Charleston is a pretty cool place. Very walkable and people take advantage of it. When I was in town, the temperature
went from 62 to 72 degrees with some sunshine and a slight breeze.
Main reason to be in town was to photograph the campus signs of The Citadel and the College of Charleston, and, to finally
visit Fort Sumter. That national park has long been on my list of "Gotta Go To" someday. It is a 30-minute ferry ride each way
from Liberty Square (one of two points in Charleston to catch a ferry. Parked in the garage across from the South Carolina Aquarium
and did not realize until I was ready to leave that I must have locked the rental car keys in the car. Called AAA who contacted a
locksmith who took an hour and a half to get there but five minutes to get into the car.
I took over 150 photos in Charleston and Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is worth a visit, especially if you are the first ferry to the
fort for the day. Why? Because the rangers do the flag raising ceremony and need at least a dozen people to unfurl the huge flag.
And before that, a ranger tells about what happened at the fort to make it famous. The young female ranger from Baltimore County
Maryland, while the crowd gathered (we had maybe 120 people there) kept asking which state or country people were from. Had at least
half the states there plus a Toronto and an England. They that ranger told the story of the fort in a very loud voice (so everyone could hear).
Itt was emotional and stirring and amazing. She got a big applause at the end along with several people, including me, telling her what
an amazing job she did and how they loved her passion at telling it. I told her that I have heard hundreds of speeches in Toastmasters but
never one like that. I took lots of photos and got some worthy of my "postcards" website.
Unfortunately, there are still some people stuck in the past with bigotry, supremacy or something. While I was at White Point Garden park before Fort SUmter
there were three white guys who made a big deal ceremony of honoring some confederate status in the park. They brought some huge confederate
flags for it. Some people were nearby holding posters in protest of these guys. I declined to take photos of any of it.
The Fort Sumter adventure alone was worth this entire trip. Thank You Hurricane Florence because had I shown up last September it
might have been a different ranger telling about the fort.