We are on the road!  It was a great winter in Florida (some of us forget what season it is) but it was time for us to head back.  We have some appointments that need to be taken care of in Wisconsin.  We were able to get new windows installed in Marie’s condo before we left.   Unfortunately we attended a funeral, but we were happy we saw Tom recently.  Jackie fulfilled his wishes and it was a moving ceremony at the National Cemetery in Cape Canaveral. 

We try to have patience in our travels.  Long days in the car are not fun, and as we get older our joints are not happy with long sedentary hours.  So we plan our trips with what is next 5 hours away.   That gives us time for a relaxing morning and to be settled before rush hour and cocktail hour.  So our first day was to visit old friend Jeff in Jacksonville.  We had a nice hotel and spent a number of hours in his favorite brew pub.  Good meal and lots of good discussion.  From there on to Charleston SC.  There is a lot of good press out there on Charleston and well deserved.  One of the pre-revolutionary colonies it has a ton of great architecture and history.  We started our investigation of Charleston by taking a horse drawn carriage tour in the city.  It was very informative and we got a feel for the beautiful city.  Chris and I took a long walk through the marketplace and down King Street and had a lot of choices for a relaxing dinner.  The next morning we planned a boat trip out to Fort Sumter.  Jeff joined us as he has visited a number of Civil War sites.  Seeing the site of the start of the civil war was very interesting.  Being in Charleston made us very aware of the history surrounding the start of the war, and how Fort Sumter continued to play an important part through that war.  Then the Spanish American war, fortified for WWI and WWII to protect the coastline.  Being the first boat out in the morning involved us in the raising of the flag at the fort and a moving speech from a National Park warden.  The rest of the day was more touring of the city, a visit to the Charleston Museum (the first museum in the US) and of course more food and drink.

Tonight finds us in Asheville NC.  A good ride through the Carolina’s today, green and very pretty.   And no problem getting a beer in Asheville!  A large selection of breweries and brew pubs.  And we partook of some this evening.  Tomorrow on to Kentucky.

Main window delivered

install

Tom’s procession

a Moving experience

Charleston

flag raising

the Fort and our ride