Al, Cathi, Caviar & Bananas



Al and Paul take the Harley for a spin

After our one night stop in Savannah we drove a couple of hours back up north to Charleston, South Carolina, to stay with our friends Al & Cathi. They gave us a wonderful warm welcome to their beautiful 4 bedroom house which backs directly onto a golf course in an exclusive gated community on John’s Island.
They took us a couple of miles to Kiawah Island and treated us to hors d'hoevres on the terrace overlooking the water and the 18th green where the US PGA was recently held, won by Ireland's Rory McIlroy. The next morning will probably turn out to be one of the most memorable of our whole trip. Al suddenly asked us the frequently heard question, "Do you wanna see a gator?", so we all walked across the back garden which has no fence, to one of the lagoons just a few yards away to see four alligators sunning themselves by the 14th green. Its about the same distance as us walking out of our front door at home to the duck pond!

We returned with the correct number of limbs to the sound of a motorbike revving up in the driveway. Not any old motorbike, but Al’s Harley Davidson with two crash helmets at the ready. Now we’re not into motorbikes but a ride on a Harley is a different story. In turn, Al took us for a spin round the island in the glorious hot sunshine and suddenly the ‘bucket list’ had become slightly shorter.

A stroll around the lovely old streets of Charleston in the afternoon and lunch at the wonderfully named Caviar & Bananas, followed by a quick stop to buy some cheese and wine at a deli called Goat Sheep Cow, a wander round the marina in the evening whilst eating espresso and peanut butter ice cream and the perfect day was complete. Al and Cathi have been a complete joy to be with. They’ve treated us so well, had a lot of laughs, had some wonderful experiences and its been an honour to stay with them for a few days. It’s the perfect place to live and we’re lucky enough to have had a big fat slice of it.