Camp Lake Jasper - Hardeeville SC

196 miles - 3 hours

The northeast view of Lake Jasper from the rear
of Winnie

The southeast view...

The Lake Jasper RV campground is a very clean, well laid out campground that was pretty much occupied for this time of the year. My site 46 was situated on a loop that was adjacent to Lake Jasper. Although much of my time was spent away from the site visiting and enjoying the company of friends Wendy and Roger, in nearby Bluffton, my overnight time spent here was quiet and relaxing. As usual, I was treated royally by my long time, (47 years to be exact) fellow Blue Mountain retirees. Their beautiful home in Sun City is always an inviting and welcoming location to those traveling from the north to south and with their gracious hospitality and delicious meals your visit, however long, will be a memorable one.  You can expect guided tours of the area as well...at no extra charge. In their eleven years here they've acquired knowledge of the history of all the surrounding area that would make any professional tour guide jealous. Each year I visit, my knowledge and appreciation of the Low Country increases. My last time visiting in 2015 we toured Beaufort, SC, this year, Savannah, GA. 

A 1953 MG parked in front of the Boathouse.
The 60+ year old owner acquired it while in
high school and had it stored away.

My first night, Sunday, I enjoyed a home cooked short rib dinner done to perfection and soaked with juices atop Basmati rice, green/wax beans and a beet salad. Monday, Roger and I enjoyed a breakfast at Cracker Barrel. That afternoon we went to see the movie, Darkest Hour, a WWII war drama with Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. It's a must see if you haven't already seen it. Monday night's dinner was at the Skull Creek Boathouse. It's Hilton Head Island's most awarded landmark restaurant featuring beautiful water and sunset views and fresh seafood. They even have sushi. I opted for a filet mignon with Yukon gold smashed potatoes. Tuesday's breakfast featured Roger's (perfect) homemade from scratch Belgium waffles. The treat for today was my first visit to Savannah, GA. The story in pictures:

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
has the highest twin steeples in all of
downtown Savannah. 

Magnificent architecture both outside...

...and within

Incredibly tall magnificently stained
glass windows around the perimeter.

One of two side alters with beautiful rows of
green marble support columns

The second side alter to the right of the main alters.

The Way of The Cross - Station VII
Jesus falls the second time. Each a huge
intricately carved wood panel.

One of the two tour trolleys available for guided tours
of  the historic sites of the city. Fortunately, I had my own
personal tour guides. I could tell, it wasn't their first time.

Lafayette Square, one of 24 found in the city, is located just across the street
from the Cathedral. Today, just 22 remain due to city development. 

The characteristic "Spanish Moss" so prevalent in the south draping over trees
such as the Live Oak is neither a moss nor is it from Spain. It's a bromeliad, an epiphyte (air plant), and cousin to the pineapple. It obtains moisture from the air and nutrients from whatever debris collects on the plant. I was told by my tour guide that the phrase "getting the bugs out" has its origin with this plant. Seems that Henry Ford's automobiles used "Spanish moss" for filling the cushions but first had to remove the chiggers that found it a perfect home.

Having toured the historic portion of the city, we made our way to the river front, parked and walked along another very historic area. This port and the old buildings that housed cotton is located upriver 15 miles from the ocean. They have been converted to little shops whose insides consist of the original beams, flooring, stone and brick work of days gone by. 

Across the Savannah River is the Convention Center; here
the hotel and...

...next to it, the Convention Center

A view up the river shows the heavy industry, ship building and loading cranes on the

docks. My New York readers should also see what looks like our Tappan Zee Bridge. Don't spread this around but this one is the Talmadge Memorial Bridge and named 

after Gov. Thomas Talmadge. Ironically, in September of this past year the city council passed a resolution to rename the bridge the Savannah Bridge. A state representative said, "It's time to move forward on a bridge that reminds us of segregation and not solidarity and a name that connects to hate and not hope." It's ultimately up to the Georgia state government to confirm the passed resolution.  How 'bout that? In New York, we don't want it named after the governor either. The Tappan Zee is named for a local native American tribe and zee is the Dutch word for sea.

Oh, and here's another tidbit I've learned. With all the PC crap that we're bombarded with these days, a long time chief of the Oneonta tribe says no one asked "native Americans" what they wanted to be called. Turns out he prefers American Indians or North American Indians. 

The beautiful 1800's paddle-wheel-style, Georgia Queen, was docked down the road. It was built in 1995 as a luxury floating casino on the Mississippi River at a cost of 14 million dollars. After gambling legislation changed, allowing for land based casinos to open, the river boat underwent a $4 million renovation and is now a dinner cruise boat. The luxurious details can be seen HERE.

