Yesterday was a perfect day spending it with my son and family and friends at the Citadel for Parent’s Weekend. We got to walk around in his battalion and watch the class of 2018 become official cadets. I love this time at the Citadel. You get to see the new knob parents beam with pride as they watch the ceremony of their knob finally make it to the bottom of the totem pole of the cadet rank structure.
Then you get to see the Senior cadet parents float around with greater pride that their cadet just received the coveted RING. The rest of us parents are in the in-between phase of just being happy our cadet is still there looking so good in his/her uniform. Yes, I am a proud Citadel parent!
I got my body recharged for the last few days of my ride and it really helped talking to a friend at the Citadel who had ridden the same route I was going to be taking. His reassurance was exactly what I needed. I was going to bypass Charleston altogether and go up to Monks Corner through Summerville, down and around to Hilton Head but that would add another day to my trip and I really can’t afford another day on the road with a trip to the Smoky’s coming up to shoot Fall colors. So this solidified me staying on hwy 17 and 21 the whole to Beaufort. I got this, right?
Scott was kind enough to wake up early and drive me to McClellanville to start my Sunday morning ride so I could make it to Charleston before traffic was too bad and have lunch with everyone not missing out on family time. It was an easy ride. The newer road had wider shoulders and they were also clean of debris. The part of this trip I had been looking forward to was climbing the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge and riding down it, then going through Charleston to the Citadel. Once I was on top of the bridge I dismounted and played with my iPhone to get some pictures. I still don’t know which one is my favorite. I must go back now and take my good camera to get better quality images, and see if I can find better compositions too. Anywho, it was fun. Then the best part was riding down. It was everything I hope it would be. I chose to not ride downtown Charleston because my family was waiting on me to go to lunch, so I just went to the Citadel then ended at the hotel where I was going to be staying. If I had never been to Charleston, then Yes, I definitely would have ridden around the whole peninsula and they could have waited for me to finish. It was a fun morning ride and made me more comfortable riding through a city. I do wish Charleston was more cycle friendly though like Wilmington, NC. It does have a bike path, but it is not good for road bikes at all because it is sandy and has gravel. One day I hope they pave the whole 10 miles of their path. Charleston, you were good to me on a Sunday . Let’s hope for the same on a Monday morning…. Hopeful. I am ending the day sitting by the pool waiting for my laundry to be done writing a blog. What a very nice weekend it has been here in Charleston. A happy girl! If you want to look at my ride today go to RidewithGPS.
