Today was a stay at home kind of day. The weather was beautiful and many campers left the campground so we had our section to ourselves. This is one of the better COE CG's we have been in and will stop here again when we are in the area. The trees are changing here quite fast and it is surprising to me. It would seem with the warmer weather they would stay longer. It's not the case down here on the FL/GA border.
We will be leaving this area on Monday and heading for Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I hope we can get a site for 4 days without too much trouble.
Bad day on the Football front for the Redskins. They lost to Detroit Lions big time and looked bad doing it. A new offensive line would be a great help.
We went out exploring the area and doing a little geocaching. We found two caches today and we now have 651 finds. There isn't a lot to see in the area other than the lake and small towns in the area.
We were still in town around 5pm so we stopped at Buttheads BBQ & Grill for dinner. I had the prime rib & 6 shrimp dinner while Gerry had the pork loin wrapped in bacon with 10 shrimp. We enjoyed the meal very much and wound up talking to a local couple about the area and two other camping couples. Nice way to enjoy the evening.
If you are in the area make sure you stop at Buttheads for a unique experience. Very friendly folks and interested in giving good food and service. They succeeded on both counts.
I was waiting for a part from Delorme to arrive and we hung around Ft. Clinch until the mail arrived at noon. The part finally came in and we headed out of Fernandina Beach around 1:30pm. We had a 240 mile drive ahead of us and it started out fine until we ran into some stormy weather about halfway to Chattahoochee, FL. Nothing serious, but it slowed us down a lot.
We pulled into Eastbank COE Park in Chattahoochee around 7pm and checked into our campsite after dark. We were assigned site number 13 and I hope it brings us good luck. We plan on being here for three days and leave on Sunday for Gulf Shores, AL.
On the way through Chattahoochee we saw the restaurant we are going to on Friday for dinner. It is called "Butthead's BBQ & Grill". I kid you not, that is it's name. We heard they have super Prime Rib on Friday nights and it is drawing us in. I will let you know how good it is.
The campground is on Lake Seminole which straddles the FL/GA border. It seems to be a popular place as most sites are taken or reserved for the weekend. The lake consists of 37,500 acres of water, 376 miles of shoreline and over 22,000 acres of surrounding land. The area around Lake Seminole has been occupied by man for over 10,000 years. Pictures to follow.
We finally got to go for a bike ride today and it showed in our tired muscles after the ride. It's been a long time since we went for a bike ride and guess we will have to build up our stamina to go much further than the 4 mile roundtrip we took today.
We went down to the Amelia River beach and enjoyed watching the porpoises swim out in front of us as they were searching for food. They must have been doing all right since we could see many small mullets and other fish near the shore.
Fernandina Beach is home to a small shrimp boat industry and we saw one coming back into port. Hope he had a great catch since Gerry loves shrimp so much. We went to one of our favorite seafood restaurants the other day and it was closed, hopefully for the season.
Our friends Pat and John got into town around 1pm and we went to their hotel to meet them. They were getting the door lock on their hotel room changed since it was broken and we chatted for a while in their room.
We took the chatting to the beach and had a late lunch with them at the Sandy Bottom restaurant on the veranda. I was looking for a grouper sandwich but they didn't have any on the menu. What a bummer. We took a long time for lunch and then drove downtown to see what it looked like. Not much traffic and very few tourists. The store owners say it has been a bad year for tourism and times are rough. Sounds like a familiar story at these beach places.
Pat and John purchased a double wide trailer in an RV park in Central Florida last year and were heading down there for the winter. They still have their motor home but left it in NY. Should be interesting to see how they like the park life.
We talked and talked the whole time they were here and left them in the hotel around 10:30pm, tired but it was great seeing them once again. I am sure we will be seeing them in the future on one of our trips down to Florida.
We had an easy 40 mile drive today from Crooked River SP to Fort Clinch SP. We did take the opportunity to get another welcome sign and if you look close you can see the Southwind MH on the left side of the picture. We needed gas in the MH and it is easier to get in and out of gas stations without the car being towed.
Fort Clinch SP is a very nice state park and we always enjoy staying here. The trees on the entrance road are covered in Spanish moss and are quite interesting. You have to be alert to overhanging branches along side of the road to keep from tearing the a/c off the mh.
We will be here 4 days and hope to enjoy some more great seafood. Friends Pat & John will be here on Monday afternoon.
We wanted to get here early enough to watch the Redskins-Bears football game but when we got here the game wasn't on TV. Sounds like we didn't miss much since it was a sloppy game with a lot of turnovers. The good news is that the Skins won the game 17-14. They sure have been winning ugly this year. I even wore my favorite Redskin shirt in anticipation of seeing the game.
