Although Fort Sumter is part of the National Park Service, there was not an admission fee. However, the only way to get to the fort is by boat, and the ferry ride does cost money.
The boat ride was similar to other boat tours we had taken. They pointed out other sites and talked about the history of Fort Sumter. There was a Park volunteer on the ride to and from that handed out maps and the Junior Ranger programs and badges.
We had a windy, cold, drizzly kind of day, so the water was a little rougher. Once we were docked, there was a ranger led talk that lasted about 15 minutes and went over the history of why Fort Sumter was built and its role in the Civil War. Even after the Civil War, they upgraded the Battery to keep it as a coastal defense. After the talk, we were free to read all the signs and explore around the fort. However, we only had an hour once we docked before the ship left again. It definitely felt rushed. We definitely could have spent a little more time reading and learning, at least another 1/2 hour to an hour would have been nice.
DETAILS:*
TICKETS: Fort Sumter, $0. Boat rides were $30/adults, $18 ages 4-11. (Our total for 4 adults was $127.20, as there was an additional $7.20 fee on the online booking receipt.) COVID Restrictions: masks required
HOURS: Visitor Center 9:00am-5:00pm (in Charleston). Boat rides vary per season and per location When we went boats departed Liberty Square (Charleston, SC) at 9:30am, 12:15pm, 3:00pm, and Patriots Point (Mount Pleasant, SC) at 10:45 am and 1:45 pm.
PARKING: Pay parking on street or nearby lots. It was $5 for the day at Patriot’s Point, which was where we departed from.
BATHROOM: Yes
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-2 hours
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
We are slowly moving up the eastern coast, trying to stay under the freeze line. Our next stop on our journey was Charleston, South Carolina.
We got to our campground, set up, and drove into Charleston. We found a parking spot on the street. It seems like most parking is paid lots, garages, or on-street parking. Several streets were residential only parking.
We walked over to the Historic City Market. The front entrance was limiting visitors and masks were required. However, the city market does span several blocks and different buildings (all down a straight row), and the other entrances were not really limiting the people entering. We did a little bit of shopping and found a few gifts.
Next we walked around Charleston and just enjoyed the sites. However, we only had a two hour parking meter, so we didn’t get too far until we needed to head back to the truck.
We drove past Rainbow Row and admired the houses along the river. We also drove across the Ravenel Bridge.
Signs and sights around Charleston, bottom right: Rainbow Row and a rainbow we saw on our drive back
Of course, our next stop was the grocery store and Costco. This Costco didn’t have too many new items, but they did have a 6 pack of mini-carrot cakes!
When we booked this campground (The Oaks At Point South) several months ago, it had good/okay reviews. When we looked at it again on our way in, it now had horrible reviews due to mud and ruts. We tried to find another campground, but they were all booked. We were told it was the busy season, as Georgia’s summer brings bugs and flies.
When we checked in, there was a packet with our parking tag and the site map in the red box at the driveway. They were doing a no-contact check in. The reviews were right, it was very muddy and our site had deep ruts from where someone must have gotten stuck. We had gravel in the middle of the site, but the hook-ups and where our truck would have to park were very muddy and did not have gravel. TIP: If you do stay here, go slowly once you are off of the highway. You turn right by the Waffle House!
The site was a little small for us. The truck fit, but we had to park very close to the RV. We couldn’t really put out the master bedroom stairs and use that door. We put our rain boots on before we set anything up, which helped a lot.
After a couple of days, the mud began drying up. Ben and the boys once again put on their rain boots and stomped down the ruts to fill them in. We bought several bags of gravel from Walmart to cover the spot with. It wasn’t perfect, but at least we left it better than when we got there.
Some of the roads were tight. The roads were definitely single lanes, but were not dedicated as a certain direction. Garbage was to be placed in the dumpsters. The campground did have a laundry room with 4 dryers and 3 washers. Washers and dryers were $1.75/load. There was not a change machine in laundry room. It seemed like they really wanted you to use the app. A third party was in charge of the washers and dryers, so when one of them ate my quarters, I had to call the company, as the office said they couldn’t help.
The campground was close to a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Waffle House, and a couple of gas stations. It was about an hour to Savannah, GA, Hilton Head, SC, or Charleston, SC.
The map (both online and the one we were given at check-in) stated there was a vehicle washing station; however ,when I check with the office, they said there is not one but you could wash at your site. It was not recommended, as it gets muddy easily. The campground has a lot of trees, which would make for nice shade in the summer, but also has your car covered in bird droppings and pollen. We found a few car washes nearby, but they were pretty expensive. We finally found a do-it-yourself one near Tybee, which cost us about $5.
