August 11-31, 2016 Charleston and Hagen Visit

Dog wont get out of bed

We slept late and then did some methodical, unfrenzied straightening up in preparation for Jen, Dave and Jonah's arrival this evening.

Once the boat was reasonably clean we made a visit to the marina office and Elizabeth so we could pay for the slip.  They were in no real hurry but I wanted to get that out oif the way.  So Elizabeth kindly took our money and we learned the washing machines and dryers were going to be replaced with new units.   Soon.  That was a bit disturbing becasue in past experiences, when marinas replace such things they take the old ones out and then wait for the new ones to be delivered, sometimes weeks later.

Jack still sleeping past 9:00AM!!

The marina here is part of a resort complex with 2 large buildings filled with rental units.  The newest building is just being finished up.  The landscaping and pool plumbing and stone work are nearing completion and it looks great.  The downside is that they are also trying to spiff up the older original building so we're dodging paint crews, but its not that disruptive since all we can utilize as marina guests are the pool and tiki bar.

Patriots Point from the marina dock

Walking along the main dock away from the Marina office takes you to the docks where the ships are located.  The marina is conveniently situated adjacent to Patriots Point.
USS Yorktown, the destroyer USS Laffey (almost identical to the ship I was on), and the a submarine the USS Clamagore.

 There is also a Vietnam exhibit and, according to others, a too-die-for gift shop.

The neat thing is you can walk there along the main dock of the marina.

It was a lazy afternoon until we went shopping.  Being naive and a little tired I think, we called a cab.  The large Russian driver took us to the Harris Teeter grocery (expensive) and pointed out the Farm Fresh Grocery (not too expensive) right across the road.  And the Trader Joes (cheap) a mile further.  His fee for a 2 mile drive was $10.  And another $10 for the return trip.

Having shopped at Harris Teeter before (even this particular one last year when we brought Jack here on the way to Wisconsin) we chose expensive.

After an hour of shopping we called the cab again and our friendly Russian driver picked us up and all our groceries and drove us back to the marina.  On the way he related a stream of information about where to eat, and shop etc.   All I recalled was the pizza place he recommended, La Pizzeria which was very near Harris Teeter.  And it's only a mile or so from the marina as is Teeter Harris.  Mary's bike will be getting a workout!

We decided to go eat at the Fish House, the main restaurant on the resort site.  Cooking on board with the gang arriving seemed like a bad idea.

The Hagens have arrived!

Right after we ordered I spotted the Hagen's loitering outside the restaurant.  Sharped eyed Jonah spotted me and dashed inside to see Jack followed by Jen and Dave.  We ate quickly and then helped them take their luggage to the boat.

Next morning I drove them to the beach at Sullivan's Island.   I stayed behind to install the new battery charger I had ordered to replace the old one which still functioned but lacked some desirable features.

 Before I could get the old one out Dave called.  He forgot his swim suit.  I rummaged around and found it and then drove back out to Sullivan's Island and then drove around the block while he changed into his suit.

David is not a beach bum but this beach seems to have impressed him.

When I returned I went to see Elizabeth at the marina office so we could be added to the pump out list for tomorrow and then the following week.

I started the the battery charger installation but didn't completely finish it before I had to go fetch everyone from the beach.

After we were back on the boat, it rained a little and then cleared.    The temperatures didn't budge from the mid 90's though.

Jack, having explained how he went kayaking to Jonah gave Jonah the kayaking bug so we brought the kayak down  he and Jonah went off exploring the tidal shoreline at the marina.  

This morning we drove into Charleston and went to the aquarium.  It's a pretty cool place with this enormous tank with many species of fish.  They also have some touch and feel exhibits for the kids.

One was the Ray feeding tank but the lady who sells these little sticks with bits of fish attached had run out of her supply.  We started to talk and it turns out she's a retired teacher and loves doing at the aquarium as a part time job.

Must have been my charm but she dug around and gave us (free) a two slightly broken sticks with fish on the end for Jonah to try.  He walked out to the tank and dipped them in.  The idea is to hold them still in the tank and the Rays will sense the food and come gliding by and take it off the stick.

