Wat Na Phra Mane and Wat Lokaya Sutharam

The last places we visited before our boat ride back to Bangkok was Wat Na Phra Mane and Wat Lokaya Sutharam.  The latter used to be a temple but the building eventually fell down and disappared but this giant reclining Buddha still remains.

Savannah

After Charleston we drove to Savannah and took another city tour.  Darren felt that was the best way to see the city and learn about its areas.

These canons were provided to the City of Savannah by George Washington.

This is the old Savannah Cotton Exchange.  Similar to the Chicago Board of Trade but instead of all types of commodities only Cotton was traded.

The old city bell.

The view from Bay Street down to River Street with the Savannah River beyond.

Bridge over the Savannah River

The back side of City Hall looking up at the clock.

Ayutthaya

Finally was able to get back to scrap booking but yes, I am still working on our Asia Trip!  This is Day 14 of our trip continued from the last time I scrap booked. It was from the Ayutthaya Historical Park with the Wat Mahathat which is now in ruins.

Patriots Point

After a busy more touring Charleston and Fort Sumter, we headed across the harbor to Patriot's Point.
This is a view from downtown Charleston. Our first stop was the USS Yorktown

And a closer view.

It's truly amazing this is really a floating city.  They had 4 dentists who practiced in quite small "offices".

One area that was quite spacious was the kitchens but they had to feel 3,500 people four times a day! 14,000 meals a day if you are not willing to do the math!

The bake shop was also quite large.  Pictured below are the ingredients to make just 1 batch of chocolate chip cookies.  One batch was about 11,000 or 3 per person.  It took 500 eggs, 165 lbs of flour 112 lbs of chocolate chips along with equally huge amounts of sugar, shortening, butter, salt, vanilla extract, water and baking soda!

Another thing that surprised me and I probably should have known was that airplanes on aircraft carriers have wings that fold up for tighter storage.

This was the officer's mess hall a much more luxurious table than the general servicemen.  It also included a TV and a piano for ambiance!

Hard to see but this is a jail cell.  Beds stacked three high. I'm not sure there was enough space between the beds and the walls to stand facing the door.  If you were in jail on a ship they didn't have much sympathy for your comfort.

On deck they had many planes and helicopters you could look at and in.

This is the view of the bridge from the deck.

USS Clamagore is a submarine also at Patriot's Point.

The average submariner was not 6' 3".  Darren had trouble getting through the port holes.

Pictures were hard to take because the space was so tight! The officer's dining room, not nearly as nice as the air craft carrier.

And the communication's officer's office.  It wasn't much bigger than a toilet stall!

Fort Sumter

After our city tour of Charleston, we took a boat out to Fort Sumter.  The views on the way out of the city were beautiful.

 Fort Sumter from the boat.

Canons inside the fort.

 

Flags that fly over the fort.

 View of Charleston out one of the canon windows.

Charleston

We left Durham, drove past South of the Boarder on the way to Charleston getting there late afternoon.  We were able to do some walking around by the water before our dinner reservations.  This fountain leads up to the pier where people were watching the boats go by.

 This park is right off the water.  So nice to see palm trees! It is hard to see but the fountain in the center is a pineapple!

 

As we stood at the end of the pier admiring the sunset and this boat it fired a canon at us! Apparently it was a pirate cruise.  We were quite startled.  

The bridge onto Charleston peninsula. 

 Us. :)

The following morning we did a city tour.  This is a view into the gates of the College of Charleston. 

We also were able to admire the beautiful and huge houses near the water!

South of the Border

Holy mother of all tourist traps.  We were in need of gas so decided to stop.  Darren had been before but I had never heard of the place.  There were so many kitschy stores, signs and places to eat.  We walked around for 20 mins and headed on to Charleston.