The horseshoe pits and putt-putt looked run down and like they hadn’t been used in a long time. I was told they were closed by the office. The walking trail to the ponds was really nice and we got to see several small alligators and turtles, as well as lots of frogs at night. The footbridge located on the map is still there, but not in great shape, so I would be careful using it. It was a dead-end path, so we preferred walking the loop around the ponds. The walking trail was the highlight of our stay here!
Walking trail images. Bottom right corner: foot bridge
The walking trail also leads to the next-door KOA, which has a coffee and wine bar called The Swimming Mermaid, which is open to the public.
We would not stay here again. It was very quiet and the walking trail was neat, but there was nothing else to do! The pool was closed while we were there. Mask wearing was not prevalent. We were 45-60 minutes away from the larger cities. There are several campgrounds closer to Savannah, including some state parks, that had great reviews. We were trying to make the most of our Thousand Trails membership and I think we missed out on finding a great campground.
Sorry, the boys forgot to do their video at this campground.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes, $1.75/load
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull Through (grass/gravel/mud), a few looked like back-ins
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Nothing stated in rules at check-in, but we saw a few around.
Amenities: picnic table, cable (our hook up was wrong), dog park, pool (closed while we were there), walking trail to ponds, firewood for sale $7/bundle, community fire pit. There were only a few sites that had a fire pit of their own.
Cabins: No
Tent Camping: Yes
Full Hook-ups: Yes
Amps: 30/50/20
Pool: Yes
Food On-Site: No
Camp Store: No
WiFi: Yes, in Clubhouse/Office
Accepts Mail: Yes, packages. No 1st class mail. Will not accept or sign, it just gets put outside the office door.
While looking for things to do around our campground, I found Kazoobie Kazoos in Beaufort, South Carolina. They offer, as you may guess by the name, kazoo factory tours. We had so much fun on this adventure (even Ben and he was skeptical when I told him about it).
Our kazoos, Nick’s pressed penny (double sided!)
The tour consisted of two videos, an impressive kazoo demonstration, and a peek at how the kazoos are put together and embossed. Did you know that there are only 3 kazoo factories in the world! Or that the kazoo was originally called the Down South Submarine (probably for its shape)? There are two in the US (South Carolina and New York) and one in the UK. At the end of the tour, we got to pick out our kazoo body and resonator cap colors and then put together our own! There was a small museum, which had some really neat information. The gift shop was also fun with different kazoos and kazoo type items for sale.
Making our kazoosMuseum items
We bought a couple of things from the shop. Nick also made a pressed penny, which was double sided! We had so much fun, I would definitely recommend going there and taking the tour!
Attitude is everything. We thought we were booking one of the trolley ghost tours. When we looked closer we had booked a walking tour. Initially I thought, man this is going to be rough and 3/4 of the group were whining. However, once the sun went down, it was a nice night for a walk and we got to see some things that I think we would have missed if we were riding. The pace was pretty slow as well. Masks were required for groups of 6 or more, as well per Savannah’s COVID restrictions.
Savannah has a ton of history. The city is the USA’s first planned city. In fact, the original city was layed out in England before they even came over to build. Our tour guide said there were Native American burial sites and settler burial sites under the city’s streets and buildings. At one time there had been two cemeteries in the downtown area, but there is now only one, Colonial Park. Some of the tombs look like stone/brick tents, but they also extend underground. There are shelves inside to house the deceased, and just like in New Orleans, bodies got moved down to make room for new family members. Per our tour guide, Colonial park cemetery has 600 gravestones, but 1100 dead. The cemetery has lost both ground and tombstones, due to city growth and graffiti. Some were moved, but there are 4000 unmarked graves now outside the gates. Supposedly, some of the lost tombstones happened when the Union army was stationed there for a couple of months. When it got too cold for their fabric tents, some took shelter in the tombs. The sidewalk around the cemetery has special decorative bricks. We learned that the bricks actually mark the lost and unknown graves. Each circle represents an unmarked, lost grave. (Our guide pointed out that sitting in a cemetery for months in the cold had to be boring. Then add in that some states allowed as young as 14 to enlist, there wasn’t a lot of supervision, they were away from home, and whiskey was part of the daily rations. “You had a bunch of bored drunk children with no parental supervision away from home…”)
Ben’s favorite story was the Marshall House. It was a boarding house and a hotel, but during the Civil War, there were a lot of injured soldiers coming from Atlanta. It was turned into a hospital. There were a lot of surgeries and amputations. It reverted back to a hotel, and then to a hospital again during two yellow fever outbreaks. Afterwards, it would become a hotel again. During renovations in the 1990’s, they pulled up the floor to find saws and other surgical equipment, as well as bones. It was a medical dump site.
