Kiawah Island, South Carolina

Cristin and I spent over a week in April 2013 at her parents vacation town home on Kiawah Island, which is about 20 miles from Charleston.  We enjoyed our days relaxing on the beach, beach combing on bikes, and viewing nature in the extensive ponds, marshes, and floodplain forests of the island. We went on a guided, sunset, kayak tour in the marsh. We spent an afternoon in Charleston touring Ft. Sumter.

Jim and Truman

     Cristin's parents Jim and Sandi joined us about midway through our stay, along with her 4-legged brother Truman, everyone's favorite. We really enjoyed seeing and visiting with them.  We all went to Charleston one day.  Cristin and her mom went to the aquarium while her dad and I went to Patriots Point and toured the USS Yorktown, a WWII era aircraft carrier, as well as destroyer and a submarine.  We had dinner at a great place in downtown Charleston on the harbor in downtown. On our last full day, we all played tennis and enjoyed the friendly competition.

Please see the companion blog Historic Charleston  for more on our time spent there.  We also spent an afternoon in Savannah, GA., and filed this brief blog post here (coming soon).

Historic Charleston

This 33-star U.S. Flag flew over Fort Sumter
 the day the Civil War began in 1861.

Cristin and I spent parts of two days in Charleston, South Carolina when vacationing on nearby Kiawah Island  (click here for the companion blog).  We toured Fort Sumter one day and the other day Cristin and her mom went to the Charleston Aquarium while her dad and I went to Patriot's Point and toured the USS Yorktown, a WWII aircraft carrier, as well as destroyer and submarine.

 

Fort Sumter 

Fort Sumter is national monument located on a tiny island near the entrance to Charleston Harbor. This is where the Civil War began.  The first shots of the war occurred when Confederate troops fired cannon on Fort Sumter, a federal fort.  The battle lasted just 34 hours when the under-manned and ill-equipped Union forces surrendered.

I knew the 'first shot'  part of the story but I didn't know that Union forces tried for 4 years to take the fort back.  It provided great cover for Confederate supply ships that ran the Union blockade into Charleston Harbor.  I also didn't realize that there are several other historic forts and batteries in and near Charleston Harbor that were used extensively in the Civil War.  Fort Moutrie won the first American victory over the British Navy in the War of Independence.  The Union assault of nearby Battery Wagner was depicted in the movie 'Glory'.