Floating Classrooms- All Aboard!

 

U.S. COAST GUARD EAGLE 

The Eagle has landed! In recent weeks, Charleston area residents and visitors have had the chance to deck the halls of seafaring ships. 

Billed as America’s Tall Ship, the  USCGC Eagle was docked downtown for a few days and open to tours.

The vessel was built in Germany in 1936. Then it was called the Horst Wessel. Angela Pilson (keep reading) noted in her post that the Germans also used the ship for training- of Hitler youth! Look at the Horst Wessel link above to see an old black-and-white image of the ship from that period. It's awesome!

After World War II, the U.S. attained the ship as part of reparations, the spoils of war, you could say. It became part of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1946. 

At 295 feet, almost a football field long, the USCGC Eagle is a three-mast barque that serves as a training vessel for future Coast Guard officers. 

A barque is a sailing ship with three or more masts that are square in shape. 

Tours began last Friday, June 12, at 10 a.m. I was in line by 9:30 and was glad I arrived early when the line was short compared to the long line I walked by after about an hour on board Eagle. 

Sunshine and Shark’s Teeth Highlight Hilton Head Getaway

 

Just over a two hour drive from our Charleston area home, Hilton Head Island continues to be a “staycation” favorite of ours. 

With my penultimate school year in the books, this trip was a welcome reward for me, and hard-working Alesia as well.

The Atlantic Ocean glistens under the emerging sunlight. Such a pretty and peaceful setting, well worth our early rush to get outside. 

Below is a short video I made to capture the sights and sounds, the dawn of a new day.

We were able to quickly get to the beach from our lodging, the excellent Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa. We have stayed here several times over the years. 

The Westin’s amenities include multiple swimming pools. I don’t quite understand people who book the oceanside Westin, then sit/lay by the pool all day. Just saying.

Nice pool for sure…

Tennis Championship Sunday on Daniel Island!

 Free tickets? Yes please! 

Still subscribing to the daily newspaper has its benefits, an obvious one being staying informed of current events, especially local ones. 

Charleston’s daily, The Post and Courier, occasionally offers additional benefits such as free access to places and happenings. Such was the case on Sunday, April 5 when Alesia and I attended the final day of the annual WTA Credit One Charleston Open (COCO for short). The Women’s Tennis Association tournament held at first-rate facilities on Daniel Island is the traditional beginning to the women’s clay court season.

As I’m writing this the French Open in Paris has just begun. This reminded me that I should do a post about last month’s Charleston competition. 

I visited Roland Garros, site of the French Open, in 2017. See my post and pictures here. 

I had applied for free tickets after seeing the offer in The Post and Courier several weeks earlier. I received an email on a Tuesday I think it was asking if I wanted to attend that evening. My work prohibited that from happening, so I figured I missed my chance. But then, later in the week, I received another email saying I could get two free tickets to the Sunday matches. 

Car Carrying Collosuses

 

Eureka! We found an excellent view of an Eukor vessel at Charleston’s Columbus Street terminal a few weeks ago. 

The top floor of the city parking garage near the popular South Carolina Aquarium offers this view and others of the Holy City’s skyline. 

Morning Linda! How are you today? Are you ready for another trans- Atlantic voyage? 

The internet says the ship flies under the flag of Panama, but I see the United States flag over the O in Eukor in the photo below. 

(Update: As of April 29 8 a.m. EST, the Morning Glory is docked in Bremerhaven, Germany, according to marinetraffic.com)

Morning Linda is in the Vehicles Carrier category. These ships are commonly called Ro-Ros, for roll-on, roll-off. Built in 2008, the ship measures 232 meters long and 32 meters wide. Those meters equate to 761 feet long, 105 feet wide. The length is almost 254 yards, or nearly 2.5 football fields. That’s a walk from bow to stern! 

Awaiting their turn to roll on Morning Linda or the next car carrier that calls on this port are hundreds of freshly made BMW SUVs made in the German manufacturer’s Spartanburg, S.C. plant, 215 miles away. 

On the Waterfront in Charleston

 

A continuing benefit of subscribing to the Post and Courier newspaper is becoming aware of events around the Lowcountry. 

Recent news of the upcoming Charleston Race Week was a case in point. I held on to the article announcing the big annual regatta to be held April 16-19. This would, in fact, be the 30th annual race week. 

A week or so out I penciled in Friday morning for my opportunity to check it out. I had an 8:30 a.m. medical appointment I felt wouldn’t take too long (it didn’t). I then needed to hit the post office to mail a new Amazon book sale (first one in a while-yay!). 