I didn’t find a lot of evidence to support the story of the bricks (although I did not see a similar design around the city), or the bones at Marshall House (although even AAA wrote about it). I was a little disappointed, as I like the ghost tours we go on to the have some facts to them, not just ghost stories.
Have you gone on a Savannah Ghost Tour? What was your favorite story?
We had stopped at Fort Pulaski on our way to Tybee Island. We got to Tybee, parked, and was on the beach by 11:00 am. We really lucked out on finding a parking spot, as the small lot we were in filled up within minutes. Traffic is a mix of cars, bikes, and golf carts. All parking at Tybee is paid parking, with most spots being $3.50/hour. There was an app you can download to your phone (Park TYB). I was hesitant to download yet another app, but it did make it pretty convenient, as it sent you a reminder when your time close to being up and you could add additional time right on the app instead of running back to the meter. That turned out very helpful in our case, as we had been walking down the beach and were pretty far away.
We didn’t go swimming, just walked along the beach and waded for a little bit. The sun was nice and warm, but the water was very cold. We found part of a conch shell and a sand dollar. Nick was so excited to have found a larger whole one, but this one turned out to still be alive! It had little hair like pieces on it that we could see move, so he placed it back in the ocean.
Tybee was full of touristy shops, souvenir shops, bars and restaurants.
We ate lunch based on a recommendation (Thanks Pete!) at The Original Crab Shack. It was a little bit out of the main town, but on Tybee. It had a great atmosphere with an indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor seating was a large covered patio. Each table had a hole cut out in the center with a garbage can underneath. We ordered a few different things to share: Low Country Boil, BBQ park sandwich, and half a chicken. It had a really fun atmosphere with live alligators (small ones, born in captivity), alligator statues, baskets for light shades. The only downside was that based on location of the patio and the garbage cans at each table, we did get bit quite frequently by bugs. I would recommend wearing bug spray.
When we left Tybee, there were cars lined up for miles. I’m pretty sure there were not enough parking spots to fit everyone. I would definitely recommend going early and downloading the parking app.
Fort Pulaski is outside of Savannah, Georgia (on the way to Tybee Island), and about an hour from our campground. It is part of the National Park Service, so we were able to use our annual America The Beautiful pass.
It was similar to Fort Zachary in Key West, but had a few unique features to it including a moat and a drawbridge!
The Visitor Center was closed, although the bathrooms across from the Visitor Center were open. The Visitor Center had maps outside and there was someone there to hand out Junior Ranger program booklets and badges. There are also few hiking trails; however, only two were open when we were there. The ranger did not think the Lighthouse trail would be opening anytime soon. It seemed like nature was reclaiming the trail.
Visitor Center, informational signs, looking towards Fort Pulaski from Visitor Center
There was a moat around the fort, which was pretty cool. During the Civil War, the Fort was originally Confederate, but Union soldiers gained control. There was a small cemetery out front from when the Fort also acted as a prison for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Parts of the outside paths and trails were closed for construction. We entered the Fort on a boardwalk over the water and through the drawbridge.
One of my favorite features was the drawbridge and the amazing doors of the Fort.
The Drawbridge
The fort had lots of rooms and cannon exhibits open on the main floor. It also had stone spiral staircases leading up to the top floor. Most of this area was closed for repairs/construction and there was also no guardrail along the edge. It definitely gave you a different perspective of the fort and the surrounding area.
Views from the top of the Fort
Fort Pulaski still had some of the metal rails in the floor that guided the cannons. It was neat to see those, as Fort Zachary in Key West had similar markings on the floor of where (I assume) these metal pieces used to be. It was nice to see the “whole picture” of the cannon set up at Fort Pulaski. Pulaski also allowed us to see a couple new cannon accessories that we had not seen before; the casement gin and sling carts that were used to move the heavy equipment.
There was another really neat feature that we got to see at Fort Pulaski, the foundation and built in cisterns. The Fort is surrounded by salt water, so there were 10 built-in cisterns to collect rainwater.
During the Civil War the Fort also acted as a Prison for Confederate soldiers.
