Charleston, SC @ Cooper River Marina, Take 1, December 13-18

      We made it safe and sound to the marina.  The only ominous thing was that they told us that they gave away our originally reserved spot "on the inside" and now we had to tie up "on the outside."  I didn't complain because I didn't really know why it mattered.  It turns out that when you are on the outside, every stupid working boat that goes by throws off a big wake and you bounce like a ping pong ball up and down, squeaking fenders and rolling around.  If you have the option, you very much want to be "on the inside."

 
Dragonfly chilling "on the outside"

       The marina itself is very friendly, whenever they see you making the walk back to shore, they offer to give you a ride in the golf cart and they have the basic sailor supplies (wine, beer and bottled water) at the office.  They will handle packages and they are absolutely fanatical about taking any empty cart you leave on the dock even if you only set it there for 20 seconds so that you could get something from below and put it on the cart,

The marina office
 
     As I was making my way down the South Carolina coast, I got a message from my cousin Patrick.  It turns out he was going to be in town for work on the same day we arrived in Charleston and he offered to meet us for a good dinner.  I was anxious to see Charleston, I had free hotel nights that I haven't used since the COVID-pocalypse and it was going to be in the 30s that night.  It seemed like a no-brainer to get a room in town at the same hotel as Patrick and do some sightseeing.  We met up with Patrick at Shiki, which was an extremely nice sushi joint.  We did the omikase and pretty much ate until fish was coming out of our ears.  It was really nice to catch up with Pat and cool to have some inside guidance on where to eat.  They did some raw fish swimming in ponzu with that Szechuan Chili Crisp stuff on top that was just about the best stuff you'll find anywhere.  We followed up the next day with a brilliant French-style place with absolutely inscrutable hand written menus and outside dining.  It was called Chez Nous (Our Place) and every single bite was amazing.  Of all the places we tried in Charleston, this ended up being our favorite by a wide margin.

     We wandered around the historic district for most of a day and Lisa discovered a store entirely stocked with Yeti stuff.  Did we buy a bunch more Yeti merch in the official Dragonfly color scheme?  Of course we did.  I use it for coffee pretty every morning, so I am honestly just as guilty as Lisa.  I wish we had spent more time exploring Charleston because it seemed to offer interesting experiences around every corner.  However, we knew that we were planning to fly home soon and we had a number of tasks we hoped to accomplish to feel comfortable leaving Dragonfly tied up at the dock while we went back to Virginia for a few weeks.  Spending more time in Charleston is absolutely on my to-do list in the future.




Location: 1010 Juneau Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405, USA

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