Fort Johnson-Where are you?

Friday evening  February 16

After our tour of Ft. Moultrie a few days ago, Al has wanted to find Ft. Johnson, where the shot was fired on Ft. Sumter to start the civil war.  Much to his disappointment, he was told that it no longer stands and there is only a marker. 
Fort Johnson  Go to that link and read the short history on it.  It won't take long and will explain it all. 
It took us a little bit of hunting, but we finally found the marker. 

Al was a happy camper! 

This was pretty much the site of the fort.  The mound in the middle of the picture in the water is Fort Sumter.  Al is not directionally challenged, he is just taking a picture of something else at the moment.  We also found one building, so all was not lost.

This is the only building left standing.  Could not resist the picture with the live oak.

 

 

Plaque on the wall of the building.

A couple of things...

My SIL showed me this neat pasta cooker the last time we all camped together.  It is the Pasta Boat (as seen on tv!).  When we did our first grocery shopping at Bi-Lo here in Charleston, I found one and we took it home.  I have to say, it is one of the handiest items I've found for use in a RV microwave.

 The handles are even used as measuring devices for spaghetti.  After the pasta is cooked, just take it out and pour off the water using the lid.

It also has a tray on the inside so vegetables can be steamed.  I used it for asparagus.  No mess!  Just put a little water in, lay the asparagus on the tray, and microwave.

My next favorite item is my basket for my bike we bought at Camping World.  It is supposed to "fit all bike style", but doesn't quite fit perfectly on mine, but it does work.  When we ride I can put a bottle of water, a jacket, my sunglasses, etc. in it. 

Rainy Day - Catching up

Sunday, February 19

It rained all night last night and has continued off and on all morning.  We made a trip to the grocery store yesterday, as we knew the rain was coming.  It has been rather nice to have a day with nothing on the agenda except two loads of laundry. 
I think I have neglected to post the website for the campground we are staying in.  It came recommended to me by several people on an rv forum.   I am glad we found it.  James Island County Park & campground
For the first two weeks, the campground has been only about 1/10 full.  No one camped by us, and a few big RV's parked across from us that came and went.  It has been very peaceful.

There is lots of vegetation between sites and no sites behind us.  Just trees.

Even when an RV moved in next to us, it was way back behind our behind the cedar trees, so we don't really see them until we go out the door.  Their picnic table is on the other side, so we don't see them outside.

The Charleston school system has a Friday and Monday holiday, so Thursday night the rigs started rolling in.  By Friday evening, almost all campsites were full.  Goodbye, peaceful, hello kids.  They are doing what kids do, running, riding bikes, yelling, hollering, and lots of screaming.  All that is fine, until about 11:00 pm when we are wanting to go to bed.   I think the newness has worn off, as the next night was a lot quieter and last night it rained so kept them inside.   We know that they will all be rolling out tomorrow and then all will be peaceful again.
Steve and Kathi's daughter, Stephanie and her husband Mark arrived today for a couple days visit.  I think they went to the City Market today.  We opted to just stay here and chill!

A Boat Trip Through the Swamp

After the butterfly house we walked over to the boat dock for our ride through the "swamp".  As we were told on the ride, this is not really a swamp, but more of a lake.  Has all the characteristics of a swamp, except for the occasional drying up periods that swamps have.

You could take a boat and paddle around yourself.

We opted for the guided boat tour. 

It was an amazing day.  Sun out, right temperature and no wind.  We were enthralled with all we were seeing.

Can't get enough of the moss.

Look at that beautiful reflection in the water!

And of course, this is what we were looking for!

After the boat ride, we took a walk on the trails around the park.

This is not a comforting sign.

The cypress knees were fascinating.  A little info:

 If you are in Charleston, this is one of the most interesting and fun places we have been.  It was also not that expensive.  I think it is $9 and $5 for the boat ride.

We finished the day back at the campground with a nice bike ride.   We love the trails around here for the bike riding. 

Cpress Gardens-The Butterfly House

 Wednesday afternoon  February 15

After watching the boat races, we had lunch and got in Steve's truck and headed to Cypress Gardens.  It was about an hour's drive away, and to big city dwellers like S & K, this was nothing.  We thought it sounded like a long way away.  While watching the boat races one of the men I was talking told me it was a great place to visit and not to miss it.  We had been wavering about going.  So, that decided it.

As we were walking up to the visitors' center, we were greeted by this gator:

Luckily, he was made from cement, but it was quite realistic.  Would be fun to have one in our yard, but don't think our mowers would appreciate it.

Cypress Gardens is a really interesting place.  There were several parrots in huge cages and most of them were talking to us.  We did not get any pictures of them as the lighting was bad and the public was far enough away to protect the birds, so my little camera just would not have done them justice.
Next was the butterfly house.  What fun it was!

Don't know what these little birds were, but they were having a glorious time digging in the dirt.  Maybe some kind of quail?  I asked two people and no one could answer.

Love his orange eye.  Ignore the poop!

And the token butterfly in the butterfly house.

Here is another one of those little birds.  Hope someone can tell me what it is.

Scattered among the plants are nice little quotes such as these:

Found another butterfly!  Not easy to take pics of these little things!  They really don't seem to want to land!

A view of the inside.

Hang on to your hats!  We found a strange breed of butterflies!  I am not sure that anyone even knows that they are flying around in there.  I would run if you see them!

The Fleet is In-February 15-Wednesday

A week ago Wednesday as we were leaving the park and passing by the lake, we saw all these model sail boats on the lake.  We found out that they meet every Wednesday and Sunday so today we rode our bikes to watch and find out what kind of fun they were having.

I love their little "dry docks".

There were four markers in the lake and they had several races while we were there.  They were run just like a regular regatta.  They all had to line up and not cross the start line until the starter's gun went off.  They ran a rectangular course.  The wind was spotty and at times they were without wind, then it would come across the lake and one by one they would all take off again.  Some of the finishes were quite exciting.  As can be expected, the men (and a few women) were all retired and having a great time.  There was lots of bantering going on and "protests" if a boat bumped into another one, etc.

The "captains" walk up and down the shoreline controlling the sails and rudders during the race.  Rounding the mark is quite tricky and requires expertise.

Steve and Kathi watching the races.

One of the "old guys" let Al try his hand at sailing.  I think there was an ulterior motive, as he had a boat for sale.  We had to drag Captain Al away as we had places to go that afternoon-Cypress Gardens!