Charleston, SC Day 1

We spent today in Charleston. Our first stop was Fort Sumter.  Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter began the American Civil War.  The Union soldiers at Fort Sumter were starving due to Confederates on the adjoining islands not letting any supplies through.  President Lincoln sent a ship of supplies and reinforcements, and notified the Confederates.  The Confederates on the neighboring islands/forts fired upon the supply ship anyway, thus starting the 4-year Civil War.  

We were there for the first tour of the day. The US Park Rangers rode the ferry over with us.  


Charleston is at the end of a peninsula, so the only way to Fort Sumter is by boat. We got to see the raising of the colors (American flag).  

Raising the colors at the start of the day


After that, we got to tour the Fort. 












They told us a couple of times not to sit on the bricks that comprise the Fort.  They were made by enslaved people in Charleston and are, literally, irreplaceable.  The women and children turned the bricks to dry after the men made them.  You can see fingerprints in some of the bricks.  Look at the middle brick in its lower right corner.  There are two finger marks.  

Bricks made by enslaved people in the early 1800's. 
See finger marks in lower right corner.

After Fort Sumter, we walked to the French Quarter. We found a barbeque place to feed our cravings.  After all, we are in the South.

BBQ in the South!



And look at the original tin tiles ceiling in the bathroom

After lunch, we walked to the Old Slave Mart Museum.  It is in the building that actually sold enslaved people beginning in the 1850’s.  Worth the trip if you’re ever in Charleston.  And it’s on another cobblestone road.

Old Slave Mart Museum

After that, we did some walking down to Rainbow Row. These are town homes painted in pastel colors such as the ones in Barbados where many of the families had made their fortunes. 

Rainbow Row in Charleston, SC




Many of the trees have been growing next to the street for so long that their roots are coming above-ground. 

Old tree roots have nowhere else to go


Comments

  1. Peg M.April 19, 2022 at 10:21 AM

    Thanks for all the great pictures and the history behind the places and events. It is fun to learn new things about our country and see places we have not visited. You are wonderful tour guides! Safe travels and glad you are on the final leg to get you home.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Taurus Great LoopApril 20, 2022 at 8:06 PM

    Thank you! And I want to remember this trip some day when I get old.

    ReplyDelete

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