Summer 2020 Travel: A Weekend in Charleston

Happy Weekend! I am super excited for my Bridal Shower tomorrow, but first let’s recap last weekend. My parents, sister, and I took a weekend trip down to Charleston for my sisters Birthday trip because she is obsessed and wanted to have the Poe's Restaurant experience! (Which was pretty cool btw) So the rest of the trip we pretty much figured out when we got there.

We left around 3:30 Friday afternoon, drove through some heavy rain, and arrived at our hotel around 7 that evening. Naturally we were all starving and headed out to get some vitals thanks to my moms gift card to Longhorns! The night went by pretty fast and soon the AM came.

View of the woods from our Hotel room. 8th

Patriot's Point here we come! Kassy and I have not been to this place since we were little so we pretty much had no recollection of the ships therefore we decided to take the tours again. Mind you the Yorktown is HUGE! We only managed to get through 2 and a half tours before we had to head for the Ferry Boat ride to Ft. Sumter, but let me back up because I am getting ahead of myself!

The USS Yorktown and Laffey

The USS yorktown is an Aircraft carrier built during WWII and was named the 4th Yorktown partly to throw the enemy off because they had not seen the previous yorktown sink… Although they saw her get hit. (That is a small interesting fact told to my group taking the USS yorktown Ghost tour… more on that later!) Today she sits in Charleston participating as a museum of America’s history. Tour 2 is where my family started, the Flight deck. Unfortunately our tour got cut short do to lightning. We did get to see half of the deck before we were kicked off… the view was amazing and the breeze even better! (IT WAS HOT) We saw some of the more important Plaines and a helicopter that participated in some historic events while also noticing some squishy parts of the floor… that was a little unnerving. Moving below deck, where we kept dry, we made our way to tour 3 and 4 that were found down the same stair well. I think my favorite part was just exploring all of the nooks and cranies of the labyrinth like ship. In those many narrow hallways and steep steps included the history of our Military and our country that had a significant impact on our lives today. The ship even included a segment about the Titanic! (I absolutely love that) I believe that my second favorite part of the ship were the air conditioned rooms… It was HOT and we were dying! One of which was the mess hall! Where we later learned was the Officers dining room. Which led us into a sort of tray line in front of glass windows behind which were the kitchen and washing stations. Most of these closed off areas included mannequins to help make the experience more realistic. Something that definitely caught me off guard was walking through the Jail held on board. The cells were barely big enough for a person to stand in, but held 3 cots attached to the wall and chained together. I can not imagine living in there.

The floating city also held a laundry area, multiple sleeping quarters with 3 cots stacked like floating bunk beds, a Minnie hospital, with a surgical room, Sick Bay, check up rooms, and offices for these doctors. The ship included its own general store and snack bar. My father was obsessed with the .50 cent milkshakes that no longer exist. A barber shop and a dentist office has also been included on the ships many levels. The list continues… I suggest just checking it out yourself. There you get a full and first hand experience. By this time we have just finished up with tour 4 and are starving! So we head off of the air craft carrier and down the bridge to the entrance of the park. We planned on getting getting food from the snack bar located by the dock, but became very disappointed when we realized it was closed. The vending machines became our very best friend.

Ft. Sumter

After getting a water bottle and a small bag of salt and vinegar chips we boarded the Ferry Boat that would take us to Ft. Sumter. We spent the 30 minute ride on the top deck looking out at the water and having the warm breeze hit our faces. Soon ft. Sumter came into view and at first it looked like a pile of rock (which it basically is) but gradually became more apparent that it was a battleground that housed hundreds of soldiers that protected our land. Looking upon the stills and reading about the value this place has, gave me an odd feeling. I can not imagine how these people felt. They built the walls so tall and so beautiful and yet the top 2 stories were destroyed by bombs when they were not even completely finished building it yet. Looking at what it was and what it has become is a very sad surreal feeling… although the loss of brick and stone doesn't compare to the living conditions or the lives lost while being held on the man-made Island. The view was also an experience of its own! Of course standing on the black top may not have been the best idea… the heat felt like it was radiating off of it. This middle island was created for the dead space between ft. Moultrie and ft. Johnson. This dead space was dangerous because incoming enemy ships could get through and come aground in Charleston, back then cannons could only reach so far. Therefore Ft. Sumter was born. Our Ranger lady was very helpful in the information department.

