The final day was one to indulge my history sweet tooth, visiting Patriots Point and Ft. Sumter in the Charleston harbor. It was just me and Ash today, with the others gone or at work.

Friday�s fortune cookie: �You are a practical person with your feet on the ground.� Ah, yes, but with my head in the clouds! And, unfortunately, my back in a vice. It was a bad day for my lower back. I knew from the time I woke up and got in the shower that it would lock up all day. Just have to slug through it, is all, sitting down every 15 minutes and trying not to whine too much. No fun, indeed.

Just one more instance where I realize I'm more like Garfield than cute kitten Nermal. We're always told to "listen to your body," but if I did, I'd be 700 pounds on the couch eating Mr. Goodbars with sweet iced tea pumped into my veins. I do what one must always do, ask "WWDPD, or What Would Dr. Phil Do?" Well, he'd keep it real, stop complaining and get his butt off the couch to enjoy the final day in Charleston.

First stop was Patriots Point, home of the WWII aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. The Naval & Maritime Museum also includes the submarine Clamagore, destroyer Laffey and Coast Guard cutter Ingham, plus a replica Vietnam naval support base that includes a river patrol boat and Huey Medivac helicopter.

The Yorktown, the famous "Fighting Lady" of World War II, was commissioned in 1943 and received numerous honors for service in the Pacific, and in 1968 it recovered the crew of Apollo 8, the first manned spacecraft to circle the moon. Now it sits in the Charleston harbor open to visitors. Something any kid would love, is that youth campers are allowed overnight on the ship with all the facilities at their disposal.

Special exhibits honor all facets of the Navy, as well as the National Congressional Medal of Honor Museum. On the hangar deck you can watch the 1949 Academy Award-winning documentary, "The Fighting Lady," which we took in and learned plenty from (even though I think I dozed off for a few minutes - hey, it was dark and I was tired).

Before looking at anything else at Patriot's Point, we set out on the last ferry to Ft. Sumter that leaves from the same place as the Yorktown.

Fort Sumter National Monument Construction of the fort on this man-made island began in 1829 and was still not completed on December 26, 1860, when, under cover of darkness, Major Robert Anderson moved his troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces at Fort Johnson fired the first shot of the Civil War at Union-occupied Fort Sumter. After a 34 hour bombardment, Major Anderson surrendered and Confederate troops occupied the fort. Fort Sumter then became a symbol of Southern resistance. Union forces on Morris Island bombarded Fort Sumter from 1863 to 1865 in one of the longest sieges in warfare. By February 17, 1865, when the Confederates evacuated the fort, it was little more than a heap of rubble.

It takes about 20 minutes for the ferry to get the 3 miles into the Charleston harbor and the man-made island that Ft. Sumter sits upon. It took 30 years to build the fort on top of a sandbar, and even then it wasn't ever completed since the Civil War halted the building, then Confederates and the Union tore up the barracks and second and third-floor walls as each controlled the fort.

I was a little disappointed that we had only an hour to actually tour the fort, so I didn't get to walk all around it and read the items. The first 30 minutes was spent listening to the Ranger give the history of the place. But at least I can say I was where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. And the Confederates won the day! Yee-Haw! Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, the Union won the war, whatever.

After Ft. Sumter, we were back at Patriot's Point to walk through the WW II submarine Clamagore, commissioned June, 1945, and operated in the Atlantic and Mediterranean before being retired in 1975. The self-guided tour squirms through the control room, engine room, mess area, torpedo room, etc. Hard to imagine that my grandfather (Dad's dad) worked in such a tight space in WW II, and since this sub was made late in the war, the Clamagore was possibly bigger than what he served on! The walk through it today is not for the claustrophobic, but gives one a new respect for the guys who lived there months at a time.

That was our final excursion. We hit a Chinese buffet for an early dinner/late lunch, I spent quality time with Ash, Ward and their puppies, then on the road for a wet five-and-a-half hour drive home. Besides, wouldn't want to overstay my welcome, and let the group in on what I'm really like, ya know? As the Gambler says, you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run.

Good few days, though, with a city and pleasant company that are worth visiting more than once. There�s so much history in the city, you can sense it all around, and the people of Charleston are very good, it seems, at making sure to preserve every building and remnant possible.

Many thanks to Ward and Ash for opening up their home and city to ridicule�er, I mean to such appreciative folks like us. I would just like to finish by saying that I'm pleased as punch to be associated with such a fine group of folks, and look forward to another gathering!