We had a great day traveling to Charleston with the tide. We were making great time making almost 7 knots almost all the way. This section of the ICW between Beaufort and Charleston has many narrow shallow cuts to travel through. We managed to get through all of them on or slightly after high tide. The skinniest water we saw was 2 feet under the keel. The Cooper River marina was our destination, four miles up the river, against the tide. I felt like a salmon swimming up stream! I thought we'd never get there. Once inside the marina, it felt protected and looked like an easy docking. Wrong! The tide was running extremely hard at near low tide and the wind had picked up. We fought to get to the dock and then the current, running at an angle, drove us tight against the floating dock. It took three of us with Carl at the helm, full steam ahead, to move the boat forward into the slip. Welcome to Charleston. We had already decided to stay two nights. Charleston is one of my favorite places. My nephew, Dominic, attends the College of Charleston. He is studying abroad in Spain and I will miss seeing him this time. The boats were all rocking violently from the wind, current and passing barges and container ships. I thought I might have to camp out at the Captains lounge. But, as it reached high tide things settled down. The next day was like we were in a new place. One of the marina employees gave us a ride into the Charleston City Marina to pick up a few boat parts. Then he took us to the historic district. We drove past a few of the many beautiful churches on Broad Street. Charleston is known as the "Holy City" because there are so many churches. We walked a few blocks to the City Market. The charming houses had window boxes and hanging baskets that were overflowing with flowers and trailing ivy. I love how the porches, with their ceiling fans, run down the sides of the long narrow houses to take advantage of the breezes. We passed through part of the french quarter. The houses here have beautiful ironwork gates and balconies. We walked the entire length of the market which is at least four city blocks. I stocked up on some of my favorite southern things: pralines, bennes, grits, dried okra (unbelievably yummy) and chow chow. We watched some of the locals weaving sweet grass baskets. Then we headed across the street to have lunch at the Market Deli. Just as we got inside the sky opened up and it poured. It cleared as we finished lunch. We walked down the street and it started to rain again. We watched the streets flood as we waited for a taxi. The skys cleared and the rain stopped as we returned to the marina. After we were back aboard Perceptions the rain started again. The marine report said 30 kt. winds and dangerous lightening offshore. The storms are moving east and the worst had already passed us. I watched a movie while Carl worked on a few boat projects. I think we'll have collard greens, potatoes and hoe cakes for dinner. I just love Charleston.