Charleston

The wood paneled walls of the classic motor lodge bid us adieu and Rach and I began our day riding on the 17 once more. This highway has been off our original route and set of maps and I can begin to appreciate why. There are some stretches with generous shoulders and moderate traffic but as we pulled closer and closer to Charleston I would say the road was lacking in Southern charm. Thankfully it was just about this time we could transition to the West Ashley Greenway. The greenway is a separated bike and pedestrian path that offered a much calmer experience for a bicyclist.

Putting in extra miles yesterday was in service of a little sightseeing time today. Our next stop was the McLeod Plantation on James Island, just outside of downtown Charleston. It began operation in 1851 where approximately 100 slaves grew and processed 'Sea Island' cotton. We took a guided tour and learned about the lives of the people there and the economies that propelled the cotton and slave trade. It was a beautiful afternoon with light filtering through the leaves of massive live oaks. Quite different to the violence and oppression the site was host to in the past.

We sat on a bench at the bank of Wappoo Creek and watched people launch and reload boats from their trailers at the boat ramp on the other side of the water. Next, we rode a final few miles into the oldest portions of downtown Charleston. First, we rode to a house my great-grandfather owned, then to a street where my family ran a grocery store, and then to a building where a relative worked as a merchant. Many of the homes in this stretch are stately with grand porches for sipping something cool.

We closed out the day riding across the Arthur Ravenel bridge to Mt. Pleasant. This thing was massive. Several miles long, towering hundreds of feet over the Ashley River, and very breezy along the stretch at the top. A former coworker of Rach's recently moved to the Charleston area and Sarah and her husband Brandon have been kind enough to host us. The package also includes their nearly one-year-old daughter Jane and nearly three-year-old daughter Djuna - who bounds about with limitless stores of energy. Now we're going to take a day off and join the family at a water park nearby.

Along the Greenway

Happy Rach

At my great-grandfather's house

the Dock Street Theater

Midway along the bridge

looking back toward downtown Charleston