Orlando, FL

We are back home. We had an uneventful drive from Brunswick, GA. Barbara has come down with a cold so I did the four-hour drive in one leg. Normally we switch off every two hours or so which is much easier on us. Traffic was light and and we only encountered periodic light to moderate rain. The rain was welcome, though, since it brought the temperature down from the high of 97 degrees.

This was an interesting trip in that we visited so many friends and ended up eating so many meals away from the coach. Ended up unloading a lot of food that we left with July 10^th. Two stops at Trader Joe’s along the way meant we actually returned with a whole lot more wine than we left with.

It was a terrific road trip. We spent time with great friends, and met many new ones. I got to visit some of Barbara's family for the first time. We visited parts of the country that neither of us had seen, and had a great time learning about nurseries, farming and tractors from the wonderful Bissen family.

We drove over 3800 miles on this trip and passed through thirteen states. We added eight new states to our “States Traveled” map since we only count states if we overnight at least one night.

It is nice to have rain here at home, but it is keeping us from our next challenge: WEEDS.

St Simon Island, GA and Fernandina, FL

We spent this morning on St. Simon Island and found that we enjoyed it over Jekyll Island. Aside from the village on the southern tip the island it is far less commercial. The northern end reminded me of the nicer parts of Hilton Head, SC. There are not as many gated communities, but the homes are for the most part upscale.

We visited Fort Frederica, a pre-revolutionary war English settlement and fortification. James Oglethorpe created it in 1736 to protect Savannah and the southern flank of the English colonies from the Spanish who claimed Florida. The Spanish concept of Florida included most of what are now Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.  Oglethorpe brought settlers with a mixture of trades and skills. These were common people looking to establish a life better than what was available to them in England. The settlement remained viable through the war of 1812, but ultimately succumbed to a large-scale fire. The site was abandoned and much of the salvageable building material was taken to aid in rebuilding elsewhere.

Today you can still see some remaining structures of the fort such as remnant of the magazine and barracks. Foundations of many of the houses in the settlement have been excavated. The layout of the streets is marked and the moat that surrounded the forty-acre settlement is still visible. One of the things we enjoy most about these trips is visiting historical places such as this. Barbara is having a great time collecting the unique ink stamps in her National Park Passport.

The southern portion of the island, with its lighthouse, was where the majority of hotels, restaurants and shops were. It was too touristy for us, so we did not hang around much longer than it took to get an ice cream to cool off. It was very hot and humid again today. Staying in both the shade and breeze was critical.

After St Simon Island we drove to St Marys, GA. We visited the Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum. It might have been that it is Sunday, but there was very little happening in downtown St Marys, and it did not look like there was enough to draw us back.

Since we now had extra time we elected to drive to Fernandina Beach, FL just across the river, but nearly fifty miles by road. While there we did a quick drive through of Fort Clinch State Park campground to see how well our RV would fit. It was encouraging, and the park seems quite nice. We will likely return to camp here.

We had dinner at the Crab Trap restaurant for our last night on the road. I wish I could report that it was great, but alas, it was mediocre. We walked the main district for a bit, but it was still 91 degrees, so we packed it in and returned to the coach.

Tomorrow we break camp and head for Orlando. It has been a great trip, and we have seen some new parts of the country. MN, WI and MI are certainly on our list of places to return to.

Jekyll Island, GA

We spent the day at Jekyll Island. The whole island is now a Georgia State Park, but it started out as a retreat for the uber wealthy in the 1880s. In 1947 the state of Georgia bought the island from the Jekyll Island Club that these captains of industry had created. Their buildings are preserved as the Historic District.

As you approach the island there is an information center and State Patrol Offices. Remember the Hodags in Rhinelander, WI? There must have been a similar contest nearby since we found a decorated Georgia Bulldog. Cool! Go Dogs! (Oops, sorry Lorene and Dick)

You pay a five-dollar “parking fee” as you enter the island, but after that there is little evidence that it is a state park. There are homes, hotels, shops and even a water park.

As an island there are plenty of beaches, of course, and Barbara was obligated to go look for shells. But alas, this is not a good shelling destination. She was so excited at the first beach that she challenged the high tide to try to find shells under the wooden boardwalk. No luck. 

