Charleston, South Carolina
Ft. Sumter National Monument
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Clear, 73°
“Live your life by a compass not a clock.” – Stephen Covey
The drive south from Kitty Hawk was cloudy for the first hundred miles. After that, the heavy dark clouds rolled in followed by strong winds and then the rain. The rain was not bad for another hundred miles but it quickly turned into a torrential downpour the rest of the way into Charleston. As the RV made its way through the city you could see it was already flooding in several places as police blocked off several streets.
Right before going up the bridge over to Folly Beach, there was a neighborhood that was flooded and water was filling the basements of several houses. The rain did not really let up for most of the evening and the sounds of thunder could be heard every so often to remind you there was a big storm outside. The RV Park had some minor flooding; streets filled with water until the storm drains could carry the excess water away. The rain finally quit around three in the morning.
Dawn brought with it a crisp sunny morning with no clouds in the sky, only a deep blue color stretching from horizon to horizon. The birds were chirping, singing their songs and several rabbits wandered around the campsites. An early morning shower to get ready to take the shuttle bus and it was off to the Charleston Visitors Center. The bus ride back over the bridge brought with it a view that the previous afternoon of flooding had subsided overnight.
The Charleston Visitor’s Center looked like an old train depot. It was well staffed and they were quite helpful with booking tours, giving directions and information. Charleston does it right providing free shuttle bus service in several loops around downtown. It was great leaving the RV in the campground and being able to get around town without the hassle of parking.
Charleston is a South Carolina port city founded in 1670 and retains the heritage of its southern past. This beautiful city is defined by its cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages and pastel antebellum houses. This is particularly evident in the elegant French Quarter and Battery districts. The Battery promenade and Waterfront Park both overlook Charleston Harbor, while Fort Sumter, a federal stronghold where the first shots of the Civil War rang out, lies just across the water. The city feels a bit like it’s suspended in time, thanks to its antebellum architecture and surrounding plantation landscapes. The locals have a much more poetic expression for the city’s irresistibility: trouvailee. An old-Frenchism, the term means “something lovely found by chance.” And that is Charleston in a word—almost 350 years old and still defined, and redefined, by the thrill of the surprise. It has that genteel Southern Charm like Savannah and other southern towns and cities.
First stop was Market Street with several long buildings going for several blocks with many different vendors inside. There were artists, hand-made sea grass baskets typical of the area along with vendors with all types of products or gifts. A quick stop to the Tommy Bahama shop to see their overpriced shirts; a stop for more coffee then it was off to find the Carriage house for a tour of the city.
Bryan was the tour guide and his horse was Rowdy, a former Amish work horse who was “rescued” (bought before being destroyed) and has an easier life pulling a few hundred pounds of people around a flat town rather than the thousand pounds of timber or other work horse activities he used to do. All of the horses from Old South Carriage Company were Belgian or Percheron draft horses.
Bryan was very knowledgeable about the City, its history and gave us all kinds of information about the people living in Charleston through the years. He pointed out and commented on the buildings, how and when they were constructed and the several fires that changed the look of this beautiful city. The people of Charleston were gracious and polite - even those in cars behind us who patiently stayed until motioned to come around us as Bryan gave his information on a particular house, church, cemetery, or person living there. We passed many old churches, several with a small cemetery attached, different mansions including Patricia’s house on the Bravo show, Southern Charm. Trees with moss hanging down were beautiful to see and make one feel that they truly are in the South, it’s so iconic.
We walked about two miles from the carriage house to the port to take a ferry out to the Civil War Island, Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired from cannons. It was about a thirty minute boat ride over with an hour to visit Fort Sumter National Monument and hear the ranger talk and give the history of the fort and battles there.
On April 12, 1861 southern forces fired the opening shot of the Civil War on Federally occupied Fort Sumter, igniting America’s greatest conflict. Thirty-four hours later Union Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, his former artillery student at West Point. Confederate troops subsequently occupied Fort Sumter for nearly four years, enduring the longest siege from combined naval and artillery forces in modern warfare.
The weather turned out to be a beautiful day after the monsoon storm the night before. A quick bus ride back to Market Street for lunch and it was time to meet the shuttle bus back to the RV Park. Did I mention the free buses in Charleston? All major cities should adopt this as it was great and an easy way to travel to different parts of the city.
Traveling Life’s Highways from Charleston, South Carolina, until the next posting; goodbye.