Blue Angels

This weekend is quite a busy one for Charleston. As a part of Navy Week taking place here, the Blue Angels put on a show this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. The things that these crazy pilots can do with planes is nothing short of amazing. I was able to shoot some of the acrobatics, but it definitely made me wish that I had a longer lens (I had to digitally zoom in on the pictures here). I also got a preview of the air show unexpectedly on Wednesday when I took a long lunch break to do a 10k run around the perimeter of Daniel Island. I was peacefully running along the road, when much to my surprise, 4 of the planes buzzed over me close enough that I could read the “U.S. NAVY” log on their wings.

As I made my way downtown to watch the show – I was a bit late leaving – I was able to watch the Blue Angels as they were beginning the show. While I was crossing the Cooper River Bridge, the planes disappeared from my site. But then, suddenly, as I approached the end of the bridge, I heard a loud roar above me, and looked up through the sunroof, to see a flyover, not 30 feet above me. That was a pretty spectacular site, though it fortunately was a brief one, as driving while looking through the sunroof is a terrible idea…

As an aside, I also got stuck in traffic in Mount Pleasant, as I past the Boone Hall Strawberry Festival. If only I had been able to stop and take a picture of the amazingness that ensued there. I guess strawberry picking season is about to start (about which I am thrilled) and to kick it all off, they put on a festival celebrating all that is strawberry. My favorite feature was by far the strawberry Merry-Go-Round…