Liedholms Äventyr / Liedholm's Adventures

Instead of continuing to count weekends or referencing last week’s post as ”the following weekend,” we’re diving straight into our latest discovery. Let’s see how consistent we can be with this decision.

As we mentioned in our post about exploring Daniel Island and Charleston, where we decided to visit the Charleston Children’s Museum on a rainy day, this weekend we ventured to the North Charleston Fire Museum, despite the good weather. For a family that has spent most of its life in Sweden, this doesn’t quite align with our typical behavior and is likely part of the cultural adjustment we’re experiencing. Here, the weather is sunny 90% of the time, and when it does rain, it’s usually over in less than an hour. In other words, you quickly get used to the fantastic weather and don’t feel like you’re missing out when you choose an indoor activity on a sunny day. Talk about contrasts!

Anyway, we decided to make our first visit to the North Charleston Fire Museum. After paying the entrance fee ($6 per adult, free for kids under the age of 12), the kids’ first task was to design their own firefighter stickers, followed by a jump straight into the fire truck simulator.

Gustaf’s main interest was in the vast collection of fire trucks used by the American fire department over the years, dating back to 1780. We don’t have room to list all the cool vehicles from the museum, but here are some of our favorites.

When speed was of the essence, this model was the go-to choice back in the day. Who wouldn’t want to take this for a test drive?

In addition to interactive, robot-controlled, and realistic theater presentations designed to educate visitors on fire safety, there were opportunities to test various firefighting functions, such as seeing what happens from the moment someone calls 911 to feeling the pressure of the fire hose, from light to nearly impossible to handle. Ralf found it exciting to twist and turn the ”church,” as we now expertly call the fire hose switching mechanism.

One section of the museum featured a collection of fire department patches from all over the world, including Sweden!

The kids and we parents are very pleased with our family adventure to the North Charleston Fire Museum and are sure it won’t be the last time we visit. We fully expect the kids to soon ask to return and once again drive the fire truck simulator—something we can totally understand.

Over and out!