Got up at eight o’clock and went out onto the balcony in my bare feet. The 1°C temperature took me by surprise, and I hopped from one foot to the other on the cold decking, while I could clearly see plumes of white breath every time I exhaled. Despite the cold, the sky was a clear blue and the sun shone brightly.
As the “all aboard” time was 12.30pm, we had four hours to spend in this charming, rustic and colourful little town. We disembarked the Borealis and set off along the tree-lined harbour front towards a park, staying where we could on the sunny side of the street, where it felt considerably warmer. 😊
Afterwards, we walked towards the town centre. With the cobbled streets and the chilly winter temperatures, we joked that it was like being back home in Durham! We’d written out our postcards yesterday but noticed that the post office didn’t open until 11.00am, so we thought we’d have a browse around and enjoy a cup of coffee and one of the famous Charleston giant cookies in the meantime.
Some of the three- and four-storey dwellings were painted in different pastel shades, the muted colours of which showed up through the winter-bare branches of the trees which grew alongside the road. The windows all had wooden slatted shutters and tall windows, and some of the houses had the pointed gables of attic rooms. This was East Bay Street; what a lovely place to live! 😊
We continued down the long street past several distinctive old buildings. Looking at Google Maps (whatever did we do before Google Maps ?!) we were able to identify the City Hall and St. Michael’s church with its tall white spire, which we remembered seeing from a distance last night.
Soon we came to a very impressive, ornate large old building on the corner of the wide street, which proclaimed itself to be the United States Postal Service. We still had around 40 minutes to wait before it opened, so we chanced upon an interesting-looking café / bar called “Millers All Day” and decided to have our coffee and cookie here.
The layout of the building we were in looked vaguely familiar, but not as an eating place. It looked more like an apothecary or old-fashioned chemist’s shop, with its pale-green walls and shelves with little cubby holes that may have held medicines and medicaments and tinctures of various substances in their ornate glass bottles. A long counter with a sign above it proclaiming “Prescriptions” confirmed the building’s original purpose, but what was amusing was that underneath the sign was a full bar, with draft beer pumps and optics, as well as a row of green bar stools. 😊
We enjoyed a large cup of white Americano along with one of their home-made cookies – today’s offering was chocolate chip and seasalt. It was an interesting combination, and I liked the slight sensation of salt on my lips while still tasting the chocolate and the freshly-baked cookie. It was certainly substantial; we wouldn’t want any lunch later on.
By the time we’d finished, it was time to return to the post office to buy the stamps to send our Charleston, South Carolina postcards on their way. We walked up the steps and opened the heavy old door into the building, which contained rows of individually numbered private post boxes. What a fantastic building; all high ceilings, tall windows and dark wooden panelling and furniture. As we stood looking at the mesh grill behind which we imagined would arrive a service clerk, a rattle of keys preceded the opening of another door, and a pleasant lady beckoned us inside with a cheery “good morning!”. We were her first customers of the day. 😊
Once the postcards were stamped and sent on their long journey across the Pond, we decided to take a slow stroll back to the Borealis, as we had an hour to be back on board.
What a lovely city Charleston is; I could easily come here again for a longer stay. I will certainly be sure to read up some more of its fascinating history. It really is true that travel broadens the mind. 😊
Back on board, we decided to go and have a beer in the Observatory, but before we went I wrote a note to my X (formerly known as Twitter) contact Mike Caine to let him know we would be in the Morning Light at 3.45pm for the afternoon trivia, if we wanted to join us for a drink. I slid the note under his cabin door as we passed by, and hoped we would meet up later.
The Borealis was a little late leaving today; she should have set sail at one o’clock, but it was nearer to half-past before we felt the increase in vibrations coming up through the aft decks, indicating we were underway once more.
As we sat on bar stools in the Observatory and enjoyed our cold drinks while watching the ship’s progress, I started to scratch at something on my left hand, and I noticed a small, red bite. “Something has bitten me!” I said to Trevor, pointing out the red mark, as well as an adjacent one. It was one of those insect bites where, once you start scratching, it is really difficult to stop, and I hoped the itching would let up.
At quarter to four we went down to the Morning Light for the quiz, and shortly afterwards Mike did indeed join us. He wasn’t staying to the end, as he was going to the Kitchen Creations cookery demo and half-four, but he stayed for a drink and the customary Twitter photo. 😊
Afterwards, we returned to 7055 and relaxed and watched TV before getting ready for dinner at 6.15pm. As the sun went down, I went out onto the balcony to capture an amazing sunset and sky.
Dinner was the usual delicious meal in convivial company, but I was very good and said “no” to any dessert.
After telling Alan and Lesley we’d see them later on for the quiz, Trevor and I set off for the Neptune Lounge to take part in the pre-show dancing. As the sea had calmed down now to only a gentle ripple with a Force 2 breeze, it was much easier to dance, so we did a Square Tango and a cha cha cha.
Once all the second-sitting dancers had left at 8.30pm for their dinner, it freed up some of the front row seats, so we were able to move into them for tonight’s show by the Borealis Theatre Company, called “The Artist’s Paintbox”. It was a performance we had seen before, where all the song titles feature colours, such as Yellow Submarine, Purple Rain, 99 Red Balloons and Green Door. It was a colourful, exuberant show and we really enjoyed it a lot. It’s one of the more original ones.
Then it was along to the Morning Light pub for the quiz. Only Lesley showed up this time; Alan had decided to have an early night. We didn’t win.
We pondered whether to finish the evening off in the Observatory but, as there was only the late-night jukebox sounds on and no featured entertainment, we just decided to stay put for another drink.
Back in 7055 I noticed some more small bites; some on my neck and chest, and one or two on my other arm. As part of Charleston was built over a former swamp, we wondered whether I’d been bitten by mozzies or other biting insects. The spots were itchy as well as being unsightly, and I hoped they would diminish by the morning. Once again, we slept very well and looked forward to our arrival in Port Canaveral, Florida tomorrow. 😊