Colonial Dorchester, Drayton Hall, and Middleton Place - Colonial and Revolutionary War Road Trip Radio Report; 24-26 April 2026

Last Friday afternoon, I drove up to Charleston, SC to visit some Low Country Colonial and Revolutionary War historic sites. My first stop was Colonial Dorchester near Summerville before heading to the hotel in North Charleston. I spent Saturday morning at Drayton Hall and the afternoon at Middleton Place, both of which are on Ashley River Rd in Charleston. Some months back, I'd booked a behind-the-scenes tour of the work being done on Drayton Hall's Great Hall ceiling and that was the main reason for the road trip. While in the area, I learned that Middleton Place has a 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution exhibit, so I decided to drop in and see it since Middleton Place was right down the road. I thoroughly enjoyed both the behind-the-scenes tour at Drayton Hall and the 250th Exhibit at Middleton Place. The trip was productive radio-wise as well; there were changes to Charleston area communications on the Palmetto 800 system since my last visit and I was able to better ID some Joint Base Charleston traffic on the USAF 57 system. Saturday also provided the opportunity to listen to a sizeable industrial fire in Berkeley County. I tried a POTA attempt from Colonial Dorchester on Friday, but all didn't go according to plan. Food-wise, I had excellent meals on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Drayton Hall in Charleston, SC - built in the Late 1740s

Reconstruction Roots in the Lowcountry: Beaufort, Port Royal, and St Helena Island Overnight Road Trip Radio Report - 27/28 December 2025

On Saturday morning, I made a last minute decision to take an overnight road trip from Savannah up to Beaufort to visit the Beaufort History Museum and the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. It was another practically tropical December day in Coastal Georgia and Lowcountry South Carolina, so it was a great day for a road trip. It turned out that the History Museum was closed for the morning due to a staffing issue, but it turned out to be an interesting trip anyway (and it gives me another reason to come back another day...). I also fit in visits to the Fort Fremont History Preserve, the St Helena Island Chapel of Ease, and the Fort Frederick History Preserve. Radio-wise, I didn't expect a lot of military aviation activity due to it being a holiday weekend, but there was one nice surprise. There was quite a bit of fire department traffic on the area Palmetto 800 sites to listen to, however. The radio in KF4LMT Mobile didn't stay silent much throughout the day. On the amateur radio side of things, there was decent activity on area 2 Meter analog repeaters and I squeezed in a short POTA (Parks on the Air) activation. 

The Beaufort History Museum in the Beaufort Arsenal (built in 1798), unfortunately it was closed the morning of my visit

Fort Fremont and Naval History in Port Royal; Mini Road Trip Radio Report; 6 April 2024

After having breakfast with some of the Coastal Amateur Radio Society crew yesterday morning, I drove roughly hour and a half from Savannah up to the Port Royal Sound area of South Carolina to visit the Fort Fremont Preserve on St Helena Island. It's a place that I've had on my want to visit list for several years, but since their visitors center is only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and I work most weekends, I hadn't yet found the opportunity to visit. Since I was off, had no plans, and the weather was beautiful, I made a last minute decision to visit. On the radio side of things, it was a beneficial visit because it uncovered a flaw in my radio programming.