Camping with My Wife and Kids: East Coast Spring Vacation part 3.5

So how can I end my last blog post by saying we're on our way home and now post more pictures from vacation? Well, there needed to be a special post just for the forts that we visited in Charleston, SC.

The first was Fort Moultrie. To be honest, if you go to the Charleston SC area and plan to visit only one fort, skip Fort Sumter and go to Moultrie. This fort is incredible in that it is setup to show the progression of artillery and fort operations from the revolutionary war to WWII. It was very cool and the entry fee was like $5/family.

The second was Fort Sumter. Andrea and I visited Fort Sumter when we came to Charleston many years ago. Hard to believe, but that was over 10 years ago. Yikes! So we remembered it as a little tiny boat that was operated by a ranger and you had all the time you needed to tour around the fort. Not so now. You have to pay $20+ per person to be herded onto a huge boat (2 level). You have to stop and get a group photo that they of course want you to buy for $25. There's not enough seating for everyone. Once getting to Fort Sumter, you have 45 minutes to tour. Not enough if you're trying to do Jr. Ranger stuff. I even asked one of the rangers at the fort if I was crazy thinking of the little boat operated by the NP service. Her response: "a lot of things used to be different at Fort Sumter." Intentionally very cryptic. In the end, the visit to the Fort netted the kids some more Jr. Ranger stuff but it was a nerve racking trip for mom and dad. Do yourself a favor and skip it if you're in the area and go to Moultrie.