South Carolina--Final Day

September 23, 2011

Nathan and I briefly spent some time with my Mom, Emily and Katherine in the morning to confirm travel plans. They wanted to head up to Westminster, South Carolina to visit another cemetery.  Nathan and I were interested in going with them at first, but we became less interested when we found out that going to Westminster would add about 4-5 more hours of driving time to our already 4 hour drive up to Charlotte.  So, we decided to go and do a couple more things in Charleston before we left.

Our first stop was Fort Moultrie.  This fort has been around since the Revolutionary War!  I wish I could say that it was as neat as Fort Sumter, but it was a little disappointing.  I kind of felt bad for it because Fort Sumter gets so much attention and Fort Moultrie, which has been around longer historically, doesn't get any such attention.  And it's just a short distance away from Fort Sumter.  Nevertheless, I am glad that we went and visited such a historic place in our nations history.

After Fort Moultrie we drove over to the U.S.S. Yorktown.  This was AWESOME!  This aircraft carrier has been through World War II, the Vietnam War, and has also served as a recovery ship for Apollo 8.  This ship has so much history and it was neat to explore it.

Here is Nathan showing how big the carrier and fighter jets are.

I wouldn't want to be behind this jet when its engines get started.  YIKES!

Here I am mimicking the man in the photo whose job was to direct the landing of the jets on the carrier.  It can't be too hard of a job right?

Nathan in the Captain's chair.  Now this job would scare me.  How on earth are you supposed to steer and drive this monster?

This carrier was so cool!  If you are ever in the area of Charleston I recommend you go.

After the U.S.S. Yorktown Nathan and I grabbed some lunch at Subway and started on our drive back to Charlotte, NC.  It was a beautiful drive.  I love the freeways in the south because they look like this:

This small portion will probably only interest those that are related to the Deaton line.  But you are welcome to read if you wish.  If not...just skip down to the dotted lines.

As Nathan and I were doing those touristy things in Charleston, my Mom and two sisters drove to Westminster for the Duke Family Cemetery (the cemetery used to be named Rock Springs Cemetery).  If you are interested in some more information on the cemetery click here (my Mom gave me this link and it is about the cemetery's history).  When I met up with my Mom in Charlotte I downloaded her pictures to our computer and thought I would post a few of them.

Here is Jackson Deaton's headstone.  You can see that it is broken in pieces and has to be held together.

Here are Sarah Jean Larson (my mom's cousin--Aunt Hazel's oldest daughter), Katherine, and my Mom holding Jackson's headstone.

Emily believes that this mossy headstone is Elijah Deaton.  And just at the base of this grave there is a foot stone with the initials E.D.  My Mom believes this foot stone is Elijah Deaton.  It also could be Elizabeth Deaton, but she is not sure.

My Mom thinks that we are related to Joseph Liles, Jr. It is not a direct line.  It's more of like a cousin of a cousin type thing (at least that's what I understood from Mom).  I love the confederate flag at the base of the headstone though.

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Nathan and I arrived in Charlotte, checked into our hotel, ate some dinner, and relaxed. My Mom and sisters arrived around 8:00 pm at the hotel to pick me up and we head down the street to Aunt Irene's house.  We had a nice little chat with her and her son.  I don't know why I didn't take any pictures, but here is a picture of Katherine, my Mom, Aunt Irene, and Emily that was taken at the beginning of their trip (September 18, 2011).

Later we went back to the hotel and I hung out in my Mom's and sister's room for a while.  We got the giggles and laughed about many silly things.  I think we were all so tired that pretty much anything was entertaining.  Eventually, we said some goodbyes and I left to go back to my hotel room because Nathan and I had an early flight the next morning (or so we thought.  It's a long story that isn't worth blogging about).

Well that wraps up our trip to South Carolina.  I'm so sad that it's over with, but I am happy to see my baby again.  We missed her so much and are happy to be reunited with Hannah.