A River Cruise and More......

Welcome back on this most wonderful Tuesday at James Island.  Unlike yesterday, we did have a plan for today and it was great.  We were away from the campground by 8:15 this morning, and at Fort Sumter National Monument by 8:45.

There we bought tickets and boarded the boat for the 35 minute ride out to Fort Sumter.  There is so much history surrounding this former military installation, there is no way we can even begin to tell you all about it on our blog.  Needless to say, we both enjoyed this tour very much.

While waiting to board our tour boat, we did visit the exhibit at the boat dock.  Here we saw the 20ft by 30ft garrison flag which flew over Fort Sumter and a bale of cotton on a cotton scale.  Cotton was one of the cash crops of the Southern United States in the years prior to the Civil War.

In the next few pictures you can get an idea of the sights, the battle, and weather damage inflicted to Fort Sumter over the decades.

Here's the remains of the smaller storm flag which flew over Fort Sumter when Federal forces surrendered to Confederate forces in the opening days of the Civil War.  The Union commanding officer was allowed to take the flag with him as a condition of the fort's surrender.

Here's a interesting picture of the flags flying over Fort Sumter today.

After returning from our cruise, we walked downtown to the Charleston City Market. Here are a few of the sights we saw on our walk.

There we had a fabulous lunch at The Noisy Oyster, followed by a stroll from one end of the other through the market.

After leaving the market, we saw a "Life is Good" store, where we stopped and both bought a t-shirt.

  
Then a great Pedi-cab ride back to the parking garage (THANKS Conrad!) and it was back to the campground for a nice leisurely afternoon.

Finally, here's a picture of the "Official Tourist" picture we bought from our cruise.

Thanks for checking by today.  We have a few small adventures planned for tomorrow.  Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T, but no J.