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Mark & Robyn's Travels
Every day traveling with my family is a like a journey through a winding tree lined mountain road--you never know what is around the next turn. Today the plan was to go to Patriot's Point which is across Charleston Harbor to visit the USS Yorktown (or Yorkshire, as Melanie called it); go to see the CSS Hunley (or Hinley as Melanie and Debby called it); and then head over to Folly Beach so Melanie could lay out (remember--it is all about the Melanie). Due to the prior night's drinking we were a little slow in getting out of the hotel. However, that was not a real problem since Robyn had made reservations for brunch at a place called Poogan's Porch (or Poopin's Porch as I called it), for 9:45 which gave us plenty of time to recover and get to the restaurant. The restaurant was named for a dog named Poogan who lived on the porch of the house back in the 1970's. Picture of Poogan is here.
After having a great breakfast--and by the way I also recommend this restaurant--we headed to Patriot's Point to tour the retired aircraft carrier Yorktown. This Yorktown (not the Yorkshire) is actually the 4th US warship to be named Yorktown. It was commissioned on April 15, 1943, was the second Essex class carrier and replaced the Yorktown aircraft carrier that was sunk at the Battle of Midway in May 1942. She served in the Pacific for the remainder of WWII and then was mothballed. In 1953 she was reactivated and served throughout the first part of the Vietnam War running several combat missions and then was decommissioned in 1970. The ship was the recovery vessel of the Apollo 8 capsule, and its flight deck was used to recreate the flight deck of a Japanese carrier for the movie "Tora, Tora, Tora." In 1975 she was towed to Patriot's Point and became a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The carrier is 872 feet long and it held a crew of 3500, which made it a small floating city. Today's carriers are bigger and hold more crew but still this is a big ship. Debby got a $5 discount because she is a senior citizen--any money saved is great. When we got on the ship it was apparent we were not going to see it all, plus some of us are old and have difficulty getting up and down the ship stairs. We did go down a couple of decks and saw crew quarters, galley, mess hall, dentist office, surgery rooms, and sickbay. We then went through the hanger deck and flight deck before giving up and decided to leave. Again some of us are old and everyone was hot. Next to the Yorktown was the USS Laffey, a WWII destroyer that is one of two US ships still in existence that fought at Normandy during the D-Day invasion (by the way the other is the USS Texas). Did not get a chance to go on the Laffey but Robyn took some pictures.
One thing about yesterday that I want to mention: Debby cannot stop laughing anytime she looks at the American Gothic Horror Story Part Deux (picture of Robyn and me.) She says whenever she gets sad she pulls that up on her cell phone and starts laughing. If that makes her happy then she can look at it as often as possible.
As we were leaving Patriot's Point a discussion of how much time we had left in the afternoon came up. I was hoping we could get over to the museum that contained the CSS Hunley, and Melanie wanted to go to the beach since she was certain this would be the only sunny day left while we were in Charleston. Robyn was insistent we get back to the hotel by 5:30 to get ready for dinner. This meant something had to be skipped and I knew I had to say let's pass on the Hunley (also called the Hinkley, the Hindley, the Hundley, and the Humphrey). Let me explain my disappointment. The Hunley was an eight person submarine, and on February 17, 1864 it sank the Union ship the Housatonic that was part of the Union blockade of Charleston by using a torpedo. The Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship using a torpedo. Shortly after sinking the ship the Hunley itself sank killing all on board,but it was not discovered again until 1995 in the silt of the harbor and was raised in 2000. Historically this is very significant, but it is only open on weekends to view. I knew Melanie's beach time was more important so headed in the opposite direction to Folly Beach. We had no beach towels so Robyn had me stop at a Walgreens on the way to buy cheap beach towels. We left the store with towels, three different kinds of sun screen, grass mats, an ice chest, beer, and water-- translation: nearly $100 worth of ****. But we got to the beach and Melanie got to lay out for 1 1/2 hours. We had to pour our beer into Red Solo cups since alcohol is prohibited (oops!). We lucked in to a perfect parking place and being on the beach was not so bad.
After the beach fun we went back to get ready for dinner. Robyn had made reservations at The Charleston Grill. She had called and told them we were celebrating Melanie's birthday. When we got there Robyn looked at the menu and said to me this is more expensive than I thought, a little late for that revelation. However, the food and wine were really good and they treated us great, especially Melanie. There was a birthday card waiting for her and they gave her a free glass of wine along with a special dessert. The manager, Mickey, constantly came by to see how we were doing. Being Johnsons, we were having a great time and were being loud in a quiet restaurant. There were two guys playing a violin and guitar, and they were really good and I left them a nice tip. They would play pop music and make it sound classical. However at one point Melanie thought they were playing Allan Sherman's "Camp Granada" you know the one that goes "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, here I am at Camp Granada". Melanie starts laughing which gets Debby laughing, then I start, all the while the poor waitress is trying to take our dessert order. She finally says I'll come back in a minute. When the two musicians took a break they stopped by our table and said we were their favorite table and they wished all the tables were as happy as we were so the place would have more excitement. The drinking helps with the happiness for our family. It was a good evening and The Charleston Grill is a great place to eat, even though very pricey.
