James Island exploration

May 1, 2022

Charleston fun day

Don's feet were a bit sore today, so we took a day off from riding and dancing. I wanted to explore more of James Island, so Don found some roads he wanted to check out for possible bike rides.

After lunch, we headed out to see what we could find. The first stop was a gas station and then a car wash to give our truck a much needed bath. From there we took off toward the bay side of the island.

We followed a couple of roads that took us into the Secessionville historic neighborhood. It looked like a normal residential area with a mix of homes but has an interesting background.

Before the Civil War, Secessionville was the summer retreat for wealthy planters of James Island. When Union forces beseiged Charleston in 1861, it became an important outpost in the Confederate defense lines.

In 1862, the settlement was the site of the Battle of Secessionville - one of the major engagements fought during the Seige.

When the war was over, Secessionville became the home of several wealthy planters. There are supposed to be 3 remaining historic residences that remain today - a Victorian and 2 Greek Revival structures, but we couldn't find them on our drive.

While in this area we also stopped at the Fort Lamar Historic Preserve. It was the site of the Battle of Secessionville in which a Confederate force of 1250 men defeated 3500 Union troops on Jun 16, 1862. This was one of the few land battles fought in the state.

There wasn't much to see in the preserve other than some remains of earthwork mounds. So we continued over to find Fort Johnson which was supposed to be located on the bay and according to pictures we saw on-line, several buildings remaining.

Well, other than a drive on Fort Johnson Rd, we never did see any fort. The road dead ended at a research facility where there was a gate. That was a bummer. I knew that there was a park nearby that was supposed to have nice views of the bay and Charleston so I talked Don into going there for our last stop.

We didn't have issues getting to the park where we parked and walked along the beach. Lots of boats were out on the water including some large sailboats. I poked around in the sand, looking for shells but didn't find much. Likely because we weren't facing the ocean here. But there were nice views of the city, the impressive Ravenel Bridge and just a peek of Fort Sumter in the distance.

As it was hot in the sun, we didn't stay long and soon headed back to the campground. We were happy that our site is so shaded as it makes these now warmer days more tolerable.

There wasn't much to see in the Secessionville historic district other than this sign.

We did also stop at the Fort Lamar Historic Preserve. But other than this monument to the soldiers that were killed here in the Battle of Secessionville, there also wasn't much to see. Nothing remains of the fort.

We drove over to a park that was located on the bay which had nice views of Charleston and the water. I think this is a Laughing Gull?

Not too many interesting shells on the beach.

This weekend Charleston was hosting Race Week and I think this is one of the competitors' boat. We missed actually watching any of the races which would have been interesting. Check out the flag on the boat.

A beautiful sailboat that Don would love to own. Too bad he spent all of his money on an Airstream!

Back at the county park's lake, some guys were planning their own regatta with remote control boats.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0