October 8, 2021

October 8, 2021

This morning we drove fifteen minutes east of Charleston, SC to the Snee Plantation and home of Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. The Pinckney family was a prominent plantation family in the Charleston area. Charles was a leading contributor to our Constitution's design. We watched the park film and browsed the interesting exhibits in the Visitor Center. The Pinckneys probably spent little time here, preferring to spend it in more cosmopolitan Charleston. The Charleston area was mostly populated by transplants from the Caribbean, bringing plantation technology with them. Rice was the money-making crop. Black slaves outnumbered whites by 4 to 1 creating a local mixed White/African Creole culture. Words like Bubba (brother) and Gumbo (okra) were a result. This site also manages the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor that celebrates this Lowcountry Creole culture.

Before leaving we walked around the grounds. Almost all the trees are dripping with moss. Aimee and I think it turns the beautiful scenery very eerie.

We then drove twenty minutes southwest to the eastern shoreline of Charleston Harbor arriving at Fort Moultrie. This and Fort Sumter guard the sea entrance to Charleston. There was some type of fort here for two hundred years through the end of WWII. The first one was a simple dirt structure lined with Palmetto Palm tree trunks. When the British first attacked in 1776, their cannon shells bounced off the spongy logs. Ever since, South Carolina has been nicknamed the Palmetto State.

Since the weatherman is forecasting rain, we started our tour outside walking around and climbing inside gun emplacements and powder magazines. The fort has examples of every type of cannon technology that has been used here. We watch a large container ship leaving Charleston pass right by the shore showing why this location was key to protecting the harbor.

We then returned to the Visitor Center to watch the park film and peruse the exhibits. Fort Moultrie graces the back of the South Carolina quarter and exemplifies the long history of American coastal defense.

For a late lunch we retrace our path east to the Isle of Palms to a restaurant that we had gotten two recommendations for. Aimee had the Gumbo and I had a She Crab chowder. Both were delicious.

The forecasted rain finally started so we spend the late afternoon at the theater watching the latest James Bond flick, 'No Time to Die'. It was very entertaining. I am just surprised at how crowded the theater was. Doesn’t anybody work anymore?