Fort Sumter is a masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.

The fort was built of bricks, mostly bricks which were made by slaves on plantations around the Charleston area. Hmmm.

Here are some of the bricks on the inside wall of the fort.

Bricks

An old basket from Sierra Leone. This is the “footprint” for the now, famous, Sweetwater Grass Baskets here in Charleston. Gullah Tradition.

Basket

“Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully.” -Phillip Brooks

This is holding a shutter open. It helps let the light in.

The Duncan Fine-O-Meter! For just $8.99. That’s right folks, $8.99! Act NOW. For a limited time only, you will receive a set of Ginsu Knives! Free! Yes, free, with every purchase of the Fine-O-Meter. Call now, and we’ll throw in these handy Kitchen Klippers…… the lines are open….. But wait! There’s MORE……

You won't believe it! It slices, it dices, it does your laundry too.

Today we visited the Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant.  The Horlbecks were owners of the plantation and held many slaves during the early 19th century.  They were mostly making bricks as their main source of income.  The 1850 census shows that those slaves were producing around 4 million bricks per year during that time.  Many of the buildings in downtown Charleston are constructed from those bricks.

A ton of bricks.

She is wearing a basketball jersey, me thinks.

Lizzy Jordan.

Leapin' Lizards

Nike is on the phone. No joke.

On this date, in 1955:     Physicist Albert Einstein died at age 76.

He had to leave.

Today, the Blue Angels were in town for an Air Show.  We went down to the Battery, and watched on the Cooper River side.   Those guys fly fast.  And close.  I want to drive one of those.  Do they call it driving?  That’s probably not right.  Steer?

I think his name is Luigi.  What the heck.  I think everybody with a mustache is named Luigi.  I had an aunt who had a mustache once.  I called her Aunt Luigi.

Lou E. Jea