My Papa took Monday off from work so we could have five uninterrupted days of much-needed vacation time.
After our Savannah leg, we drove two hours north to the City of Charleston. We actually didn't know where to start, so we decided to go to the Visitor Center for information. One thing that we, as tourists, appreciated about this city is that it is very tourist-friendly. Helpful signs are posted for people like us to be able to navigate easily through the city. The Visitor Center itself is nice and welcoming. You can either park here for short or long-term depending on your travel plans. For instance, if you would like to take a tour bus to see the city, you need only to park here and the tour buses are right behind the Center. As for us, we parked for less than 30 minutes in order to get some of the many available maps and brochures.
Our goal that day was to immediately head for the beach. However, since it was so hot, and it was just a little past noon, we decided to take the harbor tour to Fort Sumter first, one of the most famous landmarks in Charleston.
Mama and me at the Fort Sumter National Monument building at Liberty Square.
Liberty Square on Charleston Harbor is one of the two places where people can board the ferry going to Fort Sumter. Liberty Square is located right beside the South Carolina Aquarium and the IMAX theater (which was sold out of Superman tickets for that night, hehe). Unfortunately, we missed the last ferry by a mere 5 minutes. We decided to go first thing the following day.
This is the new bridge over Charleston Harbor, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which replaced the Old Cooper River Bridge. The new bridge is the longest cable span bridge in North America. More pictures later, courtesy of my Papa.
Wow, it's nice up here!
The bridge connects the Charleston Peninsula with the quaint city of Mount Pleasant. Located in Mt. Pleasant is Patriot's Point where the historic Aircraft Carrier Yorktown is docked.
From across the river, here's Mama and me with the Yorktown behind us.
Meanwhile, we're going to the beach!
There are actually three possible beaches one could go to when in Charleston: Kiawah Beach, Folly Beach, and the Isle of Palms. Since Kiawah would take us about an hour to reach, we did a quick survey among the locals and, between the Folly and IOP, we were told that the IOP or Isle of Palms was the place to go.
And so, aweigh we go!
A picturesque pier.
Huge waves welcomed us.
Beach houses line the lovely coast.
Mama and I didn't waste any time.
I am a certified beach babe!
I love the beach! (And the beach loves me!)
We only stayed for about two hours on the beach, and then had dinner at one of Ocean Blvd.'s best seafood places, the Banana Cabana. We had the seafood platter (composed of deep fried oysters, scallops, shrimp, and flounder, with crabcakes and smashed potatoes), and a seafood paella. Yummy!!!
Originally, we had only planned to stay in Charleston for one night. After today, we realized that one night was not going to be enough to see everything in Charleston. As soon as we arrived back at our hotel, which was way up at North Charleston we immediately booked an additional night.
The next day, knowing us, we were late yet again for the Fort Sumter Ferry at Liberty Square. What we did was to drive across the pretty bridge towards Patriots Point, the other place where people can catch the ferry going to the Fort. Since it was scheduled to leave at 12noon, we had a few minutes to take pictures.
The Yorktown, closer.
The Ravenel Bridge from this side of the River.
The fully narrated ferry ride via Spirit Line was very educational. We docked at Fort Sumter after 30 minutes of touring the Charleston Harbor.
The American Civil War began here in Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. South Carolina seceded in protest of Lincoln's election (despite the fact that he did not earn the required electoral votes from the South) as well as with the matter of states rights versus federal authority flowing over the underlying issue of slavery. The first shot of the war that would change America forever was fired here.
Here we are!
Welcome to the Fort!
Kaboom!
Part of the Fort was converted into a Museum, which we visited (and enjoyed because of the airconditioning, hehe). We toured around the rest of the Fort, looking at the places where the bricks were destroyed by the fierce bombardment that happened during the war (which they preserved very well). Afterwards, we went back to the ferry to finish off the rest of the Harbor Tour.
Bye bye Fort Sumter!
Mama is making fun of me because I fell asleep on the boat.
Charleston is also known as The Holy City because of the many church spires and religious edifices that dot the city's skyline. Charleston's acceptance of all religious beliefs attracted believers from all over to make the city their home amidst the religious intolerance at that time.
This spire belongs to the St. Michael's Episcopal Chruch.
And this one belongs to St. Philip's Episcopal Church.
So many boats on the Marina!
Since we were only able to go to IOP yesterday, we decided to drive down to the other beaches just to see what they looked like (and to see if the locals were right about recommending IOP to us, hehe).
We first drove to Sullivan's Island.
Here, we didn't bother going to the beach. Instead we dropped by two of Sullivan's Island's best attractions.
Yes, another lighthouse. Built in 1962, the Sullivan's Island Lighthouse is "unusual" in the sense that it's modern monolithic architecture is nowhere near traditional. Best of all, there's an elevator for the keepers of the light as well as airconditioning inside. Cool, right?
Second, we drove to our third Fort of this vacation: Fort Moultrie.
Charleston was saved from British invasion by Commander Moultrie and his men on this Fort.
We didn't stay long at the Fort because it was soooo hot outside!! Besides, we were excited to go to Folly Beach, our next destination.
Folly Beach is nice! But yeah, I think the locals were right, IOP was a better choice. The beach here is strewn with shells and the sand is not as fine. It hurts my little feet, hehe. I still love the beach, though. Very very much!
Our last lighthouse destination: Morris Lighthouse. Save The Light foundation is currently striving to preserve and protect the lighthouse. When it was first erected, the lighthouse was built on the shores of Morris Island. However, after the island's edge has steadily eroded over the years, the lighthouse is now amidst the shallow waters of the Atlantic. Btw, Morris Island is the site of the famous Civil War battle portrayed in the movie "Glory".
After our island hopping adventure, next we drove through downtown Charleston to view its historic religious and community buildings. Here's some of what we saw.
The Joseph Manigault House.
The United States Customs House.
A closer look at St. Philips Episcopal.
St. Michael's Episcopal, the nearer version.
Example of cute box houses along State Street.
The Edmondston-Alston House at East Battery.
Colorful array of mid-1700 rowhouses along East Bay, now more commonly refered to as Rainbow Row.
After our mini-tour, we decided to return to Patriot's Point to secure prime viewing spots for the 4th of July Fireworks Show happening there that night.
Here's the spot we chose. Pretty sunset, right? Hopefully, our view of the fireworks show will be even better.
Here's Yorktown at nighttime. The pyroclasts will be fired from its decks.
Very busog and ready for the show.
Patriot's Point was, I think, the greatest place to see the fireworks. Food stations were set-up on the grounds and people were dancing to the music of a talented band which provided entertainment while everyone waited for the fireworks show to start. I'm glad we stayed in Charleston for this.
Oooh! Ahhh!
With that, our (too short) vacation ends. Tomorrow, we will be driving back to Charlotte because Papa has to go back to work already. Anyway, we loved our Southern Experience. We got to see a lot of amazing history, culture, and architecture, not to mention eat yummy food and bum around on the beaches.
Until our next adventure!