We went into Charleston to see Fort Sumter. The fort is on a man-made island that was created on a sandbar in Charleston's harbor so we took a ferry from Patriot's Point to the fort. The fort itself wasn't all that impressive, but the rangers were very informative. For those who don't already know the significance of this fort, it was here that the Civil War actually started. On April 12, 1861, the S.C. militia fireed the first shots ofhte war at Fort Sumter which was occupied by Union troops. After surrendering the fort to the Confederacy, Union ships and ironclads returned and shelled the fort almost continuously for the next two years, reducing it to 1/3 of its original height which is how it looks now.
After our tour of the fort, we returned to Patriot's Point to explore the submarine USS Clamagore and the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. The sub was nuch like like the USS Torsk in Baltimore Harbor (maybe a little newer). The Yorktown was very inpressive; it tr
uly is a floating city. In and on the Yorktown, there were over a dozen military aircraft on display, an Apollo space capsule, the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule, and the Medal of Honor Museum. The kids were duly impressed by the ship and the planes, but were really impressed by the stories of the Medal of Honor recipients. After a drive past Charleston's "Battery" and downtown area, we returned to the campground for another swim in their 80-degree pool. Tomorrow, we drive to Alanta, GA to see Stone Mountain.
No comments:
Post a Comment