Vacation in Charleston (4)

After getting back to the guest house from Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum (https://www.patriotspoint.org/) last Tuesday afternoon (26 November), I rested up a bit, then joined Mom at Rick and Melissa's house for dinner. Then, Rick and I walked up to the Mellow Mushroom restaurant (https://mellowmushroom.com/location/sc-charleston-19-magnolia-rd-29407/) approximately one block from the house. There, I joined Rick, Melissa, and several others on a team for the restaurant's weekly trivia contest. (In fact, Rick invited me to do this before I flew to Charleston, and he didn't have to ask me twice!) The contestants were asked a series of three questions on various topics and each team submitted their answers after polling among themselves. I was able to contribute my share to our team, named "Et tu, Bloomberg?," and we did very well. In fact, our team won the night, and we were awarded a Mellow Mushroom gift card as our prize. The guy asking the questions actually lives near Rick and Melissa's house.

I ordered some pretzel bites to enjoy with a draft beer during the contest. After that contest, Rick and I walked home.

The next day, I drove into downtown Charleston (https://www.charleston-sc.gov/) to do some sightseeing. I parked by the visitor center and visited the replica of the steam locomotive "Best Friend of Charleston," which was employed on the first scheduled rail passenger service in the United States in 1830. (http://bestfriendofcharleston.org/)

After that, I walked around the area, admiring the historic buildings. Many of these had signs about the place and its historic significance, as well as medallions recognizing their history.

The weather was most pleasant for this walking tour, and there were plenty of people--residents and tourists--also on the sidewalks. I also visited the Charleston City Market (https://www.thecharlestoncitymarket.com/), where I walked among the various stalls where a great variety of goods were for sale.

After walking back to my car to put away my jacket (it was getting hot) and some tourism brochures, I walked to El Jefe Texican Cantina (https://www.eljefechs.com/) on King Street for lunch. I had an order of tostadas, with beans and rice, plus chips and salsa. It was a very satisfying lunch.

Then, I walked across the street to Glazed Gourmet Doughnuts (http://glazedgourmet.com/), where I had a maple bacon doughnut. It was most tasty. This shop reminds me a lot of Strange Donuts (https://www.strangedonuts.com/), in being a place for unique donuts.

After some more walking, I made my way to The Charleston Museum (https://www.charlestonmuseum.org/) for a visit. This is America's first museum, founded in 1773, and celebrates and natural and human history of Charleston and the Lowcountry. They had a variety of most interesting exhibits, ranging from gallery of silverware produced in Charleston, to a look at Lowcountry history (Native Americans, planters, and slaves), to galleries on Charleston's role in the American Revolution and the American Civil War. It was a most interesting place to visit and I definitely recommend it.

Just outside the museum was a replica of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which made history's first successful submarine attack in Charleston Harbor on 17 February 1864. I visited the replica and took a selfie in front of it before walking back to my car and driving back to the guest house. After dinner, I spent time with Rick and Melissa's family, including their daughter--my goddaughter--Kate.

Thanksgiving Day (28 November) was spent mostly at Rick's house and the guest house. I chilled out waiting for the Thanksgiving feast late that after noon. All of us--Mom, Rick, Melissa, Alex, Kate, and I--were joined by Melissa's father Neil, who lives in Charleston, and her mother and stepfather, Tina and Alan, who live south of Charleston. It was a very good dinner, featuring not only turkey, but also beef brisket from Alan. It was very good to share this meal with family and catching up with Melissa's parents and stepfather, who I have not seen in some years.

After dinner, Mom and I said our goodbyes to Rick and Melissa's family before we returned to the guest house to pack up, as we had an early flight out the next morning. Up well before dawn, we packed the Versa and drove to Charleston International Airport (https://www.iflychs.com/). We returned the car to the Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) lot, then walked with our luggage to the terminal. We checked one back each at the American Airlines (https://www.aa.com) counter, passed through security, then walked to our gate to wait our flight. The flight into Charlotte Douglas International Airport (https://www.cltairport.com/) went smoothly, then we connected with the flight to St. Louis.

Mom and I arrived at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (https://www.flystl.com/) late that morning. After getting our luggage and grabbing a bit of lunch, we walked to the arrivals ramp, where Ralph and Charleen Sartori were waiting to take us home. After loading our luggage into their minivan, the four of us came home to begin unpacking and getting our mail that was held while we were away. Overall, a very nice vacation in a beautiful city.

Later.