Fort Sumter

Today Lon had an early release day. School was over at 11 am. The rest of the day was free!  We thought we should do something fun! Lon had yet to get a Jr. Ranger badge from South Carolina, so we thought going to Fort Sumter would be tons of fun!

We made it to the ferry by noon! This was great! 6 whole minutes to spare. The next ferry was at 2:30. The National Parks Service had a concession that runs the ferry, so there is a fee, but the park itself is free. They tell you on the web site that if you have your own boat, feel free to come on over.
Lon is so excited to see the Fort. He is standing on the bow of the ferry with the Ravenel Bridge behind him.

The Yorktown at Patriots Point. Lon REALLY wants to go there.  We will soon.

St Phillips Church, you can see it from all over the city.

Fort Sumter!  At one time the fort rose over 50 feet from low tide.

Lon taking it all in

Cannons!

Diorama!

The museum, at first we were the only people there. Other people came in later.

The Palmetto Guard Flag
Lon had to draw a copy of it for his Jr. Ranger Badge

Looking for the ghost in the flag. Mark told us there was a legend about a ghost imprint on this flag. It is supposed to be image of the first man killed at Fort Sumter, a man named Daniel Hough.

Found it. Four stars down, three over.

Hey Mom! Look, I think I see porpoise !!!

There were a lot of porpoise out there. They were circling a school of fish. Ever smaller circles so they could all have a nice lunch.  The pelicans were also having a snack, courtesy of the porpoise.  There was a crowd of people watching the show.

Back inside the fort. Reading all the signs, learning all he could about the fort.

Yet another view of St. Phillips.

Lon looking out toward Charleston

Lon is having so much fun looking at everything.

some of the ruins of the walls

The 10 minute ranger call has already gone out, time to head back to the ferry.  Lon is not really ready to leave yet.  The great thing about living here, is we can go back!

Lon was taking as many pictures are he could. He was experimenting with his camera. In between taking pictures, he finished up his Jr Ranger paperwork. With the exception of ONE question! We could not find the answer anywhere. We both looked

Back inside at Liberty Square.  Reading more, learning more about the fort.

Even though this is blurry, this is Lon getting his Jr Ranger badge.
Lon went up to the Ranger and asked him if he could help him figure out who the first person killed at Fort Sumter was. The Ranger said, that question is there so you have to find a Ranger and ask them.  So, Lon asked him, and he told him Daniel Hough. Then they shook hands and Lon got his Jr. Ranger badge!  #29

They have a fun thing here. Lon gets to sign his name on a giant sticker and place it on the wall of fame.

Lon's sticker!
Then our time was done at Fort Sumter. It was earlier than we planned so we thought we would walk around the grounds of Liberty Square and see what was there.

Lon in front of a bush filled with butterflies.  He was amazed at all the butterflies, flitting around, one almost landed on him !  He was so thrilled with that!!

We went down past the Aquarium, which we will go back to, and we found this at the end of the walk way.

The gate was next to the Irish Memorial. Who knew there was one in Charleston?  Tucked away down a path, near the cargo loading docks.

This lovely bird was walking down the water's edge.
It was time to go back home.  The weather was beautiful. Lon and I had a great time!  We will have to go back and show Daddy how cool it is!