Alligator in the Moat and more alligators!

Hardeeville, South Carolina
Hardeeville RV Park

I had a list of places to explore today which included Fort Jackson, Fort Pulaski, Lighthouse Museum, Tybee Island and a lunch stop at the Crab Shack.

The weather forecast is for warmer weather tomorrow so thought we'd do the outdoor stuff today.  

As far as National Parks, you really don't know what to expect.  I thought Fort Pulaski was a monument.  What a surprise I was in for.

We decided to visit the visitor center before walking the path to the fort.   The video was just beginning as we entered the theater. Perfect timing, once again.  It was longer than most videos shown in National parks, but it did an excellent job of explaining the fort and its history.

As we walked along the sidewalk, I teasingly asked Bill if there were alligators in the moat.  Here's what the brochure says about the moat. "This wet ditch that completely surrounds the fort is seven feet deep and from 32 to 48 feet wide.  The water was brought through a canal from the Savannah River and controlled by tide gates.  A variety of small marine life inhabits the moat."

We walked across a the first of two draw bridges and found these doorways in the mounds.

Bear in mind, these rooms are on the outside of the actual fort.

Now we are ready to enter the fort.

Over this drawbridge and we'll be in the fort. Notice the iron works that come down once the drawbridge is up.

Now, picture how far away the corner of the building is. The alligator story will continue as we leave the fort.  Sorry, you'll have to read the entire blog today.

Once again our timing was perfect.  This volunteer in period clothing was just beginning a talk about the history and function of the fort.  He was the best docent I've ever heard.  

Here he's explaining how rifling changed the outcome of the battle.

The fort was built on a mud bog.  Sixty foot upright logs were erected before the estimated 25 million bricks were laid.  Construction began in 1829 and one million dollars and 18 years later, it was completed.  

 Confederate officers were imprisoned here during the winter of 1864.

Conditions were much better here than in our recent visit to Andersonville.

You were allowed to walk up on top where the cannons are located.

I should have taken a photo of the view.

Notice the air vent in the walls.  This was for their fireplaces in the rooms downstairs.

They built cisterns that go down to the lower rooms.  They could hold 200,000 gallons of water.   There were no dummies who designed this fort.

They built all the ditches and mounds around the perimeter of the fort.

The magazine room held 40,000 pounds of gunpowder.  Once the walls of the fort were breached by the rifled cannons of the Union in 1862, the Confederates surrendered before they would be blown up by their own gunpowder.  

 The officer's quarters have been replicated to look as they appeared during the Civil War.

One stop in the gift shop where I purchased a turtle bag.  I was surprised to be charged tax in a National Park store.

Remember this photo from the beginning.  As we were walking back over the drawbridge, I told Bill I thought I saw an alligator down by the corner of the building.  He said it was a stick in the water.

We were walking along the moat to see where the cannons penetrated the walls.  

 That's not a stick, it's an alligator.  That's not the end of the alligator stories for today.

All of a sudden a mosquito bit me while I was walking through the grass.  I looked down and went back to the sidewalk.  That's the first bugs we've had except the love bugs since we left Arizona.  

We were in that fort almost 4 hours.  I couldn't believe time went that fast.

I said let's forget the lighthouse, and since it was well past lunchtime, go to the Crab Shack.  

If you've ever gone to the Desert Bar in Quartzite, then I won't have to explain this place.  Cars were parked everywhere.  The place was packed.  Someone told me that 700 people will be here at the same time.  It was about 2 so we should be late for lunch and early for the dinner crowd.

There slogan is "where the elite eat in their bare feet".

It was a pleasant day and we didn't mind sitting in the sun.  I was surprised that you couldn't even get a beer.

The electric wires are run along the oak branches.  Notice the peach baskets for lights.

We split a one pound plate of shrimp.  

The tables all have big trash cans below the hole in the table for your scraps.

It was delicious!!!

Notice the cat at the table in the middle?  There was a sign that the cats weren't feral and had all their shots.

There were several screened in rooms for bad weather, but everyone was enjoying the great weather outdoors.

I thought about this turtle for our coach.

I guess you could call this an alligator garden.

I mentioned to Bill this was a plastic alligator

So he found this world record one for me.

It was a coincidence since we were on Avery Island last month.

We left the crab shack and rode in to Tybee Beach.  After a few blocks, we both said we had enough.  Bill turned the truck around and we header back to Savannah.  

As we approached Fort Jackson I said nothing could beat Fort Pulaski, so we passed it up.  

I've had a few blog readers suggest the Pirate House in Savannah.  Dave McNair suggested the Pink Pig.  Now I can't decide which restaurant to do for our last day here.  Can I take a vote from my readers?  Pirate House or Pink Pig?

Turtle Safely...........