USS HENRY B. WILSON (DDG-7)
2013 Reunion






Charleston, SC - Reunion 25 -29 September  2013

Rear Row
Left  Penney Marks - Dan Marks - Phill Wills - Michael Keeton - Rodger Coburn - Roger Bates - Tom Kressly - Francis Heydu

Middle Row
Left  Gary Reed - Pat Brennan - Bob Brennan - Barbara Wills - Rosalie Keeton - Frances Coburn - Mary Ann Gardner - Dot Smith -
Hughie Cowles - Mike Jones - Terry Schmidt

Front Row
Left  Moncella Reed - Willette Mitchem - Stephanie Cowles - Sally Jones - Sandi Schmidt - Debbie Haydu

USS CLAMAGORE SS-343

Citadel Chapel

10-Feb-2014 10:44 Last Up Date -

Attending see bottom of page

Charleston, SC - Reunion 25 -29 September  2013

Tours and Dinners

Our host hotel will be the Sheraton Charleston Airport (1 mile from the airport) offering the following: 

Sheraton Charleston Airport (Inn Place Suites)
4770 Goer Drive
Charleston, SC 29406
843-747-1900 

• room rate of $99 including full breakfast for two each morning
• rate is valid three days pre and post reunion based on availability
• complimentary wireless high-speed internet
• complimentary airport shuttle
• complimentary shuttle within a two mile radius of the hotel
• scheduled shuttle service to the Historic District ($10 round trip per person)

The Sheraton has a full-service restaurant, Moniker’s Bar & Grill, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  They feature prime steaks and regional favorites.  Also, there are 35+ restaurants within a two mile radius of this hotel plus several large shopping malls.

 A hospitality room at the hotel will be available on Thursday 9/26 and Friday 9/27   3-5pm.

 Please make your room reservations before August 1, 2013 by calling the Sheraton 888-747-1900 and be sure to mention the USS Wilson Reunion to get your special rate.  We have a number of rooms blocked at this rate but please reserve early.

 A brief description of the tours is attached.  Tours include transportation and narrated by a guide.  Gratuities for driver and guide are at your discretion.

 The enclosed Reunion Registration Form lists the tours, dinners, and prices with a deadline of August 1, 2013.  Please make your selection and return it with your check to the address at the bottom of the form.

 All reunion information will be posted on the Bulletin Board page of the Wilson web site www.henrybwilsonddg7.com .  As shipmates send in their registration, their name and years onboard will be added to a list on this same page so you can keep track of who will be at this year’s reunion.  

  TOURS

Tours include transportation and will be narrated by a guide.

Gratuities for driver and guide are at your discretion.

 Wednesday 9/25 ~ Arrival

 We will be in the hotel lobby to pass out your info packet and badges at various times during the day. 

Thursday 9/26 ~ City Tour and The Old City Market ~ 9AM-3PM                                 

A day in historic Charleston starts with a coach tour of the Historic District of magnificent public buildings, majestic churches, and elegant homes from the Antebellum period (years between the War of 1812 and the Civil War) built by planters and merchants in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.......Battery, College of Charleston, Harleston Village (one of the early suburbs of the city), the Citadel, French Quarter, Rainbow Row, Slave Market. 

During this tour we will be visiting the Joseph Manigualt House.   Built by Gabriel Manigualt for his brother Joseph, the house is a good example of Federal architecture and was completed in 1803.  The Manigualts descended from the French Huguenots who were members of the Protestant Reformed Church and came to America to escape religious persecution in Europe.   

Next stop will the Old City Market. There will be time to shop and browse in the many specialty shops and have lunch on your own before returning to the hotel. 

Friday 9/27 ~ Magnolia Plantation, Lunch, and The Hunley ~ 9AM-2PM                     

Founded in 1676 by the Drayton family, Magnolia Plantation has survived the centuries and witnessed the history of our nation unfold before it from the American Revolution through the Civil War and beyond. Tour will include the gardens, swamp, and slave cabins. 

Box lunch included of sandwich on a freshly baked roll, lettuce & tomato, pasta salad, pickle, chips, cookie, and iced tea included on this tour. 

On our return trip to the hotel, we will stop at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center to see the Confederate Submarine, H.L. Hunley which successfully sank the Union warship, the Housatonic in Charleston Harbor by ramming it on February 17, 1864. Then sadly, the Hunley sank with all of her crew to the bottom of the Atlantic.  In 2000 she was raised after months of planning and work by archeologists, and taken to the Lasch Laboratory where research still continues.

