Week Two
I slept in kind of late this morning. I went back to the campground office to find out about telephone connection so I could get on the internet. I was informed that it would take about a week for Verizon to set up the connection. I found that there was a machine in the activities building that I could use to get on the internet, but I could not connect my computer to it or use a floppy disc to transfer data. Several other options were offered, but nothing worked. I went to Wal-Mart bought some groceries and a few other household items. Then I went to Broadway on the Beach, a boardwalk style shopping complex. Left there and went to Camper World. This place is like a candy store for me. Everything that a camper would want. I joined their “President’s club” which gets me a 10% discount on anything I purchase. After I left there, I went to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. This is a great show. I’ve seen it before, but I thought I would see it again.
It was fantastic.
Left Myrtle Beach late this morning for the short drive to Charleston. Actually I stayed at the KOA campground just North of Charleston in a town called Mount Pleasant. Computer accessibility greatly improved. They had a phone in the office that was designated for guests’ computer. I was finally able to download my e-mail and send an update to Charlie. I didn’t do much else this day. Ate dinner in the camper and turned in early.
I had big plans for this day which is why I turned in early last night, but I didn’t know that I was going to wake up to torrential rain. I could barely see out the window when I woke up. I couldn’t bring myself to go out in the rain to unhook my water and electricity. Finally, some time in the early afternoon, the rain started to let up, so I figured I would go ahead and at least take a look at the ships that I wanted to see. I had planned to go to Patriot’s Point, a naval aviation site in Charleston harbor. This late in the day I thought I would only be able to drive by, and see the ships. When I got there, I decided to go ahead and buy the ticket to board the ships. They have the 888 foot long USS Yorktown, plus a submarine, the Clamagore, a destroyer, The Laffey and a Coast Guard Cutter, The Ingham. I toured all four of these ships and enjoyed it immensely. They also had an excellent life size replica of a US Naval Support Base in South Viet Nam, complete with vehicles, helicopters, bunkers and various other temporary buildings re-creating the Viet Nam scene. I had also planned to take a boat ride to Fort Sumter, but I thought that my late start was going to rule that out. At the last minute, I found that there was a 4:00 sailing. I bought my ticket and took the 45 minute cruise across Charleston Harbor and finally saw the birthplace of the Civil War. I have always wanted to see this site. Over the years I have visited many Civil War sites, but this one has always eluded me. I wasn’t disappointed. It was quite impressive. By the end of the day I was exhausted. I am actually coming down with a cold. That is a rarity for me. I stopped for a bite to eat on the way back to the campground and fell into the sack as soon as I returned.
This morning, I pulled up stakes at Charleston and crossed the 3 ½ mile Pearman Memorial Bridge over Charleston Harbor. I drove down the narrow streets of Charleston to the waterfront and back up to US-17. I stopped briefly at the visitors’ center which was located in an old railroad station. I enjoyed the architecture of Charleston’s old homes and churches. Leaving Charleston I drove about another 30 miles to Point South, SC, the point where US-17 meets I-95. Filled up with gas again, this is the second fill up since leaving home. Got better than 10 miles per gallon on this tank. I don’t believe it either. Maybe I didn’t fill it all the way. We’ll see what happens on the next fill up. I left I-95 for a little 60 mile side trip to Hilton Head Island. I’ve heard about this place over the years and wanted to see it. I was a little disappointed. It is very nice, but there was absolutely no place for me to stop the RV as I had planned to have lunch there. Instead, I left without stopping, headed back to 95 and stopped at the Georgia Welcome center and had lunch there. 19 miles later I was at the Bellaire Woods campground just outside of Savannah. Just spending one night here. Tomorrow I move on to FLORIDA.