That luck held for the next two beaches we explored. The north end of the island is eroding away, and as it does it is leaving toppled trees on the beach. A positive outcome of this is the small alcoves of beach between the trees that allow folks something resembling privacy, and it cuts the wind. Cutting the wind today was not a great thing. It was HOT! Humid, too. Very humid.

While checking out a picnic area we found this big spider climbing a tree. Look closely at the base of the trunk. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center is here on Jekyll Island. This is a turtle rescue and research facility. They have a turtle education center that is great for teaching about turtle conservation, and there is a turtle hospital. We were lucky to arrive at the hospital as they began feeding the turtles they were caring for. As they are feeding the turtles they give a little history of each animal and how they came to be there. It was time well spent, but you will need to wait for Barbara to get the pictures she took uploaded to the gallery to see the critters.

We finished the day with an early dinner at Sea Jay’s restaurant at a marina on the Intracoastal Waterway. Nice setting, but the food was nothing special.

Brunswick, GA

We are still OK. Sorry to not report in last night, but there was not much to report. We met Fran and David Strawn for lunch with friends of theirs that were preparing for the Burnsville Arts and Crafts Show that starts today. We spent the day at Fran and David’s playing dominos and having a nice dinner that David prepared.

We were up early to break camp, and we were on our way a little ahead of our target of 9:00 this morning. It was another of those long days on the road with only a single fuel stop and couple of driver changes to slow our progress. We arrived in Brunswick, GA a little past 5:00 and set up in the Golden Isles Campground.

This is another of those campgrounds that seem to cater to the north-south RV migrants rather those looking for a destination 'resort'. It may very well be full in the winter, but in the heat of summer it is only half full at best. The majority of folks are just pulling off the road for a night. We will stay three nights so that we can explore St Simon’s Island and Jekyll Island over the weekend. We hope to see St. Mary’s as well. Monday morning we will make the final run to home.

Blue Ridge Parkway

I have not mentioned it, but we are right along the Blue Ridge Parkway and have been spending a bit of time up there. We traveled along the parkway with David and Fran to Linville Caverns and Linville Falls today. The caverns are not as big as some, such as Carlsbad, but it was fun. The cavern is about 1500’ deep and runs about a half-mile beneath the mountain. The part open to the public is about 600’ deep and there is a stream that runs through it. The temperature of the water is about 48 degrees, which keeps the interior of the cavern at 52 degrees year round making it very welcomed in today’s heat.

Linville Falls is in Pisgah National Forest and we spent a bit of time hiking down to the falls and then driving the back roads of the forest. It was a nice afternoon.

Spruce Pine, NC

Yeast batter waffles. Ever had them? Can’t say I had ever heard of them, but David fixed them for us for breakfast this morning and it made it worth getting up at 7:00. He starts the night before by preparing the batter, which rises overnight in the refrigerator. I have to tell you they are GREAT! Thanks David. (He says the recipe is on the Cooks Illustrated website, so I will have to check this out further)

As for sightseeing, we were batting 500 today. We wanted to drop by Altapass Orchard to listen to acoustic music this afternoon, but they are closed on Tuesdays. I am not sure what it is about this area, but they keep strange hours.

We drove over to the Penland Crafts School that we found closed yesterday. We had better luck today and enjoyed some time in the gallery. This is a high-end school for those who want to hone their craft and they offer programs in metal work, glass, ceramics, textiles, etc. The galley was filled with quality student art pieces and it was nice to finally get to see them. Here are David and Fran Strawn in front of the great porch at the gallery building. We spent a little time there in the shade with a great breeze.

We are starting to watch tropical storm Emily to see what she is up to. We will be driving to the South Georgia coast Friday, so her path will be of interest. If she stays east of the Bahamas we should be fine. If she comes up the gulfstream there may be serious rain and slow down our visits to Jekyll Island and Saint Simon Island. Fingers are now officially crossed.

Spruce Pine, NC

We continue to luck out with the weather. Cool temps and sunny skies here in the mountains of North Carolina have made our visit very pleasant. We had lunch in Spruce Pine at DT’s Blue Ridge Java Coffee House and Cafe. Great place!

We tried to visit the Penland School, but they are closed on Mondays. This is a school for folk arts and is very popular. David has taken courses in bench glass working and metalworking and has done some pretty neat stuff! We were hoping to tour the facility and see the displays of student artwork. Looks like that will be done tomorrow.