My Life As a Jensen: August 2014

Cassie and I had talked about Charleston as our train ride trip, but after all the activity in Charlotte, we decided to stay closer to home. But, trying to save a buck, I had purchased a groupon for a boat tour of the Charleston Harbor. I needed to use it before the end of the month, so it was a great opportunity for Chris and I to get away for a couple of days just the two of us.

Initially I thought the drive would take only three hours, but it ended up being more like 5.. Ooops! But it was still a fun drive, getting to see South Carolina. We drove down Friday afternoon, and got there around 5pm.

We stayed at the Charleston Harbor Inn, right at Patriot's Point. Our room was so cute and had some great views.

We had a little bit of a time getting to downtown Charleston, where we had planned to eat dinner. It didn't pan out as we hoped, so we ate a quick bite on the street and headed back to the resort. Tomorrow will be better!

Saturday morning while Chris slept in a little I was itching to get down to the beach. Well, surprise, there was no beach at our resort, only rocks. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it was still pretty.

I walked the long pier out back

This huge freighter was coasting by

After we got ready, we used the bikes at the resort to get ourselves down to what Chris had been salivating over since we drove in - USS Yorktown. We got in line for our tickets, and somehow ended up with the wrong ones! We were herded down to a ferry with a group of people, not really understanding why, when the ship was right there. We soon realized we had purchased tickets to Ft. Sumter. Initially we sadly watched as people walked to the USS Yorktown, but then got excited about the new plan.

Waiting for the ferry to leave the dock - steaming HOT, we were already drenched in sweat and couldn't wait for the breeze to begin once we finally took off

The ferry maneuvered through the posts and around the USS Yorktown, it was pretty impressive actually

Our first glimpse of the island!

Where it all began, the Civil War

The original Confederate flag flown at the Fort

Some harsh words in this cartoon, it says "annihilation to traitors", talking about the Southern Confederates

We had to hurry once we got done with Ft. Sumter, because our boat tour - which had turned into a sail boat tour - was leaving at 2pm, and the ferry docked at like 1:15pm. We were starving!! A quick bite to eat in the resort bar, and luckily the hotel's pier housed the tour company. Once we got there, we realized we were in for a very different boat ride than what we thought.

Another couple was joining us, which made for very tight spaces on the boat. The captain walked over everybody, getting the sails in the air and we were ducking to avoid the boom hitting us in the head! What we soon realized was that the couple had hijacked our harbor tour for a sailing lesson by this captain they had met at their country club. She mentioned to me at one point, how did I get the Groupon? The light dawned and I began to wonder if he hadn't told them something like "come along with me on this boat tour I have Saturday, it's just a Groupon and I'm not making any money off it so I can show you some stuff while I'm schlepping them around." We all took turns steering, rigging and various other sailing activities. While it may have been interesting, it was also very scary. I have no pictures because we were hanging on for dear life, but we looked something like this:

That was us, perched on the edge as the boat tipped up on it's side

The captain is getting the boat ready, while we watched the clouds form in the sky. Hopefully we don't get rained out!

This was a working boat ride, no leisurely harbor tour as advertised. Chris is a little worried.

Our boat mates seemed to enjoy the impromptu sailing lesson

There were several times when Chris, being on the low side, almost had his back in the water. We had no life vests on; we were not tied off to any part of the boat. Chris did not find it fun. The time seemed to stretch on and on, as the captain explained every little line, pully and rig. The couple asked millions of questions. The temperature was in the high 90's, and the humidity was at a peak 100%. The salt water of the ocean created a film that mixed with the sweat on our skin, and my shirt stuck to me like glue. It wasn't the most fun experience in the world, but I have to say it was interesting. I don't think I would have ever taken a sailing lesson, so it was an experience we won't ever forget!

Sunday we had to head home, but we wanted to go back to visit the USS Yorktown before we checked out of the hotel. So back on our bikes we went, but this time we knew exactly where we were going.

First up was a tour of the submarine

It was so stifling down there, and we were drenched in sweat within minutes!

The next ship was a Destroyer. They played a movie in the gunnery, and it made it feel so real, the attack these guys endured. This ship was hit with 5 suicide planes and 2 bombs, and it was still afloat afterward. It became an enduring inspiration for soldiers in the war.

Then we finally got onto the big guy in the dock, USS Yorktown. Chris had been waiting for two days to see that ship! We still didn't get to do the entire ship's tour, since we still needed to check out of the hotel and get on the road. We'll just have to go back.

Fun times. Lunch was next, and I wanted to try something local. Enjoyed a yummy hot dog and then our last stop of the trip would be at Boone Plantation.