Day 10: Touring Charleston

April 25, 2017

In the morning I had to fix a flat front tire in the motel room. The culprit was a wire. In the afternoon I had two rear flats also caused by wires. 3 flat tires in one day! The only flats of the tour.

Today is a tourist day to see historic Charleston, South Carolina. Adjacent to my motel is the SC 30 bridge which crosses the Ashley river to peninsular Charleston, the historic district. Only 3.2 miles from the motel to the Fort Sumpter ferry dock on the opposite side of the peninsula.

Crossing the Ashley river to peninsular Charleston.

Traffic was fairly heavy. It was rush hour and this is one of only two bridges going south from the central city. But the bridge has a decent shoulder.

The first area I pass on the peninsula is the Medical Center of South Carolina. A district of modern high rise buildings. I continued across the peninsula on Calhoun street to the Fort Sumpter tour dock. It has a big visitor center and dock, a National Park Service property that provides the only legal access to Fort Sumpter National Historic Site. I bought a $21 ticket for the 9:30 departure.

The boat ride is about 2 miles, to an island at the mouth of the Cooper river. It was a major coastal defense fort built in the 1850's. The fort has 5 foot thick walls that were impenetrable to cannon balls in 1850. But by 1860 the development of rifled cannons made a brick fort obsolete. The fort became technologically obsolete before it was completed.

The morning started cloudy and breezy and cool. I wore a jacket for the first time while on the ferry boat and at Fort Sumpter.

Approaching Fort Sumpter on the ferry boat.

Fort Sumpter is where the first hostilities of the U.S. Civil War took place in 1861, when Confederate troops seized the fort from United States troops.

During the civil war of 1861-1865 the United States tried very hard to recapture Fort Sumpter, but the Confederate troops never surrendered until the war was lost. By "trying hard" I mean that the United States navy used massive quantities of artillery to literally destroy the fort. At first with rifled cannons. Eventually with newly developed rifled projectiles containing an explosive charge. The 60 foot high fort was reduced to rubble. It was partially rebuilt to about 1/3 its original height.

Model of Fort Sumpter in 1861 before 7 million pounds of union artillery reduced the top two levels to rubble.

After the civil war the fort was vacant for many years. In the late 1890's it was reactivated and modernized with massive 12 inch artillery, part of a military buildup for the Spanish-American war in which the U.S. seized Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines from Spain. The Atlantic war was over by the time the battery was completed in 1899. Once again, elaborate construction at Fort Sumpter was obsolete by the time it was completed. Battery Huger was maintained during the World Wars even though there was no credible threat of invasion.

Inside Fort Sumpter. The black structure on the right is Battery Huger which had 12 inch rifled cannons completed in 1899 (too late for the Spanish-American war).

On the ferry back to Charleston I had a good view of the Cooper river and the bridge that I will pedal across tomorrow. The bridge was completed in 2005 and has a main span of 1546 feet (471 m) making it the third longest cable-stayed span in the Western Hemisphere. Total length of the bridge is 2.5 miles (4 km).

Telephoto view of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge that I will pedal across tomorrow.

Across the Cooper river from Charleston is an old aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown. There have been several USS Yorktowns. The most famous one sunk in the battle of Midway in 1942. This one was hurriedly built to replace the one that sunk. Still another USS Yorktown serves the Navy today.

Fort Sumpter ferry boat and the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier museum.

Back in Charleston the sky was brighter but still overcast. The temperature quickly rose to the 70's but had a high of only 77F, below normal. Very pleasant despite the high humidity.

One of the most distinctive buildings in Charleston.

Charleston is the largest and oldest city in South Carolina, founded in 1670. Charleston is also one of the nation's biggest tourist attractions. Millions of tourists come here every year. It seemed to be easier to navigate the narrow congested streets by bicycle than by car, and parking is no doubt hard to find.

Charleston is famous for its many historic churches. Most have extremely tall steeples that dominate the skyline even today.

St. Michael's Episcopal church built in the 1750's. Oldest surviving church in Charleston.

Lunch was at a huge middle Eastern bakery/restaurant. I appreciate the diverse food options of a cosmopolitan city.

This is a typical design for the largest houses in Charleston.

Charleston has obviously achieved large and sustained prosperity. I enjoy seeing all the grand historic buildings. Of course much of that prosperity was derived directly or indirectly from slavery. I didn't see many Confederate flags in Charleston. I saw a large minority of mostly middle class black people. The Museum of the Confederacy did not appear to be heavily visited.

Museum of the Confederacy. I didn't go inside.

Charleston gained worldwide attention in June 2015 when a lone gunman burst into one of the nation's most famous black churches and killed 9 people. I vividly remember the Charleston shooting because 3.5 months later 9 people were also killed in a mass shooting at my local community college. I was on a bike tour at the time but returned a few days later and witnessed how the community was affected.

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, site of a mass shooting in 2015.

There are no signs or public memorials about the mass shooting. Clearly the church and the city have chosen to look forward and not let the mass shooting be part of their identity.

Possibly the tallest steeple in Charleston.

King Street is one of the most fascinating streets. I stumbled onto it in the newer northern section where the buildings are built in the 19th century. The buildings got older as I went south, eventually passing many 18th century houses.

King Street business district, Charleston.

18th century houses on King Street in Charleston.

King Street ends at the South Battery. Once a place for coastal defense artillery, but now a park surrounded by incredibly large 19th century mansions.

The East Battery is a very upscale neighborhood. Slate walkway on the seawall.

Charleston remains very prosperous. Nowadays the Medical University of South Carolina and to a lesser extent the University of Charleston are the largest source of high paying jobs.

Charleston has a lot of historic structures but also many modern structures mixed in. Overall, Charleston doesn't seem as curated as central Savannah where nearly every building is historic. And central Charleston has less park space than central Savannah.

In addition to civil war history, Charleston has an interesting revolutionary war history. Charleston patriots seized the local British military garrison 4 months before the Declaration of Independence was signed.

The only Confederate memorial I remember seeing in Charleston.

I left the central city at 5:15 PM. It didn't take long to pedal 3 miles back to the La Quinta inn. Once again I had a great dinner at California Dreamin' restaurant.

Today had very pleasant weather for sightseeing. I had a great time seeing Charleston and feel like I saw everything I wanted to see despite spending a lot of time repairing 3 flat tires. The La Quinta Inn cost $262 for 2 weekday nights but has very convenient access to historic Charleston.

Distance: 17.3 mi. (27.7 km)
Climbing: 230 ft. (70 m)
Average Speed: 6.8 mph (10.9 km/h)

Today's ride: 17 miles (27 km)
Total: 358 miles (576 km)

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