In this case the sticks were a bit to mangled and the fish bits fell off, not helped by Jonah swishing them around.  But it was still fun!

Main entrance as we all walk in

Hurricane simulator

Feeding the Rays

We made a short stop at the Ft. Sumter Park office next door to the Aquairum.  It's a little museum actually but also serves as a debarkation point for the ferry to the Fort.

It was blistering hot out again.  We rode back to the resort  and  dropped Jen and the kids at the pool while and Dave and I went in search of a liquor store.

I was pretty sure there was one near Staples which is in the same strip mall as Farm Fresh Foods.  It was.  But there was also one right next to Teeter Harris!  Live and learn.

Jonah, a captive TV audience 

I finished up wiring in the battery charger and plugged it in.  But I ended up having to tweak the battery charger a bit.  It wasn't registering a decent charging voltage.  It eventually did after I reset it and re-set the battery type.  Odd though.  I'm beginning to suspect a dysfunctional charger.

Jen, Jonah, Mary and I went to Isle of Palms beach today.  It's a county park with a beach and expansive parking lot.  It was crowded!  And hot.

Jen wanted to leave early to escape the heat of the day.  So we got up at 8:45 intending to leave at 9AM sharp.

We left at 10. 

While we were at the beach, David and Jack went into Charleston to Pokemon and then see Jack's Aikido master teacher who has a Dojo here in Charleston.   The Sensei even took them to lunch.

Since we had their van at the beach, David and Jack used Uber for the first time.

Eating at TGIF after the beach

We left the beach around 1PM and ate at TGIF before going to the resort pool for a while.   The pool was un-refreshing.  By that I mean it was nice to be in the water but the water was almost hot.

Back at the boat Jonah and Mary went out kayaking for awhile.  We decided to we decided to try the LaPizzeria place recommended to us by the taxi driver.  Pretty good pizza.

Then we watched Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens.  I thought it resembled the first Star Wars movie plot.  But it was a pretty good movie.

Jen at my radar set.  Jonah not too enthused.  

We (minus Mary) all went to Patriots Point to see the ships the next day.  Destroyer was great.  Well to me anyway.

We had a nice walk through in engine room with a guide.  Cool stuff.  Then we were directed out on deck and up a level to CIC where I got to play years ago.    They run a little movie depicting how the place operated which was cool too.

Destroyer engine room and our guide

Pokemon on the destroyer

The marina from the stern of the carrier.  

Stairway I recall taking many times to CIC

Carrier main engine control board

Wish my wiring was this neat

The Carrier's brig.  Someone has a sense of humor

This  CIC was open  and familiar with equipment placement pretty much as I remembered it.  They even preserved the plexi-glass plotting boards where we had to stand behind and write backwards so people in front of the boards could read what we wrote which was usually course and speed information for various targets picked up by radar.

No I cant write backwards any more.

Those numbers are  CENTS, not dollars.  Ahh, the good old days

Very interesting stuff even though I've seen before.

The Pokemon crew on the hanger deck of the carrier

Next we went up to the aircraft carrier.  The kids were more interested into Pokemon.  Jen did hang in there with me for awhile, but I couldn't help myself and went through the whole ship.  We all did manage to walk through the submarine but it was pretty much a wreck and very similar to most any WW II sub.  The interior was preserved very well, but the exterior hull and fittings we all rusting away.

After ships we met Mary at the Fish House for lunch.  After lunch I  I returned to the ships without accompaniment ...everyone else was burned out on ships.  Then later I met the kids at the pool.

Post ship visit lunch at the Fish House

The pool area includes a spot where they have kids games.  Jonah, directed me in sampling each and every game.  But I always seem to loose as he adjusts the rules while we play.

Jonah and I in heated competition 

Jack and I had a few minutes of Ping Pong.  Seems age has affected that skill too.  Mine, not Jack's.    

