787 Dreamliner

WHEN: April 27, 2012
WHERE: North Charleston, South Carolina

Today was truly a proud and historic day for South Carolinians, especially those in Charleston.

Today, Charleston, South Carolina made history with the unveiling of the first South Carolina-built Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  While it is not the first 787 ever built, it represents the first plane Boeing has manufactured outside of Everett, Washington (headquarters of Boeing) since World War 2.  Additionally, with the unveiling of the 787 today, North Charleston became the latest of only three facilities in the world to provide final assembly for wide-body jets.  The other facility being the Boeing facility in Everett, Washington and the European competitor Airbus facility, based in Toulouse, France.

I for one am proud.  First of all, I am an ever-growing aviation enthusiast.  I love that Charleston is home to such a unique facility, a facility that also neighbors the largest Air Force base of C-17 military cargo jets in the world.  Today's unveiling of the 787 has cemented Charleston as a leading global hub for both aviation development and significance.  Second, and perhaps more important, is what Boeing's presence has meant and will continue to mean for the local and state economies here.  With the completion of the new 1 million square foot facility (the size of 10 football fields) last year, Boeing brought with it over 9,000 jobs to Charleston during the construction phase, and thousands more permanent jobs for manufacturing.  It's not only those jobs that are important, but also the many other businesses that have already looked and will continue to look to Charleston as a place to invest, now that Boeing has established its presence here.

I want to and could write so much more about Boeing, the Dreamliner, and what today's ceremony means to Charleston and myself.  But as is often the case, that means I never find the time to finish my post, or it's significantly delayed.  So this post, though not well thought out, has been completed on time because I'm not waiting around to get it "perfect".  Instead, I'm just providing a few snapshots into what today's ceremony was like, what Boeing's presence in Charleston means, and a little more background on the 787 Dreamliner.

So, what is the 787 Dreamliner?

 

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is the first commercial jet of the 21st century.  Is it revolutionary, state-of-the-art, and will forever change the passenger experience and set the standards for future commercial aircraft for decades to come.  I don't say that just as a flashy statement.  Even after the exposure to all things Boeing over the past 2 years (news, billboards, construction), I am learning so much more today about just how significant the 787 is to the airline industry.

 This short video offers a quick snapshot of what air travel in the 787 is like.

More multimedia related to the 787 Dreamliner.

One of the coolest parts about having the new 787 Dreamliner facility in Charleston is that we occasionally get to see Boeing Dreamlifters (seen below) fly over the city.  Dreamlifters are specially outifitted Boeing 747s that were designed and created specifically for shipping 787 Dreamliner parts across the world.  They are a sight to behold flying low over Charleston!


A Boeing Dreamlifter in Frankfurt, Germany
(Photo Credit: Airliner.net)

A video on the Boeing Dreamlifter

The unveiling of the first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner

Slideshow of some of today's images from the ceremony

 The first South Carolina-built 787, emerging from the North Charleston facility today.

 I followed the coverage LIVE online.  Just wish I could have been there.

 Gov. Nikki Haley speaking at the ceremony.
She chose to have Aerosmith's "Dream On" as the 787 was rolled out and she took the stage.  Lenny Kravitz's song "Fly Away" was also heard over the PA system during the unveiling.

"Made with pride in South Carolina"

Building dreams in South Carolina

 LIVE flight tracker map for Boeing jets worldwide

Easter Weekend in the Holy City

WHEN: April 7, 2012
WHERE: Charleston, SC

Sunrise over The Holy City - November 19, 2007

No, we did not visit Jerusalem or The Vatican for Easter.  Charleston has long been known as The Holy City, due in large part to the quantity and diversity of churches around the peninsula in downtown.  Building code has long prohibited any building in Charleston from being built higher than the highest church steeple.  For this reason, any view of the peninsula from surrounding land bodies shows a number of historic church steeples towering over all the other buildings.  

Charleston also attracted many different religions during the colonial period, being one of the first cities to offer religious tolerance in the thirteen colonies.  Charleston is home to one of only two remaining Hugenot churches in America, the French Protestant Hugenot Church (est. 1681).  Additionally, St. Matthew's Church, which boasts a 255-foot steeple, is both the tallest building in Charleston and the tallest church in South Carolina.

 St. Matthews Church and its 255-foot steeple.  No other building in Charleston is permitted to be built taller than this steeple.

The Holy City - October 30, 2010

Saturday, Stace and I started off the beautiful, sunny, spring morning by heading to the beach.

It was the first time we have been to the beach (or even seen the ocean, for that matter), since we spent the day at the beach on July 31 last summer.  It's sad, really, when you live so close, take it for granted, then make excuses for not going more often.  It was good to get back to the sand and salt!

Breach Inlet

 Colonists fought off the British here in June 1776, preventing the seizure of the strategic stronghold of Charleston (then Charles Town).  It was also here, just 3 miles offshore in 1864, that the submarine H.L. Hunley launched, on its way to become the first submarine to successfully sink a warship (the USS Housatonic).  The Hunley also sunk a couple miles offshore that same day due to damage sustained from the attack, laying on the seabed until it was raised in August 2000.

(Map of where the attack took place.)

I suppose it's because of the easy access, but we often park at Breach Inlet when we want to stop by the beach, but not make a beach day out of it.  Parking is often available and there's not a long walk to get to the beach like there is elsewhere.

