After our carriage ride, we wandered through town on the way down to the water.
Sitting out on the sand bar in the entrance to the harbor, we had to take a boat from the visitors' center to the fort...
The fort was built in 1829 out of 70 tons of New England granite to protect the harbor. The 5 walls were five feet thick and 50 feet high at low tide. When the war started in 1861, it was still unfinished and not at its full capacity of 650 men and 135 guns in three tiers.
Some of the guns that were there still remain...
After 34 hours of constant bombardment, the North surrendered to the Confederate troops on April 13th.
You can still see some of the shells in the ruins of the walls...
After the surrender, the Confederates hoisted this South Carolina flag...
The North tried to regain control of the fort and harbor, but were never successful. Now only rubble remains along with some museum exhibits...
One of the highlights was getting to watch dolphins jumping and swimming in the harbor. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture...
We also got to the see Union flag that flew over the fort...
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