Friday, December 20th

Today took us to Charleston, SC.  Pronounced, "CHalston" with a large emphasis on CH and no R!  So after crossing yet again another awesome bridge, we missed our exit.  Somebody tells us one thing and the signs say something else!  So turned around and there wasn't the same exit coming the other way, so back across the bridge we went.  Luckily the 2nd time worked.  Then parking.....well not always the easiest with the long bed truck.  Finally after driving around decided on a meter on the street.  Guess what - no quarters.  Really, do you haul $5 of quarters in your purse!  So I set off on foot for change.  First place, sorry!  2nd and 3rd places very helpful in giving me $5 each.  Ok, so now we're finally set.  We start out and a few blocks down, I ask if anyone locked my door.  You see it has to be done manually and since I wasn't sitting in the truck, only leaning over the seat figuring out the quarters/meter and such, I didn't do the normal: get out, lock door, and close!  So after Jeff so happily went back to lock the truck, it was at least noon!  Has anyone else had days like this in your travels!?!?

Our first real stop was The Old Slave Mart Museum.  Wow, what a horrible thing!  This museum was in the same exact building where they used to buy and sell human beings in the mid-1800s.  They didn't care about tearing families apart, it was all about the dollar figure and how much that slave could earn for them.  We learned that not every single black person was a slave; some of them escaped of course, but some were able to buy their freedom if they were lucky enough to have an owner with a little bit of a conscience.  

Next was a ferry ride to Fort Sumter that is located on an island.  Fort Sumter is where the Civil War began.  Another big history day:  153 years ago TODAY, December 20th, South Carolina was the first state to secede from the United States.  Fort Sumter was held by the Union.  When they refused to give up the fort to the Confederates, the first shot of the Civil War began on April 12, 1861.  34 hours later, the Union surrendered.  

Enough history for today?  Tomorrow we're going back for a carriage ride and a nice lunch.  (Oh, and we'll probably have some more history too!)  We're told 'CHalston' has 37 out of the top 100 restaurants in the country.  Guess we need to try one out!                 **Sara