Charleston, SC

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We had a full day today on our 2nd day here. At 9 am we took the complimentary tour to Magnolia Plantation. It was a great place to visit and included the house tour. It was the 1st plantation to become a tourist attraction. Really interesting, was that the stories they were telling about the family members that lived there sounded so familiar. I had read a novel based on them! I recommend Sue Monk Kidd's "The Invention of Wings".  Most of us got back in time for lunch before the afternoon tour to Ft. Sumter. There has been a consistency to the cluster cuss factor every time we go ashore with no info, wrong, incomplete, untimely, different info to different people. The ground operator here put it best yesterday, ACL has such high employee turnover, that no one ever knows anything from one visit to the next. It is unfortunate because I find their itineraries desirable. But at these prices who needs their problems. The Fort Sumter visit went smoother. Everyone made it back. The National Park Service knows how to handle a crowd and has it down pat. We paid $35 each for the afternoon tour.

We are all aboard now, I assume, because we're casting off. We have not been told if we are heading back to the Atlantic Ocean. I guess we'll know in an hour or so, by dinner time. Back after dinner.

I am a much happier camper now. We cruised back down the Ashley River just a little and turned into a narrow channel to the right. We're back in the ICW! We will only sail til 2 am according to the schedule before docking in Beaufort, SC. Clay is planning to join Harold's 6:30 am complimentary walk in the morning. We are both signed up for the 9 am Lowcountry Heritage Tour at $50 each. We'll be free the rest of the day. It being Sunday we don't know how much will be open. The afternoon tour was a $30pp horse carriage ride that we decided against.

We don't sail from Beaufort until 5 am on 11/12. We'll arrive in Hilton Head, SC at 8:30 am on 11/12. So, still not much scenic cruising, but if the rest of the cruise stays in the ICW, I'll be happier.

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