Charleston, South Carolina Part one

Charleston South Carolina

Charleston, founded in 1670, it only became a city in 1783. 

Rice and cotton in the early days were important crops and the first export went to England in 1748, $875 worth.

The first shots of the "civil War were fired

It was the home of George and Irma Gershwin, his piano is in the museum.

We stayed 3 days here, we stayed out of the city this time and drove into town then parked in the city parking areas. Some of the parking fees are very expensive at $4 or 5$ for 20 minutes.

There is an excellent  visitors centre where you can book trips and tickets to the events and the busses collect you from right outside.
So the first visit was the Museum, it was Americas first museum in 1773, yes its another one but some are better than others.

Just outside is the replica submarine The H.L. Hunley, an incredible thing when you think when it was made in 1864. The story goes that after it had destroyed its target the confederate ship Housatonic it never surfaced again and wasn't found until 1995 and raised in 2000. The torpedo was mounted on the pole which Don is touching. Propulsion was pure 8 man power they cranked the propeller shaft.

This sub was only built for small folks

Inside the museum the artefacts are split into rooms holding displays of silverware, flags, musical instruments, guns, uniforms, items of torture, battlefield surgical instruments and some of the items from the first ever museum in the US, in those early days it was the only way to see polar bears, an Egyptian mummy, stuffed birds, snakes, all kinds of insects and reptiles.

In civil war rooms you could have spent hours reading all the stories, we just read a few.

Stars and bars

Duelling pistols

We passed a small area in a park where gentlemen duelled, it was right next to the cemetery so it was very convenient.

Guns galore, there were walls covered in gun cases

Guns and swords

The musical instrument room was pretty full here are just a few.

A homemade guitar made by a slave from an old coffee can

More an ornament than an instrument

Gershwins piano

A harp guitar

On the battlefield these were what they used to amputate a limb 

The exhibits shown in at least 2 of the rooms are the original ones from when the museum was first built

Huge, not the sort of thing you want to bump into.

Bottled snakes

A british uniform

A marble clock which was used in the police station

Don and his big gun, again this was taken in Charleston harbour where the first shots of the civil war were fired

The buildings in Charleston are as in Savannah are well preserved permissions have to obtained for everything that you may want to be done.

We loved walking around the town

On the last 3 pictures are buildings where you can get married, register a birth or death, a court, or get divorced, quite a busy place. 

We crossed this bridge a couple of times its so long I could't fit it all in its 2 miles long. Its the Talmadge Memorial bridge

Traditional barbers pole

This "pharmacy" was selling furniture

One of the city market entrances

Inside they sell just about anything, I would have gone back in time to see what was sold

These are beautifully made and this guy has so many puzzle boxes, we bought one, its one thats easy to open

Look what we found yum yum, no we didn't try one

Ok part two next BFN

Don and Glenys

Agua Therapy

Savannah, Part two The Mighty 8th

As the last post was pretty big I had to break it down a little, sorry to confuse you.
Not too far from Savannah is the home of The Mighty Eighth Air force Museum, dedicated to the Eighth bomber command that went to England during the second world war. There were many locations throughout England from 1942 until 1945.

Outside the Museum are modern ish aircraft which does seem a little odd.

An F 4C Phantom

The nitty gritty


A Russian Mig

Inside we met some very dedicated volunteer staff, some of which were ex veterans but of course none from WW2. They have whats called "The Theatre of War" which is inside 3 different rooms showing videos and a guy that tells stories from that age. Some of the video was very touching with some sad facts.


"By mid-1944, the 8th AF had reached a total strength of more

 than 200,000 people (it is estimated that more than 350,000 Americans 

served in 8th AF during the war in Europe). At its peak, the 8th AF could 

dispatch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and 1,000 fighters on a 

single mission. "

City of Savannah 

 One of the huge B17 bombers is being restored and looks amazing.

Just imagine sitting in this slung underneath the belly of the plane and how cold it was.

Looks so lifelike, the background that is not Don, it even goes onto the floor just as if you are on the real base

This picture stopped me in my tracks, very moving

An old Humber bike as used in those days, look at the rod brakes, I did notice the flat tyres though

Did you know that Jimmy Stewart the actor was a very distinguished bomber pilot?

A Japanese Kamikaze pilots scarf and bayonet  

As it says a remarkable effort with those number of missions 

The exhibition is on a huge site with so many displays inside and outside, there are so many memorials to the groups in the gardens.
One of the guides told us about a veteran that visited the museum and he said the coldest temperature he experienced minus 62 F which must have been so bad.

A British tunic

German tunics 

 We were told by one member of staff about an accident when a bomber crashed into a school full of children and church, very few survived but one lady who was a child that was badly burned did visit the memorial and placed flowers next to the names, they were her friends

They were some of the lucky ones

Not so lucky 

A huge Strato Jet fighter

Of course the "unsung lady heroines" are mentioned but only at the end of the exhibits.

 The ladies not only flew these planes to the bases they towed targets behind them which the pilots shot at.
When the war ended they had to pay their own way back, they didn't even get a pension, there were 38 ladies.

WASP, stands for Women Air Force Service Pilots

The ladies were given mens oversized overalls which they had to make do with.

Overall the visit was quite emotional, we all enjoy freedom thanks to those brave men and women, I found myself writing this blog post imagining the conditions they must have endured. Not only the pilots and gunners, the ground crew who took care of each aircraft like it was "their baby". Some of the exhibits such as the prisoner of war display, the amount of memorials outside with thousands of names and dates including the number of missions they flew, some only made a few others made it back to live on but at what  price. It certainly makes you think. Of course thats the American side of the story, just think of the British and allied forces that fought for years and the sacrifices they made for freedom.
 
For those of you on Facebook here is something you may be interested in https://www.facebook.com/mighty8thmuseum
If you ever have the chance to visit this place you will see far more than I can place on the blog I know I could have written more about this but we have to move on.

Next blog Charleston.

BFN
Don and Glenys
Agua Therapy