Drive. Pray. Scream?: Day 127: A city that's seen it all

When the first shots of the Civil War were fired on Charleston's Fort Sumter, on April 12, 1861, the city was the pinnacle of southern elegance and sophistication. An important shipping port, it facilitated the South's cotton export and its import of the best of the world's goods. The city's oppulent mansions were built by plantation owners, whose slaves outnumbered their families by, in most cases, at least 5 to 1.

President Lincoln's election to the Presidency in November 1960 was gained without a single southern electoral vote. His victory was the spark that blew into full flame the very next month in South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union. In reaction to that rebellious act, the 85 U.S. troops garrisoned at Fort Moultrie, on the northern side of the port, moved into the better fortified Fort Sumter on the night after Christmas. The troops' commander, Anderson, believed the island fort was more defensible...a brick pentagon three stories tall that hosted more than 60 cannon. But Southerns saw Anderson's move as predatory, and were outraged that their newly founded Confederacy was not respected and released by federal troops.

As tensions between North and South grew, the fort became the focal point. Confederates decided to reclaim it, and in the early morning hours of April 12, an initial bomb exploding above it was the signal to the Confederate-held forts all around the harbor to fire...and did they ever. Thirty-four hours later, more than 3,000 projectiles had been launched into the structure, collapsing the top two stories. And the small Union garrison couldn't man enough of the guns to launch an effective response. Anderson negotiated a surrender on April 13. Incredibly, not a single life had been lost, although two men died following a cannon misfire during the surrender ceremony. Those two casualties were the first of the more than 620,000 lives lost over the course of the war...2% of the country's population.

Charleston has survived more than Civil War; a severe earthquake (believed a seven on the modern Richter scale) in 1886 damaged or destroyed nearly every single building. The brick structures that could be saved were bolted back together by screws that were drilled through from one side to the other. Hurricane Hugo, in 1989, brought further destruction. But the city is proudly resilient; it bears its scars with pride, although it does try to dress them up with pastel paint (Rainbow Row), gorgeous gardens and decorative hardware (often covering the bolts).

The city's skyline is nearly unchanged from 150 years ago, when its numerous church spires dominated. One of them sits above the oldest and only active independent Huegenot church in America. Founded in the 1600s by French Protestants who refused to conform to the Church of England, the congregation still celebrates some of its special services with French liturgy. The cultural influence of France also is evident in the city's French quarter...it looks similar to New Orleans, but I found it much more charming and classy. Stan and I had fun envisioning a future trip in which we stay in one of the many stately homes that have been turned into bed-and-breakfast inns.

Charleston's history has so much more to offer than what we could experience in one day. We want to return and take in its present--fantastic restaurants, galleries and museums--as well as revisit the significant places we saw today.