The rest of the story
Hey Guys!
Laura and I just got back from a amazing trip to Charleston, SC and back with stops at W95(Ocracoke Island) and Dare county. On some good advice we headed down south, we took off from S37 around 9:30am and headed south down over easton and then over St Marys across the Potomac into VA. And then the wall hit.. we spent the next 2hrs at anywhere from 1600' to 2200' the whole way down to CHS. Every time I was ready to turn and land it would start to clear up then the ceiling would start back down, I would just be ready to land and it would clear up again... until finally about 40 north of CHS it really cleared up into a beautiful day. We were greeted by some real southern hospitality, the FBO at CHS was great they put my ole' Dakota Queen in with a Gulfstream and pulled the car right up and we loaded up and headed off for Patriot point.
It was great I highly recommend spending a afternoon there, It was really something to feel and touch such history and appreciate what our service men and women actually did. I mean its one thing to watch a movie, but to actually stand on a carrier deck or in a sub it opens your eyes. After going Thur the war ships at Patriots point we hoped the ferry over to FT Sumter, and I got to say the Park Ranger who gave the talk was great but you really only need a 1/2hr or so to see it but the ferry keeps you there a 1hr. So Laura and I spent the extra time taking in the Harbour views....very cool.
After all this we finally made our way to the hotel(which the FBO got for us!) we stayed at the Double Tree and It was great!! Charleston has got to be my new Favorite city!! Very clean very easy to get around and very very historic and the city fathers have done a great job keeping it modern yet kept all of the historic charm.
We had a great dinner at Sticky Fingers.. did some shopping, then kinda on a whim went on a Ghost walk of the city, now I am not really a ghost believer kind of person but it was a lot of fun and A great way to see the city.
We woke up Sunday and got loaded and ready to leave and were off the ground by 10am heading for Ocracoke, NC for lunch and some time on the beach, it was a easy flight up there and with the help of Cherry Point App. we went Thur some Restricted airspace and over to W95, the only note worthy point of the flight was when the controller called us out to a Arrow driver saying I quote "you have a fast mover making 190kts coming up and is going to pass you on the right its a experimental" Ha!
Anyway the flight was not bad at all there really is not to much direct over water flight to get there when you come from the south.
We had a great lunch at Howard's Raw Bar and spent a wonderful 1hr on the beach. We went back to the RV and had two families standing there looking at good old Dakota Queen, so we spent the next 20min talking and answering questions like ..How Fast...How heavy...How Much?
Then we had my favorite part of the trip we flew up the outer banks all the way to Dare County for gas then up over Norfolk and up the eastern shore back to S37.
Overall the best RV trip yet and when my wife and I got done wiping all the bugs off of Dakota Queen, we both looked at each other and the plane and smiled. If it were not for this plane a weekend like this would never be possible..Its Great...
A couple of things I picked up from this trip though..
1. Every stop we made if people are around they will come over and talk when you have a RV
2. I need a 496....(OK I want it)
3. Unpainted RVs will blind you in direct sun
Sorry for the long post
Pics to follow
