Day 21 Fort Sumter and Boone Hall

Day 21

I prepared my back pack last night. Everything warm that I had was in the bag. Same breakfast as yesterday, with me supplying the bread. The eggs were better today.

The tour bus took me to the port to catch the ferry over to Sumter Fort. The Parks Service has a great display in the building while you are waiting. We were the first ferry for the day. So the day’s staff came over with us. The boat commentary was excellent and there was only about 60 people on board. It was cold when we boarded but as we moved across the water it became progressively colder. Soon I was wearing everything and only my glasses showing.

The “cruise” lasts for half an hour.

We landed at the fort, which is much reduced from its original 3 tier /54 foot height and five foot thick walls. It was originally built in 1861, as one of the many new forts on the coast to protect America after the 1812 War. In 1863 it was shelled by the Union for 20 months, marking the first shots fired in that war and was subsequently decimated. It was partially restored for the Spanish/ American War in 1898, The Parks Service took it over in 1947. Many artifacts are under tons of soil used by the army to bury the “rubbish” and to prepare it for WW1/2. Because we were first for the day we helped raise the flag.  I did learn that it goes up fast to symbolise the rise of America and down slowly to remember all those who have served their country. Not sure if that is the same for all countries?

We had about an hour on the manmade island. Mostly created by enslaved people and using locally made bricks. The information over there was interesting for the history buffs too. However a word of caution the gift shop is minimal. The boat had some snacks for sale, but my lunch consisted of a packet of chips, yoghurt I had bought with me and an apple. We went past the USS Yorktown an aircraft carrier now a museum which saw service and is possibly most famous as the pickup ship for the crew on Apollo 8 mission.

We went back to Charleston and I caught the tour bus to go to Boone Hall. It took half an hour to get there and while the original plantation was huge, it is much smaller now. At one stage it was 4500 acres, now 738 acres. Over history it has been a famous for indigo, cotton, pecans and brick works. A hurricane wiped out the majority of pecan trees. The boll weevil infestation wiped out the cotton. The indigo export was destroyed during the Revolution when England found India could produce the crop. The production of up to 4 million bricks a year by 85 slaves was destroyed with emancipation.

While this house is relatively modern, 1954, it was built in an antebellum style on the site of previous homes. The gardens would be lovely in season. Today it had butterflies settling on many of the flowers. It is the surviving slave homes and other sundry buildings which had more interest for me. Originally there were 27 slave homes, now just 9 remain each with a special theme inside telling the story of the enslaved people over time. The “Gullah” demonstration was a highlight. She was brilliant in telling the story of the Gullah (many of the enslaved from this area came from Angola). The Gullah were especially chosen to work in the rice production because they had rice in Africa. This plantation quickly moved into cotton. 

We were picked up at 3:40 and came back over the bridge. Below you could see reclaimed land. The river is constantly dredged and the silt is spread over the area and allowed to settle creating new islands or enlarging the mainland.

Back at the hotel, I did the usual downloading but this time I was being “interrupted” by people wanting to talk. Dinner was at a local Chinese restaurant- the only Gf item on the entire menu was steamed chicken and vegetables, with no sauce and plain boiled rice. But at only $9, it tasted fine, just a little bland. Definitely filled up the gap left by today’s lack of substance.

Back to the hotel and chatted to two different couples while trying to type.