CHARLESTON HARBOR TOUR AND JAMES ISLAND COUNTY PARK

After I went to the plantation, I decided that I would take a harbor tour of Charleston.  Mr. W LOVES all the sailboats and dreams of owning one and travelling around in one of them instead of the 5W someday.  He will have to do that with another wife because I won't be joining him doing that.  Of course, basically anything that has to do with the water, he loves.

I loaded on to the Charleston Belle, along with a lot of other people, and off we went on our 90 minute tour.  They did play the theme song from Gilligan's Island as we left.  All of us "more mature" people knew what song they were playing and the significance.  A lot of the younger group didn't get it.  I guess that's another thing to chalk up to life experience.

One of the crew narrated the history behind all of the buildings located on the harbor as well as land, ships, bridges, and other sights along the way.  There were even some dolphins that "surfed" along the front nose of the boat for awhile.  I really enjoyed hearing the history and present day info on everything. The tour started at 3:30 and it was a sunshiny day, so it was hot.  But, as long as you stayed where the wind was blowing, it was very enjoyable.  I actually bought a combo ticket at the plantation for the plantation and harbor tour, so it saved a little on the cost.  You don't have to use the tickets on the same day.  It just worked out that I needed to use them on the same day.

My tour boat - Carolina Belle

As we were waiting for everyone to load on the boat, we got to watch someone parasailing.

Ft. Sumter - Everything you read about Ft. Sumter says that it is the sight of the first shot fired that started the Civil War.  All the flags that the fort has served under are still flying there.

This is a retired aircraft carrier that you can tour.  There is a also a submarine and a battleship there too.

This is a bridge we went under.  At night, it is lit and a lot of people sit in Waterfront Park and view the lit bridge.  Next time I'm here, I want to do that.

This is driving over the same bridge earlier that day.  Just thought I would give you the over and under point of view.

When friends from home found out that I would be traveling to Charleston, they told me that I needed to stay at James Island County Park.  I called to make reservations and the lady I talked with was super nice and she also told me that they had a waterpark on site that both kids and adults loved.  She told me that it was $8 for all day, with come and go privileges. I knew Daughter and the girls were planning on visiting me while I was there, so I'm thinking this is great.  Little did I know that this place IS great!

There are several miles of hiking and biking trails throughout this park.

One of 2 playgrounds in the park

This is a splash pad area.  This is free.

This is one of several picnic areas.

One of the fishing areas.  This pier is off of one of the trails and is in one of the marshy areas.

The camp sites are very spacious and are turned at different angles so you feel like you have even more room than you really do (which is a lot to start with).

One of the play areas at the waterpark.  The waterpark is right across the road from the campground.  You can walk.  The cost of the waterpark, if you come in just for the day and are not camping is $12 a day.  If you are camping, you get a $3 discount.  So, it was $9 for the day.  They had a $1 increase since I had made reservations. You get in and out privileges.  The park is open 10:00-6:00.

Regular swimming pool at the waterpark.

One of the refreshment stands.  You cannot bring in food or drinks.  That's the nice thing about it being right across the road from the campground.  I could leave, have lunch in my trailer, and come back to swim.

Another shot of the play area at the waterpark.

It also had a Lazy River.

Curly and Mimi going down the Lazy River

Patio area to sit and eat lunch.  They had a special that day which was a pulled pork sandwich and onion rings for $4.50.  I did not think that was a bad price for a waterpark lunch.

There was an area that had 2 chutes.  One was open and this one is closed or a tube chute.  The big kid rode with the little kid down the chute. :)

They had shaded areas you could sit in.

Daughter riding with Popcorn down the open chute.  Everyone turns into a "kid" at the waterpark!

This park also had a very nice lake that had a dog park area.  There were tons of people there everyday with their dogs.  People could not swim in the lake, but dogs could and did. They have a laundry area but it is definitely not big enough for this place.  There is a nice convenience store in the office.  The people working in the office were super nice.  This was one of the most expensive parks we have stayed in on this trip.  But, if I'm back during the summer months, I would definitely want to stay here again.