Moving Day - Charleston, SC

(Naval Weapons Station, Charleston, SC) - Hi 75 Lo 48, Rain in AM. I was woke up by flashing lights and noises from the river this morning at 4:30. A police boat was very active with another boat, but it was too dark to know what was going on. I went back to sleep for about a half hour, then woke up again and watched a ship coming in. I’m very restless on the nights before we move. Jim was awake because he heard me up, but went back to sleep. We got up at 7:00 to get an early start on our preparations.

We went to McDonalds for breakfast so I didn’t have to mess up the kitchen. We got back and after a stop at the dump station we pulled out at 9am.  The weather started out beautiful, but about halfway through Georgia we got into the rain showers that were forecasted. Nothing really hard, just off and on showers.
We made a rest stop at the South Carolina welcome station, then completed our 5 1/2 hour trip to Foster Creek RV Park at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston, SC. The temperatures dropped about 10 degrees from when we left Florida, so it’s a comfortable 75 degrees.  Our site is great!

Here are some views around us.

 






Along with a concrete pad for the rig, both vehicles are on concrete. We have full hook ups (50-amp electric, water and sewer). We’re right behind base housing. Soon after we set up Doc the camp host came by to give us information on what to see and do in the area.
 
We plan to do some sightseeing in Charleston over the next few days, but tomorrow they're doing some construction on a nearby railroad crossing, which will cause a lot of detours in the area. Since we're not familiar with this area we'll wait until Thursday to start our sightseeing.

One interesting coincidence about our arrival here, today marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. The first shot was fired on Ft. Sumter, which is in Charleston Harbor. They're having all kinds of ceremonies this week, including a re-creation of the first day of the war by Civil War re-enactors. Here's an article from the local media about the anniversary and how it's being remembered here in Charleston:


CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Today is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. April 12, 1861 was the Confederate bombardment of Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, an engagement that plunged the nation into four years of war, as well as being the nation's bloodiest conflict.
    About 4 a.m. Tuesday, a single beam of light reached skyward from the stone works of Fort Sumter. About a half hour later, about the time the first shots were fired, a second beam glowed, signifying a nation torn in two.
    In a dispatch to The Associated Press in 1861, an unnamed correspondent observed the fort's parapets crumbling under the pounding of artillery. He wrote of gun emplacements being "shot away" and shells falling "thick and fast."
    "The ball has opened. War is inaugurated ... Fort Sumter has returned the fire and brisk cannonading has been kept up," the dispatch said.
    Sumter fell after a 34-hour bombardment.
    Civil war re-enactors were also paying tribute to those who fought. One re-enactment was held at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina last weekend.
    More than 600,000 soldiers died in the Civil War.