Nephew Brian, a Civil War fan of the first order, was keen to see Fort Sumter. So when he visited me in my South Carolina home, we jumped in my car, drove to Charleston, boarded a boat, and headed into the harbor. And there he saw Fort Sumter.

With the summer season well under way, there's lots going on in the National Park System. At Kings Canyon National Park there are two family camping weekends coming up, at Mount Rainer National Park the Stevens Pass Road is about to reopen, and at Glacier National Park there are some great science programs for visitors to enjoy.

The Park Service co-sponsored this year’s International Congress of Speleology (ICS), which has been going on all week in Kerrville, Texas. Many of the 1,300 participants signed up for field trips that included guided tours of developed and wild caves within NPS units.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park is one of the premier scenic drives in the world, but even the best of roads eventually need some serious repairs. The Sun Road is in the midst of a long-overdue rehab. Here's an important update on work beginning July 27.