Back in Georgia already??!! I thought we had enough of this state!

We weren't really sure where we were going to go when we left Charleston, but we knew we didn't want to venture too far, because we wanted Nicolas to be able to spend Thanksgiving with us without having to drive too far, and we knew we'd be coming back to Charleston in mid-December for his Power School graduation.  Tom started to fill out a volunteer application for Georgia State Parks, but there weren't any coastal parks with openings for November and December, so he never finished it.

On our way to Kentucky, though, we got a call from Ft. Morris State Park, just about 20 miles south of Savannah, and they had a cancellation for November and December.  So, we quickly finished the application, submitted background checks, and made plans to arrive there after we left Charleston.

As we were leaving the base campground on Monday, I gave the Park Manager a call to let him know we were on our way.  He was a little distressed that some septic issues that were supposed to be resolved before we arrived had not been completed yet, and it sounded like it would be the end of the week before the work could be done.

Since we were already on our way, he called Fort McAllister State Park, which is about 30 miles away from Ft. Morris, and made arrangements for us to have a site in the campground there until our volunteer site is ready.

The regular campsites are only 30amp and water, no sewer, but we'll be fine for a few days.  All of the sites are pull-thrus, but they are the half-circle type of pull-thru, so we had to be careful  to find one that had enough of a straight area for us, and also not too sharp of a turn at the entry or exit.

We ended up taking site #5, across from the host sites.



The campground at Ft. McAllister is on an island, surrounded by salt marsh, and we have a site on the perimeter, overlooking the marsh.

Bryce and I have had work and school to keep us busy, and Tom has been knocking off a few little projects on the RV, as well as chatting with the volunteer hosts.  We're getting back into a daily walking routine, and we finally got the bikes out for a ride, too.

The weather has been unseasonably warm this week, and we've had some crazy storms roll through,

as well as a sea fog that rolled in unexpectedly one day at dinnertime!

It had been a sunny afternoon, and I was looking forward to a nice sunset, when suddenly everything was obscured by fog -- it was the strangest thing!!

A couple of cloudy days followed, but then today we finally had some nice sunshine and a promising sunset.

We found out this weekend that the septic work still has not been done over at Ft. Morris, so it looks like we'll be here several more days.  We've already had to pack up and drive to the dump station once, but we're hoping to be able to move to the empty host site on Monday, so we'll at least have 50amp and sewer.

In the meantime, we're just relaxing and enjoying the view!

We really don't mind being back in Georgia that much!

10 wonderful days in Charleston with Nicolas

Other than the trip to Fort Sumter, we didn't do too much touristy stuff while we were in Charleston with Nicolas.  Mostly, we just spent time together whenever we could.  He had the weekends mostly free, although he did go in for a few study hours early each morning, and again Sunday evening after dinner.

He and Tom washed the cars and the front of the motorhome,

we kept him well-fed with treats,

and generally made sure he got some much-needed rest. 











On the day before Halloween, I finally got to meet the Navy Mom who is such a huge help to all of us other Navy Moms.  She lives in the same town as the base, so we are able to send packages, letters, birthday gifts . . . whatever we need to get to our Sailors . . . directly to her house, and then she makes deliveries to them on base.  She's much more efficient than their mailroom, and we get the bonus of a photo of our Sailor posted on facebook.

On Friday, Nicolas was getting a package, so I met him over at the Uniform Store where she makes her deliveries, and spent an hour visiting with her and the many Sailors that arrived to pick up love from home.  I took some pictures of my own to share with the other Navy Moms on facebook!

This was her load of Halloween deliveries . . . I think she might need a bigger vehicle for Christmas!!

Not only does she help us out with mail delivery, but she also spends time talking to the Sailors and getting to know them.  She lets us Moms know how they are doing, keeping an eye out for hints of sickness, or sadness, or stress.  She's truly a "Navy Mom Angel", and we are so lucky to have her in Goose Creek!

