Our Day

My husband, Smokey, and I are celebrating our 44th anniversary today-- No, I don't know where the years have gone. We had a trip planned to the Congaree National Forest but decided that with the price of gas we would do that sometime on the way to somewhere else (it works for us). So, what we decided to do today is to walk the Ravenel Bridge--something that we've not done yet even though it's practically in our front yard. It's a beautiful day today and so we set out.

The first thing you need to do in order to walk the bridge is to find a parking place. That worked out pretty well because Thursday is not a peak walking day. Soon, there will be a park underneath the bridge and it will be easier to walk up onto the bridge from there. The road is actually already finished but I think they're delaying the opening of it until the park is ready to open also. (I personally think they could open the parking on weekends when no one is working there but no one asked for my wisdom on the subject). Here you can see Smokey on the uphill part. It's not really too bad--unless you're running, I guess. The bridge supports are huge when you're right beside them and when I see something like that I really marvel at the mind of man that can figure out how to do something so massive and beautiful.

The vista from the top of the bridge is really wonderful. The picture at the left is the Yorktown in Mt. Pleasant and the picture on the right is of container ships across the harbor in Charleston. I still remember years ago when they brought the Yorktown to its present resting place. We took our boat and anchored on the shore of a small island and spent the entire day watching them bring it in and maneuver it into place. It was quite a day to put in our book of memories.

For me, the only downside to walking the bridge today was the noise level. I can understand why so many people wear i-pods. Maybe next time we'll try it on an early Sunday morning. But, noise level and all, it was a great day to commemorate the day we were married. When we were married in Mt. Pleasant in 1964, there was just the one old bridge and now, today in 2008, there is just the one new bridge. I don't know that there's any symbolism there--it's just nice to think about.