Some information when it was acting as a Civil War prison
DETAILS:*
TICKETS: Included in America the Beautiful (Interagency) Pass. If you don’t the America The Beautiful Pass, it is $10/person for a week pass (ages 15 and under free), or $35 for a Fort Pulaski annual pass. Cash was not being accepted at the gate, credit/debit cards only. COVID Restrictions: masks required, Visitor Center closed.
HOURS: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
PARKING: Parking lot at Visitor Center/Fort.
BATHROOM: Yes, by the Visitor Center
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-3 hours
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
Our campground is out in the middle of nowhere. It is close to the highway, but about an hour drive from Savannah, Hilton Head, or Charleston. I was looking for quick things to do in the evening after work/school that were close by and saw the Old Sheldon Church Ruins on several lists.
It is off of a two lane road, but cars go speeding by. There is a dirt parking lot directly across the street from the ruins, but it is not very well marked, so slow down when you get close or you might miss it.
The church must have been gorgeous back in the day, because the ruins are still spectacular. There are a few graves around the grounds, so we needed to be careful where we stepped. The plaque on the wall stated that the church was burned in 1779 by British forces, rebuilt, and burned again in1865 by “Federal” forces. However, there was some written evidence later found that the inside of the church had simply been gutted by local people having to rebuild their homes after Sherman came through.
It was interesting to visit, but I would not drive specifically to see it if you are not already in the area.
Although we have seen plenty of turtles and been bitten by many mosquitoes, this post is mostly about my favorite, alligators. My kids may be getting sick of me pointing out an alligator every time I see one, especially since we see them all over the place in the South (Florida, Georgia and South Carolina). I’m not sure why, but I get a huge kick out of seeing these guys in the wild. We saw some decent sized alligators (as well as some crocodiles) in the Everglades National Park, Florida. We even got to see one with it’s mouth open!
At our campground in South Carolina, we saw several smaller ones on the nearby walking trail in the ponds. One looked very young, only 2-3 feet long. The campground’s alligators were not even close to being the same size as the ones in the Everglades, so I felt pretty safe walking around the walking path as long as we all stayed aware.
The boys certainly enjoyed the first several ones we saw and it was a great teaching opportunity to slide in some alligator facts. I have some of these facts below!
Fun alligator facts:
Alligators have about 80 teeth and as the old ones get worn down, new ones come in.
Alligators can hear underwater.
Alligators vs Crocodiles: We saw both in the Everglades. It was a great teaching moment.
Alligators have a rounded snout and are dark grey/black in color. Alligators also do not normally show bottom teeth with their mouth closed.
Crocodiles have a pointed snout and are a grey/brown/green color. Crocodiles bottom and top teeth are visible with their mouth closed. Crocodiles tend to be more aggressive.
An alligator can live up to 50 years. They continue to grow throughout their life.
The power in an alligator’s jaw comes in closing, they do not have a lot of jaw opening strength.
To estimate an alligators size from a distance, calculate the length from the tip of their nose to the eye ridge. One inch of distance here is equal to one foot of total length.
Alligators dig burrows (holes, tunnels) and once they move out, other animals move in. These holes are very important, as they can be deep and hold water, even when other areas have dried up.
Alligators can climb, short fences and even ladders, although we did not see any on stilts or ladders during our encounters.
To get away from an alligator, just run in a straight line 20-30 ft, no zig-zag required. To be safe, I would keep running.
They can leap out of the water using their tail, up to 5 feet!
They will balance sticks on their snout to attract birds…to eat.
They do not hibernate, but they do have times where they are dormant when the weather is too cold (below 55℉).
Mating season is May to June. Eggs hatch in Mid-August to September.
The babies gender is determined by the temperature in the nest. The mom will stay with her eggs and protect them for a year to two after they hatch.
If you have any great Alligator or Crocodile stories, we would love to hear them. Post them in the comments.
We are likely posting this a day late as Pi Day was yesterday on 3/14. But, really Pi day is everyday if you are living life well.
We first saw the Carolina Cider Company store while exploring the area around us. It was closed for the day, but that did not deter us. We came back the next day. It was super cute inside with several different types of cider, pies, and jellies.
It was close to closing time, so there were only 3 pies left. We got a pecan apple pie, a small blueberry cider, small Black Bing Cherry cider, and a Muscadine jelly (a type of grape). ($38.80 total)
There was also a coffee shop attached to it, Clockwise Coffee. Ben got a plain coffee and I got a mocha. Mine came with a nice design in it!
Everything was delicious and I am glad we stopped, it was definitely worth the trip.
Hope you had a great Pi day! If you did anything special to celebrate, post it in the comments. I can’t wait to read all about it.
