Fort Sumter

My favorite part of visiting Charleston was seeing Ft. Sumter. It's out in the harbor and you have to take a boat to see it. The tickets are $16, but well worth it. I had heard about the battle, and had seen maps, but it was hard to picture for me. Looking out from Charleston, the fort looks to tiny and lonely out there.
It started the Civil War because it was pretty much the last thing federal government had control of in the south. And it wasn't just in the south, but in South Carolina. For at least the first part of our nation's history South Carolina was just a little hard to get along with. It made a law that said it didn't have to obey any federal laws they didn't agree with. That was mostly in opposition to what they called the Tariff of Abominations.  "Abominations"? Really? Kind of strong, don't you think? That's even a little much for you SC. And yes, the first to secede from the Union and then the fired the first shots of the Civil War. In the past hundred years or so, they seemed to have calmed down quite a bit and now SC seems to be exceptionally polite.

I was careful not to get my hopes up as is my new philosophy now, but I don't think I would have been disappointed in any case. The boat trip out there was fun. They gave us an optional 5 minute talk, then we had about 45 minutes just to wander around. A great little excursion.