Charleston (July 25 – July 31) – Larry & Mary’s Great Loop Blog

Saturday morning (7/25) we departed Bohicket Marina on John’s Island around 11am for an ICW trip to Charleston. The day was calm and seas were light for the beautiful ‘inland’ voyage. As we got closer to Charleston on the Stono River the boat traffic increased considerably. We took the Elliott Cut (a narrow 3 mile channel also known as Wappo Creek). Once reaching the end of Wappo Creek we entered the Ashley River which skirts the southern side of Charleston. Lots of boaters here on a sunny Saturday morning. Views of Castle Pinckney, Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter off our starboard side were excellent.

Cruising around “The Battery” we saw several dolphins as we headed up the Cooper River which borders the northern side of Charleston. We docked at the Charleston Maritime Center just a few blocks away from history downtown with an awesome view of the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point and the Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge.

For docktails this evening we were greeted by Kingsport friends, Craig and Tammy Kilgore, who now live in the Charleston area on Daniel Island. Later Saturday evening we took a quick walking tour of Bay Street stopping in for some pizza & beer at New York City PIzza.

Sunday morning we took a 1.5 mile walk to St John the Baptist Catholic Cathedral. This beautiful cathedral was nearly complete with some major interior renovations that prevented us from seeing the main chapel, but we did get to attend a mass in the lower chapel and tour the grounds.

After church we hopped aboard the ‘CARTA’s DASH Trolley free bus’ for a quick ride around downtown on the way back to Harris-Teeter (for groceries).

Following lunch we headed for the Charleston Museum to get a multi-pass for the museum as well as two historic homes (Joseph Manigault House and Heyward Washington House)

Mary found the awesome Tea & Spice Exchange shop near the famed Historic Charleston City Market. Touring the City Market, a must see activity, is easy to do given it central location and the fact that the market is open 7 days a week.