Today began early. We wanted to get a head start for our adventure out at Patriots Point. We crossed the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston to get there. Upon our arrival you can't miss the massive USS Yorktown Flight Deck. Commissioned in 1943 it became a museum here in 1975. Sitting nearby is also the USS Laffey Destroyer and the USS Clamagore submarine. Tim and I have toured the USS Intrepid in NYC and this reminded us so much of that.
It took us five hours to tour all three. We saw almost everything but had no time to read everything. We were on a tight schedule for the day and still needed to eat lunch then go pickup Roxy. The tours through all the vessels are self-guided. You go up a deck, down a deck then down a few more decks. When you realize that you are finally down deep in the belly of this massive piece of steel it's time to go back-up to either the flight deck or the hanger deck. Five tours in all continued with this crazy maze of up, down,
up, down, down and back up again on steep almost ladder like stairs. I'm so glad we were able to enjoy this historic piece of history. We've always had so much respect for those who have served our country. This experience only makes that feeling stronger. Go Navy!
Throughout the day we were also
constantly on the lookout for pirates and other enemies who may attack the coast. While on the flight deck we could see Ft. Sumter where the Civil War began. No pirates, mayhem or chaos to be seen on the horizon. Rrrrrgh matey ... Maybe some mayhem will pursue on our adventure tomorrow!
For our late lunch which also became our dinner we stopped at the Charleston Crab House. This was a recommendation we received from a friendly local. The CCH is halfway between James Island and Charleston. Ohhhh did we eat. Here is a list of what we ate . . . BBQ Shrimp & Grits with melted cheddar, Fried Blue Crab Claws, Lowcountry Crab Cake & 'Crab House' Crab Pot that had Steamed Shrimp, Snow Crab Legs, Dungeness Crab Legs, Mussels, Sausage, Potatoes, Onion & Corn-On-The-Cob in a garlic scampi butter. Oh ... Yeah you know we ate all of that. There was nothing left!!!
After finally polishing off all that amazingly delicious food we went back to camp to pickup the Rox. Our next adventure of the day was to drive deeper into the Lowcountry to go to a surf shop and to see the coast of South Carolina. I still needed to purchase surf pads for my surf rack for the paddleboard I don't have. But next week may just be the week if the birthday fairy reads this. Oh ... Don't forget I need a paddle as well.