March 31, 2012

Today, we set off for a boat ride across the Charleston, SC harbor to see Fort Sumter....did you know that the first shot of the Civil War was fired on Fort Sumter when the Confederate forces attacked the fort to take it from the Union troops that occupied it?  Fort Sumter was the only Union stronghold in the harbor and the southern forces were determined to drive the Union out.....the boat ride was lovely with a cool breeze and my excited son dragging me to the railing to see the best view possible of the approaching site.....

very bright out so we are squinting but you can see Fort Sumter to the left.....

 

We exited and he ran for the cannons!!  My son is definitely a battle, military buff!!

...rounds in the walls from the Civil War....

man your weapons......

There are 3 huge cannon rounds embedded in the walls of the fort and it was really cool to see those....it made it very real!!  During the 34 hour siege, no one died on either side.....The Union troops, faced with lack of provisions, soldiers and ammunition finally had to surrender....during the cannon salutes at the surrender, one cannon went off prematurely and a young private lost his arm and his life when he was hit.....this was the only casualty.  The ranger gave the kids Jr. Ranger packets and we set to work on these, gathering info on the battle, flags that flew overhead here and the details of the battle.....they all finished and earned Jr. Ranger badges for their efforts...while we toured the museum area, we were able to see the actual 33 Star Flag of the US that flew over the flag during the siege (all torn, with holes and frayed edges)....talk about bringing history to life....I can’t tell you how it felt to see the actual place where this took place.....

original 33 State US flag that flew over Fort Sumter during the siege.....

on our return to the dock we decided to go over to the next marina, park and grab a water taxi over to Charleston for the rest of the day....the water taxi entertained us all the way across with stories of his college years, massive weight loss and his goal to join the navy seals....all this in 15 minutes!!!  We reached the dock on Charleston side and walked for blocks in the light rain to get to the downtown area.....it was wet but tropical and warm....the rain didn’t discourage the many that were out and about on the cute streets full of shops and restaurants.....

jewelry shop in Charleston, SC

...We might have been the only ones without umbrellas, however!! 

Battle of Savannah...Amer Rev

We saw the place where the Battle of Savannah took place in the Revolutionary War...the British won this one....on our search for the Visitor’s Center we saw very old buildings, some of historical importance....

we finally found a good ole southern BBQ place, Sticky Fingers.....yummy BBQ sauce and meat to go with it!!!  The restaurant is housed in one of the only buildings to survive the hurricanes of recent years, being built solidly of brick in 1862....it still has the original wood floors, hand stamped tin ceilings and two chandeliers....beautiful!! 

history lesson from the manager of Sticky Fingers.......see the wood floors and tin ceilings, really beautiful!

After we placed out orders, the manager came over to tell us about the history of the building.....it was originally built as offices of a cotton gin, then a private home, a bar, a saddlery for horses and eventually the restaurant.....The wait staff here was fabulous and they sent us home with two bottles (for each one of us) of their outstanding barbecue sauces!!!!  SCORE!!  If you ever get here, you definitely need to eat here:  Sticky Fingers on Meeting Street....From there, we ventured down to the Market area (six blocks of stalls and buildings) that has been used for the buying and selling of all types of items since 1788.....we saw the vendors in the Market selling their wares today...fruits, baskets, art, etc.....

Daughter of the Confederacy buidling houses one of the Market buildings

just waiting for our ride.....stopped raining.....

eating our southern BBQ for dinner

again, you can't see much but you can see the fin of the dolphin that just surfaced right in front of us and then swam over near the dock.........

leaving the water taxi...

back down to catch the water taxi across the harbor....pretty quickly after we boarded we saw dolphins jumping in the waves....one surfaced very near the boat (maybe 3-5 feet away) and we were all so excited to see them, especially Gracie!!!  She had wanted to go on a Dolphin tour so this was an unexpected bonus!!!   On the boat ride back, we ate our BBQ dinner, the pulled pork and beef brisket were so yummerific!!!  The BBQ beans were great and, stunningly, we all loved the deep fried corn on the cob!!   Gotta try it!!  The kids are enjoying trying new foods......speaking of food....we found out first "out of the state of California" Trader Joes!!!  We were SO excited and we needs snacks and fruit and vegies....The manager was so nice that he printed out all of the store listings so we can find them again as we travel.....Thanks Trader Joes!!!!