St George Island Week 2

The night before New Years Eve was "practice night" at Paddy's. There had to be over 200 people in a place that seats maybe 80. New Year's Eve will undoubtedly top that.


St. George Island stretches out toward the east for about 8 km's beyond the park campground. There used to be a road for hikers and bikes going all the way to the end but Hurricane Michael tore that up and covered a lot of it with sand, so that area is now closed. The beach however, is not closed. I had been wanting to ride to the end since we got here. Yesterday I did it, a 16 km round trip, all on the beach, it was magical. 
Here's a short video. Best viewed in Big Screen, (button bottom right).

A short walk takes you to the bay side of the island. Here you can find oysters clinging to just about any structure, even old tree trunks. So with  the help of my Swiss Army knife, we had lunch. Ahhh, livin' off the land. Next time we'll remember to bring the hot sauce.

Tara greeting a relative with complete disinterest. He's a big boy for a sheltie.

Photo bombed on NYE. This was our NYE selfie.
In retaliation for my bombing her NYE selfie, she returned the favour. Don't know who she is but she is pretty good at it. It was a great party, Paddy's of course.

St George Island, for 2 weeks!

After St. Augustine we spent a few days in north central Florida at O'Leno State Park. The park has a great trail system. This part of Florida has all the springs, Ginnie Springs, High  Springs, etc. The Santa Fe River actually goes underground (called river sink) in the park and then resurfaces 3.5 miles  away (river rise).
This is where it comes back to the surface.

The trail to this spot was about 9 kms through forest, bush, swamp, jungle. I did it on the bike but took the roads back to the campsite, it was a rough trail.

The next stop is St. George Island State Park.
It's one of our favourite destinations with a beach that tops them all. The park is on a long spit of sand well out into the gulf.
It was hit hard by Hurricane Michael in 2018, the same storm that leveled the town of Mexico Beach nearby. The park just reopened last summer. There used to be 20' dunes between the road and the water but they're all gone now.
It makes for a great view, but little protection now, from the next storm.

The island is also home to Paddy's Raw Bar (the sunny place for shady people). We spent a lot of time here on the last trip and we probably will again this time. We went there for Christmas Eve and will be there again for New Years. 

Christmas day we spent sitting next to what could be mistaken for a snow drift, except the temperature was in the low 20's.
That's a Blue Heron just left of the umbrella.

Here is a picture of some wildlife. This pond is at the entrance to the campground. Either the heron likes to live life on the edge, or he didn't get the memo......

We will be exploring a few nearby towns, probably next week when it's supposed to cool off a bit. 

BTW for those who have been unable to comment I changed some settings and comments "should" work now. 

Jacksonville and St. Augustine

Fort Clinch State Park

Near Jacksonville, this park is situated near the fort and also happens to be on several miles of pristine beach. The fort was built in 1847, no battles were ever fought here, which probably explains why it is in such great condition.
At least a dozen 10 inch guns are mounted on the ramparts. These guns are huge! 
A 10" cannonball would weigh 128 lbs.

The favorite beach activity here is looking for shark's teeth. If you're good at it you can find quite a few in a day. I tried for hours, found none.  A very gracious young lady took pity on me and gave me 3 she had found. She has been finding them here since she was three.
They are usually black because they have fossilized. It takes about 10,000 years for them to do this, so the black ones are at least that old.

Anastasia Island State Park, St. Augustine.

We could only get 3 days here, its a very popular place. Once again an incredible beach...

and only minutes from St Augustine's "Nights of Lights", Christmas extravaganza.

View of the Historical Section from the bridge.
Traffic was stopped on the bridge so I hopped out and took this picture.

The lights in town.

It was 28C here yesterday, today 14C.
Tomorrow we head west, to O'Leno State Park in north central Florida. No beach.......but its supposed to warm up again.

My next post will probably be from St. George Island, one of our all time favorites. We'll be spending Christmas and New Year's there.

