March 12, 2019
It had taken 7 years to get to this point, sitting on the ferry riding across Charleston Harbor to Fort Sumter. In the past my attempted visits had been foiled by a freak tropical rainstorm, lack of time and lastly a government shutdown. This time it was going to happen. I didn’t care if it was just a boring old fort (as my daughter would say), it had been my nemesis since we arrived in the U.S. 7 years earlier.
Fort Sumter was remarkable in that you could see 3 or 4 different eras in the one fort. It had been rebuilt and areas added from just after the War of 1812 right up to the Spanish-American War in 1898. It was deactivated in 1947 and became a National Monument in 1948. One of the most amazing items on display at the fort is the original flag that was flying at the fort when the first shots were fired at the fort to begin one of the most bloody wars in history – The American Civil War.
On the ferry ride back to Charleston we were lucky enough to be at the front of the boat when a school of dolphins decided to have fun trying to outrun the boat.
