Charleston - April 9

We rode our bikes around the area today. This was the first time we tried our new bikes and they worked fine. We saw a bit of historic Charleston. We are in a marina which is located on the Charleston Peninsula and is nice and close to some very interesting sites.

We went by some historic buildings and museums and stopped at an open air marketplace where Beth purchased a small sweetgrass basket. The coiled sweetgrass basket is a historically significant example of African cultural heritage that was transported across the Atlantic by enslaved African people. It is one of the oldest African crafts in America, is handed down from generation to generation and is usually learned from childhood.

We had lunch at Charlestons Crab Shack. Beth had shrimp and Darrell a trio of flounder, shrimp and oysters. It was all good.

There are trolleys and horse drawn carriages and also a lot of tours available. In the next couple of weeks we will be going on a harbor tour and an all day tour of 2 plantations, Drayton Hall and Middleton Place. We will also be visiting the USS Yorktown, the aircraft carrier.

We stopped at the Fort Sumter exhibit on our way back to the marina. It was very interesting and informative. Opening shots of the civil war were fired here in 1861. If we have time we may go visit the island.

The mechanic came today and pulled the transmission.

Darrell's Dad is 94 today. We called him and will be seeing him this week-end. Nearly all of the family will be getting together to celebrate.