Charleston II



        Charleston really is a charming city; I don't think we've had the full experience because it's been so cold. We've missed the casual walks through antebellum neighborhoods and coffee in sidewalk cafes, but we've still seen and learned a lot. Like it's no accident that South Carolina was the first state to secede (we were at Fort Sumter this afternoon) because its entire economy in the 19th Century was dependent (they thought) on slavery.



    We did do some touring--along the Battery and the seemingly endless side streets, down King Street from Planet Smoothie to the high-end shops near the old open air market, and through the market itself with its tables and booths of local crafts and Civil War t-shirts. To my amazement, I ran across a print of Joshua Chamberlain leading the charge down the hill at Little Round Top; what would Strom Thurmond think? What did he think at the time?




Speaking of downtown, how's this for a theater marquee? I don't want to know what you have to do to get an award in gastroenterology, but whatever it is, the lawyers are on it.

    One of our stops was at the terrific Charleston museum, the oldest museum in the United States. It was very well done, with a lot of local history; I found the images of slavery on the rice plantations especially moving, and appalling. Now, barely a hundred years later, we are incredulous that such an institution could exist in our midst, and somewhat piously judge those benighted souls who maintained and fought for it. I devoutly hope that we are, in fact, more enlightened, but which of us would brave the censure of our peers, given a different context?

    The vote for secession in the South Carolina convention of December, 1860 (the precipitating factor was Lincoln's election a month before), for example, was unanimous.


   



  Remember Education? On a trip like this, it takes place all the time and all over the place. For example, here's Mary and Molly at the Charleston Aquarium at a hands-on tank of various sea creatures. If it possible to photograph the elusive "teachable moment", this is it.
The Aquarium was cool; it had the usual big tanks with sharks, turtles, huge sea bass, and a supporting cast of thousands. (What I've never understood about these tanks is how they get the sharks to swim around with all those other fish without eating them up. Are they on weight watchers or something?)  A friend of mine refers to this as a "fish zoo", but this one went further. There was a mountain steam, complete with otters, a lot of hands-on tanks, and even some exotic birds. OK, it wasn't all education; after a couple of hours at the Aquarium, we went next door to see The Lion King at the I-Max. You haven't lived until you've seem Pumba and Timone on a screen five stories high.


Molly at a smaller tank, with the tropical guys. I can never get over the colors.




    We went to the aquarium the day after the Super Bowl; as you can see, Ben had already been already a Bucs fan. I'll bet this was one of the first Warren Sapp jerseys to show up in Charleston.

    Every aquarium should have a couple of macaws.










    Here's another shot of Ben; no special story, I just liked the picture. Mary and I could tell in a second it was him; you know the slightest nuance in your own kid's stance.










On our final day in Charleston, Ben and I visited the aircraft carrier Yorktown; this is our third naval vessel museum in as many weeks, plus a visit to Annapolis--not a conscious tilt toward the Navy, but it's just seemed to happen. In the afternoon, we went to Fort Sumter where we met another terrific National Park guide, learned a lot, and ran into our first people from Maine (it had to happen).




This poster stands at the entrance to the Fort Sumter museum where you catch the boat out into the harbor. The flag in the background is a replica of the one which flew over the fort the morning of April 12, 1861 when the Confederate bombardment began. The remnants of the real one are in a case just below. 


    This is Gary Alexander, another National Park guide who did a great job of making the history of "his" place come alive. One of the things he told us, for example, was that Fort Sumter was built on a sand bar which had to be enlarged and strengthened before it could serve as the foundation for the fort. So what did they ship in by the ton? Maine granite, of course.    

    Bet you didn't know that the most famous historical site in the South was really, at it's base, part of the Maine coast.



Here's Mary; ain't she great?                   

 
                And here are John and Beth Hodgkins of Yarmouth, Maine. He is retired from our DOT and we had met at the annual Blaine House maple tree tapping last spring.


 Another teachable moment; Molly gets a lesson in dishwashing in the RV from Mom.



Next stop, Savannah, Georgia and there's even some talk of warm weather. See you there!