Charleston. SC-Wonders Way-Mick's Pics

If you come to the New Charlestown

There’s so much to see as you look around.

But there’s quite a wonderful place to play.

It’s over the Cooper River. They call it Wonders Way.

It’s named after Garrett Wonder, a straight-up guy, they say.

On a bike ride Garrett was killed. That was a very dark day.

This Wonders Way is a cable-stayed suspension bridge.

It’s a big playground, a big steel mound, just like a mountain ridge.

It’s like climbing a small mountain and traveling through the clouds.

You’ll meet some smiling faces as you wander through the crowds.

You can go for a run, you can take a hike.

Yes, you can ride your bike if you like.

Pick a clear day that’s fair, when you choose to venture there.

You might lose every care, as a breeze flows through your hair.

It would truly be a day so rare.

If you found that no one was there.

It’s a bit of accomplishment to climb Charleston’s only hill.

You’ll rise to one hundred eighty six feet and realize a bit of a thrill.

You’ll see the USS Yorktown at Patriot’s Point. It’s quite a sight.

Look out and see a beautiful sea, on a different day under a different light.

If not foggy you will see Charleston’s Waterfront Park Pier.

You might see a tugboat and have its horn ringing in your ear.

Look out and see Fort Sumter’s fort,

Cruise ships coming in and going out of port.

Every kind of boat, it seems, you’ll be able to see.

Barges, tugboats, sailboats, and an occasional jet-ski.

You’ll find it so much cooler here than the earth way down below.

You might hear a cacophony of sounds, perhaps a soft concerto.

You may see couples kissing or taking a memorable photo.

There could be a sunrise to the envy of Michelangelo.

Go to the railing, look over the edge, down to the water below.

Imagine having a lot of string and playing with God’s yoyo.

Now when you’re done playing in the sun,

When you’re through taking in the view,

Come on back down to the New Charlestown.

There are so many more things to do.

The poem of Wonders Way was written by Micky Dee. Charleston, Wonders Way, and the entire area is a treasure. There are so many things to see. Mount Pleasant, Sullivans Island, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach, and so much more. The "Angel Oak" on Johns Island is a sight to behold. Mount Pleasant's Cove Inlet is another story. It's all beautiful. Folks could stay years and not see it all.

Cycling is the best way to see downtown Charleston, Wonders Way, and Mount Pleasant.

"To attack the pedals may be strenuous over the short run, but is an expression of trust in one's own powers, for with the bicycle everything depends on the self. Those who wish to control their own lives and move beyond existence as mere clients and consumers- those people ride a bike." -Wolfgang Sachs, For The Love Of The Automoble

"If the bicycle could speak, it would have much to say, presented ever so quietly, and unobtrusively." -James E. Starrs, The Noiseless Tenor

"I thought of that while riding my bike." -Albert Einstein

"The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets." -Christopher Morley, The Romany Stain

"More than any other emotion, melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." -James E. Starrs, The Noiseless Tenor

"Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle." -Helen Keller

The Cooper River Bridge is a "melting pot of people". Wonders Way is where people of all races are found. Every color  and every origin could be represented here on any given day.

It is with reluctance of some degree that I wrote this next poem.

Please come and walk, run, and ride your bike.

Know that you are welcome on this Bridge and in the city of Charleston and the surrounding area.

Know that the name mentioned below will be represented in positive ways as well.

Enjoy this area.

I finished my poem of Wonders Way but there’s another tale to tell.

The Cooper River Bridge is also named after a man called Ravenel.

He couldn’t operate a wheelbarrow. He didn’t mix cement.

As a Senator he campaigned for the “Bridge” but he wasn’t heaven sent.

He also campaigned to fly the Confederate flag over the South Carolina Statehouse.

Maybe some day some will campaign to fly a flag over his “hate-house”.

At a rally for the flag in the year 2000 he referred to the NAACP,

As the “National Association for Retarded People”.How could he?

He apologized for comparing mentally handicapped to the NAACP.

How many people could I urinate off to get a bridge named after me?

“They operated on “black time” he said of his congressional committee.

“They were “fashionably late,” he said with hate. Oh my God what a pity.

His son Thomas could maybe continue the legacy of hate.

He was a politician too and elected treasurer of the state.

Thomas purchased less than 500 grams of cocaine through an intermediary.

It’s here that the “lines” get fuzzy and I become a bit wary.

He was charged in June, 2007 for a crime in 2005

And it’s clear the scales of justice take another nosedive.

Thomas underwent a rehabilitation program in New Mexico

In September he’d plead guilty to “less than 100 grams of “blow”.

It’s now “less than 100 instead of 500” isn’t this a tribute?

He now didn’t “purchase”, but was only “conspiring” to buy and distribute.

March 14, 2008, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for the “white snow”

Guilty of drug charges against him, but was not immediately ordered to go.

Search your mind. Courts are not only blind, when the rich get in a bind,

You’ll find, justice is unkind, a scheme they will mastermind,

To save a sorry behind. Pardon me while I try to remind.

How do you think things would unwind, if they found that drug were mine?

I call it the Cooper River Bridge or maybe Wonders Way.

I see a truth and I have to tell, I can’t call the Bridge Ravenel.

I’d have to have a sickness bag and hold my nose to say,

“It’s the Ravenel Bridge.” To do so creates a smell.

So you’ve owned old CharlestonTown by putting people down.

I’m sorry to say, but there will be a day, that you’ll have to come around.

At the end of your time remember that verse

The first shall be last, the last shall be first.

You’ve really played the game and made yourself quite a name.

As I cross the beautiful bridge that carries your name.

I’ll remember what the French said to King Louie,

You’ve twisted justice been a jerk, aaaack ptooey!

I do not create poetry to insult.

I do not write to instigate anger.

However, if it will bring true justice for every person on our planet, then so be it.

God bless the peace makers.

Pray for justice for all.