Charleston, SC

Sunday 9/28

After arriving on Saturday we made reservations for the boat to tour Fort Sumter at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.  Since we were able to see where the Revolutionary War started in Concord and Lexington, MA, and a major turning point in the Civil War at Gettysburg, we felt we needed to see where the Civil War began.  There isn't much to see at Fort Sumter other than the ruins of the fort but to be there and learn more of the history was important to us and helped put events of the war in perspective.

The Visitor Center on the Charleston waterfront and ferry docks.

Our ferry to Fort Sumter, the "Spirit of the Lowlands"

On the way out we got a good view of the Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River,  It is the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere.  The cables are only visible on a bright sunny day.

Also visible is the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier that is now a museum at Patriot's Point and is a National Historic Landmark.

Approaching Fort Sumter.  At the beginning of the war the walls of the fort were 55' high. (for perspective, the original height was at the level of the shorter flagpoles)  After the bombardment and subsequent battles it was reduced to rubble with the walls now ranging from 9' to 25' high.

Most of the cannon ports have been sealed and only a few cannon remain here.

The current US Flag is centered with these five historic flags which include two United States flags (1861 and 1865), two Confederate States flags (1861 and 1863) and the South Carolina state flag (adopted in 1861 and still current).

At one point reconstruction of the fort was begun but then discontinued and the remains were stabilized.

The black building in the photos is the museum, site support and maintenance building.

This provides a stark comparison of prewar and postwar Fort Sumter.

We have studied the places we have visited in school, read about them in various books or watched PBS programs covering them, but visiting them adds to our knowledge of these places and events.

Monday

The rains finally caught up to us.  It rained hard all night and somewhat lighter all day.  We had planned to check out "the market" and a number of other things in old downtown Charleston.  We were to meet a cousin and wife for lunch but postponed it until tomorrow at it is forecast to be partly cloudy.  That should be better weather for walking the streets and exploring the shops.

We decided that we could check out the Old Slave Mart Museum downtown as we were able to park nearby and get inside quickly.

The Old Slave Mart s located at 6 Chalmers Street in old downtown Charleston.  Chalmers Street is one of the last old cobblestone streets remaining.



The Slave Mart was a full city block deepat one time, the front section of the building being the "show" and "sales" room.  In the back was a walled open area with pens to hold the slaves and prepare them for sale.  The museum displays tell the story of how slaves were prepared for sale in order to obtain the highest price.  It was somewhat akin to detailing merchandise.  Such things were done as treating wounds, vaccinating them, providing extra food to fatten them up, exercise to tone muscles, plucking grey hairs or dying it black and finally oiling their skin to make it look youthful.

Even though this represents a very dark side of our history, it is important to know that history!
See: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/charleston/osm.htm

To lighten the tone of the day, can you guess where we went next?  Hint, Linda hasn't missed many of them on this trip.  Some call it the Quilt Tour or a Quilt Hop circling the United States.

At this point I must turn this over to Linda:  

I was looking for a quilt shop, but instead found this really cool shop called Five Eighth Seams.  The name itself should have been a clue for me.  If you've ever done any garment sewing you know a 5/8 inch seam is standard.  Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in.

Above the work/classroom area hung this delightful sign.

The shop contained lots of vibrant fabrics and a good supply of notions.  They have a website that is under construction (www.fiveeighthseams.com) and they do have quilting supplies and advertise a block of the month club.  You can see some of the blocks below.

The girls in the shop were very friendly and quite helpful.  I told them I was looking for something typical of Charleston.  I was informed that seersucker is THE most utilized fabric in the area and they had some adorable ones.  Many were embroidered with tiny flamingoes, crabs, and alligators on them.  The other fabric I was shown was a very lightweight corduroy, especially made for the southern heat and humidity.  The prints were adorable.  What I ended up purchasing was a pattern designed by the shop's owner, Debbie Brooke.  I do have 4 granddaughters, after all.  The dress is called The Birthday Dress; a Twirly Party Dress.  I couldn't resist.  The picture below is the actual dress on the pattern cover.  The pattern includes sizes 6m all the way up to size 12!  Such a good deal.  Now all I have to do is order the fabric and get home and get busy!  Too bad we aren't going to be here longer.  I would have loved to spend a day of "girl time" in the shop on Thursday sewing!!

Tomorrow we will do what we had planned for today,  The area downtown looks very interesting.  Stay tuned!