5/9 – 5/11 - We hadn’t stopped in Charleston our last 2 trips through the area, but it had been over 2 years since we’d been here and because we’re moving slowly, we decided to stop for a few days. Our next decision was deciding where to stay. We thought about docking at Isle of Palms (right outside Charleston) and renting a car, but after checking all the marinas in Charleston, we decided on the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina. It’s on the Cooper River across from Charleston, but the Resort/Marina had a courtesy van (usually Ollie the Trolley – but it was getting a few repairs so we had a regular van) that went into downtown Charleston several times a day and the city water taxi made hourly trips between the marina and Charleston Maritime Center downtown. They were also offering a 20% discount so that sealed the deal.
The marina is a little unique in that it has a “floating” breakwater system. It seemed to work quite well. On one of the nights during our stay we had a storm roll through with lots of lightning, thunder and pretty gusty winds. However, we were comfy at the dock –a small bit of rolling, but no banging back and forth into the dock as we’ve done in many other marinas. All in all, we really enjoyed the marina and the staff was excellent. There was a nice bar, grille, pool, small beach and nice shower/laundry facilities. They even arranged for a diver to clean the bottom of our boat – we were getting lots of growth.
On one day we took advantage of the free shuttle and went into Charleston where we explored the downtown area by foot and then in the afternoon took a horse-drawn carriage tour. On another day we took the shuttle to Sullivan’s Island where we walked the beach and explored the small town. They also stopped at West Marine for us so Gerry could pick up a few items – very accommodating. We looked at a 25 ft. C-Dory while we were in the area. The seller picked us up and took us to her home so we could see it and then dropped us back off at the marina.
Tomorrow we’ll head out for an anchorage in the McClellanville area.
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| Approaching the Charleston Harbor Marina |
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A drawing of the marina - we were on Sailfish Dock at the far end
by the breakwater |
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Big tide swing here in Charleston. Here is the area
on the way to the dockmaster's office at low tide |
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| ... and here it is at high tide |
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| A shot looking down our dock - we're at the very end |
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| The Yorktown dock was connected to the marina docks |
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| A great view looking out over the harbor at sunset |
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The "Market" in Charleston. There are 4 buildings
full of "stuff" you don't need |
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| Gerry at the Waterfront Park |
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The pier at the park. They had loveseat swings all
the way out to the end. |
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| We found a place that made really good Bloody Mary's |
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| Some of the small gardens |
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| Interesting old buildings |
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| Some of the churches in town |
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| A couple of the old historic homes |
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This is Cooper, the star of the show
He pulled the carriage on our city tour |
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| The lighthouse on Sullivan's Island - square instead of round |
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| The beach at Sullivan's Island |
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| The 25 ft C-Dory we looked at. It was in excellent condition |
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