Sunset; Awendaw to Charleston

10/28/11
Last night's sunset with CAVU was captured by Carey and Bobbi Colwell (Catspaw) who have been "Buddy Boating" with us for several days. They are wonderful people who have a great sense of humor. This morning's calm pre-dawn quiet was broken by a reveille call of New England Sea Chanteys transmitted by Carey over our "working channel". He, like Ron is an early riser....Nothing like a hearty laugh to start the day!
Of course, we were the first ones out of the anchorage. As we motored along beside the Wildlife Refuge we were once again treated to a pod of dolphins on our starboard. When Carey is in the lead he is a great "dolphin spotter" sitting high up with his pilot house view. We are so delighted to have joined up with Catspaw and Crew who have done this ICW trip 7 times. They have added great entertainment, company, experiential anecdotes, and enjoyment to our adventure.
Today's trip was a short one, only 5 hours. As we entered Charleston Harbor we were again escorted by dolphins on both sides. A cold front was building and our sunny day was fast disappearing, so we called it a day! Actually we had already made reservations at the Charleston City Marina for a few days to see the sights, and coincidentally, ride out the weather. We had settled in to our slip only long enough to check out the showers when Ed Land from Finistere (Rock Hall,Md) rode up the dock on his bicycle. He and Pat are at the next marina just under the bridge. We chatted for awhile until Carey and Bobbi showed up to go with us on the free shuttle to downtown. We walked for several blocks and saw some of the beautiful architecture, horse and buggy tours, cobblestone streets and sidewalks, Market Street....the first Catholic Church in the Carolinas and Georgia. At that point we needed refreshment and ended up at South End Brewery where we had great pizza and beer. From there we headed to an Irish Pub...where we heard the weather report of snow in New Hampshire and our son Kevin called to tell us it was even snowing in Virginia.... We hope we will be able to out run it!!!
At that point it was dark and close to "Cruiser's Midnight" so, we called the free shuttle for a pick up. Now we are back on  CAVU listening to the crackle of the shrimp under the boat. It is amazing that such little creatures can make so much noise.
Tomorrow we tour Charleston. What an awesome city!