I don't even know what is on the plan for tomorrow, but I think if might involve historic homes and plantations.
After having a great breakfast--and by the way I also recommend this restaurant--we headed to Patriot's Point to tour the retired aircraft carrier Yorktown. This Yorktown (not the Yorkshire) is actually the 4th US warship to be named Yorktown. It was commissioned on April 15, 1943, was the second Essex class carrier and replaced the Yorktown aircraft carrier that was sunk at the Battle of Midway in May 1942. She served in the Pacific for the remainder of WWII and then was mothballed. In 1953 she was reactivated and served throughout the first part of the Vietnam War running several combat missions and then was decommissioned in 1970. The ship was the recovery vessel of the Apollo 8 capsule, and its flight deck was used to recreate the flight deck of a Japanese carrier for the movie "Tora, Tora, Tora." In 1975 she was towed to Patriot's Point and became a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The carrier is 872 feet long and it held a crew of 3500, which made it a small floating city. Today's carriers are bigger and hold more crew but still this is a big ship. Debby got a $5 discount because she is a senior citizen--any money saved is great. When we got on the ship it was apparent we were not going to see it all, plus some of us are old and have difficulty getting up and down the ship stairs. We did go down a couple of decks and saw crew quarters, galley, mess hall, dentist office, surgery rooms, and sickbay. We then went through the hanger deck and flight deck before giving up and decided to leave. Again some of us are old and everyone was hot. Next to the Yorktown was the USS Laffey, a WWII destroyer that is one of two US ships still in existence that fought at Normandy during the D-Day invasion (by the way the other is the USS Texas). Did not get a chance to go on the Laffey but Robyn took some pictures.
One thing about yesterday that I want to mention: Debby cannot stop laughing anytime she looks at the American Gothic Horror Story Part Deux (picture of Robyn and me.) She says whenever she gets sad she pulls that up on her cell phone and starts laughing. If that makes her happy then she can look at it as often as possible.
As we were leaving Patriot's Point a discussion of how much time we had left in the afternoon came up. I was hoping we could get over to the museum that contained the CSS Hunley, and Melanie wanted to go to the beach since she was certain this would be the only sunny day left while we were in Charleston. Robyn was insistent we get back to the hotel by 5:30 to get ready for dinner. This meant something had to be skipped and I knew I had to say let's pass on the Hunley (also called the Hinkley, the Hindley, the Hundley, and the Humphrey). Let me explain my disappointment. The Hunley was an eight person submarine, and on February 17, 1864 it sank the Union ship the Housatonic that was part of the Union blockade of Charleston by using a torpedo. The Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship using a torpedo. Shortly after sinking the ship the Hunley itself sank killing all on board,but it was not discovered again until 1995 in the silt of the harbor and was raised in 2000. Historically this is very significant, but it is only open on weekends to view. I knew Melanie's beach time was more important so headed in the opposite direction to Folly Beach. We had no beach towels so Robyn had me stop at a Walgreens on the way to buy cheap beach towels. We left the store with towels, three different kinds of sun screen, grass mats, an ice chest, beer, and water-- translation: nearly $100 worth of ****. But we got to the beach and Melanie got to lay out for 1 1/2 hours. We had to pour our beer into Red Solo cups since alcohol is prohibited (oops!). We lucked in to a perfect parking place and being on the beach was not so bad.
After the beach fun we went back to get ready for dinner. Robyn had made reservations at The Charleston Grill. She had called and told them we were celebrating Melanie's birthday. When we got there Robyn looked at the menu and said to me this is more expensive than I thought, a little late for that revelation. However, the food and wine were really good and they treated us great, especially Melanie. There was a birthday card waiting for her and they gave her a free glass of wine along with a special dessert. The manager, Mickey, constantly came by to see how we were doing. Being Johnsons, we were having a great time and were being loud in a quiet restaurant. There were two guys playing a violin and guitar, and they were really good and I left them a nice tip. They would play pop music and make it sound classical. However at one point Melanie thought they were playing Allan Sherman's "Camp Granada" you know the one that goes "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, here I am at Camp Granada". Melanie starts laughing which gets Debby laughing, then I start, all the while the poor waitress is trying to take our dessert order. She finally says I'll come back in a minute. When the two musicians took a break they stopped by our table and said we were their favorite table and they wished all the tables were as happy as we were so the place would have more excitement. The drinking helps with the happiness for our family. It was a good evening and The Charleston Grill is a great place to eat, even though very pricey.
I don't even know what is on the plan for tomorrow, but I think if might involve historic homes and plantations.
- comments
Liz What a fun day!!! I would have voted for the beach also. But I know you love your history, Mark. And what a cute story about Poogan.
Liz And by the way I have that stupid song stuck in my head!!!