Well rested after a day of slacking off, we got up Sunday morning and got ready to do some more sightseeing. This time, we were off to Fort Sumter, the place where the Civil War began. For this we had to hop on a boat, which would take us out to Fort Sumter. In total, it’s a 2 hour trip (including sightseeing time at the fort). The trip out there lasted about 20 minutes, during which there is a narrator telling about the history of Fort Sumter. We sat on the steps leading up to the top deck of the boat, giving us a great view of the water.

There are six flags flying over Fort Sumter: the American flag, the South Carolina State flag and four different flags that were each at some point representative of the confederate states.

Once we were on the island, we were given the option of either a park ranger taking us around or just exploring on our own. I opted for exploring on our own so I could go at my own pace. It was actually really cool. The outer wall around the fort was once about 50 feet tall, but during the Civil War it was partially destroyed during the attacks. It’s still really cool to look at, though. While wandering, we actually found a part of the wall that still had Union artillery shells imbedded in the walls.

Throughout Fort Sumter, there is evidence of the attacks beyond the shells. Over one side wall is debris from the upper portions of the outer wall falling. Inside, you can see where they stored munitions. There’s also a museum there with a couple of the larger flags that flew over Fort Sumter and some of the weapons and uniforms of the Confederate Army. After looking around for about an hour, we boarded the boat and headed back to the shore, getting more narration about the sights we saw on the way back.

Feeling lazy because Joe and Nicole had to go back to work the next day, we head on home when we were back to shore. Joe cooked a nice dinner for us and Nicole popped open a bottle of the amazing wine they made for their anniversary. It was seriously amazing wine. Nicole also made a pecan pie, which I’d never had before. I’m now madly in love with pecan pie. It was so freaking good. Very sweet, made sweeter by the whipped cream we added to it. A perfect way to end a Sunday if you ask me.