We had some errands to run and decided to combine that with geocaching in the area today. We found 8 caches and most of them were difficult to find in hostile territory or lots of the people in the area. Two that we did not find had so many people around that we couldn't even search for them without being obvious.
We stopped at some old ruins of the Tabby Sugar Works. The attached photos tell the story better than I can. The last photo of the wall shows how they used shells in the construction of the place. Must have been a good ideas since the walls are still standing after 185 years.
We were surprised to see how many Halloween decorations there are down here. The town is really into Halloween and it shows. The main entrance road has 4-5 blocks of decoration in the median strip and they were all very well done.
We spent so much time touring, geocaching and shopping that we decided we deserved a stop at the Pizza Hut for dinner. We wound up ordering an $8 pizza and an $8 bucket of Yuengling beer to complement it. Yummy!
It is nice to see that our friends Ron & Dee have a departure date of their trip to Tucson and Doug & Gloria are about ready to hit the road west also. Mann and Carolyn are at a FMCA Rally and enjoying the fall weather and John & Pat are on their way to their Florida quarters. We plan on meeting up with them on Monday and catching up on what each other has been doing since we last saw them.
They ran us out of James Island CG this morning. Checkout time is 11am and a worker came by at 10:30 and wanted to remind us that today was our last day there. Very efficient. We managed to get out of there around 11:15am and were on US 17 South shortly thereafter.
We took the back road rather than the longer route via interstates. The interstates can be so boring and we like back roads whenever we can travel on them. It was really to our advantage today since we found a gas station with regular gas at $2.59. We connected with I-95 South and departed South Carolina once again.
I-95 wasn't as crowded and busy as previous trips and there was a little construction but nothing to slow us down. The trip down through Georgia was uneventful and it was nice seeing some of the changes since we were last here. They had a nice sign to welcome us.
It was a short 215 mile drive today to the park and that was enough for us. They had our welcome packet waiting for us when we got to Crooked River SP and we got to select our campsite and found a good one. Easy entrance to it and we were set up in no time and had to turn on the A/C to cool down the unit. Warm down here and dry also.
We went out to dinner at Pauley's Cafe in downtown St. Marys and had a delicious Almond crusted grouper dinner. Gerry joined me and had the same thing. Super. I found the place on Google Earth and printed out a coupon for a free glass of wine. The restaurant is very small and difficult to find even though it is on the main drag.
The town has gone all out with Halloween decorations and they are having some events planned also. It is neat to see such good community spirit in a town.
The Kings Bay submarine base is located between the park and the town and I will include a nice picture of the sub buried outside the entrance to the sub base. Maybe we can get on the base and take a tour, but I doubt security would allow it.
We finally made it to downtown Charleston today and checked it out. Our last visit to Charleston was in 2005 and we spent the better part of 3 days exploring the city. They have some of the most beautiful old houses down by the Battery that we have ever seen. Large 2-3 story homes that would look like mansions anywhere else in the US.
We also drove over the Ravenel Bridge over Charleston Harbor we visited the Submarine Memorial and took some pictures of the USS Yorktown CV10 which is now a memorial in the harbor. The Yorktown was used in Anti-Submarine Warfare exercises in the 60s and early 70s when I worked at the Naval Anti Submarine Warfare Data Center. It was an interesting time to be working in that era due to the cold war and rapid advances being made in ASW equipment and tactics.
We went to the Pink House Gallery to see what it looked like. It is a very old and historic building and one of the oldest buildings in the US.
We stopped at the Charleston Crab House for dinner and had super meals and service. The Crab House is located on water next to a bridge and we sat outside to enjoy the weather and view. I had an excellent Grouper sandwich and Gerry had Coconut shrimp which she loved. The Crab House was featured on a "Flip This House" TV program in 2006 and the results were very nice. I don't know what it looked like before but it is great now.
We rested up yesterday and just took it easy. There were some chores to be done and we finished them up and relaxed. Nice.
Today we were rested and wanted to get out and do something. We decided to visit Folly Island and check out the County Park on the Island. The beach is dark and hard packed and there were still a number of people enjoying the sun and water. Gerry went for a walk searching for the elusive sea shells and was rewarded with a couple finds.
We went geocaching for a while and found three of the treasures before we decided to have dinner. This was an interesting find hidden under a fishing bridge on the bayside. It was a very large pickle jar with only Koozies allowed in the cache. Wish they had put some cold beer in with the koozies.
It has been a long time since we've had seafood at a beach restaurant and that was our goal for today. I ordered a grouper dinner and Gerry had a shrimp & crab pot pie. Both were excellent and we listened to an entertainer while we had dinner. There was a group of "ladies" just ahead of us listening to the performer and drinking beer, shooters and whatever else they could get their hands on. They surely were enjoying themselves and were quite animated.
