Fort Sumter
One of the things that I wanted to do while in Charleston was to tour Fort Sumter. Ben had studied the Civil War this year as part of his American History class and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see this part of history in person. The marina had a free shuttle van that would pick up on the hour and then take us wherever we needed to go. We got up early to make the first 9:00 shuttle van, but still ran late. To walk Brooke from our boat to potty and back took almost 40 minutes and then we all had to walk back to the front of the marina again which took another 20 minutes. So we were 15 minutes late for the shuttle. We called and they were nice enough to wait on us to get there. The driver took us to the drop off to catch the ferry for Fort Sumter, but we had just missed it by 15 minutes. Next ferry wouldn’t be until noon. We were concerned that would be way too hot to try and see the fort then, the heat wave was still in full force. The ranger said that another ferry would leave from across the harbor at Patriot’s point at 10:45. So we took a taxi to Patriot’s point and were able to catch the 10:45 ferry to Fort Sumter.
Patriot’s point is really a neat place to see. They have the USS Yorktown CV-10 which had fought in the Pacific in World War II. This was especially meaningful for Kim since her dad served on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific in World War II (although we don’t know what ship he served on). They also have a Destroyer and a Submarine that can be toured.
USS Yorktown
Bow of USS Yorktown
In front of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is pretty neat, it has a museum on the inside that has information on Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and their roles in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Even Aislin developed a sudden fascination with American History and begged for extra time to explore the air conditioned museum.
It seems I have a habit in my lifetime of visiting forts in the sweltering heat, whether it be Fort Sumter, the Alamo, or the Castillo de San Marcos. I spend the majority of my visit there thinking about the soldiers in their thick clothing and lack of air conditioning or ice or cool water or toilets or bathing facilities and how much they must have stunk and been tired of feeling hot and sticky. Not the point the Park Ranger Tour Guide is trying to make…
Another bonus in our detour to Patriot’s Point…we found another marina!
Marina in the distance
After our tours we walked down to the marina office and for only an extra 5 cents/ foot/ night we could stay there, be sheltered on the inside, and they had a pool! Sold!
We took a taxi back to the Megadock, checked out, and moved our boat to the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, a much better fit for us.
En route we got to pass by Charleston’s waterfront with big beautiful historic houses.
Historic waterfront homes
Historic waterfront homes
Yay! We’re going to a marina with a POOL!
Happy boat dog
Bev and Gary were stationed for a while in Charleston, so we got to visit. Re your memories of museums and the heat, me too. In fact, you may have gotten your initial views from me when I would be commenting that the women would be wearing long skirts with petticoats, long sleeves, no toilets, no running water,…I would be HOT and I was sure that everyone in the fort was miserable. St. Augustine–the worst!