HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

With a break in the storms, we picked our way through scattered clouds and the DC airspace to the friendly skies to the south.  After four extra nights in the DC area and missing our stop in the Outerbanks, we finally escaped Maryland!  We flew straight to Charleston, South Carolina. We were so excited to be on the move again. The way Bruce was talking about the plane, it could have been his newborn baby and no one would have known the difference. He was so happy to be finally flying. Once in Charleston, we were over joyed to have full service—a Mercury FBO—they were very good. (No problems jumping the Cirrus if it came to that.)

Due to wind during flight, the plane felt like riding in a boat on the open sea. I thought of our ride on the converted tug boat, Bear. We undulated and bumped across the sky fighting a constant crosswind. My pictures were blurry. The land in Maryland was flat with water everywhere. Virginia had gently rolling hills, lots of water, forests as thick as weeds and farms where there were not houses or forest. North Carolina was flat, thinner forests, almost sea level with lots of water and farms. South Carolina was also flat and drier with many farms.  The Carolina's are barely above sea level.

CAUGHT WITHOUT MY BEE GEES T-SHIRT

We stayed in the old part of Charleston and walked around to see the historic buildings. Tourists flooded the sidewalks around the shopping and restaurant district in their shorts, logo’ed shirts and sneakers. Mule-drawn carriages carted tourists through the streets to see the historic buildings. There was a lot of shopping here—more and better stores than the Stanford Mall. We avoided the stores. Shopping seemed to be a major attraction for the rest of the tourists.  Once out walking around the historic buildings, we saw few tourists.

WOULD YOU LIKE THAT FRIED OR DEEP FRIED?

For dinner, we went to the restaurant with the longest line out front, Hyman’s Seafood. It was voted the best restaurant in South Carolina eight years in a row by Southern Living magazine. They did not take reservations. Owned and operated by the Hyman family, it had been here since the 1820’s. The restaurant connected through multiple buildings - as if they had taken over space from neighboring businesses throughout the years. 

As we walked in to our table, the smell of beer poured onto the floor for over a hundred years hit our noses.   Like the Cattleman's - but for seafood not steaks - the floors were worn wood, tables were made of lacqured wood planks with captain-style chairs.  The walls were covered with items collected over the years.  We walked up the stairs and through to another building to our seats.  Our table had a small brass plaque on it that said, “David Lee Roth ate at this table.”

Staffed by young kids - mostly likely college students - the staff were friendly and forthcoming with their opinions.  Our waitress was from Russia and highly recommended "scampi style" over the "cajun style" preparation.  We had the seven picks for two people platter, scampi style. The oysters, squid and deviled crab were deep-fried - the only way they came. The shrimp, scallops and two fish were in a light yet zesty garlic sauce with extra chunks of garlic that you could spoon off the platter. It was wonderful and we ate about half of it. However, the green beans were canned—obviously vegetables were not a priority.

Hyman’s had little note cards on the table and in the restrooms with philosophical and witty sayings. Our favorite was this, “Longevity: Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die.”

Pilot Notes for Leg 3 :: KANP to KCHS