Charleston

Monday, March 4,
We woke up this morning to 27 degrees!!! (We could have stayed in Rochester). The sun was out and Charleston looked beautiful. We crossed over The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge




and headed to Patriots Point which is the home of the USS Yorktown, among other ships.

Since John made two cruises to Vietnam on an aircraft carrier it was interesting to see this floating city. The Yorktown is smaller than the Kitty Hawk that John served on but it is still an amazing ship. The Yorktown was commissioned during WWII and operational as late as Vietnam. It also served as the recovery ship for the Apollo 8 mission.

We boarded the ship on the hanger deck level where several planes were on display. On an actual aircraft carrier the hanger deck is where aircraft are stored and maintained.










Planes are moved between the hanger deck
and the flight deck via aircraft elevators.

A4 Skyhawk

Continuing on the tour route, we maneuvered through the ship to the flight deck. Displayed here were more modern day high performance jet aircraft, many of which were used during the Vietnam War.

F8 Crusader

F14 Tomcat ~ flown by Tom Cruise in Top Gun

Of particular interest to John was the F4 Phantom which he flew in over Vietnam.

John actually recognized names on the memorial plaque.




These planes are launched off the deck using steam driven catapults and recovered using arresting cables and the aircraft tail hook.

 We returned to our hotel and caught the free trolly down to King and Market Street.
.







King Street is home to the up-scale shops like Louis Vuitton


 and Market Street is home to the open market vendors, smaller shops and restaurants.







We found another Peanut Shop with free samples (leave it to John) and a praline shop also with free samples ~ bonus!
















We decided on a mule drawn carriage tour to see and learn more about Charleston. Relying on a good tip we went with the Red Barn Tour (Palmetto). We learned that the carriage routes are strictly regulated by the city insuring traffic control. Only so many tours are allowed each day and which of three different routes is randomly assigned by a "bingo" machine. If a driver holds up traffic for too long, they personally could be subjected to a $1000 fine.

The temperature had risen to a comfortable 50+ degrees and the ride through the city was delightful.

We learned a lot of interesting facts like why bolt plates noticed on most buildings were installed after the earthquake of 1886. These plates are attached to cables that run through the buildings actually holding the structures together.

The "Fire insurance plate" on the front of a building notified the fire department that you had in fact had paid your insurance and they would therefore do their best to keep your building from burning to the ground.
No plate ~ ???


The longest exposed cobblestone street in Charleston ~ Chalmers Street. The stones were actually the discarded ballast used on foreign ships that came to Charleston for trade. There is a $500 fine for removing any of these stones ~ just in case you had any ideas ~
Rainbow row ~

City ordnance prohibits any new buildings from exceeding the height of the tallest church steeple ~ St. Michaels.











The "haves" live on one side of town and the "have a lot mores" live "south of Broad".





Back at the barn we said good bye to Laverne and Libertarian.





Then we walked along the Waterfront Park ~





before getting a bite to eat at Henry's. The outside menu showed a southern BLT made with fried green tomatoes ~ we knew we had to try that and
it didn't disappoint.






We had a great day!
Charleston is a charming city definitely worth the stop.





PS: Caitlin won 19 - 10! She plays again on Sunday