Day 12: A break...
02 November 2011 | Charleston, SC
Sunny and beautiful :)

Nautical Miles Travelled: 0
Total Trip Miles: 750
After a full night of neverending winds, waves and sea splash, we were thrilled to land safely in the Charleston harbor. The trek from blue water al the way in through the inlet channel was LONG, 10 nautical miles or so, but every mile brought less wind and warmer temps. We must have looked a little ragged and out of place when pulled into the docks since two different people asked us if it was cold out there...we were still in snowpants and a few sweatshirts each...needless to say when they heard we were out all night they just raised an eyebrow nodded and smiled with a bit of respect.
So after tying up, we sat on the salon couches and stared at each other trying to figure out our next move. It had been 12 hours since we ate (we forgot about dinner due to the change in weather) and it was now 11 AM, so we had also skipped breakfast. Problem was we were both too tired to move, so we ate a granola bar and Derek proceeded to type up last night's blog. I slowly faded and next thing I knew both D and I were fast asleep on the couches - no pillows, no blankets, just us out cold.
After waking up around 1 PM, we quickly showered and got motivated to enjoy our "day off". We decided during our night tribulations that Charleston was to be our vacation from our vacation. We have a friend from work who has a vacation home there so we even had the inside scoop on hot spots! We checked in at the marina office and proceeded to walk into the city. It was a georgeous day, so it was nice to get some exercise...walking in circles around a 40' boat doesn't quite do it for a work out. We hit up an awsome rooftop deck (thanks Colin), the blog pic is from the rooftop at Pavilion Bar. We had some sweet tea martinis and lobster/scallop ceviche, all of which was perfect reward for our long night out. We opted to wander the city streets a bit to get a feel for Charleston before dinner, so we walked through the Market area, which is much like a mini-Fanieul Hall with all sorts of artisans. We then checked out many restaurant menus and settled on some good home town southern BBQ - we were tired of fancy and just wanted some real food.
It seems strange, but Charleston shops all close around 6 PM, so as the stores closed up and we finished our dinner, we went out for a drink and then, beat tired, called the marina's free shuttle for a lift back to the boat. Eventhough we slept a few more hours upon arrival in Charleston, our energy had quickly drained again...we figured we would chill onboard and decide later about doing drinks later in the evening.
We got home, ate some peanut butter pie while D finished up the overnight blog and within seconds, I had passed out on the couch and Derek was doing the "head bob". We called it a night. Eight full hours...what a relief!