Charleston and Kiawah

Our trip to Charleston was supposed to focus on the NCCEP - Emergency Physician conference, but to be honest this turned into a sigh seeing trip.  Robin had been to Charleston before but I had never been and it was a chance to see a part of the South that I have never seen before.  Absolutely beautiful.  Rainbow Row, the trade markets which is where the slaves used to be brought to be sold and Shark Fishing.  There was actually a huge storm the night before we arrived so that when we arrived at Kiawah island we were surprised to find that it was a mess.  This was influenced by the geography of the island - there is a forested appearance which is very unique to the beach in the south which is generally back to back sky rises and beach condos.  We had a chance to do some walking on the beach and at one point saw 2 deer that were jumping around the beach chasing each other.  They ran up and down the beach and eventually ran up into the forest and disappeared.  The beaches are much quieter than most beaches because the living villas and condos are not on the beach.  Anyway, the storm had such strong winds that this resulted in branches all over the ground and the cars.  Thankfully this had stopped when we got there and it cleared up.  Consequent to the winds, the waters were very choppy, and cloudy and we were unable to plan a deep sea fishing trip - we had organized it so that Mike Ghim, Brian Opitz, and I and Brian Opitz' son and friend were going to go deep sea fishing.  We ended up having to go up one of the rivers - the Kiawah river - which is a inlet of the ocean to go shark fishing - this was a riot - we each reeled in about 4 sharks - The guide would bait these giant hooks with one of several baits - either 2-3 hand sized fish, a de-shelled crab, or a large chunk of fish that he had cut up on the boat.  The sharks took the bait every time - it was a huge fight - surprisingly I was not scared at all to hold the sharks.  I think it was because they are larger, more predictable and don't make nearly as many quick wiggly movements.  

This one as particularly large - proof that I touched a shark!