 Friday 9/27 ~ Hyman’s Seafood Dinner ~ 7PM-9PM                                                       

Hyman’s has been at the same location for over 112 years, starting out as a wholesale dry goods store then changing to Hyman’s Seafood in 1987. The floors are heart pine and the bricks are Old English, with the original oyster mortar. The wrought iron stair case was built in Kenton, Ohio in 1887 and shipped to Charleston upon construction of this building.   Price includes tax and gratuity for restaurant.

Hyman’s Seafood 

APPETIZER: Crab Dip

CHOICE OF: House Salad or Cole Slaw

CHOICE OF ENTRÉE: Flounder Filet and Shrimp ~ Shrimp Dinner ~ Scallop Dinner ~ Fresh Mahi and Shrimp
 Lump Crab Cake Dinner ~ Chicken Breast Dinner ~ Fettucini Alfredo

ALL ENTREES INCLUDE HUSH PUPPIES AND CHOICE OF A SIDE:  Fries ~ Red Rice ~ Baked Potato ~ Grits ~ Sweet Potato ~ Collard Greens ~ Sweet Potato Souffle ~ Mac &

Cheese ~ Broccoli

DESSERT: Key Lime Pie or Vanilla Ice Cream

ALL MEALS INCLUDE A CHOICE OF COFFEE, TEA, OR SODA

Saturday 9/28 ~ Patriot’s Point, Lunch, and Fort Sumter ~ 9AM-3PM                        

A tour of Patriot’s Point, the world’s largest naval and maritime museum, will include:

~ USS CLAMAGORE SS-343, one of the Navy’s last diesel powered subs

~ USS LAFFEY DD-459, WWII destroyer

~ Vietnam Navel Support Base with its Sea Cobra and Huey helicopters

~ USS YORKTOWN CV-10, the famous fighting lady of WWII

~ Medal of Honor Museum on the Yorktown

~ lunch will be served on the YORKTOWN in C.P.O. Mess

 After lunch, we will board the General Beauregard for a short harbor cruise to Fort Sumter where the Civil War began.
 Rangers from the National Park Service will give you an informative
 introduction before you begin your tour.  Price includes tax and gratuity.

 Saturday 9/28 ~ Dinner will be at the Sheraton Hotel ~ 7-10PM                                    

Menu, room location, and program to be announced at a later date.  Price includes tax and gratuity.

Charleston is the oldest and second-largest city in the southeastern American state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County^[3], and principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston–Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area (as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only). The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of the South Carolina Atlantic Ocean coastline and is located on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic formed by the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers.

Founded in 1670 as Charles Towne in honor of King Charles II of England, Charleston adopted its present name in 1783. It moved to its present location on Oyster Point in 1680 from a location on the west bank of the Ashley River known as Albemarle Point. By 1690, Charles Towne was the fifth largest city in North America^[4], and it remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840 census.^[5] With a 2010 census population of 120,08 (and a 2011 estimate of 122,689), current trends put Charleston as the fastest-growing municipality in South Carolina. The city's metropolitan area population was counted by the 2010 census at 664,607 – the second largest in the state – and the 75th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

Known for rich history, well-preserved architecture, a celebrated restaurant community and mannerly people, in October 2012 the Charleston area was named both "Top U.S. City" and "Top Destination in the World" by Condé Nast Travelers "2012 Readers' Choice Awards," the second consecutive year the historic coastal destination has received the No. 1 U.S. City ranking.^[6] In 2011, Charleston was named "#1 U.S. City" by Conde Nast Traveler's "Readers' Choice Awards" and "#2 Best City in the U.S. and Canada" by Travel + Leisure's "World's Best Awards". Also in 2011, Bon Appetit magazine named Husk, located on Queen Street in Charleston, "Best New Restaurant in America." America's most-published etiquette expert, Marjabelle Young Stewart, recognized Charleston in 1995 as the "best-mannered" city in the U.S^[7], a claim lent credibility to by the fact that the city has the first established Livability Court in the country. In 2011, Travel and Leisure named Charleston "America's Sexiest City" as well as "America's Most Friendly." Subsequently, Southern Living magazine named Charleston "the most polite and hospitable city in America." In 2012, Travel and Leisure voted Charleston as the second best-dressed city in America, only behind New York City.^[8]