Sunday, Oct. 1 was an ideal combination of nice weather, puffy cloud cover, busy boat and ship activity plus an expansive view of Charleston, its harbor and points beyond in Mt. pleasant and Sullivan’s Island.
Charleston- the Holy City- glistened in the distance.
My book, “Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston,” explores the old city’s rich, interesting and diverse history through the prism of its religious burial grounds.
Check out this book (and my previous ones) at the link above or on my Amazon site.
These are two of the oldest churches in town. St. Philip’s (left) was built in 1836 and St. Michael’s dates to 1751. Both are Anglican churches, reflecting Charleston’s Church of England roots.
St. Philip’s was founded in 1680, 10 years after Charles Town was first settled by the English. St. Michael’s is the oldest extant church edifice in Charleston.
High on the bridge provided other interesting perspectives. I’ve photographed the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse numerous times from the beach. It was cool to capture an image from this distant vantage point.
From the sand at Sullivan’s Island I’ve also documented many ships going in and out of the harbor. So the Ravenel Bridge offered a fresh look at the area’s waterways and vessels large and small.
Being loaded on this day are newly assembled vehicles from the Mercedes Van facility in North Charleston.
According to the above linked tracking site, Morning Claire was heading to Bremerhaven, Germany, a journey that took two weeks covering more than 4,000 miles.
The Columbus Street Terminal in Charleston is a hub for cars transport, not just Mercedes Vans but also the expensive autos and SUVs built at South Carolina’s BMW and Volvo plants. Note the sea of vehicles in the background of this photo. They are awaiting transport to destinations around the world.
Back on Charleston’s waterfront is a large boat storage facility.
So much activity on the harbor! Along with the many sailboats are two tugboats nudging a ship to dock.
This rusty bucket (I know not nice) is called the ZEA Servant. A ship tracking site says its next port of call is South Africa. Built in 2018 and registered in Hong Kong, ZEA Servant is considered a general cargo ship.
I found a report online about an accident aboard this ship in 2019 while at a port in Scotland. A suspended load fell and struck two crew members. The report had no information about the severity of the injuries.
It is located in Mt. Pleasant at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge has six lanes, three in each direction connecting Charleston and Mt. Pleasant. It opened to traffic in 2005.
It is also open 24/7 to walkers and bicyclists, and is well utilized by both. In my view, the Ravenel Bridge is one of the Lowcountry’s top attributes because of how it replaced two old rickety bridges and offers exercise-minded people such a unique, invigorating and aesthetically pleasing experience.
An architectural gem is this bridge. When completed 18 years ago it was the longest cable-stayed span in North America and the tallest structure in South Carolina.
Walkers and cyclists can get in a five mile trek round trip from one end to the other.
The view from above of the tourist ferry Carolina Belle. This is a great way to see the Harbor and learn some local history. The ferries take visitors to and from Fort Sumter, where the Civil War’s first shot were fired.
I felt a little like a Peeping Tom looking down into small boats like this.
Rubbing elbows with the working boats and ships would be pretty cool!
For free exercise and some entertainment, the Ravenel Bridge walk can’t be beat.
I’ve run it twice (years ago) during the annual Cooper River Bridge Run. Those were positive, great experiences too.
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