Charleston

We had such an interesting day yesterday. We went to view the Hunley. This is a man powered submarine used by the Confederacy to sink the Union's Housatonic in Charleston harbor. It was discovered by the non-profit NUMA run by author Clive Clussler and his son Dirk (Clive writes the Dirk Pitt novels on which the movie Sahara was based). Seven men sat on a bench side by side and reached across to rotate gears that looked kind of like bicycle pedals. One man in the front looked out a telescope like device until he found a ship then they would shoot their one harpoon like device at the ship with a small barrel of explosives attached. They weren't sure if they detonated on impact or if there was some kind of timing device. Anyway, the night they sunk the Housatonic, the sub and crew disappeared and no one could find it until Cussler's NUMA in 1995. It was found further out to see than the ship it sank. They don't really know why the crew didn't come back but they were all sitting in their spots in the sub - side by side when they found it. The captain had a 'lucky' $20 gold piece, a woman's ring, and a brooch in his pocket with lots of diamonds in them ( Very pretty after it got all shined up :). Just an amazing thing.

Next we went to the harbour and had lunch while waiting for our turn at the Ft. Sumter tour. During lunch our son announced that he "wished you guys would tell me what we are doing before we do it so I can stop you from doing something stupid like this tour." And he said this as humbly and with as much care and concern for our feelings as he could. I started laughing and couldn't stop. Brad and/or I spend 30 minutes to 1-1/2 hours thinking and planning and reading about things to do every evening while Dylan watches TV. Brad started laughing and we couldn't stop for about 5 minutes. Ft. Sumter turned out to be very interesting and entertaining despite earlier opinions expressed :).

We have been to many national parks where the park ranges have to give talks about what we are seeing. They have always been really interesting. This talk was given by a Charleston boy who said if you didn't like the fact that he was Southern then 'I am so get over it'. The walls of Ft. Sumter are 5 feet thick. During the civil war the cannon balls couldn't penetrate it so 35 or so Union soldiers sat in the fort while hundreds of confederate soldiers bombarded the fort for a day or so. Finally, the confederate side got smart and heated a cannon ball up and aimed for the officer's quarters and set it on fire. Which happened to be right next to the gunpowder storage room. :) After that the fort stayed in Confederate hands until they deserted it during a retreat by all confederate soldiers further south. (I hope I remember this all correctly.)
The fort was built by the Army Corps of Engineers by bringing in granite and stone from New England because originally there was no island at that point. So - we were standing on Yankee soil right there in Charleston harbour. lol.

We were going to the beach after that but the rains have moved in here. They have been experiencing a drought and it sounds like it will be raining off and on until I leave. I just have one week left! Now it feels like it has gone by very fast.

We are heading to Hilton Head today to eat lunch at the Salty Dog Cafe. Then to Savannah to experience 90 degree weather w/ 100% humidity. NOW it feels like we are in the SOUTH!!!

Love You All and Miss You!!
Michelle