Savannah

We've been here for a week, at Skidaway Island State Park. Skidaway has a great natural setting with large sites, huge oak trees and Spanish moss everywhere.
This is the road into the park. A short clip.

As seafood restaurants go, The Crab Shack on Tybee Island, is legendary. Every table has a hole in the center into which you toss the shells. And we had every intention of going there for dinner, until we found this....so we dined in instead.

Savannah also has another great attraction to get you in the spirit of Christmas. The Coastal Botanical Gardens hosts a Christmas lights show that defies description.

Here are a couple of pictures. There were acres and acres of this.

As for wildlife, this guy was often hanging around, not the least bit shy.

There are lots of trails in the park too. This one ended up by a small beach on a bayou. Nope, I didn't see any gators, and that's just fine with me.

And on the subject of Gators, we had some for lunch a few days ago. "Gator Bites", small chunks breaded and fried. Tastes like a combination of fish and chicken.

We are off to Jacksonville next.

Edisto Beach

We stopped in here on our way home on our last trip south in 2018. Its a really neat out-of-the-way spot, with miles and miles of beach, lots of interesting shells, pelicans and ever present dolphins.
Edisto is a small town with all the usual small town conveniences. A fillin' station, a Bi-Lo grocery store, two bar/restaurants and a Subway.

Today is American Thanksgiving. The campers here are displaying everything from pumpkins and scarecrows to laser light shows. 
Many are smoking/grilling/BBQing everything imaginable. Go BIG or go home.

We spent most of the day on the beach, actually using the beach umbrella for shade instead of as a windbreak.

It is supposed to cool off a bit tomorrow, Friday, so beach time may be at an end here.

This was Edisto Beach this morning.

Today, Saturday, we move to Skiddaway State Park, just south of Savannah.
Another easy drive of only a couple of hours.

OK, its time to pack things up and get ready to leave. Going to miss this place.

Myrtle Beach .... a pleasant surprise!

Myrtle Beach. 
We were expecting the worst. Crowds, traffic, noise and line-ups for restaurants and a beach full of......beach-goers.
We found none of the above.
Come here in November. The temperatures are in the mid to high teens, and the place is practically deserted! 
Nearly all the restaurants and shops are open.
This is Ocean Blvd (the Strip), bumper to bumper in season.

The Boardwalk. They call it the Strand.

We had a great "late lunch", more like supper.
Coconut shrimp and fries. What is considered an appetizer here, is dinner for two for the us. 
First food pic, I know. Many more to come.

Myrtle Beach State Park was a real unexpected treat. 300 acres of pristine wilderness surrounded by hundreds of beach wear (t-shirt) outlets, fast food restaurants and condos. 
Our site was nestled in a forest with scarcely a neighbour in sight. Only a few minutes to the largely deserted beach.

They ride horses on the beach here. I brought an e-bike. More fun and faster. (and it doesn't crap on the beach!!)
Tomorrow we head to Edisto Beach, near Charleston SC. An easy day of driving, only 150 miles.
Thanks for coming along, lots more to come.

Three days of Nasty Weather and a Near Show Stopper

I really wanted to have a picture of the Port Grocer as we left. 

Sheena and Darlene in front of the legendary establishment.

On the day we left we managed to stay ahead of the rain until the last half hour coming into Saint John. It rained hard that night and pretty much for the next two days. Cold, windy and wet. Not pleasant driving.

Cold November Rain. Most of it looked a lot like this.

Crossing the border at St. Stephen was a gift. A young guy, very polite, asked to have a look inside. When we told him we were headed to Texas, he kept asking if we were going anywhere near Brownsville. I know what goes on in Brownsville TX, he, he, but I played dumb and told him were weren't going there (and we're not).  I believe more weed crosses international borders in Brownsville than any other place on earth.

So, other than the crappy weather, mostly an uneventful ride. 

Until last night. Coming into Scranton, PA there was a major traffic backup. The GPS suggested an alternate route to get around it, about 15 miles, so we took it. Well, we ended up on some pretty dark, wet, winding and hilly streets, some of the finest the Blue Ridge Mountains have to offer.