Back at the boat we grilled burgers which no one ate but Mary and I while Jen and Dave escaped to Charleston on a date night.

Tomorrow, we all go to another beach.  

The exciting news of the day was about David Boyd .  He shot a hole-in-one!

The beach for today is Isle of Palms beach where we had gone a few days ago.  Except now, it wasn't the weekend and all the working people are at work while retirees and vacationers relax on an almost desert beach.

While we were there and nearing the time when we had to leave, Dave bought Boogie Boards for the kids.  Wait, maybe they were Skim Boards.  Well whatever they were the kids enjoyed them.  After and hour and half though we had to leave.’

Stopped at a spot on Coleman ave for lunch, Coleman Public House but couldn’t stay.  They had a sign explicitly forbidding people with wet suits from eating there.  We all had wet suits.

Post beach relaxing at the resort bar

So we ended up returning to the marina and eating at the bar.  Nice waitress, but once again my medium well burger was medium rare.

I got to talking with her and asked about places to eat in Charleston.  She had several suggestions, but the standout restaurant is the Chop House on King street.  We, well me, began hatching a plan.

Dave was going to Pokemon with the kids in Charleston and Jen had to pack and Mary and I only had to eat and stay out of the way.  So I thought we’d all meet at the Chop House later and then Jen, Mary and I would take the water taxi back to the boat so she could pack up all the bags without interference while the rest Pokemon'd.

Ok, it was a seed of  plan meant for enhancement.  The enhancement was abandonment.

So we didn't get it there.  Later I discovered the Chop House is usually booked solid weeks in advance.  And the Charleston Water Taxi stops running at 7:00 PM.  And Jonah it turns out had a sore heel and wasn't up to walking any long distances.

My plan never had a chance.

Snow Cones?  But there were supposed to be sundaes! 

Meanwhile we went over to the pool area for the free desert they provide every afternoon.  Sundae’s!

Alas, they turned out to be snow cones because of the heat (high 90’s).    The ice cream was melting so quickly it really wasn't ice cream after a few minutes.  Mary was rather disappointed but thankfully didn't make instructive comments to the poor young girl dishing out the snow cones.

The fine dinning plan, having incurred a rash  of obstacles, required that we concoct an alternative.  Inventive thinking suggested we find a local place.  Perhaps a hidden gourmet gem the locals talk about in whispers so as not to let any tourists discover it.

Jimmy John's is what we came up with.  Yeah, we are adventurous.   We drove over to pick it up and then ate on board.  

Packing was finished and Dave and I took a load to the car tonight.  They are leaving at 6AM tomorrow morning, not our finest hour.

The Hagens did indeed leave at 6AM.  We, well I think we did anyway, staggered out of bed and said goodbye and rolled back into bed before they were on the main dock.  Even the dog.

We slept until 9 and got up.  I picked up the residue and cleaned up what I could.  We drank some coffee while I fired up a computer to do some blogging.  Mary fell asleep again along with the dog.

Later in the afternoon I took the bike down and after filling the tires with air and greasing up the chain I squeakily biked my way to the Teeter Harris.  Expensive!  But they have Canada Dry seltzer which is my current favorite.  2 for 1 sale.  Except I couldn’t fit any on the bike this time.

We received the next two Donna Reed seasons (4 and 5) and my phone case which I promptly put on.   Now when I drop it I don't wince nearly as much.

Spoke to a diver who was cleaning the boat next door and he looked at our bottom and said all we had was soft growth and a few mini barnacles on the running gear.  The running gear has Prop Speed so I'm not too worried.  They'll come off as we start cruising again, especially in the less salty water.

We took the dog for a walk when the temps flipped into the mid 80’s later in the evening

Tomorrow we start projects in earnest again.  And planning.  We have no idea where we are heading next week.  But Jen made a good point about hanging on the hook when its so hot and humid.  We can only run the AC when the generator is running and we don’t run it all night, only a few hours in the evening.  It would be hard to give up sleeping in the cool comfort we enjoy now.  Decisions, decisions …