Before I start talking about the fire museum I want to thank Charlotte and Richard for reaching out and meeting us. She sent me an email right before Lee had to go to Columbus and despite my last minute cancellation of that lunch they were open to rescheduling. They also had sent us a wonderful audio children’s book for Oliver earlier in the year and it was so nice to get together for lunch. Richard was quitting his Project Manager job back when I was quitting mine originally and they had been reading us for a long time. It really meant a lot to me when they shared they now have helicopter Evac insurance because of what happened to Lee and it is moments like these that really make writing this blog a special thing in my life. Thanks so much for reaching out. We had a great time!
From Left: Richard, Charlotte, me, and Lee
On to the North Charleston Fire Museum. I worked for a Fire Protection company for 15 years and I love working the fire protection industry because truly I always felt what we did had an underlying higher calling. I am VERY serious about all kinds of fire protection and was very curious to see what they had. Lee was in because, well, Fire Trucks. For him… enough said. Also, If you don’t feel super interested in fire stuff, the outlet stores are within walking distance.
The cost was only $6 and totally worth it. Local museums in our experience are either great or pretty mediocre but this was was definitely great. It was a large collection of restored fire trucks provided by the American LaFrance company who manufactured them. They have all been lovingly restored and they are so shiny!!
1904 Steamer
When we walked in two firemen were working and available to answer any questions. That was really neat and a very good sign!
1929 Double Bank Service Truck
1857 Hand Pump truck. This was super cool because multiple people pushed the bars on the side. In a fire everyone helps and the old fire trucks depended on that assistance as most fire departments were volunteers.
This was a tiny coal fired steam boiler like in old trains just on a smaller scale.
Loved the old wood container on the back and behind it you can see where the coal went.
Loved the lamps on this one. It was a roadster that the fire chief drove. Nice ride!
Heavy brass hose was on its on tripod
The engines came from all over the country and almost all were working engines prior to being restored.
This one had a cool bucket truck
Many of these trucks were refitted over time as new fire suppression technology was developed.
My favorite was all of the different bells. Shiny!!
As cool as the fire trucks were I really loved the other displays as well.
These fire department badges are from all over the world and visitors bring their badges and donate them which was great.
Vintage hand pumped fire extinguishers
and Hats
They also had this cool setup of a fire dispatcher
And my favorite modern day fire extinguishers provided by my old company!! Made me proud.
The entire place was a little kid paradise and was filled primarily with young families. We both can’t wait until Oliver gets a little older and we can take him here!
Great playground right in the middle of the space
This cool animatronic talked to people when they walked past.
Schematics of how the pressure engines work
Interactive hoses so you can see how hard it would be to hold them under pressure
And this cool hydrant cut open to see what was inside
An exhibit to try and lift the 100 pounds of gear firemen have to carry
My favorite was a household area that showed all the very real danger zones that can cause fire. super cool and educational!
The most popular thing for the kids was a fire truck with a movie playing inside that they could sit in. The parents had a hard time getting the kids out!
Looks totally real
And we both loved the sticker machine that allows you to create a custom fire sticker.
Really user and you can print and email it!!
Look what grandpa made Oliver!
Of course the gift shop was amazing!!
We loved it and although we only spent an hour there it was a great hour.
Oh and one last thing completely off the subject. Someone mentioned in the comments that I should try to make egg bites in my Instant pot for a quick and protein filled breakfast. I bought the cool insert and they were delicious. Basically you can make mini omelets in bite sized form. Thanks for the idea, and I thought I would pass along it worked!
The insert is reasonably priced. I paid $11.
The end result of my first attempt. I overfilled the insert a bit 🙂
Overall the diet is going well. I lost 4.5 pounds in the first month and only went over on calories one day. We have also discovered Lean Cuisine Comfort meals and they are delicious. I generally do NOT like frozen meals especially not diet but these are very favorable andlow in calories and reasonable in salt. I highly recommend them!
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Camper Chronicles 
I love old fire equipment. Very cool
On Fri, Jan 3, 2020 at 9:35 AM Camper Chronicles wrote:
> Lee and Tracy posted: “Before I start talking about the fire museum I want > to thank Charlotte and Richard for reaching out and meeting us. She sent > me an email right before Lee had to go to Columbus and despite my last > minute cancellation of that lunch they were open to resche” >
How awesome you got to have lunch with Richard & Charlotte! They are a special couple!
Love the firehouse museum!