Charleston is the first really big city we have gone through and it’s finally getting warmer so we decided to stay a few days. Our anchorage was not very close to where the dinghy dock was but our new dinghy engine got us there fast. Bill did some homework and found there are free trolleys that take you all around the historic district. It took him a little bit to figure the trolley routes out but then he became an expert. The first day we walked all around town and went to a couple of museums. When we got back to the dinghy and started back to the boat we saw our anchorage neighbors – a couple we had met in Georgetown a few days before – rowing their boat against the current. Bill dropped me at our boat and then went back to tow them back to their boat. They were incredibly appreciative, as you can imagine. They invited us over for drinks later that evening.

On Saturday we went back to the historic district and did some Christmas shopping at the market. The picture above is of one of the streets we walked down. We also went to a couple more museums – enough for me to know I was done with museums for the rest of our visit! We were exhausted when we got back to the boat. There was a big party boat tied up to the dock near where we were anchored. The night before there was no issue with it but on Saturday night the music was loud. Finally they went out for a boat ride and the music went with them but when they came back they played it loud for quite a while. Bill was irritated but I realized it was music that I really liked and hadn’t heard for a while so I kind of enjoyed it!

On Sunday we took a long walk along the waterfront and saw all the beautiful houses and beautiful landscaping around them. We were on our way to take a tour of Fort Sumter – where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. It is on a island so you have to take a tour boat there. After the tour we went back to the historic district where they were having a street festival. They close off a street that has a lot of shops and restaurants to all vehicle traffic and have street performers. We never went to those types of things in Annapolis!

Today our plan was to take the free trolley to the Citadel – the military college of South Carolina. First we were heading to a restaurant that looked good to Bill and on the way found a church that our renters told us to check out. Next to the church was a graveyard that they also said to see. Two signers of the Constitution were buried there. We walked through it and wondered about a couple of things. Then a woman walked past us and Bill asked her a question. Well, turns out she was a wealth of knowledge and she kept telling us more and more about the history of the church and the people buried in the cemetery. Ultimately she ended up getting us to buy a book, at the church gift shop, about Civil War history that she had written. She also showed us a statue of her father across the street. Turns out he was a famous Congressman.

Finally we were ready to go to the Citadel. We toyed with the idea of taking the dinghy there instead of the trolley. Unfortunately that’s what we decided to do. Turns out that low tide really means something around here. We started down the channel to the school and found out too late that the water ended long before the school began. We ended up having to abort that mission and paddle our way out. We did find a public dock that wasn’t too far from the campus though so we tied the dinghy up there and walked the rest of the way.

Charlestown was a lot of fun but tomorrow we start heading south again. Check out the pictures in our photo gallery. The next stop is Beaufort, SC, where we have some mail and packages waiting for us. We are hoping the worst of the cold is behind us.