Ships, Forts, Shrimp and Grits

10/26 - 10/30/12
KOA
Mt Pleasant/Charleston, SC

Part 3 of  4
10/28

A windy day, mostly sunny, the hurricane Sandy has moved north with no effects here in Charleston.  We toured the USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier that is now a museum.  The Yorktown was commissioned in 1943.  The Carrier played a significant role in the Pacific offensive which began in late 1943 and ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945.  Yorktown received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 11 battle stars for World War 11 service.  The Yorktown was featured in"The Fighting Lady" and "Tora, Tora, Tora"  This was the first time I have toured an Aircraft Carrier.  When we lived in Everett there were times that we could have toured the Lincoln, which was stationed there, but never had the time.  Luckily though I have seen the Lincoln come in and depart many times, mostly due to the building that I worked in had a terrific unobstructed view of the Port of Everett the Lincoln and the entire Navy Port.

On the right is the catapult (the red gadget)  that shot the planes off the carrier like a slingshot.

Here I am on The Bridge, what a view.

He doesn't look more than 15 years old.

 Next was a boat trip out to Fort Sumter.

On the return from Fort Sumter we cruised around the bow of the USS Lexington

Later in the afternoon we started the preparations for denner, shrimp and grits for 36 people.

The guys here are peeling and cutting up the shrimp and grating the cheese.

You have to do a lot of measuring when you are making shrimp and grits for 36 people.











I don't like grits, but this was the BEST EVER.  I have never had shrimp and grits, it's a Southern dish, the people that have had this dish before also said this was the very best they have ever had.

The men did all the cleaning. Yea!!!

Everyone had a deliciously good time.

Have a blessed day, be safe and thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

American LaFrance Fire Museum, Charleston, SC

10/26 - 10/30
KOA
Mt Pleasant, SC

Part 2 of 4

10/27/12 today's activities were changed to Tuesday (which was a free day).  It is rainy and windy so looking on the internet for something to do I came across the North Charleston American LaFrance Fire Museum.  What a spectacular museum of the largest collection of fully restored American LaFrance fire apparatus in the country.  The trucks are from 1886 to 1960's.  Most pictures will describe the Fire Engine that follows.

 (sorry for the blur)

These are wooden ladders that fit onto each other.

Mostly pictures again, I hope I got the correct description with the right truck.  This is only a sampling of the trucks, I had to stop somewhere.  One thing I learned was that fire trucks were originally white because red paint was too expensive.

The Charleston AFB was close to the museum so we went to the commissary which was new and quite large.  We also found a Trader Joe's (first one since we left home) on our way back to the campsite, now we have a new supply of two-buck-chuck.

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by

Nancy

Charleston/Mt Pleasant, SC

10/26 - 10/30/12
KOA
Mt. Pleasant, SC

Part 1 of 4

When we started this caravan on Oct 2nd I had said that I would only write one post per stop, but...I changed my mind.  We only had 85 miles driving from Wilmington, SC to our next stop so we stopped along the way at Georgetown, a cute historic town.  We enjoyed the old homes, most built c. 1750 and a bit of history on a trolley ride.

A bit blurry but it is sort of readable, it is referring the the house in the next picture, click on picture to read better.

This house is pink and lavender which is not the original colors but the owners painted it this way before there was an ordinance about painting the historic homes like this.  This house was grandfathered in.  luckily the owners keep it up very well with fresh paint often.

This  home shows how the front door is on the side, not facing the street.  In the early 1700's the King of England taxed the homes by how many feet of the home bordered the street.  Note, the porch on the left was added later, along with the right side addition.  Many of the homes were like this, narrow at the street and deep into the lot.

Indigo was a huge cash crop which made the area extremely wealthy very quickly. Indigo was shipped back to England and used for dye.

Indigo was used for material of all kinds, it especially adhered well to silk.  It was used for military uniforms.  The ladies especially liked it because it did not fade onto their arms when they sweat.  Apparently the cheaper fabrics would fade and the colors would stick to their arms but the indigo did not.

The BIG tree is one of the many Live Oak Trees in the area.  This tree is 165 feet high with branches as large as a tree.  This tree is estimated to be about 1600 years.

The first Masonic Hall in this area.  George Washington gave a speech on the porch.

Inside the AME Church, very beautiful.  The organ was destroyed by hurricane Hugo and was not able to be repaired.

 At the KOA finally and
A wagon ride back to the Oakland Plantation house

The KOA is bordered by the Historic Oakland Plantation.  The land was purchased by John Perrie who came from Ireland.  The house was built in 1755 when Charles Barksdale acquire the plantation, his family owned it until 1859 when Philip E Porcher bought the property and his descendant have owned it ever since.
For some reason I did not get a picture of the actual house up close.  These Live Oak trees are enormous that line the actual road going to the house.

This is what you do with a palm tree that died, very clever.













Tomorrow, Saturday was going to be a breakfast and Halloween Party but the group shelter is only screened in and not warm enough and it is going to be rainy and windy from the hurricane.

10/27, Saturday:  It IS rainy and windy, but not bad except when we went over a tall bridge.  I think the hurricane will miss us.  Where we were in the Outer Banks though, they are expecting 10 - 12 inches of rain, most of that area is only 2 - 6 feet high so it means some flooding, glad we have moved on.

Have a blessed day, drive safe, thanks for stopping by.

Nancy