme keeps coming up this trip) so I had a brief chat with Jim & Beth (MadCap) then stopped by to say hi to Rob and Tiva (Jade East). Holly and Rob (Hampshire Rose) are in the anchorage before you get to the MegaDock. They’re heading out tomorrow towards Georgia. It was good to hear that Jade East now has a depth sounder and he treated himself to a new chart plotter, which he’s very happy with :)

After checking in and showers, we caught the courtesy van into Charleston for grocery shopping and a bite to eat. We ate at a place called the Noisy Oyster off the Market area on East Bay Street. It was a colorful little place with all themes nautical, and had the windows all rolled up (like large overhead doors). So it was like eating at a bistro on the street. It was a neat little place with lots of ambiance. Good food and homemade cakes and pies. I got a Crab cake sandwich on an English muffin topped with she clam sauce. Wayne got clams. The clams were quite a plate load – sweet and tender. Yes I helped Wayne with some of his. I’ve been craving clams and should have ordered some myself. I had their coconut cake for dessert – delicious! It was also the same cost as my sandwich – but well worth it.

After finishing our meal we headed for the Harris Teeter store. They have an amazing amount of fresh produce and well-stocked meat counters. I love this store. I only wish I’d remembered my shopping list. We bought the obvious items though – pop, beer, coffee, bread, fresh vegis and I picked up some more flat iron steak and fresh yellow fin tuna. The courtesy van picked us up and the fun part of unpacking and loading the boat was the last item of business for the day. Now some rest time.