Historic Charleston

We started the day today with a ferry ride to visit Fort Sumter, the site where the first shots were fired in the Civil War.

I didn't realize it was on a man-made island in the middle of the harbor! It is mostly ruins now, but they had a nice ranger talk that helped you get a feel for how everything was in 1861.

A group of fifth graders from Charleston helped the ranger put the flag up.

The flag was at half staff in sympathy for the victims in the Belgium terrorist attack.

Back on the mainland we visited the Charleston Museum that was full of local history, but also had a small Natural History exhibit. We have to post pictures of stuffed animals around the world just for Brittany.

We visited two historical mansions, including the Joseph Manigault home here. We loved the 13 feet ceilings. Why can't we find a house like this in Utah?

The Heyward Washington home also had tall ceilings. Apparently, it is a lot more comfortable in hot climates when you have tall ceilings. They had lots of beautiful furniture in the homes from the 18th and 19th centuries.

We stopped to eat BBQ and catfish at Nick's on Meeting street. We stalled as long as we could, because, believe it or not, our feet were complaining to us!

We were able to give our feet a rest AND continue looking at big, beautiful houses from the comfort of a carriage in the late afternoon. We really enjoyed the historic tales told to us by our driver, as well!

We couldn't resist finishing off the day by buying a couple of hats. We enjoyed trying on a bunch different styles before we settled on these. A fun reminder of a lovely day spent in the Holy City of the South!