Charleston Trip - Days One and Two

Yes, I'm still super behind and yes, I still really need to catch up on other things. BUT we just got back from a lovely week-long vacation to Charleston and I really want to document that before I forget it all. And since there will be lots of photos and lots of history, I will probably need to break this up into three or four different posts.

Since schools start so early here, they get lots of breaks throughout the year. Zara's first break comes the last week of September and we decided to take advantage of a time when not as many people would be traveling. I have been wanting to go to Charleston for a long, long time and now seemed like the perfect time to go. It was still pretty hot and humid but not as bad as during the height of summer. And though there was some blood, sweat, and tears, I think overall everyone had a great time.

Day One - Monday in the City
We left Monday morning, hoping to get into Charleston by 2 or 3 o'clock so we could still see a few sights and maybe take a carriage ride through the city. The car trip took about 6 hours (with a one hour stop in Augusta for gas and lunch) and even though we got there with some time to spare, it was POURING rain. So a carriage ride was definitely out of the question. We walked through City Market, getting soaked, and then ate an early dinner at Poogan's Smokehouse which had delicious BBQ and cornbread. Afterwards, we walked past St. Philip's church, one of the oldest congregations in America.

We then headed to our AirBnB on James Island. It was our first time using AirBnB but I figured it would be nicer to rent a whole house rather than one hotel room and have access to a full kitchen and multiple rooms. It ended up costing us just about as much as a hotel would have and the house was lovely. It was the perfect place.

Day Two - Fort Sumter and USS Yorktown
On Tuesday, I booked us a ferry ride to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. You have to take a boat out to Fort Sumter since it's just a little island outpost in Charleston's harbor.

This crane was sitting on some posts right by our boat. We still had some gray clouds and a few rainy patches but the day was mostly clear and sunny.

We left from Patriot's Point which is also where the USS Yorktown is docked. The ferry ride takes about 45 minutes. The kids were excited about the boat ride.

At the start of the Civil War, Fort Sumter was still under construction. It was to be a large citadel with quarters for both soldiers and officers and a comfortable garrison command center. But the constant barrage it sustained during the Civil War basically left it a pile of rock and rubble.

They just kept piling more stuff on top of the ruins which actually made a very effective barricade.  You can see the ruins of the officer's quarters here.

After the Civil War, the fort saw some use during the Spanish-American War and even World War II, but is now obsolete as a military base since the nature of war has changed so dramatically. After World War II, the fort was given over to the National Park Service to run as a national historic site. 

After riding the ferry back to Patriots Point, we ate a packed lunch and then toured the USS Yorktown and Laffey which were conveniently docked right next to the ferry landing. 

 The Yorktown is the 10th aircraft carrier in the US Navy, commissioned on April 15, 1943 and named after the Yorktown which was lost during the Battle of Midway (which was named for the battle during the Revolutionary War). It was active in the Pacific battles of WWII and later saw action during Vietnam. In 1968, it recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts, the first men to fly around the moon.

It was decommissioned in the 1970s and was towed from New Jersey to Charleston and opened as a museum in 1975. I've toured several aircraft carriers, destroyers, battleships, and submarines and they always amaze me at their sheer size and complexity. I can't imagine what it would have been like to serve on one of these massive moving cities, capable of housing over 3,000 men.

Adelaide has some pouty faces going on. Being a ship, space is at a premium and there were lots of ladders to climb and tight spaces to negotiate. Adelaide slipped on one of the stairs and got a bruise.

Benjamin got to ride in style on Daddy's back. The girls got to sit inside the cockpit of one of the planes. They also had a small exhibit for Medal of Honor recipients that was very nice.

They also have the destroyer USS Laffey and the USS Clamagore (submarine) on display. We also toured the Laffey but didn't get to go abroad the Clamagore because it was closed. 

After our tour, we visited the local Trader Joe's which is nearby and then headed back over the Ravanel Bridge back to our AirBnB for dinner and bedtime. It was a long and exhausting day.