Here's my Amazon author site. Sorry for the shameless plug! 

Soon enough I was at Waterfront Park where I came upon a photo or video shoot by the iconic Pineapple Fountain. 

Azaleas in Bloom- Nothing More Beautiful!

 

What a joy these days to pull into our driveway, greeted by gorgeous azaleas 🌺 in full glory! Pink, red, pinkish red, reddish pink, salmon, white- such a rainbow of colors. 

The view from our front porch is also a show stopper. Our azalea shrubs have been a harbinger of spring during the many years we have lived here. 

And it never gets old! 

In early March, some of the long-dormant shrubs came to life. I took this photo in our backyard on March 7. The first day of spring was still two weeks away. 

This was March 11 in the front yard. The buds are formed, soon to pop open like the flower on the right. 

Spring Break- Getting Back to Nature

 

Monday, March 9 had been circled on my calendar for several weeks. This was the first day of Spring Break from SC State University where I teach communication courses. Some of my students told me they would be heading to the beach. I headed to the Basin. The ACE Basin. 

The ACE Basin is hundreds of thousands of protected and undeveloped acres south of Charleston, along Highway 17. ACE stands for three rivers- the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto- that combine to form one of the largest estuaries on the U.S. East Coast. 

Tundra Swans (right) are among dozens of bird types that winter here. 

An indication of how special many people feel the ACE Basin is this sign along Highway 17, which calls it "One of the Last Great Places"- no argument from me! 

On this March day, Alesia and I trekkedto Bear Island, a 12,000-acre island in Colleton County. It’s a drive from our home of 50-60 minutes. Bear Island and nearby Donnelley are wildlife management areas owned and maintained by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. The actual address of these cool places is Green Pond- a name that tickles me for some reason. 

Several years ago I published this book, an expression of my passion for the birding hobby. The Barred Owl on the cover is a photograph I took in the ACE Basin at the Hollings National Wildlife Refuge. Want to see an amazing number and variety of birds in one spot? Click on the above link to the Hollings refuge. Wow! 

Book It- Summerville Book Festival a Big Success!

 

Summerville's Hutchinson Square has become the town's hub of activity. So it was the ideal locale for the second Summerville Book Festival held on Saturday, Feb. 28. 

I joined some 30 other authors for the event organized by Main Street Reads, a bookstore located directly across from the square. 

Shari Stauch (center) owns Main Street Reads. A Chicago native, she has had quite an interesting life and family. Shari used to be a touring pool player and has written four books about the game. She is also a literary agent and advisor. 

I probably would not have learned about the book festival had the Charleston Post and Courier not recently included the Summerville Journal Scene newspaper, which it owns, in the Wednesday paper we have delivered to our house. 

Shari and I met a couple of years ago when I was a speaker at the Summerville Rotary Club. I remembered that after seeing an article she wrote about the upcoming book festival in the Summerville newspaper. 

I'm always eager for opportunities to sign and sell my books. This festival required authors like me who wanted the chance to display outside like this to pay a "booth" fee of $35 plus purchase a $90 business license from the town. Like my booth? 

So I needed to make some sales to offset those expenses. And that I did, and then some. I had a very good day. It was a long one, from setting up by 10:30 to departure at 4. Many thanks to Alesia for helping with the setup and breakdown. 

Backyard Birds- Rain or Shine or Snow!

 

Snow in coastal South Carolina? It's rare, but we've now had the white stuff in consecutive years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s.

We woke up to snow on the ground (and our bird feeders) on Feb. 1. It’s such a novelty here! Seeing birds in a snow setting was neat to capture on my feeder camera. 

The Baltimore Orioles really crave the grape jelly, even it it's icy. Check out a Northern Cardinal enjoying a winter mix of seed and jelly. 

A surprise visitor this winter has been the Orange-crowned Warbler. They too like the grape jelly. 

The Hermit Thrush is another unique bird with a great name. All species are welcome to my year-round, all-weather buffet! 

Snowfall!

Last weekend was a memorable one in the Charleston area. It rarely snows here so when the local meteorologists start to talk about a significant chance of the white stuff, we get excited. 

This was the scene at around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31. The forecasts were correct. The weather prognosticators were so confident that no snow would have been quite embarrassing. 

Well, I saw the writing on the wall. Friday at around noon, I got in some tennis practice, knowing my regular Saturday morning game with friends was in doubt. 

When the sun came up Sunday, we had beautiful white snow to go with a beautiful blue sky.