Festival of Lights - Charleston SC

2We rang out the old year with a wonderful adventure.  We took the three mile drive around the Festival of Lights.  It is in one of Charleston's Parks sponsored by local businesses.  They say there are two million lights.  I believe it.  I have never seen anything like it.  Magnificent.

There were themes like the sea, toyland, candyland, nursery rhymes, America the Beautiful, religion, farming, Noah's ark, Charleston landmarks, dinosaurs, space, a sea monster in the lake and Santa on a motorcycle. There was even a golfer hitting a golf ball to a green!!!!

  

Fort Sumter SC - Where the Civil War Started

Patriots Point Park in Charleston is filled with all kinds of historical information.  The USS Yorktown is here and with 250,000 square feet to explore you can be busy for days.  We took this boat to Fort Sumter.

 Fort Sumter guards the Charleston SC harbor.  It is famous in US history as the place where the Civil War started.

My favorite story is about Major Robert Anderson and General P. G. T. Beauregard.  Before the Civil War they were good friends.  On December 20, 1860, South Carolina susceded from the Union.  P. G. T. Beauregard became the first prominent general for the Confederacy. 

Major Robert Anderson remained loyal to the Union.  He was the commanding officer at Fort Sumter when the first shot from the Confederacy that started the Civil War on April 12, 1861started a 34 hour battle.  Outnumbered and outgunned Anderson surrendered.  Because of their friendship General Beauregard negotiated an "evacuation" where Anderson and his men were allowed to take their arms and board Union ships in full honors.  Many people dispute the use of the word surrender. 

 Major Robert Anderson

P. G. T. Beauregard

Fort Moultrie SC

The first fort on Sullivan's Island was still incomplete when Commodore Sir Peter Parker and nine warships attacked it on June 28, 1776. After a nine-hour battle, the ships were forced to retire. Charleston was saved from British occupation, and the fort was named in honor of its commander, Colonel. William Moultrie. In 1780 the British finally captured Charleston, abandoning it only on the advent of peace.

In 1973 Fort Moultrie was use as one of the first of a system of coastal fortifications.  Neglect, a hurricane and fire over the years caused Fort Moultrie to be reconstructed three times.
 In December 1860 South Carolina seceded from the Union, and the Federal garrison abandoned Fort Moultrie for the stronger Sumter. The Civil war left Fort Moultire was buried under sand used to fortify its walls.

Fort Moultrie was modernized in the 1870s, employing concepts developed during the war. Huge new cannon were installed, and magazines and bombproofs were built of thick concrete, then buried under tons of earth to absorb the explosion of heavy shells. In 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed Secretary of War William C. Endicott to head a board to review the coastal defenses in light of newly developing weapons technology. The system that emerged, named for Endicott, again modernized the nation’s fortifications. New batteries of concrete and steel were constructed in Fort Moultrie. Larger weapons were emplaced elsewhere on Sullivan's Island, and the old fort became just a small part of the Fort Moultrie Military Reservation that covered much of the island.
 (Excerpted from the National Park Dept. website)

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston SC

What more can I say.  It is one amazing bridge!!!

Some Sights Around Charleston SC

Charleston's home are beautiful and historical.  The city fathers have shone foresight in providing regulations that perserve these wonderful homes.  The one below is over 20,000 square feet in size.  One of the largest in Charleston.

This area is called Rainbow Row. 

Some of the old parts of Charleston have cobblestone roads.  The cobblestones were brought over by the merchants coming to America.  They would weigh their empty ships down with them.  Charleston has regulations about these roads also.  Heavy trucks cannot use them.

This is "The Old Powder House".  It was built during the Civil War to protect the gun powder.  The walls are five feet thick.  It was believed not even the biggest canonball could penetrate it.  It was never tested though.

Remember, the Gershwin opera Porgy & Bess.  This alcove was the inspiration.  There actually as a man that had no legs and wheeled around on a board with wheels.  Gershwin was staying across the street when he wrote it.

This is the Citadel.  Currently, it is an academy that has produced many leaders. Numerous alumni have served as flag officers in all branches of our uniformed military services. They have served as governors, United States Senators and Congressmen, distinguished jurists, ambassadors, presidents of universities and colleges, prominent theologians, engineers, doctors, lawyers, writers and business executives in many diverse fields of endeavor.

The history of the Citadel is fascinating.  It has been a tobacco inspection site, a muster for militia units, a federal arsenal.  It saw the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and more...

The Old Jail building served as the Charleston County Jail from its construction in 1802 until 1939.  There are stories it is haunted.  It is said this jail was a BAD place to go and actually deterred crime in Charleston.