Larry W4CSC wrote:
Rosalie B. wrote in
:

Bob is still miserable.

Hmm...If I had known you were here, some 2 blocks from me to the main gate,
I COULD have helped, especially with the Mercedes. Make a note for next
time.....Star Motor Service, 843-571-1628....the Mercedes experts. I've
been buying their service for over 20 years. They have a palatial shop you
can eat from the floor, full body shop, every Mercedes test instrument ever
made. They restored my 1973 220D completely. It's my favorite all-time
car.
That's good to know - we have a 1985 300D (Bob's) and a 1982 300D
(mine)

If I had to live in the Air Force squalor you met, and I have no idea
what's on the base as they only let me through the gate to fix organs,
electronic pianos and the occasional DJ job, I believe I'd have ended up at
one of our fine hotels, or at least motels, if I couldn't stay with the

Could have stayed with our son, but Bob doesn't like to 'impose'.
With our daughter in Miami, she always gives him some job to do (like
this time we house sat for them when they were away at Xmas, helped
out with the kids when she had an operation, and Bob put up a wall for
them), but he still gets antsy if he has to stay with someone more
than 3 days. (We stayed with her twice - once for 10 days, and once
for 3 days).

son. We have thousands of fine rooms and rates around Summerville are more
reasonable. Hell, Motel 6 is only $32 and their toilets work! When is
"cheap", too cheap?

I have stayed in the Sleep Inn in Summerville, but the cheapest I
could find on the web was the EconoLodge at Goose Creek The Inns at
Charleston were $36.50/night which was cheaper. The toilet worked - a
bit too well. After we knew to keep the bathroom door closed it
didn't bother me anymore, or I got used to it. I can sleep through
about everything.

I recommend Red Roof Inn near the Ashley-Phosphate Rd exit of I-26.

Bob probably caught one of our exotic virii, brought into Charleston by
ship crews from squalid 3rd world countries, or by our Mexican and Central
American large immigrant population that is simply exploding because we are
too stupid to stop it. You can now catch Meningitis in Elementary School,
here.....it's like surviving in India's slums. Our latest is a severe
stomach virus that has kept my neighbors in bed for 8 days, so far. God
knows where it came from.....

Sorry you had so much trouble with a simple visit to the port city.....

I don't think it was a virus - I think it was mold or something like
that. I had something like that in Feb. when we were staying in a
trailer in Key West on the base - Bob complained that I kept him awake
by coughing. He made me take cough medicine so he could sleep. (My
sister used to complain that my wheezing from asthma kept her awake
too.)

Or maybe it WAS pneumonia. The only time he's been like that that I
can remember was when he was taking his PADI OW course in Cozumel, and
at that time he thought he breathed in some water into his lungs.

Anyway, all other visits to Charleston I've had a really good time.
We've been by car once or twice before (to visit our son), and by boat
6 times. Stayed at http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/47af4/#TL
Mt. Pleasant 3 times, http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/d3230/
Charleston Maritime Center once,
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/45efa/#TL Buzzards Point once,
and http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/3024a/ Isle of Palms. Our
mast is too tall to go up the Ashley, and I'm not interested in
anchoring in that area with all those currents etc.

We usually stay in Charleston a week when we are there by boat, and we
take at least 2 days to transit from north of Charleston to south of
Charleston because it is too hard to get from Georgetown to Charleston
unless we stop at Isle of Palms. Last year (fall 2003), we went
offshore on the way down to the St. Mary's River, and then in the
spring of 2004 came up the same route (arriving in a dense fog)
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/51083/#TL (St. Mary's to
Charleston), and then again going north from Charleston to the Cape
Fear River. http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/520d2/#TL

We've visited Ft. Sumter, the Aquarium, the Audubon reserve, Ft.
Moultrie, Sullivan's Island, Charleston Museum, and of course
Patriot's Point. I wanted to go up to the locks this time, but Bob
was too sick.

The first time we came down, we stopped in McClellandville,
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/d38e3/ and we have a scar on
the stern to show for it, where a shrimp boat going out at 4:30 a.m.
swung his stern into us when he left the dock. But I understand that
old man Leland died, and the marina has been upgraded, and also the
channel in has been dredged - because the shrimp boats couldn't get
out.
..

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

That's good to know - we have a 1985 300D (Bob's) and a 1982 300D
(mine)


Mine are the restored 1973 220D sedan, creme top with burgundy bottom and
my "fishin' car", a 1983 300TD station wagon lugaround. (I've got to get
those two chairs from the thrift shop out of the station wagon,
today...(c Star Motor Service keeps them both running like new. I'd
much rather hand Star money for working for me than the county gummit for
taxing me. Old cars tax really cheap in SC. New cars have 14 payments a
year, two for the county...yecch.

