East Coast--Charleston, SC--Day 16

We arrived at the Naval Weapons Station, Charleston, SC, yesterday afternoon. This appears to be a great town and we look forward to doing some sightseeing. We got started today and immediately ran into problems. We were going to Patriot's Point where the USS Yorktown is moored as a museum. To get there from North Charleston we had to cross a major bridge over the Charleston River on Interstate 526. Just prior to our arrival to the bridge there was a major accident on the opposite side of the river. It was a fatality accident where a vehicle went over the side of the bridge. Traffic was shut down in all three lanes. After waiting for about 30 minutes the police started having the cars turn around and go back down, the wrong way, and get off at the last exit. The semi-trucks could not turn around and had to back down the bridge, some well over a mile or more. This pushed us south into the downtown area where we could pick up U. S. Highway 17 to get across the river. Of course, everyone else was going that way so the new, six lane Ravenel Bridge was like a parking lot also. Since we were getting off immediately on the other side our outside lane moved a little faster than the others. This picture is of the Ravenel Bridge.

We spent most of the day touring the Naval and Marine Museum at Patriot's Point. In addition to the aircraft carrier Yorktown they also have a WWII submarine, a retired Navy Destroyer and a retired Coast Guard Cutter. A major part of the Yorktown is open for self guided tours and we tried to see it all. It was a very tiring day. One of the things I did when I was stationed aboard ship was to stand watches on the bridge. There is only one chair on the bridge of a Navy ship and it belongs to the Captain. Everyone else stands up during their entire watch. Here is a picture of me sitting in the Yorktown's Captain's Chair.


Another part of the Museum is a very realistic mockup of a Navy River Boat Crew's base camp in Vietnam, complete with the river boat. These guys were referred to as river rats and this was one of the hardest jobs in the Navy during the Vietnam War. These guys patrolled the inter rivers within the country. We lost a lot of river rats during that war.

Once we finally got completely tired out and could do no more climbing of ladders or walking the ship's decks we decided to head south to Sullivan Island. I had read there was a lighthouse there and if there is a lighthouse close by we have to check it out. This lighthouse is not one of the historic types we normally seek out but is a modern one that was built just a few years ago. It is very different from the old, historic ones.


Our last stop of the day was another one of the forts that protected the harbors along the coast. This one was Fort Moultrie and is operated by the National Park System.