Cole and I tour Fort Sumter in the Charleston, South Carolina, harbor.

Welcome to the last leg of our spring break journey. You joined me in the Bahamas and lived vicariously through Disney World photos. Now, we travel north to the port city of Charleston, South Carolina. We basically only blipped through the history-filled city, hitting up Fort Sumter and Drayton Hall.

After all our other Civil War sights, it was only natural that we visited where it all started: Fort Sumter. We reserved tickets online and then picked them up a the window right outside the door without a problem. With ticket in hand, we boarded a little boat that cruised us out to the island. A PA system spilled history over us as we rode along the little waves. As the location where the Civil War began, we knew the trip would be full of history. Actually the fort had so much history that it's impossible to read all the information available in the hour-long island stay — even though Cole tried. Once we arrived at the fort, we listened to a ranger talk about the fort's history and highlights to check out. After his words, we walked around to see where shells had crumbled walls and even gotten stuck in the bricks. The remaining shell was cool to see and touch (!). That fun bit of history was a first for us. The lower level contained the artifacts and many, many cannons. On top, the two-story fort offered great water and shoreline views. The hour quickly passed, and we boarded the boat to return to the main land. If you make it to this East Coast city, put this adventure on the top of your list.

We board the boat and make the short ride out to the island fort.

The bricks still stand, while not as high, at Fort Sumter.

After docking, we had one hour to tour the fort and its museum.

A park ranger stands guard at the door.

The caution tape ruins the historic atmosphere.

A shell is still lodged in the brick wall. The sight was a first for us.

Cannons line the wall under the ledge like they would have back in 1861.

Small waves float past the fort on the cloudy, rainy day.

Each flag contains a piece of history.

We were on the last tour of the day, so they were taking down the flags.

The rangers struggled against the wind.

Bricks :)

Quite windy up on top of the fort.

The next day we visited a plantation house from the 1700s. The area has plenty of old house tours to choose from, and we went with Drayton Hall. I quickly realized that we had visited other plantation homes, specially Mount Vernon and, of course, Monticello. While those are both old, George Washington was 6-years-old and Thomas Jefferson wasn't even born when Drayton Hall was built. Whoa. Old. The inside wasn't decorated, but much of the wood and designs were original, from wooden flowers to carved plaster ceilings. My favorite part of the grounds was how open and peaceful the grounds were, especially from the pond in front of the house.

Thanks for joining me on this three-day blog series about our spring break this year. As an added bonus, I have a handful of my favorite photos from the trip that I will post as a album. They haven't appeared in any of these blog posts because I saved the best for last.

We waited on the benches to start our Drayton Hall tour.

John Drayton moved into this plantation home in the 1750s.

The Drayton's welcomed esteemed guests to dine in their grand ballroom.

Only a few of the decorated, plaster ceiling remain in the home.

John Drayton used Corinthian columns in the grand ballroom, showing that only certain guests received this privilege.

Flowers bloom in the early spring weather.

We learned that the grounds keeper added special chemicals to the pond to help create that great reflection.

We enjoyed our Drayton Hall tour, even if it meant the end to a great spring break.