Larry W4CSC wrote:
Rosalie B. wrote in
:

That's good to know - we have a 1985 300D (Bob's) and a 1982 300D
(mine)

Mine are the restored 1973 220D sedan, creme top with burgundy bottom and
my "fishin' car", a 1983 300TD station wagon lugaround. (I've got to get
those two chairs from the thrift shop out of the station wagon,
today...(c Star Motor Service keeps them both running like new. I'd
much rather hand Star money for working for me than the county gummit for
taxing me. Old cars tax really cheap in SC. New cars have 14 payments a
year, two for the county...yecch.

Maryland doesn't have personal property tax but we haven't had a new
car since 1971. We do have several other diesels - a 1984 Lynx, a 1985
Escort, and another 1984 Escort that Bob has converted to electric.

There isn't anyone in the county who can work on the MBs though, and
we have to drive up to Glen Burnie. He's often booked so we have to
make arrangements to go up there (both of us driving - it's about 85
miles from us) several weeks in advance. We usually go to the dentist
at the same time (our dentist is up there too) and also visit my mom.

The MB dealer in Annapolis (Benson) doesn't want to deal with any
older cars. My husband's friend has a 1976 240D and even though he
lives right up there near Annapolis (we drive up and park at his house
and he gives us a ride to the boat show), he has to take his car to a
private mechanic.

We thought we had a big problem this winter and I tried to get the car
in to the Mercedes place in Melbourne but they were very snooty and
wouldn't take us for 4 days. So we rented a car, and eventually
figured out it was the tires and not anything MB at all and canceled
the appointment. That's why I was surprised that the MB place could
take us right away. They charged us $340 for changing the glow plugs,
and also washed and waxed the car and vacuumed it out which impressed
Bob.

But they also jammed the cruise control full on, and when Bob tried to
use it, it wouldn't disengage. He had to pull off the road and shut
off the engine to get it to stop. Fortunately we were in the middle
of the Francis Marion NF so plenty of room and not much traffic.

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

They charged us $340 for changing the glow plugs

Man, they ripped YOU off! You never have to change glow plugs unless they
become open circuit, but only the defective one. What a rip! 3 of the 4
glowplugs in the old '73 are still original!...(c;

Larry W4CSC wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

They charged us $340 for changing the glow plugs

Man, they ripped YOU off! You never have to change glow plugs unless they
become open circuit, but only the defective one. What a rip! 3 of the 4
glowplugs in the old '73 are still original!...(c;

I think your 73 must have been more gently used than ours have been.
Both of them were 2nd hand, and Bobs was a leased car with 235K miles
on it when he bought it.

One of the glow plugs was open when we started on the trip. They said
all of them were open. Bob didn't want to change the one that was
open before we started because it was so hard to get to.

One of the things that Bob didn't like about traveling by car vs
traveling by boat was that he didn't have tools with him.

grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

One of the things that Bob didn't like about traveling by car vs
traveling by boat was that he didn't have tools with him.



Hmm....Bob sounds like a candidate to get a STEPVAN! All my tools are in
there....(c;

Larry W4CSC wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

One of the things that Bob didn't like about traveling by car vs
traveling by boat was that he didn't have tools with him.

Hmm....Bob sounds like a candidate to get a STEPVAN! All my tools are in
there....(c;

NO NO - NOT ANOTHER VEHICLE

We've already got enough vehicles. In addition to the big boat and
two dinghies (we did sell the little open skiff and trailer last
fall), and the two MBs we have

Two 1932 Plymouth PBs
a diesel Lynx and a diesel Escort (mid 80s)
a formerly diesel Escort that has been converted to electric
a Galaxy convertible (1965 I think)
a 1964 Ford Falcon station wagon with a V8 engine
a 1965 Mustang convertible and a couple of other Mustangs of that era
a 1982 Cougar which someone T-boned
Two 1971 Ford pick ups - one a crew cab with an 8 foot bed and a
camper, and the other a regular one which one of our children's FIL
borrowed and wrecked and Bob wants to put the Cougar engine into it
and then make the Cougar into an electric wheel car.
a tow dolly
a horse trailer (although someone did take our daughter's trailer away
a couple of years ago)
two lawn tractors one of which (an old IH which I got used in 1973) is
just a very large paperweight

and maybe some others that I've forgotten. It's raining so I'm not
going to do an inventory.

grandma Rosalie