2 days in Charleston, SC

A few weeks ago, we read that the USAF Thunderbirds were going to perform at Charleston AFB on Saturday April 9th.  We packed our bags and left the day before for an overnight stay in Charleston.
Our first stop on Friday was at a retirement community to look at some of their model homes.  Check for a post in a couple of weeks for more on that subject.
The rest of the day was spent along the waterfront at the south tip of Charleston. On the way to our motel, we saw a sign for the H.L. Hunley; we checked that out Saturday morning.
The H.L. Hunley is a Confederate sub that sank in Charleston Harbor on February 17, 1864, was discovered in April 1995 and was raised to the surface in August 8, 2000.  It has rested in a 90,000 gallon fresh water tank since that time.  If not, the sub would have disintegrated by now.
At noon we arrived at Charleston AFB.  The Thunderbirds did not perform until 3PM, but there was plenty to see and eat (of, course, all the stuff that's good for you !!). They expected 100,000 to attend. As you will see in some of the photos below, there was probably that many.  Plus, it took us just over an hour to get off the base after the show was over.  If you have never seen this type of performance, you.should.  If not the Thunderbirds, than the Navy's Blue Angels.  Their web sites give all performance dates.

Sneak preview. As we were checking into our motel, the Thunderbird's were practicing.

Charleston City Market.  It goes for an entire block.  However, while we were there, about half of the building was closed for renovations.

The back end of the Market.

A fountain just before the water front park.

The new Cooper River Bridge.  With a span of 1,546, it is one of the most impressive cable-stay bridges in North America.  It is supposed to be spectacular at night.

Word War II aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.  They have a special program for Boy & Girl Scouts to spend a long weekend on the ship and sleep in the same bunks as the sailors.  I did that with my son when he was in the scouts years ago.

Just left of center along the horizon is Ft. Sumter, about 4 miles away.  

We did not see Tom Hanks, oops, I mean Forrest Gump, here.

We ended the day at dinner at the Noisy Oyster.

The H.L. Hunley in the contraption they used to raise it from the harbor floor.  It is still in it, the tank I mentioned above.  You can view the sub in the museum, but photos were not allowed. 

A fairly intact shoe from one of the crew members.

A cut-a-way to help illustrate how small the sub was. This is 4' in diameter.  The real sub was more oval: 4' tall and 42" wide.

What the crew might have looked like.

It took 8 men to operate the sub.  They used a hand crank to turn the propeller.

Ready for the Thunderbirds.

The Air Force's newest transport, the C-17.  It was quite warm in the sun.  If you will notice, many folks sat under the wings and fuselage to keep cool. 

The Thunderbirds six F-16's lined up and ready to go. Look at all the people.

Waitng in line to see the cockpit of an F-15.

Lined up in true military fashion.

Boeing Dream Lifter.  I have never seen this before.  It is a very modified 747.  Boeing uses it to transports parts between its facilities. It's hugh !

Mock attack on Pearl Harbor.  There were 6 operating Japanese Zeros used in this 'attack,'complete with mock explosions.

C-130 transport.  Caroline's brother flew on these during his tours in Vietnam.

F-16's.  The jet used by the Thunderbirds.  I thought the pilots were specially trained for this and that is all they did. They do train for this, but all are combat pilots and have flown combat missions.

And they're off !

Flying up side down.

The Thunderbird's trademark: Diamond Formation.

The Delta Formation.It is really hard to get good photos.  Even though the F-16 can reach 1,500 MPH (Mach 2), they always fly at subsonic speeds. It is still fast enough that many of the photos are either blurred, the jets are at the edge of a photo or occasionally, you get only sky. And, many of the maneuvers you just can't capture with the camera (I was going to say'on film', but that phrase doesn't work anymore !!).