Here’s some background on this wonderful city.

Charleston is a city in Charleston County, South Carolina in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the largest city and county seat of Charleston County. The city was founded as Charlestown or Charles Towne, Carolina in 1670, and moved to its present location (Oyster Point) from a location on the west bank of the Ashley River in 1680; it adopted its present name in 1783. In 1690, Charleston was the fifth largest city in North America,  and remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840 census.^.  Charleston is known as The Holy City due to the prominence of churches on the low-rise cityscape, particularly the numerous steeples which dot the city’s skyline, and for the fact that it was one of the few cities in the original thirteen colonies to provide religious tolerance to the French Huguenot Church. In fact, it is still the only city in the U.S. with such a church. Charleston was also one of the first colonial cities to allow Jews to practice their faith without restriction. Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, founded in 1749, is the fourth oldest Jewish congregation in the continental United States. Brith Sholom Beth Israel is the oldest Orthodox synagogue in the South, founded by Ashkenazi (German and central European) Jews in the mid 19th century.  Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim is  the synagogue where my young cousin was being Bat Mitzvah’d and the main reason for my trip to Charleston.    An amazing job by an amazing young lady.  I am very proud of you Emily. 

Downtown Charleston, SC – Images by Drew Selman

The population was estimated to be 118,492 in 2007, making it the second most populous city in South Carolina, closely behind the state capital Columbia. Current trends put Charleston as the fastest-growing municipality in South Carolina.

The city of Charleston is located just south of the mid-point of South Carolina‘s coastline, at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. Charleston’s name is derived from Charles Towne, named after King Charles II of England.

America’s most-published etiquette expert, Marjabelle Young Stewart, recognized Charleston 1995 as the “best-mannered” city in the U.S, a claim lent credibility by the fact that it has the first established Livability Court in the country.

Thanks to Wikipedia for this information.  If you ever have a chance to work or simply visit this city you must.  Between the beaches, the history and the food (another story for another time), its the perfect place to take your time, explore and simply breathe in and out slowly and relax.

The first fort on Sullivan’s Island was still incomplete when Commodore Sir Peter Parker and nine warships attacked it on June 28, 1776. After a nine-hour battle, the ships were forced to retire. Charleston was saved from British occupation, and the fort was named in honor of its commander, Colonel. William Moultrie. In 1780 the British finally captured Charleston, abandoning it only on the advent of peace.

Fort Moultrie – Images by Drew Selman

After the Revolution, Fort Moultrie was neglected, and by 1791 little of it remained. Then, in 1793, war broke out between England and France. The next year Congress, seeking to safeguard American shores, authorized the first system of nationwide coastal fortifications. A second Fort Moultrie, one of 20 new forts along the Atlantic coast, was completed in 1798. It too suffered from neglect and was finally destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. By 1807 many of the other First System fortifications were in need of extensive repair. Congress responded by authorizing funds for a Second System, which included a third Fort Moultrie. By 1809 a new brick fort stood on Sullivan’s Island.

Between 1809 and 1860 Fort Moultrie changed little. The parapet was altered and the armament modernized, but the big improvement in Charleston’s defenses during this period was the construction of Fort Sumter at the entrance of the harbor. The forts ringing Charleston Harbor – Moultrie, Sumter, Johnson, and Castle Pinckney – were meant to complement each other, but ironically received their baptism of fire as opponents. In December 1860 South Carolina seceded from the Union, and the Federal garrison abandoned Fort Moultrie for the stronger Sumter. Three and a half months later, Confederate troops shelled Sumter into submission, plunging the nation into civil war. In April 1863, Federal iron-clads and shore batteries began a 20-month bombardment of Sumter and Moultrie, yet Charleston’s defenses held. When the Confederate army evacuated the city in February 1865, Fort Sumter was little more than a pile of rubble and Fort Moultrie lay hidden under the band of sand that protected its walls from Federal shells. The new rifled cannon used during the Civil War had demolished the brick-walled fortifications.

Fort Moultrie was modernized in the 1870s, employing concepts developed during the war. Huge new cannon were installed, and magazines and bombproofs were built of thick concrete, then buried under tons of earth to absorb the explosion of heavy shells. In 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed Secretary of War William C. Endicott to head a board to review the coastal defenses in light of newly developing weapons technology. The system that emerged, named for Endicott, again modernized the nation’s fortifications. New batteries of concrete and steel were constructed in Fort Moultrie. Larger weapons were emplaced elsewhere on Sullivan’s Island, and the old fort became just a small part of the Fort Moultrie Military Reservation that covered much of the island.

As technology changed, harbor defense became more complex. The world wars brought new threats of submarine and aerial attack and required new means of defense at Moultrie. Yet these armaments also became obsolete as nuclear weapons and guided missiles altered the entire concept of national defense.

Today Fort Moultrie has been restored to portray the major periods of its history. A visitor to the fort moves steadily backwards in time from the World War II Harbor Entrance Control Post to the site of the Palmetto-log fort of 1776.  The journey was fantastic and even my own kids enjoyed the visit to one of “Dad’s things.”  A piece of history almost completely ignored by today’s standards brings us back to the birthplace of our nation and a conflict that almost tore it apart.

Beidler Forest – Images by Drew Selman

Biedler Forest Ambient Sounds

Truth be told though, we went there because in South Carolina there was just one place that I could take Lindsay to see Otters.  So when you get to the photos that have a lake in them, that’s where they are supposed to be.  They’re weren’t any.  But instead of getting upset, Lindsay saw a turtle swimming in that lake and was thrilled to pieces.  You should have heard her call her other 10 year old friend. “We walked through this swamp to see the otters but there were none.  But it was cool ’cause I got to see a real turtle in the water swimming.  It was like a real zoo but without fences.”  As much of an otter fan as she is, I was delighted that she got so much out of it.

Enjoy the photos.  It was as peaceful and beautiful as it looks.  I have attached an audio snapshot posted here.  Its a minute long and if you loop it, it will be the perfect drift off to sleep noise.  Well maybe except the airplane flying overhead.  Oh well.  I cant win them all.

*River Otter.  Duh.