Life in the Low Country (Part II)

In Savannah
Spending the next few weeks in Florida


A few additional comments about Charleston.

1.  It is known as the Holy City due to the number of churches of all faiths.  The only church we visited was St. Joseph for Sunday Mass.  It was close to our RV park and seemed like a pretty modern building.

2.  There is a very odd smell here that we later discovered was pluff mud.   It comes from decaying grass and fish in the marshes.  I'm not even going to try to describe the odor - ewww.

3.  We enjoyed some really good barbecue while we were here - a couple of times.  Pulled pork, chicken, brisket - it was all tasty.  The mustard along with vinegar and pepper sauces are unique to South Carolina.  I really liked the mustard sauce.

Ok, we were able to go to Fort Sumter where we learned a lot about the start of the Civil War.  Since we saw the location of the last major battle in Bentonville, NC, we decided we also needed to see the location where the War started.  You take a ferry to the Fort which is in the middle of the bay. Then you have an hour to tour.

The Fort was all but destroyed in the Civil War, but was cleaned up and put into service for the Spanish American War.  It was also garrisoned during both World Wars, but then it was realized that it was not in good enough shape for coastal protection.  The inside of the Fort is essentially ruins now.

We drove to Mt. Pleasant toward Patriot Point.  We stopped at the Waterfront Park and took a walk on the Pier.  I saw these Palmetto trees and snapped a photo.  Palmetto is the state tree of SC.

We stopped at the Charles Pickney House, also run by the National Park Service.  Charles Pickney was involved in writing the Constitution.  The house he lived in no longer exits, and the current home is a museum run by the National Park Service.  He also owned Snee Farm, most of which has been sold and is now housing developments.

We drove through Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island on our way to Fort Moultrie.  Both towns are resort towns full of beautiful beach homes and restaurants/shopping.

Fort Moultrie had a role in the Revolutionary War through WWII due to the geographic location of Charleston.   The Fort was rebuilt (after combat and hurricanes) and updated several times.

This is the Defense Command Post built before WWII.

Once the strategy behind National Defense changed after WWII, the Fort was turned over to the National Park Service for us all to learn and enjoy.

South of our RV park on John's Island is the Angel Oak Tree.  We couldn't leave Charleston without seeing it ! This tree is over 400 years old and it's huge.  The branches are so big and long, they lay on the ground.  Our pictures can't convey how fantastic this tree is.