Where Was This Photo Taken?-- Part 4: Walking Over From Pine Island Sandbar

 **  Before 2019, some locals had found a way to visit the fort without paying the $24 fee normally required of visiting the site.

**  Unbeknownst to most  visitors, there is technically no cost to enter Fort Sumter itself.  Instead, the fee is to cover the ferry service to and from the fort.

**  It turns out that a short distance from Fort Sumter is a sandbar, popularly known as "Pine Island" by weekend -party boaters.  Some locals would anchor the boat off the sandbar, and take the short walk through the shallow waters to Fort Sumter island.

**  But in 2019, the National Park Service (NPS) officially closed access to the fort from the  sandbar beach in an attempt to limit overcrowding and  the number of inebriated guests who visit the national monument.

**  It seems that the NPS can really be a party-pooper.

--Old B-Runner