Charleston, South Carolina - October 18 - 19, 2015

Charleston, South Carolina - October 18 - 19, 2015

October 18, 2015

After our 8:30 a.m. meeting, telling of today’s activities, we got on the road heading to Charleston, SC, at about 9:30 a.m.  We only have 94 miles to drive, but it is supposed to take 2 ½ hours.  After getting on the road, we see why – there are stop lights all down highway 17.  The countryside is very pretty.
We missed the turn into the KOA, so we had to go down the road and find a place to turn around.  We were able to do that without too much trouble.  When we got to the campground, we found that our spot was occupied.  After a little wait, we were directed around the park and led into a premium site.  We had a concrete patio, a huge fire pit, BBQ and a wooden swing.  We took a little heat from the other RVer’s, wondering how much we paid to get the great spot.  We offered to have a fire and host an ABC Social on Monday night.

The bus picked us up at the RV Park and took us into Charleston, for a horse drawn carriage ride and dinner. 

There were 15 of us in each of the three wagons, and were shown and told about the Historic Charleston area.  After we got back, we were able to wander through the Market.  We looked at woven Seagrass Baskets, but they were too rich for our taste.  The prices were anywhere from $100 to several hundred.  Even though we saw the people making them and there was quite an art to it, we decided to pass.

Our dinner was at the Noisy Oyster.  It was very nice, again with plenty of food, including Key Lime Pie for dessert.

After the drive and busy day, we turned in rather early, since tomorrow we will ride share at 8:20 a.m.

 

October 19, 2015

Today is Veronica Stordahl’s Birthday.   We called to sing to her once the west coast time permitted.  She laughed all the way through it.  I guess that is better than crying, since we don’t sing very well.

We drove to Patriot’s Point to tour the USS Yorktown.  We started up on the flight deck, where it was very cold and windy.  The sun was shining, but it was about 46 degrees.   We were able to see many examples of the types of planes that were flown.

 “USS Yorktown is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is named after the Battle of Yorktown of the American Revolutionary War, and is the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Initially to have been named Bon Homme Richard, she was renamed Yorktown while under construction to commemorate USS Yorktown, lost at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Yorktown was commissioned in April 1943, and participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation.”

 We were finally able to go to the lower deck.  While we were there, they were in the process of shooting a commercial for the “Wounded Warrior Project”.  That was pretty cool.  We will be watching for it to be on TV as the area was set up looking like a wedding reception. 

 Once again, lunch was served in a lower room on the ship.  It was very nice.  When we left the ship, we exited through the gift shop.  Clever, as they made a few sales.

 We decided to make a stop at Walmart on our way to the Boone Hall Plantation.  We needed to get a few things for our social in the evening.  With that done – we went on to the plantation.

 The tour guide for the House Tour did a great job telling about the history of the property.  We were only able to tour the first floor, as property is privately owned, and the upper floors are still used by the owners from time to time.

“The Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens is an antebellum era plantation located in Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, South Carolina, U.S.A., and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The plantation includes a large Colonial Revival plantation house that replaces the lost original house on the site, a number of slave cabins or cottages, several flower gardens, and the historic "Avenue of Oaks:" a nearly one-mile drive up to the house with southern live oaks on either side, originally planted in 1743.”

From there we decided to go take a bus tour of the property, rather than visiting the Gullah Theater, talking about the African Slave Culture, which we found later was fabulous.  Bummer!!  However, the bus tour was interesting too. 

The plantation is still a working property.  They produce many crops throughout the year.  They have finished harvesting the pumpkin crop and have a corm maze that is very busy on the weekends.  The bus route was decorated for Halloween.  We saw where they had just planted the strawberry crop.  It is hand planted and will be harvested between February and April.  The entire plantation only has eight farmers.

At one time the plantation grew pecan trees, but that didn’t last.  They did, however, have oak trees that are over 275 years old.  They are huge and beautiful.  Apparently, it is a very popular place to have wedding and have wedding pictures taken.  We saw two brides & grooms with their photographers.

We decided we had better head back to the RV since we were the host & hostess for the ABC Social (not Already Been Chewed, but Appetizer, Beverage & Chair).  Bob Hill helped Stan build the fire, and Cat Hill and others helped set up the tables and chairs for the gathering.  Everyone brought great appetizers and we took turns in the swing by the fire.  Fun was had by all.