Low Country History & Rally Planned Activities

Charleston SC a brief history (1670 – 1945)

Charleston is the oldest city in South Carolina. It was founded in 1670 as Charles Town in honor of King Charles II of England. By 1690, Charles Town was the fifth-largest city in North America. The first settlers came from England, Barbados, and Bermuda.  The first theatre building in America was built in 1736 on the site of today's Dock Street Theatre.

During the American Revolution (1776 – 1783)
Charles Town became a focal point. It was the target of British attacks on two separate occasions:

On June 28, 1776, British forces consisting of 2,000 men and a naval squadron tried to seize Charles Towne. The City was defended by a hastily constructed fort on Sullivan’s Island that overlooked the Charleston Harbor shipping lanes. When the British fleet fired cannonballs, they failed to penetrate Fort Sullivan's palmetto-log walls. Fort Sullivan returned fire and inflicted heavy damage on several of the British ships. The British were forced to withdraw their forces, and the Americans renamed the defensive installation as Fort Moultrie in honor of its commander. This battle kept Charles Town safe from conquest for four years and it inspired the liberty flag. During the battle, the flag Moultrie had flown was shot down. It was hoisted into the air again and kept aloft, rallying the troops. This Liberty Flag was seen as so important that it became the flag of South Carolina, with the addition of the palmetto tree.

In 1780 the British returned with 14,000 troops. American General Benjamin Lincoln was trapped and surrendered his entire 5,400-man force after a long siege. The Siege of Charles Towne was the greatest American defeat of the war. The British retained control of the city until December 1782. When the city was freed from the British, the city's name was officially changed to Charleston.

During the Antebellum era (1785-1861)

In 1832, South Carolina passed an ordinance of nullification, a procedure by which the state could, repeal a federal law; it was directed against the most recent tariff acts imposed by the federal government. Federal soldiers were dispensed to Charleston's forts, and five United States Coast Guard cutters were detached to Charleston Harbor This federal action became known as the Charleston incident. South Carolina’s politicians worked on a compromise law in Washington to gradually reduce the tariffs.

 By 1840, The slave trade depended on the port of Charleston, where ships could be unloaded and the slaves bought and sold. The legal importation of African slaves ended in 1808. However, smuggling slaves was a common occurrence. More than one million slaves were transported from the Upper South to the Deep South in the antebellum years, as cotton plantations were widely developed through what became known as the Black Belt. Charleston had a large class of “free people of color”. By 1860, 3,785 free people of color were in Charleston, nearly 18% of the city's black population, and 8% of the total population. Many were educated, practiced skilled crafts, and some even owned substantial property, including slaves.

During the Civil War (1861–1865)

Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, the South Carolina General Assembly voted to secede from the Union. On January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets opened fire on the Union ship Star of the West entering Charleston's harbor. On April 12, 1861, shore batteries under the command of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbor, starting the war.

In 1865, Union troops moved into the city and took control of many sites, including the United States Arsenal, which the Confederate Army had seized at the outbreak of the war. The War Department also confiscated the grounds and buildings of the Citadel Military Academy, and used them as a federal garrison for over 17 years.

Postbellum era (1865–1945)

After the defeat of the Confederacy, federal forces remained in Charleston during the city's reconstruction. The war had shattered the prosperity of the antebellum city. “Free people of color” became the leaders of the postwar Republican Party and its legislators. Men who had been free people of color before the war comprised 26% of those elected to state and federal office in South Carolina from 1868 to 1876. In the 1876 election cycle, two major riots between black Republicans and white Democrats occurred in the city, in September and the day after the election in November.
in 1895, the Democrat-dominated state legislature passed a new constitution that disfranchised blacks, effectively excluding them entirely from the political process, a second-class status that was maintained for more than six decades.

Magnolia Plantation - The plantation dates to 1676, and was originally owned by Thomas and Ann Drayton. in 1738 Drayton Hall was built on the property.  Magnolia was originally a rice plantation, with extensive earthworks of dams and dikes built in fields along the river for irrigating land for rice cultivation. African slaves from rice-growing regions created the works.
The site became known for it’s gardens in the 1840’s when they were reworked in an English style. These gardens are believed to have introduced the first azaleas to America. In the aftermath of the Civil War, John Drayton opened the gardens to the public to earn money as a tourist attraction. "Magnolia-on-the-Ashley" were the first private gardens opened to the public.

