Charleston Continues

Thanks so much for joining us this week as our adventures continue in Charleston, SC.  Jerry decided he would like to share his experience with you this week!

We have 5 more days to make sure we get all that Charleston has to offer, including hurricane and tornado watches. Yep, as Californians, we are so not used to having to continually watch the weather channel, and freak out every time we get a notification that there is a tropical storm warning or a tornado warning.  The last couple of days have been very interesting for us.  

Thank goodness Mt. Pleasant was not affected, except for heavy rains.  As mentioned in the past blogs and videos, the noise from the rain in the RV can be VERY loud on the slide outs.  So loud that we could not sleep Thursday night.  Of course, that’s no big deal compared to what people are dealing with in Florida.  Our hearts go out to everyone affected by Ian and Nicole.  

What we have realized is that we are definitely not east coast people.  Not only do the hurricane and tornado warnings stress us out, the humidity has been horrible.  I know, humidity is great for the skin as Susan has told me, but wearing shorts in November is not our thing. I know, whine, whine, whine.  Poor us! 

Experiencing this lifestyle has shown us where we DO NOT want to live.  This is very important for us as we travel and experience the USA.  It has been an amazing experience so far!

We had a great time last weekend with friends that were visiting us here.  David W. drove 4 hours to come have lunch with us.  We know David from Susan’s Lazarex Cancer Foundation days.  David is a Marathon Maniac (yes, there is an actual organization).  He is a running freak in a very good way.  

David helped raise money for Lazarex during Susan’s time there.  He ran in The Big Sur and New York Marathons a few years ago for Lazarex.  Susan has maintained contact with David, and when he saw we were in SC, he wanted to come visit us. That was such a great lunch with amazing memories.  We were so blown away that he wanted to drive 4 hours to see us.  His mom is in an assisted living facility in Charleston, so he was able to visit with her as well.  

Another friend, Cindy, was in Parris Island and drove to meet us at Middleton Plantation for lunch. Cindy is a full-time RVer as well.  We knew her from Clayton, CA where we both used to live. We have amazing mutual friends, Carin and Howard, who came to visit us in Acadia National Park.  (We’ve talked about that visit in past blogs and videos)  Always great seeing friends!  

This week, as the history lessons continue in this amazing area, we visited the CV-10 USS Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Charleston SC. The tour was amazing! We were able to ramble all over the ship taking our time looking at the various compartments and exhibitions.

As an Army Veteran, I was impressed by the incredible size of the ship, from the flight deck to the boiler rooms and various compartments! The first was Yorktown. It sank at the battle of Midway during WWII, June 15, 1943. The battle of Midway was documented with photographs and stories of heroism!  This Yorktown was involved in the Pacific offensive starting in late 1943, and ending with Japan’s surrender in 1945. 

The Yorktown received the presidential unit citation and earned 11 battle stars for service in WWII! When we first went aboard, I visited the information desk and shook the hands of one of the navy volunteers, thanking him for his service! I told him Go Army Beat Navy! He laughed and said “you probably couldn’t qualify for the Navy.” He cracked me up!! 

The Yorktown was modernized in the early 50’s for jet aircraft and anti-submarine duty.  Serving with distinction in Vietnam (19654-68) earning 5 battle stars. The ship recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts and the capsule in December, 1968. The Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970 and placed in reserve! 

Overall the Yorktown was an amazing tour! I was impressed by the size and complexity! The ship had many fighter planes from WWII and Vietnam all restored! If you get a chance, visit and enjoy our country’s history! 

The last stop on the Yorktown was the fantail, where I stood trying to understand how a sailor felt being aboard the mighty Yorktown!  After we left the USS Yorktown we visited the Vietnam experience and museum. This was incredible, providing sound effects of helicopters flying in and taking off! 

There was video of various combat engagements with realistic sound. The highlight was the Khe Shan base that was under siege, but never overrun! The Air Force and Navy fighters, and B-52 bombers dropped more bombs during this battle than the entire WWII. President Johnson ordered the base to be saved no matter the cost! The video of this battle was shocking and amazing! 

This exhibit was well worth the time. I was in the Army from ‘73-’76 and recognized many of the vehicles and weapons in this museum! One of the memorable things was the music that played from the 60’s and 70’s! Susan said that, “we had the best music.”  I know our parents said the same thing!   

If you served in the Navy, thank you for your Service!  But, I still have to say, “GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY” 

As we finished touring Charleston, we were so happy we decided to stay as long as we did.  There is so much to do and learn here.  We are excited to get back on the road and head to Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with Susan’s relatives.  More about that next week!

Just One More….Museum (we will be counting how many we have visited on this adventure).