By then it was getting dark and we headed back to the campground. A big owl was guarding the entrance to the campground and we managed to take a picture of it. The Park is all set for Christmas time with thousands of lights already up. We were here in late November a few years ago and saw them testing the lights. Quite a show.
We arrived in time to watch The Amazing Race, saw them go from Ghana to Sweden. It was about a 70 degree difference between the two places and it was an interesting segment for the race.
The Redskins-Colts football game came on after the Race and we are watching it as I type. Can they come back from 27-17 deficit? Who knows about this team. They seem to lose easy games and play well against good teams. Ooops, holding on the 5 yard line. Stay tuned. 27-24 now. 3 minutes left. Close, but no cigar.
We woke up early today and started getting the MH ready to hit the road once again. Larry Jr. and Grant came out to the MH and we had breakfast with them and chatted for a while. A long while. We got out of there around 1:30pm and pointed the MH towards Charleston, SC.
The traffic on I-77 and I-26 was much heavier than I remembered it being. I-26 was especially bad with long long line of vehicles on the road. I only drive about 63mph so I think I held up some people, but that is life.
There was an accident just outside of Charleston and we had managed to pull off into the Rest Area to log onto the GPS system on the computer. Good timing. We sat there about 25 minutes and then traffic seemed to start moving again. They must have cleared the accident very fast and we continued on to the campground.
We are staying at James Island County Park in a very nice campground. The reservation was made last week and we got one of the last sites available for this weekend. Lots of small children on bikes all over the place. The parents seem to drop them off on the roads and bike paths and let them go. I guess that is the way it goes today with parents and children.
We plan on checking out the sights here and enjoy some of the great southern cooking down here for our 5 day stay. Stay tuned for some neat photos and stories.
We moved from the campground to Larry Jr's driveway and will be here until Friday morning. They need some help moving in and we aren't in a big hurry.
Tonight, Gerry & I, Sean, Barbara, Henry, Grant, Jane and Larry Jr. went to a local restaurant to celebrate Larry Jr. graduating from Phoenix University. He had accrued some credit at Montgomery Community College and transferred them to Phoenix Univ and has taken classes since he moved to Oklahoma 4 years ago. He did really well at the school and is quite relieved to be finished.
We are quite proud of him with sticking to it and completing his education. Way to go Larry.
Today was a day of rest for all of us after the wedding and all the things going on with it. All the out of town visitors had left and we visited with Barbara & Henry in the afternoon and looked at photos of the wedding and had lunch. Nothing strenuous or anything like that.
We went over to Larry Jr. & Jane's house and helped them with a few chores and unpacking. We made a run to Best Buy to pick up a wireless card for his desktop computer and then had dinner with them. After visiting a while longer we hit the road.
Hit the road to visit with Sean & Taylor in their new house. They live about 10 minutes from Larry & Jane and we used the GPS to find their house. Good thing since it was dark and the street signs were hard to read. They just settled on the house on September 30 and are still working on the house. It is a very nice house and very spacious and I know it will serve them well for a long time. They both were worn out so we left early and came back to the MH.
We move in the morning to Larry Jr's driveway for a couple nights and then on to Charleston, SC.
Goodnight!
The long awaited wedding day finally arrived and it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny, warm October treat. It may have been a little too warm for some but it felt great.
The main road leading to the wedding was closed due to a bridge repair and a number of guests were late arriving so the ceremony started a little late. Once all had gathered in the garden and were seated, the wedding party made their entrance and the event commenced. It was a very pretty setting for a wedding with all the flowers still in bloom.
After the ceremony the guests gathered in another garden area for cocktails before the dinner & reception. It gave everyone a chance to mingle before the dinner. The reception was held in a large tent that would hold 250 people at least.
As you can tell, I am not a very good writer about weddings so I will cut my losses and make this short.
Shawn & Stephanie Harrell Married 10/10/10
Today was for the gathering of the clans in advance of the wedding. The grandparents, aunts & uncles, moms & dads, siblings and cousins and friends gathered for one of Barbara's special lasagna dinners.
Earlier in the day the bridal parties and a few family members went out for a pedicure and manicure. They all looked beautiful when they came back and showed off the results.
The guys stayed behind and watched South Carolina beat Alabama in football and we managed to drink a few brews. It was a very good game and I enjoyed the outcome with SC winning 35-21.
The bridesmaids came over to spend the evening and some of the groomsmen were there at various times of the day. The picture below is of Stephanie (bride), Shawn ( groom ) and Joy ( matron of honor ) enjoying the day.
The bridesmaids and bride jumped in the hot tub later in the evening except for two of them who were pregnant and didn't want to cook their unborn children. Good thinking. They were a little shy and donned their swimming suits for the dip. We weren't invited in for a dip, but managed to get through it.
