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In 2005 the Arthur Ravenel Bridge opened for business. People drove over the new bridge just to say they did it. We were so use to the old Cooper River Bridges which were narrow, and sometimes even scary to drive over. Now we had a bridge to get us across to the other side without having to worry if the driver next to us was going to accidentally scrape against our own car. Okay, maybe that was my own fear, but I am sure others felt the same way I did. There were times I was even afraid to take my eyes off of the road. Truthfully, if I could have closed my eyes and drove over as fast as I could just to get to the other side, I would have done it!

The new bridge was built with walkers and bikers in mind. We have the option of getting onto the bridge from downtown Charleston, or near Patriot’s Point which is on the Mt. Pleasant side. I’m not sure what took me so long, but just this past January I finally decided to walk the bridge. I already knew the view would be phenomenal, but never expected my daily walk to turn into my daily dose of therapy. Something about being up top, looking out over the Charleston Harbor… you definitely have to experience it for yourself to fully appreciate what the bridge has to offer. 

Now, if I can just make it all the way over and back to where I started… that would be a huge accomplisment on my part. The biking and walking lane is 2.7 miles long. I usually make it up to the top, stop and catch my breath. I then make the mistake of turning around and walking back down to where I started. Maybe one of these days I will push myself just a little more and report back that I walked the entire bridge.  

Photo courtesy of http://www.cooperriverbridge.org/