McClellanville to Charleston!

Wow the water came up over night.  It was definitely high tide when we woke up and started moving.  I am glad for this because traveling at low time is tense.  I hate reading he depth sounder when it goes below 5 feet.  

Our destination is Charleston today.  Although Charleston isn't home, it sure feels like it.  I have gotten homesick--probably the first time I have been homesick since I was a college freshman. We are planning on staying at the Cooper River Marina which was formerly a recreation facility for the Navy.  It had been destroyed during hurricane Hugo but rebuilt with new ownership by the Charleston County Parks and Recreation. 

The first place we came upon that we recognized was the Isle of Palms.  Lainey recognized the marina where she had eaten several years earlier.  We passed under the IOP bridge and then the Ben Sawyer Memorial Bridge which goes over to Sullivan's Island.  Lainey and I had to lower the antennae for this bridge.  We could see the Sullivan's Island light house which we visited earlier this year during our summer vacation.  We love seeing places we have visited by land. 

We passed Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter as we headed up the Cooper River.  Patriots Point was on our starboard side as we headed up the river.  We could see the USS Yorktown, up close and personal.  Our favorite memory of the Yorktown is when Steve took the kids for a tour and Caroline accidentally left her crab "Crabby" inside the flight simulator.  Steve recalls that  the tour guide when asked if Caroline could go back inside to get Crabby replied "By all means please go back and retriever your crab."

We passed under the famous Cooper River Bridge and arrived at the marina.  We were greeted by Matt Driscoll the manager of the marina and Dick who offered to take Lainey and I to downtown Charleston.  We instantly agreed to that offer.  We love to shop on King Street. 

Before we left, we arranged to meet my cousin Maria and her family for dinner.  Maria and Edward picked us up at the Francis Marion Hotel which had been our refuge when it began raining in Charleston.  Maria has a shop in Mount Pleasant called St. Sampson.  She helped me out with some of my Christmas shopping by bringing over some fabulous jewelry for gifts.

Maria is married to Alec Schendzelos.  They have two children, Edward, and Cara.  Edward is a sophomore at Texas A&M.  Cara graduated from the University of South Carolina and like Katy is gainfully employed.  Maria's mother Charlotte is my grandmother's sister.  Although Maria is my father's first cousin, she is almost a year younger than I.  Maria knows so much family history and tells a great story.  I love hearing her stories.  I am not sure what Alec does,  it's kind of a mystery job.  Sort of like Steve's job I guess. 

We had dinner at Santee, a Mexican restaurant in Charleston.  The food was great.  We left Maria and Alec with a promise to call them when we return to get Meandering Joy and move her to Jacksonvillle.