"What's that stuff hanging from the trees?" Nathan asked.
"Spanish moss," I answered, "and did you know it was once used to stuff the seats in Model T Fords?"
Upon entering a clearing we parked in the lot designated for automobiles. Crossing a wooden bridge we entered the main exhibit structure. I looked for alligators in the pool under the bridge but saw none. I would have loved to have shown one to our grandson visiting from New Jersey. We entered the cool and seemingly dimly lit building to buy our tickets. As senior citizens, a.k.a. old people, Claudette and I received a discount. Instead of a single ticket discount we opted to buy a season pass to all South Carolina State park attractions. We frequently travel around the state and thought this would be a good companion to our Golden Eagle Passport to all National Parks.
Our grandson was anxious to get started on our tour of Charles Towne Landing in Charleston. There is a wonderful exhibit of artifacts and other items explaining this first English settlement in South Carolina. One of the most interesting to me was the voyages to the new country, particularly the ships and methods of navigation. They really were iron men in wooden ships. There were other displays depicting colonial life and a scale model of the settlement complete with buildings. Some of the displays contain life-size figures of early settlers and Native Americans. I noticed that our teenaged grandson had taken a great interest in the figure of a native American young woman who was topless. Having once been a teenage boy myself I could easily imagine the fantasies of his mind. I suggested to him that it was time to go to the park outside although it would have been great to have read every word of descriptive text in the museum.
We left the cool of the museum to enter the hot, balmy Carolina afternoon. There was no movement of a breeze in the trees, just the stillness of the sun burning thick air. An occasional winged insect made its presence known.
The park has many informative signs, and we followed the one toward the animal forest. The display of wild animals is of those animals that would have been seen by the first settlers in 1670. The winding, well-marked trails carried us by bison, deer, bear, and cougar in their natural habitat. There was also a caged area for birds such as pelicans and wading birds. When I visited the park in the mid-seventies there were more animals, particularly smaller ones. Also there had been elk. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo destroyed the park, which was initially built to celebrate South Carolina's tricentennial. The reconstructed park did not have the same animals as before. The below ground exhibit space was not restored either. The bear and cougar do not get close enough to the fence for good viewing, but the river otters always put on a good show.
After leaving the animal displays we walked toward the water. Along the way we passed a primitive building and palisade fortified with cannon. These are the only seventeenth century cannon on the east coast that are fired with any regularity. They are fired every third Saturday by volunteers in period costume. As we neared the waterfront we saw the skeleton of an early ship during construction.
"Hey, Nathan," I call out, "let's see how well we can tie knots." There is a panel with short lengths of rope attached for some "hands-on" experience. "I've never been able to tie a clove hitch," I announced.
"Let's do it," he responded, "I learned some knot tying in Boy Scouts." I felt a competition coming on. "I think the cowboys tied their horses to the hitching post with a clove hitch just like this!" I deftly tied the ropes into a perfect clove hitch! First time, ever!
'You said you had never tied a clove hitch!" he exclaimed.
"I haven't. And I know you won't believe me, but it's true," I exclaimed without success.
Next, we stepped gingerly aboard the replica coastal trading ship of the seventeenth century. The young man on board was well versed on period sailing ships and answered all our questions. This replica ship was built in Maine and was sailed from the shipyard to its current berth. These small ships could cross the oceans, but they were normally used for coastal cargo ships. A typical crew for this ship was six to eight men. The captain and first mate shared a cabin, but the rest of the crew had a common berthing area. It is easy to imagine the cramped quarters below deck when cargo and stores were aboard.
We had a great visit. It is a great place for family fun. We will return of course; I must see the cannon firing.
My video of our visit.
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