Tuesday, 4 July 2017
At Sea — Atlantic Ocean
Stats @ Ship’s Time 11:00p (EDT) … UTC 2:00a (5 July)
Temp: 82.2F (27.9C)
Position: 32.08.27N / 79.30.23W
Travel doesn’t become adventure until you leave yourself behind.
~ Marty Rubin ~
Happy 241st Birthday USA! How appropriate that we are back in time to celebrate the day in the US.
I really don’t have a story to tell for today. Why? Simple … I didn’t get off the ship. The day promised to be hot — and more importantly, very humid. Charleston promised to be very crowded — 4th of July after all. There were other factors that combined to make the decision to stay aboard an easy one … we visited Charleston in February 2005 when the weather was far more pleasant … we saw most of the attractions that were of interest then … the few places I thought we might visit this time were all closed due to the holiday. Like I said … it was an easy decision to just stay aboard and chill.
From our 2005 Charleston Trip (clockwise from top left)
Replica of the HL Hunley …. a Civil War Era Confederate submarine.
Sunset on the Cooper River … from White Point Gardens.
The Famous trio of houses … Three Sisters.
French Huguenot Church … an independent Christian community.
Froggy … My friend at the Charleston Aquarium.
After our carriage ride … a popular way to explore Charleston.
[Thanks Sue … for reminding me that the Lightroom print module works well to create collages.]
After breakfast, we took it easy in the cabin. Using our own data package — yay for high speed internet — we spent some time looking at flights to get us home following the November TransAtlantic cruise that will bring us from Europe to the US. Ended up with decent award tickets on United Airlines.
After we got the booking done, Mui went off the ship for a bit. A stroll and maybe lunch ashore was his plan. But he returned to have lunch on the ship … it was just too muggy wandering around on shore.
I spent the time while he was gone on the veranda. But once my shade disappeared, I spent much of the afternoon on the Deck 5 promenade. There was a cool breeze and shade there — the perfect antidote for mugginess. I got the blog post for our second day in Luxor up … progress one post at a time! Maybe tomorrow I’ll get the Suez Canal post up … one can only hope.
Insignia sailed from Charleston 10 minutes before it’s scheduled time of 6:00p. Mui and I enjoyed it from our veranda, sipping the last of our in-cabin bottle of wine. The light and heat haze, again, wasn’t great for photography, but I clicked the shutter a few times anyway.
The Arthur Ravenel Jr bridges the Cooper River to connect Charleston and Mount Pleasant.
A closer look at USS Yorktown … the flight deck is lined with aircraft,
but they are lost amongst the clutter of masts from the sailing vessels.
Dinner tonight was an al fresco special in honor of the 4th of July — an American-style BBQ at the Terrace Café. Our usual group of six was joined by Karen and John … lots of hilarity … and the food was very good, too. Our only disappointment … that O did not plan for the ship to anchor offshore to watch the firework show we’re sure Charleston put on after nightfall.
Chef Farid preparing an excellent BBQ dinner …
… for the gang of eight to enjoy.
Tomorrow will be our last day on Insignia … we’ll be spending it at sea.
© 2004-2018 All rights reserved by Erin Erkun.
We are considering the Insignia for a transatlantic next June. Final thoughts on the ship and room? We are going to waitlist for an aft cabin Concierge Level.
ReplyDeleteI’ll be posting some thoughts on this. However, much as we love aft facing verandas, due to the fumes we experienced that made the space unusable so much of the time, I cannot recommend those cabins. Especially not on a TransAtlantic when there are so many days at sea in succession.
DeleteYou had a beautiful day for an al fresco celebration. Looks so yummy.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite US cities, but I might have opted to stay on board as well. We never saw the fort when we were there last time, but we surely enjoyed some great Southern food.
ReplyDeleteThere was a house tour I wanted to do, but alas ... closed on the 4th. Oh well ... we’ll revisit Charleston another time ... and definitely not in the summer or around the holidays.
DeleteFourth of July in Charleston? Hot, humid, crowded, noisy? No thanks. Since I dislike heat and humidity as much as anyone, I would've stayed aboard also. The BBQ looked like it was worth staying on the ship.
ReplyDelete