After our little adventure on the time-honored fort we went aboard the Ferry for the ride back, this time we settled below deck in the air conditioned room! The heat was becoming more apparent as the afternoon drew on. By this time we really hadn’t had anything to eat so we were all pretty tired and my feet were killing me! (I did not know what we were going to do on the trip so I did not think to bring walking shoes) When the ferry docked we went ahead to the gift shop because it was closing soon. After, with our souvenirs in hand, we made our way back down the bridge to the Yorktown once again. This time we managed to finish our tour on the deck and bridge where it was significantly hotter than it was at 11 that morning. Needeless to say we did not spend too much time up there. Finally we were able to do Tour 1… the only excursion we had to finish. There we saw the Chapel, mainly used for memorial services and such. (Larger religious services were held in Hanger Bay for more space, this is were the aircraft was housed before going up to the flight deck) Passing through more corridors we found hallways full of staterooms where officers would sleep. We were taken into the latreen and saw the many tiny metal sinks. We entered the prep rooms for different meals such as the butcher where the meat was held, the vegetable pantry, and bakery where I could sleep in the mixers because the bowl could swallow me. (Fun fact we got to see a recipie for a batch of thousands of Chocolate chip cookies) Something quite different from those rooms has to be the engine room. This trip made me a little nervous with how many steep and narrow stair wells we had to go up and down. Not to mention the catwalks we traveled on… kassidy was not fond of these.

Ferry Boat Ride

When this tour ended we quickly made our way through the the Hall of Fame which was also air-conditioned. This room reminded me of the many museums I have been to in my life. We made our way off of the Ship and hopped on the Laffey for a last minute look around before the Park closed. This battleship is much smaller in comparison to the aircraft carrier and we managed to do the only tour available backwards because we could not find the entrance! After a very long hot successful day we headed back to the car where we drove 15 minutes to Sullivans Island to have dinner at Poe's Restaurant. The experience was different than it would have been if it was not for the Pandemic that much was apparent. We had outside seating (rules of COVID-19) thankfully it was cooler now that the sun was beginning to go down. My Father and I divulged in a Margarita and we all feasted on delicious burgers that reminded us of Fuddruckers (we miss you). Kassy and I grabbed souvenirs, snapped a photo in front of the famous restaurant sign, and made our way back to the USS Yorktown for our Ghost tour.

This time we were made to wear our masks and even though the sun was completely down… being inside that ship where most every place is not climate controlled was not ideal. I loved the tour guide! He was hilarious and the stories he told were interestingly creepy. I will not be including these stories because I want to leave a little surprise for guests who decide to take on this experience. Just know that I do not regret spending the $30 and I would not mind taking this Ghostly tour again. I will reveal that we were taken behind the scenes to places that are not available during the day such as the Anchorage room and the Ships so called “attic” as our tour guide described. One of my favorite stops on the tour was the flight Deck that we explored earlier in the day. I can tell you that the view was even more breath taking at night than it was during the day. (P.S. THERE WAS ALSO A MOVIE NIGHT GOING ON IN THE PARKING LOT, SO WE GOT TO SING ALONG TO PITCH PERFECT WHILE ON THIS TOUR)

Ghost Tour of USS Yorktown

  We settled back into our hotel around 11 and finally shut the lights off right before 1. It was very long eventful tiresome day, there is no denying that. Sunday morning includes breakfast and a ride to Tanger outlets where we spend the early afternoon doing some shopping! We ended our trip with lunch at Mellow Mushroom and again driving through some heavy rain. I highly suggest that everyone take a trip down to Charleston where you can explore ships of our history, take a ferry to our middle man Ft. Sumter, and eat at a literary geniuses restaurant.  

Thank you so much for tuning in! I hope you enjoyed the snipit of our family adventure! Be sure to stay tuned for next weeks post all about my upcoming Bridal Shower!