Days 12 & 13 (May 14-15); Charleston, SC

The plan was to spend 24 hours in charleston, on the way from Washington DC to Savannah. The train from DC arrived 2+ hours late in Charleston and it turns out the Amtrak Station is actually in North Charleston, a 20 minute or so cab rode from downtown. So, 24 hours turned into 21 and the evening out I was hoping for on the 14th turned into a late dinner and local beers at a neighbouring hotel, because (thanks again, Hotwire), the 'downtown' hotel was not quite downtown.

Highlights of May 15:

- From my brief experience walking about, Charleston is a gorgeous city, with a lot of old, large, Southern-style houses (wooden clapping, sprawling balconies). There is a lot of history here, which surprised me a bit; I had not realised how old the European settlement was (early 1700's, if not late 1600's).

- I did not quite time the tour to Fort Sumter well enough, so I ended up taking a water taxi ride to Patriots' Point for military porn; i.e., a visit of the Yorktown, a decommissioned aircraft carrier which served in WWII, a WWII-era destroyer and submarine. Not quite up my alley, but was amazed at how big the Yorktown was on the one hand and how cramped the sub is.

- I had my first weather swing. For the previous 11 days, both in NYC and DC, the temperature was mostly in the high 60's/ low 70's. The high for Wednesday in Charleston was 88, and it was sunny. With the breeze blowing un from the sea, I could get used to it. (And I have mentioned this before: I miss Fahrenheit.)

- I had a great breakfast at Hominy (another eater.com recommendation), a Southern-style café somewhat outside if downtown proper. I had the 'smothered' breakfast special: a biscuit sliced open and grilled, covered with two poached eggs, country ham and mushroom gravy and served with home fries. Another contender for best meal of the trip (which reminds me I have to start to make a formal ranking).

- There was a drink menu with breakfast?!? There was a drink menu with breakfast.

- I tried a number of local beers, all of which were nice, none of which were noteworthy or awful. Still, there were more local craft breweries than I expected.

- Highway 17 crosses Charleston. Man, that highway gets around.

- What am I reading on the trip: I finished 'October Tales', a collection of some of Ray Bradbury's early short stories, including the classic 'Homecoming'. I am not reading as much as I thought I would be, because the blogging is taking up a chunk of my spare time.

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