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| In front of Holiday Inn, waiting for Christine |
Christine picked me up from the hotel at around 5.40 p.m. for a tour of down town Charleston with her husband, Peter and her daughter, Katie.
First off, we went to the USS Yorktown and reserved a place for dinner at Fleet Landing.
USS Yorktown was once a naval frigate, an air craft carrier, which is now pretty much a floating museum. Since I got delayed flying into America, I didn't really have the time to check the ship out. Otherwise it would've been totally awesome. But I did get some pictures of me in front of it so I was pretty stoked ;p
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| In front of USS Yorktown. Way cool ;) |
After taking a couple more shots with some cannons, we headed off downtown to explore some of the sights. According to Peter, the style of architecture was mostly antebellum, meaning pre- civil war. America's civil war happened between the North and the South. People in the North were opposed to slavery whilst the South were all for it. In the end, the North won and slavery was abolished. It was interesting to see all the unique buildings and houses dotting the area. We parked in a 'parking garage', at the top most floor, so I could get a view of the town from above. Sadly, some new development blocked people from enjoying the harbor view. I did manage to see a horse drawn carriage clopping merrily away though :)
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| horse drawn carriage. wish I could've hopped on and enjoyed a medieval ride through town |
The town had some sections that were still paved with cobble stones and we walked by the famous Rainbow Row, dotted with colorfully painted houses. Each house costs up to a million or more. Most of the residents came from old money and according to Christine and Peter, they had to pay very high taxes just to live in their own houses. Some time in the year, these houses would open to the public and volunteers (Christine was one of them) would enlighten visitors about the history of the respective houses.
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| Cobblestones reminded me of Oliver Twist |
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| The famous Rainbow Row. Rich people live here |
We walked for the better part of half an hour, enjoying the sights and the feel of the place. It was warm and humid not unlike Malaysia. People were jogging near the beach
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Avid joggers
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And we slowly made our way back to Fleet Landing restaurant. It turns out that the establishment was once a part of the US Navy. Charleston used to be a major naval base with most of its residents working for the US Navy, but it's slowed down a bit. I saw a woman soldier when I was at the airport so it made a lot of sense to me once I found out about Charleston's history. Even the town's name was supposed to be Charles' Town at one point and evolved into Charleston.
Dinner was a largely Southern affair. I ordered some tuna sashimi, key lime pie, seafood and shrimp and grits!! :) All that time I spent watching Food Network's been put to good use in the end! haha. I found myself exclaiming at the variety of choices which I'd seen on the show.
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| A little bit of a history of the restaurant |
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| The cover of the menu |
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| The menu selection |
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| Oops. it wasn't shrimps, it was fried oyster. Grits was the cornmeal and they had a sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top with some sweet dipping sauce |
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| Biscuits (in the basket) and tuna sashimi with wakame |
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| The inside ambience. We ate outside, in the sea breeze |
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| Delicious key lime pie. I remember reading this in Sookie's True Blood, her grandma made the best ones! |
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| This was the best creme brulee I ever tasted. Hands down |
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Some life jackets as decorative elements to the restaurant.
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I had a really great time with Christine and her family. She was such a lovely host! I went to bed with a full stomach and a glowing good feeling in my heart.
In the morning, I spent some time with Cummins' resident electrical engineers who were in charge of the high tech additions to the new wave of Cummins engines. Basically, they designed the panels called ECM for the engines and these controlled the injection amounts of oil, lubricants and water going into the engine.
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| A vinyl seat with the Cummins tagline |
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| The floor mat |
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| Cummins had their own in house software that communicates with their engines |
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| This is one of the engine switch boards |
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| The outside of the switch board |
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| The engine simulators, the mother and the children |
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| A training module for Cummins technicians |
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| Close up of their in house software |
All in all, the trip to Cummins facility in Charleston was a blast. I had so much fun learning about new and up to date stuff. Even if the subject matter wasn't a huge part of my degree, I still gained tons of new and interesting knowledge about engines in particular. So it was a win-win for me.
Later, Christine sent me to the Airport for my next leg to Indianapolis, where the mother Cummins facility is located, in Columbus. We parted ways and I thanked her profusely for being such a good host and making me feel welcome during my short stay. What a blast to be sure!
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Me and Christine, boy do I look plump in here!
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