Charleston, South Carolina

Yes, It's true, I'm in South Carolina! It doesn't look or feel a lot different from Florida, though.

Charleston, the city that we're staying in, is a great place with a ton to do! My grandma and grandpa came to visit us from their condo in Myrtle Beach. They stayed at a Comfort Inn close to the marina that we were anchored off of.

The first night, once hugs and kisses were done, we all went out to a restaurant called Pearlz. It was delicious!  My mom and Wren loved the raw oyster bar (Ewww!), and my grandparents and my dad had fun sampling the wide variety of fresh seafood. I am not much of a seafood fan (except for fish), so I ordered linguine with butter and garlic.

greetings!

The next morning, we went to the Charleston Aquarium. It was so much fun! They had lots of sharks and rays, and tons of other fish. Most of them we'd already seen in the Bahamas, but it was still cool anyway. My favorite exhibit was the otters. I love otters. They are so playful! I also liked the albino crocodile, great blue heron, and the bald eagle.

oooooooooooooh!

We also went to the 4-D show about sea monsters. That was awesome! The fourth dimension was moving seats! There was a little tube with a feather on the end that whipped around your feet, making everyone gasp. There was also a plastic rod that poked into your back at scary moments. I scooted forward in my seat to avoid being poked again, and once I discovered that the two little holes in the seat before me sprayed water, I plugged them with my fingers and grinned as a giant sea monster jumped out of the water, "splashing" my grandma, who screamed her head off, while I didn't feel a single drop.

Sea Monsters in 4-D

After the aquarium, we went to Fort Sumter National Monument, where we all got a history lesson about the Civil War, which wasn't as bad as it sounds...

Fort Sumter

When Abraham Lincoln became president in 1860, he declared it illegal to have slaves. The northern states were fine with this, since they had gotten rid of slavery a while ago, but the southern states, who had plantations and needed slaves to make money, were furious. So furious that the day after Lincoln's presidency began, they said that they no longer wanted to be part of the U.S. They wanted to become their own country with their own rules. They proceeded to act on this by taking over the four forts off of Charleston harbor. Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, and Castle Pinckney.

Lincoln didn't approve and sent 85 soldiers and Robert Anderson (commander of the Union troops) to South Carolina to defend the forts. Anderson settled into Fort Moultrie, then realizing it was very vulnerable, snuck his men into Fort Sumter at night. When General Beauregard (commander of the Confederate troops) found out, he was angry and told Anderson he had one hour to leave before he would open fire on Fort Sumter. One hour passed and Anderson hadn't left. Beauregard gave him another half hour, but Anderson still didn't leave.  Then, on April 12, 1860 at 3:20 am, Beauregard gave the command to fire the signal shot, letting the other forts in the area know that the battle was starting. That was the first shot of the Civil War. 

For 36 hours, forts from Charleston harbor bombarded Fort Sumter. Anderson and his men returned fire a few times, but mostly just stood back and watched. When the men's barracks caught fire and most of his guns were unusable, he surrendered under three conditions: #1, there would be no prisoners of war, meaning Anderson and his troops could all get home safely. #2, the Union got to keep the American flag. And, #3, Anderson would be considered a war hero. Beauregard consented and Fort Sumter, now reduced to a pile of brick, its 5-foot thick walls crumbled, was his.

Fortunately, no one was killed during the first battle, however, Private David Hough lost his life when a cannon misfired during the Surrender Ceremony.

Wren and I working on earning our Jr. Ranger badges

Grilling the intern for info

Piece of cake

When Anderson got home safely, Lincoln started making an army. He said that anyone who wanted to fight, could. It was probably more successful than forcing men into signing. Thousands showed up, wanting to fight.  Including many freed African American slaves!

And, so, the north and the south went to war, the north winning and demolishing slavery.

Pretty cool, huh? I think so.

That night, we said goodbye to our grandparents, but it was temporary. We are going to sail up to visit them at their condo in Myrtle Beach in a few days. I'm so excited!

Miss you all,

Riley  

The Kingsley Plantation

Slaves at Kingsley Plantation 

The Kingsley Plantation is a National Park located on Fort George Island off the ICW (Intra-Coastal Waterway). Thousands of enslaved African Americans were brought here to grow cotton, rice, fruits, and vegetables. The people have now perished, but what remains, a kitchen house, barn, slave cabins, wells, main parlor, and several gardens, is all over 200 years old.

Plantation layout

Reading about slave trade routes.  (Kiawah, anchored in the background)

Dad explains how the holds of ships were designed to carry as many slaves as possible, packed in like sardines.  It was very sad.

The slave cabins (built by slaves themselves) were made out of a cement-like substance called tabby. Tabby is made from oyster shells, water and sand. First you put the oyster shells in a fire, making them crumbly, then you shovel the burnt oyster shells into a bucket of salt water. The oyster shells create a chemical reaction, causing them to break down and make a goo. Then you add sand, making it thicker. Put some whole oyster shells in, and you're good to go! The cabins contained a bench, fire place, and a sleeping area.

Slave cabin made of tabby

Only half of the semi-circle of slave cabins

The plantation was owned by Zephaniah Kingsley, and his wife, Anna Kingsley. Anna was once a slave, believe it or not. Here's the story:

Zephaniah bought Anna in Haiti,  and on the ship back to America, he fell in love with her. Anna gave birth to his son, secretly, on the ship. When they got back to America, he freed Anna and their son, and he and Anna were married. Later on, Anna had two more sons.  Anna lived on the Kingsley Plantation as a slave driver, although, she never treated her slaves harshly.

Crazy, isn't it?

Zephaniah was Spanish. The Spanish believed in the task system. Each slave had one task to get done each day. As soon as that task was done, they could have the rest of the day off.  

The tabby slave cabins were arranged in a semi-circle, because in Anna's hometown, that's how the villagers would arrange their houses. I thought that was pretty cool.

The Kingsley plantation is now owned by Timucan National Preserve, and they have made it a really beautiful place.  But I was very sad to see how the slaves were treated, even at Kingsley Plantation with Anna in charge.  I think slavery is wrong.  Taking people from their home, chaining them to a ship and forcing them to work for nothing just because of their skin color is sickening.  I can see why the people in the south weren't happy when Abe Lincoln said that he wanted to abolish slavery.  They were all relying on slaves to make all their money!  I am really glad that the north won the Civil War and people realized that slavery is wrong.

Love,

Riley

P.S. I am really sorry I haven't been responding to any of your comments. I just wanted you to know that I am reading them all, and they are really wonderful! Hope you understand...