Charleston, Fort Pulaski on Tybee Island and Savannah Georgia

Charleston is the next city south of Myrtle Beach that we were told NOT to miss.  We used our passport America site our next two camps.  Lake Aire RV park was simple and reasonable just outside of Charleston.  The cold front continued and so we ventured into the Charleston in search of Rainbow Row, Battery Park and those famous horse drawn carriages. 

Driving into the historical district of Charleston.  Very cool city blocks

Beautiful waterfront homes in historical Charelston

Rainbow Row, Houses are painted specific colors every few years.  Owners have to abide.

Old Slaves Mart Museum, closed today.  Is the original market where slaves were bought and sold

 The Civil War history is rich here in the south. The remnants of plantations and black history surrounds us.  We are reading a great chapter book right now call "Dog Jack" about a slave boy who escapes to the north, is taken in by a fire station along with a stray dog, Jack.  They join the Union army.  It's a unique way for the kids to understand from a child's perspective what it felt like to live during that time. It's helped us to better understand that terrible part of American history and seeing the actual slave quarters on the plantations down here is a constant reminder.  The very physical reminders would seem, to me, to fuel the racial fire that burns hotter in this part of the country.  My hopeful spirit is always sparked as I watch the kids play interracially on the playgrounds we visit.  There isn't one bit of tension, of expectation, of bias there.  It's all equal funniness, giggles and games of tag. I wonder how many generations it takes to heal those wounds.

I think it's rebellion against walking in the cities.  Or maybe it's just kids entertaining themselves.

Typical landscape here

Magnolia Plantation which is still owned and run by the 12th generation family members

We continued on down the road to Savannah, Georgia.  A really cool excursion was to Fort Pulaski on Tybee Island, just a few miles south of the city.  It was a fort where the Union took over the Confederate soldiers in a short battle.  We saw the prison where the Confederate soldiers were held in horrible conditions.  Freezing through the winter, eating rats and insects and starving.  The concept that these were "brothers fighting brothers" still floors me. 

Bunks that the "immortal 600" shared in prison

Elise and Alex walk the draw bridge over the moat into the Fort

Elise sat on the fort edge overlooking the interior

All three kids earned Jr Ranger badges here

 Onto downtown Savannah which has such a rich history.  It was given to Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas gift from General Sherman (Union army) who did not destroy the city in the famous "March to the Sea" from Atlanta.  He had burned Atlanta to the ground and the soldiers had destroyed and displaced women and children as they marched towards the water.  Sherman did not destroy the city because it was too beautiful, so the story goes.  The historical downtown is a marvelous glimpse into original buildings and pathways.

River front stores and cobblestone

World War II memorial along the walk



Testing out the local baked goods is always a must with the kids.

   

This is what happens with a top bike rack in Savannah

 

I took the kids to some parks in Savannah the previous day and got to talk to a "northerner" woman who had moved to Savannah 3 years ago.  She was telling me that the racial tension in this area is so prominent.  She told me a story about taking her boys into a barber shop to get a cut and they ended up in tears with how horrible they were treated.  It's changed where she ventures in the city.  It's hard for me to understand why people in this day and age still treat each other so poorly. It feels darkened and truly, it's not a place I desire to return to any time soon.