Blogs from Charleston, South Carolina, United States, North America - page 22

Thank the lord in heaven, I finally made it to a Starbucks and a wifi connection. The downside is I had to pay $4 for a two hour block. But $4 is a friggin blessing for high speed internet compared to what I've had available to me these past few weeks. It's amazing. You just click on a link and the page just opens instantly. Unbelievable. I'm catching up on all of my downloading tonight. ... read more

Did I mention that when a ship goes into dry dock that females become a scarce minority. There are about twleve women on the ship and about 900 contractors. Suddenly, one has never felt so self conscious than when walking into any room and having all eyes on you. And they aren't just staring, they're ogling. So far I've been called "deary", "baby doll" and "angel", and none of those terms seem very endearing when they are preceded by whistles or leers. So I've been spending some time off the ship considering all the guys I'm working with are staying at a hotel off the ship because they aren't regular shipboard personnel. So come 6pm, I don't even have drinking buddies or too many people to hang out with on the ship, which makes the female ... read more

Charleston, South Carolina. I don't really know what to make of it at the moment, but the shipping yard we're residing in is not very exciting. I actually had the day off today, so I did manage to venture off the ship long enough and catch a ride to WalMart. But not just any WalMart. It was a supermart Wal Mart. I've never seen such a one stop shop for the masses in my humble, sheltered existence in Los Angeles. It was bigger than CostCo. So today I feel a bit refreshed because I didn't have to work. You're lucky I didn't have a chance to update yesterday because the constant work and lack of recreation was starting to take it's toll. The ship has become a giant construction zone, and I've been working everyday in ... read more

This was the first year over the new Bridge. It's really become an event, 33,000 crossed the finish line. You have everything from the elite Kenyan runners to walkers who dress up in funny outfits. Patty did real well finishing in the top 12% in her age group...I managed to keep up with her. We're certainly not hardcore runners but we did train for this one, this run becomes the goal and reason to exercise and train. The view from the top of the bridge is awesome, you can see all of Charleston harbor, Fort Sumter, the Battery park area and the Yorktown in her mooring. Personally I like going for the low country cooking!! Charleston is one of our favorite cities and this is destined to be an annual event for us.... read more

Charleston, South Carolina, could easily become a favorite city. The historic houses, gardens, the Market, Fort Sumter and the sense of history at every corner all contribute to a most agreeable ambiance. Susa and I had visited Charleston in 1989. Now our son and daughter were along with us. After Charleston, we would be taking our son for a look at the University of South Carolina. To reach Charleston, we drove from Northern Virginia in one day. A long day to be sure, but traffic was not bad along the Interstate 95 corridor. We reached the I-26 turnoff for Charleston at dusk, had dinner at a Chick-Fil-A and reached the city after rush hour had subsided. We checked into the Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel, just across the Ashley River from historic downtown Charleston. The location was ... read more