As we were careening down a long slope I see a sign flash by "No Vehicles over 10 tons ahead, Last chance to turn around". We are 14 tons. Well, turning around was even less of an option than stopping. A long line of headlights behind us.

So I figured, how bad can it be? An old bridge maybe? Surely it could support us for a few seconds. No worries.

As we rounded a slight bend, there it was, a small trestle. But we weren't going over it. We were going under it! I don't recall the writing on the rusty old thing but Darlene assures me it said something like "Danger, Low Bridge".

I was on the brakes hard but we were going through regardless, no question about it.

I fully expected something very loud and "expensive" sounding.... but nothing. We never were able to find out the clearance of this bridge, but we are exactly 12 feet tall and I doubt we had more than a few inches to spare. 

For some hilarious entertainment, well, not so hillarious for the driver, check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USu8vT_tfdw

There but for the grace of God go we.

Lesson learned. The GPS probably thinks we are a VW Golf. We're not! No more detours. We'll tough it out as in the good old days, before GPS.

We're in Roanoke VA tonight, our last Walmart stop for a long while, yay....not that we're unappreciative.

Last night's accommodation, Walmart parking lot in Wilkes Barre, PA. Not very picturesque but had a Liquor store, Subway, and a Starbucks. Checks all the boxes, no?

Tomorrow, Charlotte NC and the day after that......THE BEACH!!

One More Time...

Darlene and I have been very busy getting things ready for what may be our last RV trip. Its not that we haven't thoroughly enjoyed every mile and destination over the past several years, but we've been thinking it may be time to explore some other more distant places in the future. This trip will be the longest yet, about six months.

For those of you who are new to this blog, the most recent posts are at the top, older ones below. Keep in mind there are 3 trips here dating back to 2015, so if you don't want to read ancient history, click on the posts from 2019 and (soon) 2020.

We will be visiting a lot of our favorite  destinations from previous trips and a few new ones. I'll try not to dwell on things you may have seen before. I'll also try not to dwell on how hot it is, and how spectacular the food is.....well OK, maybe a little.

The plan is to go south along the east coast as far as St. Augustine, and then follow the Gulf Coast west to Texas. Our final destination will be near Terlingua, TX. Google it or check out the older posts. Terlingua is the definition of eclectic. We are taking it easy this trip, we will be taking 3 months to get to this area. That works out to an astonishing average of 36 miles per day. This, I can do!

As usual, our first 4 or 5 nights will be Walmart parking lots, drive, eat, sleep, repeat. The first "non-Walmart" stop will be Myrtle Beach State Park. We have never been to Myrtle Beach, hopefully its not too cold and I doubt it will be  crowded.

Today is Nov 14, 3 days before we leave, depending on the weather as always. It snowed last night and it's getting cold. With perfect timing the brakes on the CR-V packed it in yesterday so that needs to be repaired before we leave.

We will really miss all of our friends here in Port. We will miss dumping day (lobster season opening, the day they dump the traps in the ocean), and missing out on a lot of lobster. Six months without the Port Grocer on Friday night Pub Night. Ouch!
There should be 2 weeks left in lobster season when we return so we'll make the most of that.
The cold damp weather, not going to miss it so much.

We checked into what we can bring into the USA food wise.  Pretty much nothing! No meat, no fruit or veggies, no dairy. So we're packing the freezer with salmon, scallops and shrimp. And I'll drink my coffee without cream for a day!

And of course, my blog policy is "no post without a pic", so I'm going to have to come up with something soon....

OK, not exactly a picture but a Google Maps  screenshot of about the first two weeks of the trip. I'm thinking a ferry from Yarmouth to Savannah would really do well. 

I'll post again a few days after we leave. Anyone up for pictures of Walmart parking lots? Or.... how about a fine digital reproduction of a  MacDonald's Big Breakfast, suitable for framing..??
Thanks for coming along.
Stay tuned.