Thursday, July 1, 2004-  

 The planned boat tour of the Charleston Harbor didn't happen. The threatening weather conditions may have been the reason that the tour was cancelled, so a "Grayline-type" bus tour had to suffice. The tour guide was informative and sometimes humorous; however, he lost his train of thought when one of the passengers spotted what he confirmed to be a tornado in the harbor-technically, a waterspout. It eventually lifted back into the sky but created a significant story for the local evening TV news that night.

They drove past more Spanish moss and Magnolia lined streets with wrought iron balconies like the ones that they had seen in Savannah, listening to the guide's stories of local heroes of virtually all of the military campaigns of the last four centuries. He explained some of the unique collegiate traditions of the Citadel and the College of Charleston as the tour approached those locations.

 
Above: "Old Town" Charleston, SC
 After a late lunch at A.W. Shuck's Seafood Restaurant they strolled through the open air market then drove to Ladson, just north of Charleston to check in for the night's lodging.They found the several plantations that they had planned to visit in the area closed for the day. Since they had passed Charleston Southern University (formerly Baptist College of Charleston) just one interstate exit before Ladson, they decided to go back and drive through the campus. That is the college where Pete Yaun has been spending his post-retirement and is teaching for what he claims to be his last semester this Fall. The weekly commute from St. Simon's Island, GA, must challenge his Volvo.