Schedule:

Date	9A -4P		5:30 PM
Sunday, May 15, 2016	check in after noon	4 PM - Social hour @ RM coach	Jestine's Kitchen
Monday, May 16, 2016	Bus Tour of Charleston  + Magnolia Plantation & Gardens with Adventure Sightseeing $63 pp	Social hour @ RM coach	Smokey Oak Taproom
Tuesday, May 17, 2016	Tommy Dew's Walking History Tour ($25 pp)		Bowen's Island Restaurant
Wednesday, May 18, 2016	Downtown Culinary Tour ($60 pp)		Dinner on your own??
Thursday, May 19, 2016	Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum ($17 pp)+ Fort Sumter ($17 pp)		Odyssey Greek Restaurant
Friday, May 20, 2016	Depart

Sunday May 15^th 2016

Check into James Island County Park after 1PM
871 Riverland Dr,
Charleston, SC

4:00 PM Get together at Rally Masters Coach

Dinner at 5:30 PM - Jestine's Kitchen

Directions:

Step	Location 20 minutes	Distance = 6.8 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn left onto Riverland Dr	0.5
5	Turn right onto Central Park Rd	0.9
6	Turn right onto Folly Rd	0.2
7	Turn left onto James Island Expy	0.6
8	Keep left to stay on James Island Expy	2.3
9	Merge onto Calhoun St	1.0
10	Turn right onto Meeting St	0.3
11	Jestine's Kitchen will be on the right
12	Turn right on Wentworth for parking

              

Monday, May 16^th 2016

10:30 AM (6 hours):

Bus Tour of Charleston + Magnolia Plantation & Gardens with Adventure Sightseeing $63 pp

375 Meeting St, Charleston, SC

City tour (1.5 hours @ $22 pp) includes:

Drive through The Citadel, The Old City Market,  Tour around the Battery, Architecture in the historic district, wrought iron art, and many of the city's 210 churches

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (4.5 hours @ $52 pp) includes:

45 minute narrated tram ride past slave cabins and through swamps and rice fields

30 minute tour of Drayton Hall, the only plantation house on the Ashley River to survive both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

Walk through Magnolia Plantation gardens

Directions:

Step	Location 20 minutes	Distance = 6.7 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn right onto Riverland Dr	0.5
5	Turn right onto Central Park Rd	0.9
6	Turn right onto Folly Rd	0.2
7	Turn left onto James Island Expy	0.6
8	Keep left to stay on James Island Expy	2.3
9	Merge onto Calhoun St	1.0
10	Turn left onto Meeting St	0.2
11	Adventure Sightseeing is on the left

Dinner at 5:30 PM: Smokey Oak Taproom

Directions:

Step	Location 12 minutes	Distance = 3.2 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn right onto Riverland Dr	0.2
5	Turn left to stay on Riverland Dr	120 ft
6	Continue straight onto Camp Rd	2.0
7	Smokey Oak Taproom on the left

Tuesday, May 17^th 2016

11AM (1 hour 45 minutes) $25 pp

Tommy Dew's Walking History Tour - walk from the Market - through the old walled-city - to the Battery, and pass hundreds of historic homes, buildings, churches and gardens. Tour covers a distance of about 10 blocks. Meet at the Confederate Museum (Market & Meeting Street)
Paid Parking between King & Meeting St on Market or on Cumberland street. Parking also at Church & N Market

 Directions:

Step	Location 20 minutes	Distance = 6.7 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn right onto Riverland Dr	0.5
5	Turn right onto Central Park Rd	0.9
6	Turn right onto Folly Rd	0.2
7	Turn left onto James Island Expy	0.6
8	Keep left to stay on James Island Expy	2.1
9	Take the Lockwood Dr S exit	0.3
10	Merge onto Lockwood Dr	0.2
11	Continue onto Broad St	0.8
12	Turn left onto Meeting St	0.3
13	Turn Right on Market St
14	Turn Left at first intersection (Church St) parking on the right

Dinner at 5:30 PM - Bowen's Island Restaurant

Directions:

Step	Location 15 minutes	Distance = 6.8 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn right onto Riverland Dr	2.2
5	Turn left onto Grimball Rd	0.2
6	Turn right onto State Hwy 171/Folly Rd	2.8
7	Turn right onto Bowens Island Rd	0.6
8	Bowen's Island Restaurant is on the left

Wednesday May 18^th 2016

2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ($60 pp)

Charleston Culinary Tour - meet inside the Southend Brewery and Smokehouse, located at 161 East Bay Street. Visit 3-4 different restaurants and combines elements of a historical and culinary tour. The food on the tour will provide a broad range of samples which provides insight into Lowcountry cuisine. Tour includes all food & non-alcoholic beverage tastings as well as ample opportunity to interact with your tour guide, the chefs, and other restaurant staff that you meet.

Directions:

Step	Location 20 minutes	Distance = 6.7 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn left onto Riverland Dr	0.5
5	Turn right onto Central Park Rd	0.9
6	Turn right onto Folly Rd	0.2
7	Turn left onto James Island Expy	0.6
8	Keep left to stay on James Island Expy	2.1
9	Take the Lockwood Dr S exit	0.3
10	Merge onto Lockwood Dr	0.5
11	Continue onto Broad St	1.1
12	Turn left onto E Bay St	0.1
13	Southend Brewery and Smokehouse on the left

Dinner on your own

Thursday May 19^th 2016

9 AM to Patriots Point

10:45 boat  to Fort Sumter return at 12:45 

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum ($17 PP) + Fort Sumter ($17 PP).

