Another Tourist Day
On Friday, May 19th, we booked the ferry boat transport to take the tour of Fort Sumter, the place where the Civil War was started. We booked the tour tickets on line for the 10:30 am departing time.
The 30 minute drive over to Mount Pleasant and the Patriot’s Point complex required crossing the monster Ravenel Bridge. The Arthur Ravenel bridge is the third longest among cable-stayed bridges in the western hemisphere. Amazing views from up there and they have a walking path along the side. Can you imagine walking across that expansive bridge?
At the Patriot’s Point complex, they have the boat shuttle that we were taking, a Vietnam Memorial, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and some other displays. We just did the boat trip to the Fort at $19 each.
The fort tour was mostly self guided along with a 30-minute narrated description of the events leading up to the war and more on the way back to the dock. It was quite amazing to stand in the fort that was such a battled for spot in the middle of the Charleston Harbor.
A little about the history: Built after the War of 1812 to build up the fortification of the US seaboard. Construction began in 1829 and was still on going in 1861 when the Civil War began. There were several battles here including the 2-year union siege that almost destroyed the fort.
Camp Life
Back at the campsite, Pat used the convection oven for the first time to make a very tasty poppy seed recipe for baked chicken casserole. We had enough for a few meals.
The campground we are staying at (Lake Aire RV Park) is quite a contrast from the Red Gate in Savannah. While it is less expensive it has much more noise and more young kids while the Savannah camp was very quiet, no kids, and mostly higher end RVs. I could probably do a demographic study contrasting them, but that just may be my accounting analytical tendency that would be quite boring no doubt.
I have found that we can go about 3-4 days before needing to dump the holding tanks. The RV has a 45 gallon black water tank (toilet) and two 45 gallon gray water tanks (from kitchen sink, shower, and bathroom sink). We have been hooked up to city water so have been using water just like at home. We also have a 65 gallon fresh water tank to use while on the road traveling or when camping someplace without hookups.
It has a 12 gallon water heater that runs off either propane or electric. Obviously with full hook ups, we use their electricity and it has never run out of hot water.
Enjoy the photos. The featured image at the top of the post is satellite imagery with my cell phone location; very cool – thanks Tom!
Inside the fort
Looks like an awesome day! The fort looks very interesting and the weather perfect. I have fond memories of a few days in Charleston a few years ago, it’s a beautiful city. I especially like all the churches.
Enjoy!
Tom
Thanks Tom. The historic section is awesome beautiful. We attended a church today in this section and then just walked around afterwards.