Getting reintroduced with the ocean at Breach Inlet

Stace willingly dipped her toes in the water.  (Let's just say I'm usually the one dragging her to the beach.)  I, however, never even touched the water.  I was too caught up taking pictures (imagine that).

My beach babe and I

Blue skies, salty air, fresh breeze...it was good to be back!

Fishing in Breach Inlet...

...even though hefty fines threaten those who enter the waters here.

(Apparently $1,000 wasn't enough to deter dare devils from these waters, so $40 was added on to the fine to do the job?)

Small wildflowers adorning the grass around the parking lot at Breach Inlet

We drove north from Breach Inlet to Isle of Palms, where I jumped out to snap a few more pictures.  Morris Island Lighthouse is on the left in this picture.  Built on land (Morris Island) in 1876 and surrounded by other buildings, the lighthouse now stands alone in open ocean, hundreds of feet away from land due to the landward migration of the island.  Since 1938, Morris Island has migrated 1,600 feet towards land.

Crossing the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which stretches from Texas to Maine.

After the beach it was time to shop.  Stace had done some investigative work last week and found three vintage stores she wanted to visit in Mount Pleasant.  The first was this one, Page's Thieves Market, which we especially enjoyed because of the name it shares with our niece.  This vintage store looked and smelled like (and probably was at one point) a barn, with all kinds of vintage furniture and appliances.  I felt like we were on an episode of American Pickers.

The functioning sign/clock tower outside the Page's Market

My favorite part of the store was a map they had inside on a wall that visitors could place a pin on, marking where they were from.


We placed one on Waterloo for good measure (which already had a pin in it).

After stopping at the vintage stores in Mount Pleasant, we headed over to downtown.  Here the Carnival Fantasy was docked prior to one of it's year-round voyages to and from the Bahamas.

We saw the ship again from the bridge as it was leaving Charleston Harbor later in the day, on our way back to Mount Pleasant.  Bon voyage!

After grabbing lunch, our first stop was one that we have never made before, even after nearly 2 years of living in Charleston.  Just one block away from where we had lunch (and have eaten multiple times before), lies the eastern boundary of the College of Charleston.  Founded in 1770, the college is a blended collection of buildings scattered around the center of downtown.  The college was founded by, among others, 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence and 3 signers of the US Constitution.

I had wanted to go for sometime yet never realized how close we had been to it on so many occasions.  It really is surprising how even still we walk new (and even the same) streets downtown, yet always manage to see something new.  It still seems like a vacation to a new place every time we visit downtown.

The Cistern Yard, with Randolph Hall (c. 1828) in the background.  The aptly-named Cistern Yard used to be composed of large cisterns where water was stored, before a water and sewer system was installed.  The cisterns collected rain water and were once used to fight fires.  The cisterns were filled in during the mid-1800's.

I was particularly (puh-ticker-lee...for my in-laws) interested in visiting this building.  Though it was once a house, it is now an office building for the college, as are many houses that are now within the grounds of the college.  What I wanted to see was the view I had witnessed from this address for months (via an online webcam) but had never seen in person.  This LIVE webcam is run by the College of Charleston and I have had a picture link to this camera on my blog (towards the upper right) for months, and I check it regularly.  It may sound crazy, but visiting this house (or view from the house, rather) was likened to visiting the White House, Statue of Liberty, or Eiffel Tower for the first time - something you've only seen on TV and in pictures and now you're seeing it in person for the first time.  

I know, I'm crazy.  But then most of my blog speaks to that fact, so.

Stace in front of the building (the webcam can be seen in the lower left corner of the upper left window).

The view of Physicians Promenade (at street level) from the building.

A private carriage tour passing through the campus

This is one of the buildings for the Department of Communication at the college.  Several departments and offices are in historic homes like this on campus.  Not your typical office space.

Pillars at the front of Randolph Hall, overlooking the Cistern Yard.
(LIVE webcam of the Cistern Yard).

Stace waited patiently on a nearby bench as I took pictures.  Isn't she cute?

Stairs cascading from the main entrance to Randolph Hall (the most iconic building on campus).  It was this staircase that Amanda Seyfried walked down in the Nicholas Sparks movie Dear John.  The movie was filmed in Charleston and many scenes in the movie show shots from the city that we have been, including the College of Charleston.

It is a beautiful campus in a beautiful stetting.  I can't believe it took us this long to finally go walk through it.

Some tiny flowers in a green space on campus.

And not far away was an interesting caterpillar crawling along a brick path.

Another carriage tour

The coats on these two young horses were so vivid and interesting.  (I think I spooked them as I quickly walked up to them to snap a photo).

More beautiful flowers

It's like they're looking at me!

After we were finished in downtown, we headed back to Mount Pleasant to attend the Saturday night Easter service at our church.  The main campus is in Mount Pleasant but we have never attended a service there until last Saturday.  We have always gone to the campus near our house in Summerville.  To allow room for first-time visitors during the Sunday morning services, pastors at each campus encouraged regular attenders to attend Saturday night services if possible, to free up seats.  Since we were planning to be in Mount Pleasant and since we have never attended a service at the main campus, we decided this was a good time to visit.

After a day of traveling around the city, it was time to cross back over the bridges and head home.

As the only source of elevation for miles around (it is the Lowcountry after all), bridges are a great place to catch a sunset.

Sunset over the Holy City- April 7, 2012

Easter service at Seacoast Church (April 8)