Heading Home

Leaving Aberdeen, NC, we headed to Virginia Beach to reconnect with some old friends, Steve & Elyse.  It's been too long since the last time we were together.  They picked us up where we were camping at First Landing State Park, and we had a great dinner together.


The next morning we packed up and headed across the Chesepeake Bay-Bridge to the Cape May Ferry.  Home by 3pm and all of the mail!

Jordan goes camping in our RV!

Finally.....after two weeks of sleepless nights, Jordan finally gets to go camping with Nana and Papa in BIW.  With his daddy, he was waiting, and off we drove to Jordan Lake.....What is a more fitting place for his first camp out.  We took hikes, roasted marshmallows, and checked out nature.  But first, Jordan helped get the RV all set up.


We even had a special birthday cake for Nana!

Following, we had a week of play and snuggles.

Charleston for the BIG event

OK, it's official....Ruthie is now 65....What used to be the age of retirement, is now the age of fun!!

And to celebrate, we left our motorhome at a nearby campground, and moved into a really nice B&B at 15 Church Street in Charleston....thank you Jack and Analise.  We then walked all over the city, checking out all the great old buildings and the fine restaurants.

The actual 65th celebration was at Magnolia restaurant.  Great food, service, and even a table with a view.




For our third time in Charleston, we thought it was time to get out to Fort Sumter...so we boarded the boat and headed out into the harbor.  Checked out the remains of where the Civil War started.  Even had a 65 gun salute for Ruthie's birthday!

Hunting Island, South Carolina

Spent 3 days here at Hunting Island State Park, enjoying the perfect weather and a terrific campground. Two years ago when we were last here, we had a primo campsite right by the ocean....well it was primo until the full moon high tide forced us to seek higher ground.  So this time, we camped inland just a bit with only a 100 yard walk to the beach.

Biking is the best activity for this island.  During low tide, the sandy beaches of packed sand make a perfect bike ride between the driftwood (or should we say drift trees?).  This part of South Carolina is loosing 15 feet of beach annually, shrinking the shoreline. There are also great biking trails through the woods, following the lagoon, and to the lighthouse.

Also got to use our new binoculars checking out the Bald Eagles, the Osprey, and the many shore birds. Hunting Island gets our 5 star recommendation for camping...especially in March.

We sure like the price of gas!

Crossed the border into South Carolina and was greeted with regular gas at $2.09.  NICE!  So we stopped for a fill-up; with only 1/8 of a tank left in BIW, and the bill was only $130.  It's time to head cross country.

Fort McAllister

Morey found this Georgia state park on the AAA map; another one of those little brown squares.... Thought it would be good for a couple of nights and a visit to the fort.









Glad we made the stop.  A very nice Georgia campground on a very historical piece of property.  Turns out that there is a fort at Fort McAllister; and a very important one during the Civil War.  It protected one of the main waterways into Savannah, so that the Confederacy could obtain supplies from their European traders. The earthen fort turned out to hold up much better against poundings from the Union ships including the ironclad Montauk.  In fact Fort McAllister was not captured until Sherman showed up at the end of his "March to the Sea", and the fort was finally captured after being overwhelmed by almost 5,000 Union troops.


The park allows us visitors to walk around the nicely restored grounds, checking out the cannon and gun emplacements.

Back to Jekyll Island, GA

Purchased in the late 1800s by Wall Street tycoons, JP Morgan, Rockefeller, Crane, and more, Jekyll Island was for the rich and famous who established a hunt club here.  A hotel was constructed where all of the meals were cooked and served (supplied with whatever meat was caught for the day), and "cottages" were built; most without kitchens and dining rooms.  A grand place that turned into disrepair following WWII.  The state of Georgia purchased the island and has been restoring it back to its glory days; although now non-rich and non-famous can visit.

Biking is the number one activity on the island with over 30 miles of biking; all on paved but off the road trails, winding through the landscape.  We biked the entire island including the distant east end where the ocean dunes protect the island from storms.



We also took a trolley tour with stops at a number of the "cottages". Crane's cottage was the most palatial with 18 bathrooms (think he got a deal on the bathroom fixtures?!)

Crane's cottage

The one and only campground was noteworthy due to its "older" showers that poured out the water...remember the days before "water saver" shower heads?  The good old days!
A great location right on the bike route.