40 Patriots Point Boulevard, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum Includes:

USS Yorktown commissioned on April 15, 1943. The “Fighting Lady” participated significantly in the Pacific offensive that began in late 1943 and ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945. YORKTOWN received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 11 battle stars for service in World War II. In 1957, she was re-designated an anti-submarine aircraft carrier (CVS), and would earned 5 battle stars for service off Vietnam (1965-68). The ship also recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts and capsule (December 1968). YORKTOWN was decommissioned in 1970 and placed in reserve.

USS LAFFEY was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer. Commissioned on February 8, 1944, and supported the D-Day landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. While operating off Okinawa on April 16, 1945, she was attacked by 22 Japanese bombers and kamikaze killing 31 and wounding 71 of the 336-man crew. USS LAFFEY's heroic crew saved the damaged ship earning her the nickname: "The Ship That Would Not Die." The destroyer was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and earned five battle stars for service during World War II. USS LAFFEY was repaired and was present as a support ship for the atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1946 (Operation Crossroads), and later she earned two battle stars during the Korean War. USS LAFFEY underwent FRAM II (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) conversion in 1962 and served in the Atlantic fleet until decommissioned in 1975.

The USS CLAMAGORE (SS-343) was commissioned in 1945 and served for 30 years during the Cold War. In 1948, USS CLAMAGORE was converted to the Greater Underwater Propulsion Program, or GUPPY II status, to improve its underwater performance and to GUPPY III status by 1963. A 15-foot (55 ton) section was added forward of the control room to accommodate upgrades in technology. This was the ultimate upgrade for World War II era diesel-powered submarines. The sub was decommissioned in June 1975.

The Vietnam Experience Exhibit features more than a dozen components that simulate life during wartime in a "Brown Water Navy" support base and a U.S. Marine Corps artillery fire base during the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968.
The primary mission of the "Brown Water Navy" was to block the movement of insurgents and their supplies into South Vietnam.

Medal of Honor Museum features interactive exhibits that tell the stories of the brave Americans who have served and protected the U.S. with remarkable courage. The Medal of Honor Museum pays special tribute to American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, ranging from the very first Medal of Honor recipients during the Civil War all the way to the War On Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also home to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Society members share the distinct honor of wearing our nation’s highest award for military valor.

Fort Sumter Tours operates a departure point in Mount Pleasant at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. When available, a National Park Service Ranger or Volunteer will greet you when you arrive at the tour boat and ride with you to the fort to answer any questions. There is a 30 minute narrated cruise to Fort Sumter. When you arrive you will be greeted by National Park Service Rangers, who will provide further details about Fort Sumter and its pivotal role in the American Civil War. On the fort you will find a very informative museum with many historic artifacts and a souvenir shop. After your one hour visit, you will enjoy a scenic cruise back to Patriots Point.

Directions:

Step	Location 25 minutes	Distance = 10.9 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn left onto Riverland Dr	0.5
5	Turn right onto Central Park Rd	0.9
6	Turn left onto State Hwy 171/Folly Rd and follow State Hwy 171	1.8
7	Use the right 2 lanes to turn slightly right toward Folly Rd Blvd and continue on Foley Rd Blvd	0.5
8	Use any lane to turn slightly right onto US-17 N	0.6
9	Keep left to continue on Cannon St	0.4
10	Use the left 3 lanes to turn slightly left onto Septima Clark Pkwy	0.7
11	Continue onto I-26 W/Septima Clark Pkwy	0.6
12	Use the right 2 lanes to take exit 220B for US-17 N toward Mt Pleasant/Georgetown	0.4
13	Continue onto US-17 N/Septima Clark Pkwy and follow US-17 N	2.3
14	Use the right lane to take the S Carolina 703/Coleman Blvd ramp to Sullivans Island	0.4
15	Continue onto W Coleman Blvd	100 ft
16	Turn right onto Patriots Point Rd	0.7
17	Turn right to stay on Patriots Point Rd	0.2
18	Turn right Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum will be on the right

Thursday May 19^th 2016 (cont)

5:30 PM Dinner :

Odyssey Greek Restaurant
915 Folly Rd, Charleston, SC 29412

Directions:

Step	Location 10 minutes	Distance = 2.0 mi
1	Campground at James Island County Park
2	Head southwest toward James Island Pkwy	325 ft
3	Turn left onto James Island Pkwy	0.8
4	Turn right onto Riverland Dr	0.2
5	Turn left to stay on Riverland Dr	120 ft
6	Continue straight onto Camp Rd	0.8
7	Turn right onto State Hwy 171	315 ft
8	Odyssey Greek Restaurant is on the right

Friday May 20^th 2016

Say goodbye and depart