Charles Towne Landing

Today was the last day of school!!  There was some question if this was going to be the last day or not, but on Wednesday at 4:30, the Governor signed the bill waiving those last two make up days.
I thought we should do something fun, since school was out at 10:30am!   When we went to the scout store to get Lon's Webelo uniform we did some exploring. We passed the entrance for Charles Towne Landing.  Looked like it could be something fun.
Today was the day we found out!

The entrance of the park.

So happy to be outside and out of school
We bought a pass, so we can continue to go to all the fun State parks all year long.
I had read on line that they had a restaurant, but they closed that a while ago.

In the exhibit hall.

A replica of the Caroline, the ship that brought the first settlers to Charles Towne. They chose this spot because it was more easily defended than the peninsula that Charleston now sits on.  One of the reasons that Charles Towne was founded, was for timber to the sugar plantations in Barbados.

We were happy to know that there was a shuttle to the ship Adventure. It was a mile and a half through the park.  It was also HOT, about 90.  Sadly when we got to the shuttle spot, the man running the shuttle was going to take some time off and not be back till after 1.  So walking we would go!

A statue of the Kiawah Chief that helped the English settlers
The marker near there reads:
The Kiawah chief, or Cassique, invited the new English settlers to build their village here at Albemarle Point. The arrangement had immediate benefits for both the Kiawah and the English.
The Kiawah often fought against the Westos, an aggressive tribe who lived along the Savannah River. The Westos used European guns to raid other tribes’ coastal villages. With help from the English settlers – and their English guns – the Kiawah could better defend themselves against their longtime enemy
In return, the Kiawah helped the English feed, clothe and shelter themselves during their early years in a wild an untamed land.

The tree stumps tell a little story about the trees. They had a bald cypress, this nutty pecan, and Mrs. Warring's magnolia.  Pretty interesting. 

Playing with a mini cannon in the palisade

He would not get in the stocks. No matter how much I cajoled. 

 A beautiful spot for a home. 

Lon did not think people could have actually lived there as there was no  wooden floor and not much space.  

 There was a skittles lane set up. So Lon gave it a try. He got a spare!  He reset the pins and put the ball back.  

The park is beautiful

We made it down to the ship!!
This is a display of the yard arm and a ship being built. 

Talking to Tim aboard the Adventure.  The ship was used to transfer cargo between Charles Towne,  Barbados and New York. She was not built for trans atlantic crossings

View from the bow

Ranger Tim teaching Lon about the Bilge Pump

Looking for Fiddler Crabs. 

the ribs

Looking for male fiddler crabs
The Adventure is not a big ship. 

Found the male fiddler crabs

Cardinals. They are such pretty little birds!

Lon pointed it out to me, I did not see him at first

In South Carolina, they have State Jr. Ranger badges.
They have three levels you have to complete to get a backpack. Lon did level one today. They printed him a certificate with his name on it and gave him a badge.  We can finish up the next two levels at two other state parks.  The booklet was not difficult. The books are generic, so the ranger gave us the next two level booklets to take with us.

Just as we were about to leave, the thunder clapped and the lightening flashed. The skies opened up and the rain came down.   We waited a few minutes, and what we thought was a winding down of the rain, turned out to be a lull. We got soaked.
It was a fun day!