The trip to Charleston from Hilton Head was 66 miles but we had to go 12 miles out in the ocean and 12 miles in to avoid the shoals. To be sure we arrived in Charleston during daylight, as it is a very busy commercial port, we left Monday at 6 pm and arrived at the marina at 7 am Tuesday morning.  It was an uneventful trip with winds from the south pushing us along.  The ride was a bit bouncy as we made the turn to come into the Charleston Harbor, but we arrived safely.  

We rested most of the day on Tuesday, but managed to get out on our bikes to go to the grocery store.  Harris Teeter is a wonderful grocery a few blocks from the Charleston Maritime Center, our marina.   Next to it is a fresh vegetable market and there is a Farmer’s Market every Saturday.  The marina is right next to the historical area of Charleston so we can already tell it will be a fun place to explore.

Yesterday we walked around the town with our friends Alice and Gavin, who are docked right next to us.  There is much to see, from museums to Civil War sites to a huge aquarium, all within a short walking distance.  There are so many restaurants and stores that we could never visit them all.  One interesting area was “The Market” which is a several block long area which resembles an open market with dozens of shops designed for tourists.  The Battery is an area with very old houses and a park lined with canons, cannonballs, and statues.

This morning I walked Daisy across the street where there is a field which takes up a city block.  Last night we noticed a sign that said, “No leash area for dogs” and it was about half of the square block field.  This morning, there were about six dogs playing at the other end of the field. We walked over and discovered that it is a dog park.  The people there said they liked this part of the field better than the area assigned to dogs, as it is shaded and the city didn’t mind if the dogs were off leash there in the morning.   Daisy got to play with the other dogs and came back exhausted. 

Today is Mark’s birthday.  We rode our bikes to the post office to mail our VHF radios back to Raymarine to be repaired and then rode down King Street to one of the several Starbucks within a few miles of the marina.  This one is in an old bank and jewelry store - two stories and quaint.  We then rode our bikes to Harris Teeter Grocery and got a Chocolate birthday cake. 

We made reservations to rent a car next week to drive back to Minnesota.  We’ll drop it off there and when we come back here a few weeks later, we’ll drive our car that is in storage in the garage.  Even though it is easy to get around town on our bikes, walking, and riding buses, it will be nice to have the car.  Two trips we’d like to make are Savannah, which we missed on the way here, and Annapolis in October for the boat show.