The next morning, after sleeping off the food-hangover (ugh...Thanksgiving...), John and Mary and I decided to go for another hike, at a place we had never visited before: Ninety-Six National Historic Site.

Located in the town of Ninety-Six, west of Columbia on SR 34, Ninety-Six National Historic Site was the site of two Revolutionary War battles - one in 1775, the other in 1781.  Preserved by the National Park System, the site has a number of artifacts from the era to view, including the Star Fort and the Black Swan Tavern.  It sounded like an interesting history lesson for Mary - after all, we had pulled her out of school for three days, so it was important to add educational value to the trip.

When we arrived at Ninety-Six National Historic Site, around 9:00 in the morning, we parked the car then walked a tenth of a mile to the Visitor's Center.  After getting a stamp for our National Park passport book and a map of the park, we spent some time looking at the various exhibits inside the park headquarters.  They had several cannons on display, as well as some artifacts that archeologists had dug up from the site.  There were also mannequins dressed in the traditional military uniforms of the Revolutionary War.  We pointed everything out to Mary and read to her from the placards to explain what they were.

Having studied the park map, John decided that we should do the Historic Interpretive Trail - a one-mile walk on a paved trail, with numbered points of interest along the way.  The numbers corresponded to a map that explained what everything was.  It would be a fun and educational way to spend the morning.

The trail began at the Visitor's Center and followed a paved path into a forest of oaks that had already begun to turn red, yellow and orange.  We soon crossed over a wooden bridge, which took us over the Spring Branch; and, at that point, the forest cleared into a large meadow where the fort and the battlefield had been situated.

The first point of interest on our interpretive tour was the old Island Ford Road, which we followed for about a hundred yards.  This was an old colonial road that had been heavily used and eventually became a trench.

As the trail left the road, we came to the Observation Platform; and nearby, we found the trenches that had been dug to reinforce the defenses of Ninety-Six.  There was also a ten-foot replica of the thirty-foot rifle tower that had been built by the Patriots, as well as cannons scattered about in the clearing.

About halfway through our hike, we came to the Star Fort.  All that remained of the fort (which had been built in the shape of an eight-pointed star) were mounds of earth that had once been the fourteen-foot walls that surrounded the fort during the Loyalist siege. 

From the Star Fort, there were Communications Trenches that had been dug, leading to the jail (which was no longer there) and to the Stockade Fort (which was a reconstruction of the fort that had once been built there).  Along the way, we passed through a thick grove of oak trees, with an incredible display of yellow autumn leaves.  Being a sucker for autumn leaves, we had to stop and take pictures.  Mary also found acorns all over the ground; we showed her that those acorns were actually seeds that created those giant oak trees.  We allowed Mary to take a couple of them home, to show her classmates.

At the end of our mile walk, we arrived at the Black Swan Tavern, which had been reconstructed to look like a colonial tavern. Nearby, we found stockades; John and I took turns locking each other up in them!

After that delightful hike, we returned to the car and left Ninety-Six in search of a place to eat lunch. 

We didn't have much in the way of choice that afternoon; there weren't a whole lot of restaurants on the way back to Chapin.  We ended up stopping at a Mexican food place, where the margaritas were good, but the food...well, let's just say that we definitely weren't in Arizona anymore...

We returned to the Lake House with enough time to start packing and to get ready for dinner out.  That evening, we were celebrating Lotte and Richard's wedding anniversary, and Omi and Opa were going to take us all out to their favorite German restaurant for dinner.

It didn't take us that long to pack, though...so we had time for one more tour on the lake in the pontoon boat, this time with no rain.  It was a nice, sunny day, albeit cold, and the lake was like glass; we had to take advantage of those conditions.

While we were out on the lake, we all took turns driving the boat - even Mary took a turn again!  John stood nearby and navigated.  She really enjoyed it, and I'm sure someday, she's going to want a boat of her own...

After tying the boat back up on the dock and securing the cover over it, we got dressed for dinner.  Then, at 4:30, we drove into Columbia to meet the others for dinner.

We met at Omi and Opa's house that evening and took one vehicle - Richard's Suburban - to dinner.  Along the way, there was talk about Lotte and Richard taking another trip out to Arizona very soon; at that very moment, Erika was signing for Lotte on a piece of property that the two of them were buying together in Overgaard, AZ, one that we, too, could use anytime we wanted to.

The German restaurant was very delightful, and the food was authentic.  Not only was it a great place for Lotte and Richard to celebrate their anniversary, but it was also a nice way to end our South Carolina adventure.  In the morning, it was time to head home...

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