Ships and Forts

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Geo: 32.7812, -79.9316

Renee and I went to Patriots Point. This is one of the
world's largest military maritime museums. We again managed to arrive
early enough to be the first ones in line to buy tickets. Got onto the
10:45 Fort Sumter tour, which gave us plenty of time to tour the USS
Yorktown and USS Laffey. We were glad to be there in the morning as it
was already warm in the ships. We toured the living quarters on the
Yorktown as well as the flight deck and engine room. The flight deck
was a great place to cool off and get some good views of Charleston and
the harbor. The Yorktown serves a Navy style lunch in the CPO Galley.
We could not get the lunch because of our Fort Sumter tour, but it
looked like they were serving meatballs with gravy and some other
stuff. Probably delicious. After the Yorktown, we toured the USS
Laffey, a destroyer that was part of the D-Day invasion at Normandy.
The submarine that is part of Patriots Point is closed for repairs
through mid-summer.

We were second in line to get on the boat to Fort Sumter and found great
seats right at the back of the boat by the railing. We saw several
dolphins on our way out and back from the fort. A park ranger greets
you at Fort Sumter and offers a short history talk. The original fort
was much taller than the remains and was supposed to hold a garrison of
over 600 men. The 85 Union troops who occupied her for the beginning of
the Civil War managed to hold off for 4 or 5 days before surrendering.
NO casualties were reported, but 2 men died in the 100 gun salute that
the Confederate Army allowed after the surrender. So the first two
casualties of the Civil War weren't even during a battle. You have 1
hour on the fort after the boat arrives and that is plenty of time to
walk around and explore. The entire trip is 2-1/4 hours. I think it's
well worth it.

Renee and I wanted to go back to the beach for the hot afternoon so we
got lunch, got our swimsuits and headed back to Folly Beach. Well, the
traffic for the last few miles was at a crawl and then there were no
parking spots that we could find so we just turned around and sat at the
pool at the motel instead.

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