It was a cloudy day today but not a whole lot of rain. I left the campground around 9:30 and drove to St Simons Island and Fort Frederica. This is a little known recreation of life in the very early days of Georgia. James Oglethorpe, one of Georgia’s first settlers founded this island town and archeological digs have unearthed a lot of history of the town dating back to 1742. They had an excellent film and several great re-creations of life from those times. St Simons Island is a beautiful island and I would like to come back some day to explore it in more depth. For one thing it is very bicycle friendly. But I had a lot planned for this day so I decided to move on to Jekyll Island about 10 miles south. This was even more beautiful. Saw the summer cottages of the Rockefellers, The Goodyear’s, The Pulitzers and many other extremely wealthy people of the turn of the last century. In fact, they claim that at one time around 1900, one sixth of the world’s wealth was owned by people who owned property on Jekyll Island. It was quite impressive. One could easily spend a week or two on these two islands. But I had to move on. I returned to I-95 for the last 10 miles before the Florida State line. I was sure that the sun would shine on me as I crossed the border into Florida. It always has in the past. But this time, cloudy weather stayed with me right on across the border. Of course I made my mandatory stop at the Florida welcome center, stocking up on all the brochures of places that I wanted to visit. After leaving the welcome center, I found myself smack in the middle of Jacksonville rush hour traffic. No problem, the princess (that’s my nickname for the motorhome) handled the traffic as if it were a daily occurrence. About 20 miles South of Jacksonville, I turned off I-95 for St Augustine. I had planned to stay at the Stagecoach campground, but I called them last night to make sure they had room and I was informed that they were full. Up to now, every campground that I stayed at was nearly empty. I forgot the rules are different in Florida. I called four other campgrounds before I could find a vacancy at the KOA in St Augustine Beach. It is a very nice campground, but it too is filled to capacity. Glad I called this morning. Ate dinner tonight at a nice oceanfront restaurant called Barnacle Bills. Came back to the campground, took a little walk, stopped in the game room and shot a little pool before turning in for the night. Tomorrow is a non-travel day. I intend to spend the day seeing St Augustine.
Another rainy day began this morning, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I left the campground around 9:30 and drove to the St. Augustine Visitor’s center and bought a ticket for the tour tram and admission to the “Fountain of Youth”; Ripley’s “Believe it or not” and America’s oldest house. The tram ride around the city took longer than I expected, but I finally got off at the Fountain of Youth. I was a little disappointed in this place. Tour guide was not the best; they had a pretty good movie about early discoveries, but it was not very state-of-the-art. The grounds were not very well kept and there just wasn’t a whole lot to see or do there, but I had to get my drink from “The Fountain of YOUTH.” The water was disgusting, but I am now 30 years younger. J After leaving the fountain, I re-boarded the tram and rode to the Ripley’s Museum. This was much better than I expected. Fascinating building and exhibits. Glad I decided to see it. Then I boarded the tram one more time for the cross town trip to the oldest house. The tour of this place left something to be desired as well. The house was “allegedly” built in the 1720s. Seems to me that I’ve seen houses older than this before. Even the tour guide said that she didn’t think it was the oldest house. I reminded her that they advertise it that way. Didn’t seem to phase her. I wanted to go to Castillo de San Marcos, a well preserved Spanish fort right in the middle of town. It is administered by the National Park Service and I would have been able to get in free on my National Park pass. Unfortunately it closed at 5:00, as did nearly everything else in Saint Augustine. I drove around a little bit, stopped at Mission of Nombre de Dios, a beautiful church, garden and cemetery with a cross that was 180 feet high. It was quite impressive, but the church was not open. I came back to the campground to find that my water hose was missing (my connection for the RV to city water). Later I found that the park management had picked it up. I thought that was rather ridiculous and told them so. Ate dinner and turned in early. Big day tomorrow, I’m going to Walt DisneyWorld!
I left the campground this morning to bright sunshine. I drove down highway A1A, the coastal highway to Daytona Beach. I passed Marineland along the way. Looks like the major theme Parks of Florida have really hurt Marineland. This place appeared to be on its last leg. When I got into Daytona Beach, it looked like a war zone. There was a continuous line of police vehicles for block after block, state, county and city from many jurisdictions. There was trash all over the place. Seems it was Black College Reunion week. I heard on the news this evening that there were more than 400 arrests last night. Seems there was a little trouble in Daytona Beach. I didn’t stop at all in Daytona, but left town past the Daytona Speedway and got on I-4 heading for Orlando. I by-passed Orlando on their new “Greenway” toll road. I used my Florida Sun-pass that I had sent for. This is just like the EZ pass in the Northeast states. I always get a kick out of flying through toll booths without paying while others are lined up waiting to pay. Before arriving at Disneyworld, I stopped at Camper World in Kissimmee, just outside of Disneyworld. I was hoping to get my dash air conditioner fixed there, even though I really haven’t missed it yet. Surprise! Camper World does not fix air conditioners. I made an appointment to have an electrical connection looked at and asked if I could also get my oil changed. They don’t change oil either. Think I will forget the whole thing and look for someone else. Went on in to Disney World and checked in at the Fort Wilderness Campground. I was assigned to campsite #506, a terrific location, easy walking distance to the boat docks for transportation to all of the attractions. I went out for a long walk and a boat ride. I rode over to the Magic Kingdom, and back to the Wilderness Lodge hotel. I got off the boat at Wilderness Lodge, walked all through the hotel and then walked back to Fort Wilderness. It was a great night for a walk. Finally I am seeing some of that great Florida weather. I’m turning in early tonight, because tomorrow I’m going to the Magic Kingdom.