We park the car at Mt Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park and off-load the bikes. By chance a lady is just setting up there to show the traditional sweetgrass basket making art. The smell of the sweetgrass is beautiful and so are the baskets.
We then tackle the 2 mile ‘Wonder’s Way’ over Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge. It’s a bit of a slog but we make it. From the top of the bridge we can see the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier.
We ride around historic Charleston which its beautiful grand mansions. Interestingly, they are built quite close together but they are built sideways on so the gated gardens are on the side of the houses. We explore the narrow side streets and marvel at the different architecture.
The cobblestone street is proving to be a bit of a challenge though.
At the harbour we look out at Fort Sumter where the first shot of the Civil War was shot upon. Niels asks if there is another way back instead of the bridge... Martijn quips there is... swimming. This got a good chuckle from some passers-by.
So we tackle the bridge again, fortunately the approach from this side is less steep. After we load the bikes back in the truck Martijn pops the hood to top up the wiper fluid. Immediately a good citizen comes over to offer assistance in case we needed a boost. We really appreciate the random acts of kindness.
The flip side of all this balmy weather though is that we are all covered in mosquito bites again. We are also a sweet delicacy for the ‘no-see-ums’ or as the locals call them: flying teeth...
Today: 95km - 2h
Total: 12,936km - 259h