On Halloween, we took a little drive with Nicolas and he showed us the other military campground out in Monk's Corners, where he went tent camping this summer, and then we stopped off in Summerville to walk around the town square and check out the Halloween displays by local businesses.

 

Summerville is a nice little town, and I even found a Quilt Shop to browse through (didn't buy anything!), and we got a recommendation for a pizza place for dinner.  We got back to the base early enough for Nicolas to go get in a hour of studying before coming back to the RV to watch a movie.

During the week we didn't get to see too much of Nicolas because of school and study hours, but he did mange to get over to the RV for dinner one night, and came over each night after studying for a little downtime before going back to his room.  

I love that our lifestyle gives us the flexibility to spend time with him like this where he is, and that we can put ourselves close enough to him that when he does get a couple days off (Thanksgiving weekend coming up!), he can come see us without too much trouble.

All too soon, our 10 days were over and we had to say our good-byes on Sunday night since he would be in school Monday when we headed out.  We hate leaving him, but Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and then we'll get to see him again . . . and a few weeks after that, we'll be returning to Charleston for his Power School Graduation!

A beautiful day at Fort Sumter

The reason that we made that crazy 460-mile trip on our maiden voyage was so that we would arrive at the Navy Base on Friday night.  We wanted to make sure we got there on Friday night because Nicolas really only has Saturday and Sunday to go out and do stuff, and we didn't want to miss that opportunity to spend the day with him.

Saturday was promising to be a beautiful day, so we drove down to downtown Charleston for the boat trip to Fort Sumter.  

We arrived at the downtown Visitor Center just after 11am -- plenty of time until the Noon tour.

 



















Nicolas was able to buy all of our tickets on his military discount :)  and we were all set for the tour!

We went inside to look at the displays until it was time to board the boat.

1861 American Flag

After looking around inside, we ventured outside to enjoy the sunshine and the view of Charleston Harbor.

Ravenal Bridge

Time for some family photos with our Sailor!

Soon we saw our boat approaching the dock, and it was time to get lined up for boarding.

Sailboarder

We decided to sit on the upper, open deck, even though it would probably be a little chilly out on the water.  It was . . . but I got some good pictures!

USS Yorktown

Charleston Harbor appears to be a good place for a sailing school . . . it was a great day for it!

We continued out toward the Atlantic,

Castle Pinckney

and soon reached Fort Sumter at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter, along with Castle Pinckney, Fort Johnson on James Island, and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island were coastal fortifications built by the United States after the War of 1812.  They were designed to protect Charleston Harbor from enemies approaching by sea.





As the tensions between the north and south increased, and South Carolina became the first southern state to secede from the Union, Federal troops abandoned Fort Moultrie, which they considered to be indefensible, and moved to Fort Sumter.

This angered the Confederates, and they demanded that Fort Sumter be vacated.  Instead, President Lincoln sent supply ships to refortify the troops at Fort Sumter, and on April 12th, the Confederacy began firing on Fort Sumter from three sides.

The view from the upper level of the Fort

The Union troops at Fort Sumter held their fire for most of the day during the siege, and in the end the barracks were destroyed, the walls seriously injured, and much of the fort was on fire.  The Federals surrendered, and boarded the supply ship for transport to New York.

The Confederacy had captured Fort Sumter, secured Charleston Harbor, and the Civil War had begun!

Though there were many attempts made by the Union to re-capture Fort Sumter, the Confederacy was successful in maintaining it throughout most of the Civil War, until the very end when Charleston and the Harbor were captured by Sherman's Army.

Our tour allowed us 1 hour to explore the fort on our own and learn the history of the region . . . well, at least one of us learned some history!

Superheroes at the fort!

It was a beautiful day to be outside exploring, and so much better for Nicolas than sitting inside studying!  He does a lot of that, and he needs to, but sometimes he needs to take a break too, so we were glad we could be here to help him take a few breaks!