Smoky Mtns Trip Day 5 - Billy Graham Library & Charleston

Another stop that we knew we wanted to add to our trip was a visit to the Billy Graham Library/Museum. We looked at the hours of operation and knew that we would be too late to visit when we rolled in to Charlotte. That would mean we would have to go as soon as it opened the next day (9:00 am). We slept in a bit and then drove to the Library. We were a few minutes early so we sat at the gate, waiting for security to arrive.

We took our time walking around the grounds and visiting Billy & Ruth's grave site. It was a nice, private alcove beside the Library. We also visited the grave sites of Cliff & Billie Barrows and George Beverly Shea, all members of Billy's evangelistic team.

Ruth's stone had a Chinese symbol of Righteousness. It also has a quote "End of Construction - thank you for your patience". She once saw that sign while driving, chuckled and stated that she wanted that quote on her tombstone.

Billy's grave said "Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ". He was once quoted as saying, "Someday you will hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don't you believe a word of it! I shall be more alive than I am now!"

We left the grounds and headed inside. We had a full day ahead of us - we were going to visit the library and then drive to Charleston, SC. We hoped to visit some of the sites in Charleston as well. We assumed that the Billy Graham Library would be a self guided tour and we could see a few things then hit the road. After sitting through the first portion (welcome video), we were escorted as a group back to the next area. We quickly realized that we were going to be doing the full tour. It actually worked out really well. It was a very informative and interesting tour with a lot of memorabilia, pictures and stories. We all walked away from the museum feeling like we understood Billy's life a bit better and we were all impacted by what God did through Billy.

Billy purchased this engagement ring for Ruth after a love offering was given to him from a crusade he preached at.

As we left the museum portion, we saw this full length Thomas Kinkade painting. It took up the whole wall! Absolutely beautiful!

Billy's boyhood home was moved to the site and is a part of the tour. We opted not to visit the home due to time constraints.

We grabbed lunch and hit the road for Charleston! The only stop along the way - WELCOME TO SOUTH CAROLINA sign! This would be Matt's 49th state (only missing Alaska!) and the older girls' 47th state!

We pulled in to the Welcome Center Rest Area and snapped a few more pictures. This time, we included Matt!

We loved the big "front porch" swings at the Welcome Center!

As we traveled towards the coast, we hit a few rainstorms. You can see the dark clouds behind us and the beautiful skies ahead of us.

Because of our stop at the Billy Graham Library (a later start than our usual, staying for the full tour, etc), we knew that we would miss the last ferry out to Fort Sumter in Charleston. While we were bummed to miss this, it did give us a lot of freedom with our day.

Our first stop in Charleston was Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. This church has a long, rich history within the Civil Rights movement. It was also home of a horrific mass shooting in June 2015, in which 9 of its church members were killed (including the pastor). While the church was closed, we were able to pay our respects and discuss what happened with our kids. The most important thing that we took away from this visit - the church members and community responded in love and forgiveness, not hate and bitterness. One of the visitors we met was telling us about the memorial that the church is planning on building.

We headed towards The Battery next. While driving, we saw some amazing & very beautiful homes and buildings. I compared many of the homes to New Orleans, but Charleston had a beauty that I never felt in New Orleans.

Once at The Battery, we were blessed with a parking spot (I had already researched parking garages and we were too tall for the close by ones due to our Thule).

We grabbed our hats, sunscreen & cameras and began our walk. The breeze was stiff, but it felt WONDERFUL!

After we first started walking, Becki pointed out a pod of dolphins off in the distance (between us and Ft Sumter). We watched for a few minutes as they would appear and then go back under the water. Everyone got to see them - unfortunately, no pictures captured them!

Fort Sumter in the distance. While we were walking, we noticed that the flag was being lowered for the day. We (Matt especially) were bummed to miss out on seeing the Fort up close, but were glad we could see it from The Battery. 

We loved house-gazing and watching the pelicans as they dove into the water. We could've spent hours there if time hadn't been a factor.

We looped around and ended at White Point Garden.

We saw signs throughout White Point Gardens that Night Herons nest in that area. We got lucky and saw one of the baby Herons! 

We drove around the area a bit, looking at more houses along the way. We saw Rainbow Row - so vibrant and beautiful!

Our last planned stop for Charleston was Waterfront Park. I wanted a picture of the Pineapple Fountain, haha! It was a great spot right along the water (I guess there is a reason it is called Waterfront Park!).

We walked a few blocks away from the park, in search of restrooms. Found more buildings to love!

Matt wanted to see if he could find a different view of Fort Sumter so we stopped at the Charleston Maritime Center. It didn't really give us better views/pictures of Fort Sumter, but it was still a nice stop.

We crossed the Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge and decided to stop to see the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point. We were so glad that we did - everything was already closed for the day, leaving the evening very quiet and peaceful. The clouds and sky were gorgeous!

By this time, it was after 7 and we were pretty hungry. We found dinner and then quickly stopped at a Walmart to grab flip-flops for Maddie (her beloved Nike Flip-Flops had died earlier that afternoon), water and a few snacks. When the three of us ran in, it was getting pretty dark as a storm was rolling in. Matt took these pictures while we were in Walmart - beautiful but very scary!

The bridge was beautiful - all lit up for the night!

We made it to our hotel, a few minutes too late! The skies opened up and dumped really hard, just a few blocks from the hotel! Luckily, there was an overhang and we quickly unloaded everything right at the front door.

We ended our day in the quiet of the hotel room. We all agreed that Charleston was a beautiful, historic city and we were so glad that we'd had some extra time that day to explore it.