Charleston, 2013

After two days on the Outer Banks, I made my way down to Wilmington and visited with Joe Vetter at Wrightsville Beach. Joe is and always has been my favorite raconteur. But the visit was all too brief, since he still works and I'm fully committed to my retirement. On to Charleston. . .

I arrived in time to go with Tony to pick up his boat (no, that's the USS Yorktown) at the dealership. We spent a fair amount of time launching or loading the boat at Remley's Point, but it all worked out and it was good to get out on the water. Yorktown was a great background for the sailboats, and my taking pictures didn't even elicit a response from Homeland Security.

That's good, because before cruising the main harbor we'd made a speed run up the Cooper River, checking out the work Tony had just had done on the boat. We got up river far enough that, when we saw some dolphins, we shut down and drifted a bit while we ate our lunch. Seeing dolphins (at the distance we saw them) is really over-rated, but I broke out the Canon and snapped a few shots. When I returned to my sandwich, I noticed over Tony's shoulder, there were two submarines tied up at a small naval facility I was unfamiliar with (I swear I didn't know it was there!). Anyway, without a thought, I picked up my camera to take some pictures. Looking at the subs through the Canon's viewfinder, I thought, "What the hell are you doing?" And, sure enough, when I lowered the camera the Security boat was approaching at speed. I'm sure Tony could only see visions of his new boat - impounded. I regret any anxiety my actions may have caused. The patrol boat slowed once Security saw we were aware of their presence. It was pretty clear that we weren't needed any longer and we decided it was probably a good idea to depart. . . slowly. . . with our hands up. . .  Well, maybe not with our hands up, but we left, and they didn't follow us. I told Tony they didn't need to follow us; they could track us back to Mt Pleasant with their satellite cameras.

We then headed for downtown Charleston, since I'd never seen it close-up from the harbor. On the way to the Battery we passed this lovely ship. . . a schooner, I believe. . . but definitely not a submarine!

The clouds were great for a photo excursion. That's the US Customs House on the right, a block or so beyond the cruise ship landing, and Google Maps tells me the steeple belongs to St Philip's.

The sailboats here, darting hither and yon in front of "Rainbow Row", were quite picturesque. The white steeple just right of the picture's center is St Michael's.

I really like this bridge over the Cooper River, though it always spurs quips from Tony. During its construction I noticed something as we passed underneath it that baffled me. And baffled, I made some comment about whatever it was "not looking right". Ever since, Tony never fails to remark that - somehow - the bridge is still standing. I just wish I could remember what it was that caught my attention that day.

All those birds, the ones missing from the Outer Banks? Apparently, they were down here on an extended summer vacation on the marsh.

It was kind of them to cavort for my camera. I'd expected them to fly off and leave me sitting on the pier. Instead, I clicked away, wishing I had gone ahead and bought that new, longer, zoom lens before my trip started.

This picture of Satchel marks my road trip's greatest coup. Satchel, you see, has a feline characteristic at odds with his canine nature: utter indifference to the affairs of men. Heretofore, he never seemed particularly pleased or annoyed by my presence, but he would invariably get up and walk out if I picked up my camera. By the end of this visit, however, he would magnanimously raise his head and stare directly at the camera. But, for the life of me, I couldn't get him to either smile or say "cheese".