Day 219: Thursday, April 11, 2013

Port to Port: Elliot’s Cut Anchorage to Charleston Maritime Center

Underway: 7:45 am      Motor Off: 9:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 7      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First aircraft carrier (actually decommissioned and used as a museum).

Mile 471 to Mile 464: Guess what, Charleston has sidewalks. And beautiful old buildings. And too-many-to-choose-from restaurants. And good old southern hospitality. This is a place worthy of a much longer stay some day.

We left the anchorage early and had to go through another basqual bridge with odd opening hours and only 33’ of clearance. We measured our height last night and think estimated that we need 33’+ a little to clear the top of the antennae. The Wappoo Creek Bridge has a clearance of 33’ at high tide but it wasn’t quite high tide yet so we hoped to clear it. And we did – we only barely tapped one beam with the tip of the antenna whip as we very slowly drifted under the bridge. Keep in mind that from the water, it looks like we are going to hit even under 65’ bridges so this was a slightly nerve-racking 60 seconds.

As soon as we were securely docked we started working on our normal marina to do list – check in, clean the boat, do laundry (its free here which is amazing), fill the gas tanks, clean and reorganize the cabin, refill our water bottles, take out the trash, take showers and many other minor tasks. We were able to get all of this done by noon so we had all afternoon to explore this wonderful city.

We wandered around until we found a tourist information center with all kinds info on restaurants, activities and tours. Our first goal was to find someplace to eat. Cindy found out about a BBQ place – the Sticky Fingers Smokehouse – from one of the local staff members – he even found a copy of the menu and a coupon for a free appetizer. With so many choices to pick from, finding someone with a little local knowledge is a lot easier than randomly wandering around. Plus we were starving. We enjoyed walking through downtown on our way to the restaurant. This is a very vibrant city. It’s also a college town with kids wandering around downtown just like they do back home in Dinkytown at the University of Minnesota. They all look so young.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Sticky Fingers – one of the best meals of our trip. Good BBQ, great service and surprises from beginning to end. We had assumed the “free” appetizer – we chose nachos – would be some lame chips with cheese poured over it (we have gotten a little cynical about restaurant meals over time) but we had some of the best nachos ever. And a full serving – not just a teaser sampler. For free. Wow. Surprise #1. Our food was just what we were hoping for – great BBQ, good portions, hot, and quick. Surprise #2. And when we went to the counter up front to buy a bottle of their Sweet and Tangy BBQ Sauce, I was filling out a comment card and the guy behind the counter just gave us a full size bottle for free. Surprise #3. Sticky Fingers is in the running for the best restaurant meal of the trip, no question.

We walked miles all over downtown doing a little shopping, checking out the architecture, taking pictures and smelling the flowers – its starting to smell good down here. This city is old and has a lot of interesting history mixed in with the new. We are looking forward to having a full day to take in more of the sights and eats in our new favorite city, Charleston, South Carolina.