Gerry, Barbara & Cassie posed for a nice picture later in the evening and you can see the happiness in their faces. Tired, but happy.
We went over to Larry Jr. & Jane's house after we were thrown out of Barbara's home to check out their new home. They moved from Oklahoma to North Carolina last weekend and will be living and working in the area. The house is nice and once it is given some TLC it will be a very nice place to live. There is a 1/2 acre fenced in lot so the dog will have a place to run and enjoy himself.
We then drove back to motor home and went to bed after 12am. Long and tiring day.
We managed to get a fairly early start for our trip down to Concord, NC today. Early for us. The traffic was moving along very well for the first 200 miles and we thought we had a chance of making the rehearsal dinner. Then the lanes went from three lanes to two lanes and then all the traffic stopped. Dead stopped! We managed to see around the tractor trailer truck in front of us and for the next mile or so it was a giant parking lot. We were stuck in a line of stop and go traffic for over an hour & a half. There wasn't an alternative route so we waited it out.
Once through that we move ok until we got to another slowdown but not as bad. We were so happy to get off I-85 at exit 49 and drive the mile or so to the campground.
That was an experience also. It is in a trailer park right across from the Lowes Speedway and the roads are one lane wide. The office signs were no where to be found. Finally a resident said we would have to call Phillip and have him guide us to our spot. He finally showed up and took us on a tour of the RV park with us towing the Saturn and making a lot of tight turns. He then lead us into an open field and stopped his golf cart and instructed us to remove the Saturn from the MH. My first thought was that there was no way we were going to dry camp for 3 days with the wedding and all.
No problem. We had to drive back onto the road and make a very sharp turn and come back into the park in order for enter our assigned campsite. In the end it all turned out very nice since we have a nice campsite under some shade trees. By this time Phillip had left us and didn't return. We still have to pay him for the three nights.
We finally made it to the rehearsal dinner about 15 minutes before everyone was getting ready to leave. They had some very good BBQ left and some beans so we grabbed a snack and a beer. It looked like the dinner went over very well and we wished we could have made it. Take away the two hours stopped and the 1/2 hour waiting for the campsite and we would have made it.
We all went over to Barb & Henry's house and visited with them until 1120PM and finally headed back to the MH very tired and worn out. It was great seeing everyone and we had a great time. Henry even had Yuengling beer for me to drink. How sweet it is.
Well, we got the motorhome loaded, cabin shut up for winter and hit the road today around 3pm. We managed to make it to Pocahontas State Park near Chesterfield, VA for the night. Our good friends Carolyn & Mann met us at the campsite with a pizza and some beer. Great! We ate the pizza and drank the beers and then sat around and chatted until 11:30pm. It was great seeing them again and maybe we can talk them into coming out to Tucson this winter.
As usual, we carefully packed the motorhome and then at the last hour or so we just brought things out to store in their proper place later. It gets harder every year to pack the MH and get ready. Maybe we should just live in it full time and use the cabin sparingly. Nah, we like the cabin too much to do that to it.
Short blog this night since I am beat and heading for bed now.
Gerry is a member of a sorority and the chapter she was a member of dissolved due to not having enough members. The remaining members split up and joined two other chapters, but the original
members still stay in touch.
Lynn and Bud organized a picnic and reunion for the original members at their home Saturday and there were 6 members present. We had a very nice cookout on a beautiful day and were able to sit on the patio and enjoy the meal and friends. Bud was hard at work cooking hamburgers and ribs.
We didn't get pictures of everyone but here are a few pictures of the sorority sisters, Barbara, Lynn and Betty in the kitchen.
Elaine and Betty are renewing old friendships and catching up on each other's lives.
We captured a shot of Louise as she was heading out to get a hamburger and some chow.
It turns out the sisters had a surprise for Gerry and boy was she surprised. They baked a birthday cake for Gerry and sang "Happy Birthday" to her and then we enjoyed the cake as dessert.
We all had a great time and will have to make this an annual affair, assuming Bud & Lynn offer to do all the hard work. LOL
Thanks guys and gals.
We stopped at some old ruins of the Tabby Sugar Works. The attached photos tell the story better than I can. The last photo of the wall shows how they used shells in the construction of the place. Must have been a good ideas since the walls are still standing after 185 years. 
We also drove over the Ravenel Bridge over Charleston Harbor we visited the Submarine Memorial and took some pictures of the USS Yorktown CV10 which is now a memorial in the harbor. The Yorktown was used in Anti-Submarine Warfare exercises in the 60s and early 70s when I worked at the Naval Anti Submarine Warfare Data Center. It was an interesting time to be working in that era due to the cold war and rapid advances being made in ASW equipment and tactics.
