Charleston!

We didn't know much about Charleston except that we wanted to eat a Charleston Chew while doing the Charleston. To the Google cave Batgirl!

Ft. Sumter was the number one thing I wanted to see and Lisa wanted to walk the historic district like we did in Savannah. Sounds like a plan. I booked our tour of Ft. Sumter for the first boat out in the morning so that would give us half the day there and half downtown.

Now the only way you can see Ft. Sumter is by boat and they have several tours a day that go to the island.

Our tour boat awaits.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier.

The morning started out foggy but that soon lifted. We boarded our boat and soon we were moving across Charleston Harbor out to Ft. Sumter. The first fort you pass out in the harbor is Castle Pinckney. Named for one of the writers of the Constitution.

It was a small fort that really never saw any action during the Civil War. Other than being occupied by the South Carolina Militia. It was the first Union fort surrendered to the south. The ride out is 30 minutes each way and you get to see the harbor as you go. We got to the island and it was like rats leaving a sinking ship. I think I heard them say there were about 240 on board.

This fort has an interesting history and I think it is one that everyone should visit and find out about. Guess what they have out there in the fort? Cannons. Lots and lots of cannons.

The fort itself could hold up to 135 artillery pieces. That was a lot of weaponry back then. Each alcove had a cannon in it and then there were cannons above those.

It was a Union fort to begin with and the south attacked it starting the Civil War. The Confederates took the fort in 30 hours of bombardment. They then held the fort until the end of the war. The fort was under siege from Union gunboats for over 500 days and at the end, it was nothing but rubble.

It was rebuilt in the later part of the 1800's and retrofitted with 2 12 inch M1888 guns for coastal defense.

That's what that black structure was for. To house the coastal defense guns. It served that purpose until 1947 when it was turned over to the national parks. 

If you want to know something about cannons, look at the muzzle. If it is a real cannon it will have a date of manufacture on it.

That's how you can tell how old it is and if it is real or a reproduction. Sometimes they are so old that it is hard to see the date or they have been painted over too much.

The second half of our day was devoted to exploring Charleston. It was nothing like Savannah and our very good friends Jim and Barb said that it wasn't. Savannah was much more charming. Also on a side note, these old towns are not made for one ton dually pickups to be driving all over them. The roads are so narrow. I told Lisa that if we lived here, I would have to have a motorcycle and she would have to have a smart car.

There is a lot of history in this town. However there has been a lot of modernization also. It was quite the mix of old and new. Also it was very retail oriented. We then walked down to Battery Park. Named because of the artillery pieces stationed there during the war.

Lisa said that there was a statue in that park that she thinks was her favorite.

I think it was because he carried a big sword. After that we were getting tired. I wanted to take their free shuttle back to where we parked the truck but they were few and far between. So we walked and walked some more and literally stumbled upon this church. 

This was the entrance. Just this hidden pathway.

It goes on for about a half a block and then opens up into the cemetery.

I would not want to be there at night. It did have a certain appeal to it though. We had had enough of the city so the next day was going to be a beach day. We heard about a beach not far from here. Edisto Beach is a very large beach and it isn't one bit touristy at all. Hardly anyone there. I think the reason for that is, they do not have any public bathrooms at all on the beach.

Lisa did some shelling and I took some wave photos. We also walked the beach like lovers. We each had our hands in each others back pockets. Like in high school.

We also saw a bunch of jellyfish that had washed up on shore. Poor things. I tried to push one back in the water but where do you grab him?

Hopefully they can live till high tide comes and gets them. I just had to look it up and these are called Cannonball Jellyfish. Dang! Learned something again.

"Gladys! Throw a dart at the map and lets go!"