Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina

April 2, 2009

Except for one day on my History Tour, I had lovely weather. As fate would have it, the "one day" occurred during my visit to Charleston. Except for about one hour, it rained the whole day. Pretty much flooded the historic section of Charleston - I was unaware parts of the city sit below sea level. There was about 6 inches of standing water in the older section of town while I was taking my bus tour. It made me very glad I was not able to book the B&B I found in that area. I was also very glad I was not walking around that section of the city either.

The rain would flood Congaree National Park as well, which was on the agenda for tomorrow.

But for today, I was in Charleston. I'd planned to go out to Fort Sumter early in the morning, which I did do. Since Fort Sumter occupies an island in the middle of the harbor, there is no other way to arrive there than via boat. It took about 1 hour each way for the journey, and we were allowed 1 hour at the Fort. The best weather of the day occurred while I was on the island - for most, if not all, of the hour the rain STOPPED!

Very brief history, since most of us know this already. Fort Sumter was where the first shots were fired during the United States Civil War. There was a battle, which the Confederacy eventually won. The Fort was also used in coastal defense during World War II, but since then the military decided the cost to maintain it was too high and it was"decommissioned". The National Park Service acquired the site, and tourists have been visiting ever since.

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