We are staying the Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms, SC. It is just north of Sullivan's Island and north and east of Charleston (about a 20 minute drive to downtown Charleston). The resort is enormous and very nice. There's a beach, several swimming pools, two golf courses, seventeen tennis courts (including five with lights and one stadium court), a spa, and several restaurants and eateries. The resort is a a combination of permanent residents, vacation homes (which some people rent out when they are not there), rental condos (where we are staying) and a hotel.
Our condo is very nice. Three bed rooms and three bath rooms, a very nice kitchen that is well supplied and a nice sitting/dining area. Free internet access as well. My favourite feature of the condo, however, is the balcony. The view is not great, but it is oriented to catch the prevailing breeze and the combination of the breeze and cover from the sun keep it cool and pleasant to sit on, even when it is hot - and it's been plenty hot! Reached 100 F yesterday! If I had to do it over again, perhaps Prague in July and South Carolina in October would have been better than the other way around!
We flew into Charlotte, NC last Saturday, rented a van, and drove from there (about a three and a half hour drive). That saved about $300 per plane ticket compared to getting a connecting flight from Charlotte to Charleston (Author's note: at the time there were no direct flights from Baltimore to Charleston). Since we needed a vehicle anyway, the only extra expense was the extra gas and I guarantee where not using $2400 in gas between here and the airport and back!
So we got in Saturday just in time to have dinner. We have been alternating between eating out and eating in.
Sunday (7/18), Lisa, her mom, and I went to mass at Stella Maris church on Sullivan's Island. It was a cute little church, but pretty old school (pre-Vatican II) as the priest said mass with his back to the congregation (they even have a Latin mass at 5 PM on Sunday!). The church was also in desperate need of new kneelers...
Sunday afternoon we spent at the beach and at the pool. It was relaxing and I am sure the nieces had fun. Sunday evening we went out to dinner to a restaurant on Sullivan's Island called Station-22. It was a nice restaurant and the food was excellent, although the service was very slow. They were busy and seemed to have only two waitresses working. I had tilapia, which was served on grits and was wonderful. Washed it down with the Charleston brewed Palmetto Amber Ale (have some in the fridge here at the condo as well) - which is pretty good; although nothing to write home about and certainly no match for Goose Island (Chicago) or some of the microbrews I had in Maine.
Monday (7/19) we went into Charleston. Our first top was the Old City Market, which has been there since the 1840's. It is no longer a produce market but is now filled with craft vendors (including sweet graft baskets) and souvenirs. After the market, we had lunch at Bubba-Gump Shrimp, which was nearby (food was really good, but man, was Forrest Gump, a nauseating movie, or what?).
After lunch, we took a carriage tour of Charleston - one of the most interesting historic cities in the United States, in my opinion.; both for its role in the American Revolution as well as in the U.S. Civil War. The nieces enjoyed the carriage ride and the guide was fantastic. I learned why the palmetto is the state tree of South Carolina. Not only are they abundant, but in June 1776, British ships sailed into Charleston Harbor and opened fire on what is now Fort Moultrie (Author's note: named for the commander of the garrison during this engagement) on Sullivan's Island. The fort, made of palmetto logs, withstood the barrage and the British were unable to take Charleston.
After the carriage tour, we walked down to the waterfront and Waterside Park for a bit. I wanted to walk down to the Battery, the most beautiful part of Charleston, as I had been disappointed our carriage tour didn't take us there. But, it was very hot and the girls, (and my mother-in-law) were ready to head back.
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| Aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown |
Yesterday (Tuesday, 7/20), the women stayed at the resort and went to the main pool while Adam, Dad and I went to tour the U.S.S. Yorktown - a World War II era aircraft carrier. The Yorktown is much, much, smaller than modern carriers and is dwarfed by the U.S.S. Midway that Lisa and I toured in San Diego. In addition to the aircraft and World War II displays, there is a Medal of Honor museum on ship and I was reminded that Admiral James Stockdale, Ross Perot's 1992 VP running mate) was a Medal of Honor winner for resistance in captivity in Vietnam. He self-inflicted wounds to avoid being used in propaganda films. I hadn't realized he died in 2005. The carrier has his A-4 on the flight deck and his ceremonial sword in the museum.
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| Fort Sumter |
After the Yorktown, we took a harbor cruise (they leave from Patriot's Point, where the Yorktown is) out to Fort Sumter. My friend Brian and had done that when we were here for an afternoon 15 years ago (on our way back from our trip to Daytona). It was well worth doing again as it is such an important piece of our nation's history, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. I learned more this time about the Union's unsuccessful attempt to take it back in 1863 - firing at it from land and from iron clad ships, cutting the wall in half! Interestingly, there was a ceremony there at the end of the war on April 14, 1865 to hand control back to Federal forces. Historians think President Lincoln was invited to the ceremony but turned it down because of the danger involved traveling to the South so shortly after Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865 (and, in fact, Joe Johnston's forces had not yet surrendered to Sherman), and in particular to South Carolina, where secession began. Instead, President Lincoln and his wife went to Ford's Theatre to see a performance of Our American Cousin on the night of April 14, 1865...
Last night we had a nice dinner at a restaurant here at the resort, The Lettered Olive. I had the New York strip and a couple of draughts of Guinness. It was family night and they had a special buffet for the kids and before dinner, in a little amphitheatre on the plaza outside the restaurant, there was an entertaining magic show.
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| The Fam |
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