Fort Moultrie, Sullivan's Island, South Carolina

A day after visiting Fort Sumter, we went to Fort Moultrie, a fort that is really just as significant to the Civil War timeline.  AND, this site has a lot of other, non-Civil War history to it too!  In fact, the entire 171 year history of the defense of the American seacoast can be linked here.

We got to the visitor center as they opened.  The very cool staff (almost all National Parks have cool, knowledgeable staff) showed us a movie about the history of the Fort.  After that, we were free to walk around the actual site.

It was very odd, exploring this park with absolutely NO OTHER VISITORS!  We had the entire place to ourselves for some time.  The day before we saw Fort Sumter with lots of other people.

Fort Moultrie does have a bit of a second banana feel.  If you are going to Charleston, people say, you MUST see Fort Sumter.  Fort Moultrie doesn't have the same "National Park Rock Star Status" (I am so going to see about copywriting that phrase).

And that's sad, because it is awesome.

The site is hilly and cavernous (a perfect place to play lazer tag, or to serve as a real life Fort), and visitors are given a lot of free access.  A few rooms were glassed in, but otherwise you can kind of go wherever.

You can see Fort Sumter easily from here and visualize what the fighting would have been like in the first Civil War days.