Fort Sumter

To get to Fort Sumter, you have to take a ferry, which departs from a pier right next door to the South Carolina Aquarium. The boat was scheduled to leave at 2:30, so we arrived around 2:15 to make sure we could get tickets and board in time.

Once on the ferry, we settled in on one of the decks to hang out while we waited to depart for the fort. Today, instead of horses, Gavin was obsessed with WATER. :) No matter where we were on the boat or the fort, G just wanted to see the WATER.

Before the boat even started moving, we saw a dolphin or two:

We also took pics of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

Another first for Nora on this trip... first time on a boat!

Once we started moving, it got really cold really fast, so we went inside and took seats at a table and enjoyed the ride. If you're interested, they have a recording playing over the loud speaker that talks a lot about the Civil War and the history of Fort Sumter. While I do find American history really fascinating, I was distracted by Nora and found it difficult to focus on listening. Plus, recorded tracks are kind of boring, you know? I think it would've benefited from a real, live person speaking to us about it... it would've been more engaging.

The ferry ride was about 30 minutes out to the fort, at which time we all disembarked and entered Fort Sumter.

(A pic of the ferry.)

Once inside the fort, Gavin's new obsession became pushing his own stroller. There was something really funny about watching an innocent little guy playing amongst cannons.

Nora, on the other hand, fell asleep in her stroller as I was wheeling her off the ferry, so she napped in the company of cannons.

Some of the original brick walls.

After exploring the ground level, we went up the stairs and entered the museum. After reading about the history of Fort Sumter and viewing the exhibits, we exited to the upper level of the fort to take in all of the views.

It was such a beautiful afternoon!

During our tour of the Boone Hall Plantation house yesterday, our guide told us about how slaves used to make bricks. He told us that if we went out to Fort Sumter, we should pay special attention to the bricks laid there. If you look closely, you can see the fingerprints of the slaves who made them. Sure enough...

...you can most certainly see the finger impressions. I was completely fascinated by this. What an amazing piece of history.

Look at this one. You can see the impression of almost an entire hand. It's haunting, really. I ran my fingers over the prints and took a minute to think about the slaves whose hands had made them.

We took a few more pictures...

...and then it was time to get back on the ferry so it could depart to go back to shore. All in all, we had about an hour to explore the fort.

Back on the boat, we killed time by playing with the kids. Having had a fairly decent nap in her stroller at the fort, she was in a pretty good mood:

Back at the hotel, we were anxious to find a place to eat and get there so that we could actually get the babies to bed on time tonight. After hemming and hawing over where to go, and ultimately asking the front desk for some recommendations, we ended up at King Street Grille.

GOOD CHOICE. It was exactly what we were in the mood for, and we were welcomed with open arms--babies, strollers, and all. We were seated in a loft section of the restaurant, so we felt out of the way and comfortable there. The food was really good. I had a turkey club on a pretzel roll (holy deliciousness!), Michael had herb-encrusted salmon, Dave had a spicy paella, and Lynsay had a reuben sandwich. The menu offered a nice variety of food, so there was something for everyone, and thankfully, we all enjoyed our selections.

On the walk back to our hotel, we swung by Cupcake, a cupcake bakery. Michael and I picked up a s'mores cupcake and an almond cupcake, while Dave and Lynsay got a s'mores cupcake, a carrot cupcake, and a chocolate cake pop for Gavin. We got them to go so we could let our dinners digest a little bit and get the kids in bed before we enjoyed them.

We stretched Nora's bedtime until we could get the majority of our stuff packed up, as we have to leave for the airport fairly early in the morning. Once we got her in her pajamas and fed her, she went down really easily again. Thank goodness for a baby who has traveled pretty well so far, despite being sick.

We just ate our cupcakes a while ago, and while they were good, I wouldn't call them fantastic. There was SO.MUCH.FROSTING on them (and I am a frosting lover!), we had to scrape off the majority of it. The almond one had really great and distinct almond flavor, but the s'mores one didn't really taste much like s'mores. I couldn't even really pick out a graham cracker-like flavor, either. I actually feel sick to my stomach now, though I can't really blame the cupcakes. I have eaten A LOT of crap today, so it's probably cumulative. Don't get me wrong, it was all delicious, but definitely not healthy! (That's what vacations are for, right?)

We're calling it a night. Hopefully we can get some sleep for our day of traveling tomorrow. Fingers crossed that Nora handles the trip home as well as she did the trip down here!