Vacation in Charleston (1)

Early last Wednesday morning (20 November), my mom and I got a ride from our neighbor Ralph Sartori to St. Louis Lambert International Airport (https://www.flystl.com/). There, mom and I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, then connected with another flight to our destination, Charleston, South Carolina. After our flight arrived midday at Charleston International Airport (https://www.iflychs.com/) and we got our luggage, we made for the Enterprise Rent-A-Car (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) counter. I checked in at the counter and got the key to my rental vehicle, a Nissan Versa. I checked it out before picked up mom and our luggage, then headed for my brother Rick's house in Avondale.

Mom and I moved into a house next door that was unoccupied, which served as our guest house during our time in Charleston. Rick, his wife Melissa, and their two adopted children--Alex and Kate--greeted us that afternoon. We were at Rick's house for some meals and socializing. This day, we had lunch at the nearby Triangle Char & Bar (http://trianglecharandbar.com/). That night, we had a small party at the house for Kate, my goddaughter. She turned five years old Wednesday and Kate got some presents from the family. Those included a stencil drawing set from me.

The next day, we gathered for lunch at East Bay Deli (https://www.eastbaydeli.com/) not far from Rick's house.

I began exploring Charleston in earnest last Friday morning (22 November). Parking in a public garage, I began walking around downtown, going down to the Battery at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, where the Ashley and Cooper rivers flow into Charleston Harbor.

After that, I walked up to Liberty Square on the eastern part of the peninsula. There, I entered the visitor center for Fort Sumter National Monument (https://www.nps.gov/fosu/index.htm). I went through the displays there, including a replica of the garrison flag that flew over the Fort prior to the Confederate siege in April of 1861. Then, I waited with others for the ferry boat to take us to Fort Sumter, on Sullivan's Island in Charleston Harbor.

Along with other visitors, I boarded the Spirit of Charleston for the 30-minute boat ride to Fort Sumter. There, a park ranger told us about the background to the 1861 siege, which began the American Civil War. Then, we walked around the fort for about an hour, stopping by various sections.

We then got back aboard the Spirit of Charleston for the return trip to the visitor center. It was a most moving experience, being at a place where history was made in a most significant way.

That night, Rick's family, Mom, Melissa's father Neil, and I had dinner at Lewis Barbecue (https://lewisbarbecue.com/), where we had such a fine time. Neil lives in a senior center in Charleston. It was good to see him.

More on this vacation in my next post. Later.