History is written all over these buildings. From the anchor brackets to the cobblestone streets, you can sense what it must have been like. Anchor brackets or wall washers are large plates or washers connected to a tie rod or bolt and used on the exterior walls of masonry buildings for structural reinforcement. You can see two of them above the awning in the photo above. 

Our (My) first stop was this amazing establishment. No, not because I'm a candy nut; rather a glance inside at the selection captured my attention. And so, I went a little nuts with "eye candy" photos.

And I didn't buy a thing :-(

And the same could be said about The Peanut Shop.

Yup, you can sample each and every one of them.

My choices included a tin of Smokehouse Bacon & Cheddar Nuts and the
Milk Chocolate Cashews. Yes, I have the catalog for future orders. Do you like peanuts? Check out their website HERE

And once again, my thanks to my wonderful friends, hosts and tour guides, Roger & Wendy of Bluffton, SC. Eleven year residents of Sun City and very knowledgeable of everything around them.

Beauty & the Beast

After three chilly days (Tuesday night temperatures went down to 29°), I'm off to St. Augustine Beach, Florida and my next blog. Sorry I missed the snow back in NY; maybe next time.

Half Way There

The trip so far has been uneventful, relaxing and interesting. 

WEATHER: The weather has been very nice for driving; mostly sunny and no rain; it was delightful. That was the relaxing part. In just three days, I went from a 20° overnight in Pennsylvania with a faucet continually dripping to prevent freezing water lines to a mild 50° in Virginia and finally, today, to a high of 70° in North Carolina. 

TRAFFIC: The traffic was, to me, unusually light although my travel hours were between 10 am and 3 pm. As expected, going through or around the major cities on the way south you'd expect delays, greater volume and the accompanying jackasses that are ever present on any trip. I must say, however, cursing was almost non-existent which should tell the tale. Speed limits were 65-70 mph and I maintained a 5 mph above speed limit rate except for the 70 mph limit. As mentioned, for me, things went along without incident. One encounter was a 12 minute, 5 mile backup south of Washington, DC. When I finally approached the scene, three of the five lanes were blocked due to a multi-vehicle accident. Two damaged vehicles were pointing in the wrong directions, a distance apart and there, in the middle of the second lane, was a motorcycle on its side. I could only imagine the whereabouts or condition of the cyclist. Uneventful for me but not so for the rider of that motorcycle.

My first. A Coleman Ticonderoga pop up camper.
Great memories.

One of the nice things about driving is the time alone to think about "stuff." Yes, attention is maintained at all times on the road ahead but looking around at the scenery, the pockets of residential homes, the clusters of business and the facilities available at each exit give lots to think about. When I drove past exit 154 on I-95 in North Carolina, the Enfield exit, I was immediately thrown back 39 years. 3/4 of a mile west from that exit is the KOA campground where a group of families stopped on their way to Myrtle Beach during an Easter Break. On April 14th, 1979, the Wilke's, Wyskida's, Merz's, the Rossi's and all the children towed their pop-ups for the stay (on site #88) before traveling the Myrtle Beach for Easter Sunday. Yup, it's all in my "Camper's Daily Log Book" which I kept from 1978 and continue to this day.

"Back in the day," that 495 mile trip was made in just one 8 hour driving day. So far, I've driven 650 miles in three days with 510 to go before making my return trip. Prior to my purchase of the Winnebago, I used to drive from Peekskill to Kenly, NC, 540 miles the first day and the remaining 548 miles to Daytona Beach Shores in Florida where I spent the month of April. Kenly was the half way location for me. Those days are long gone. 

CAMPGROUNDS:  Funny things about the campgrounds I've stopped at so far. First, there's very few if any people around. We're not even close to "the season". The fifth wheelers are all covered and winterized, the cabins are empty and, in the case of my first stopover, the water was still turned off. It is evident that these campgrounds rely on their year round "residents" for income as they store their rigs on site. I had to fill my fresh water tank at the bathhouse so I could flush the RV antifreeze from my water lines.

Secondly, its cost me more for fuel each day than it has for spending the night at these spots. I stop for fuel every 250 miles and a tankful of diesel has been running between $35 and $50. So far I've just paid $50 for the three overnights. Describing each of these campgrounds is a waste of time. For me, if they provide the full hookups and free Internet, I'm a "happy camper." I'm in and out, thank you very much. I do enjoy meeting the folks who register you. Always very friendly, polite and it gets better as you go further south. Another reason I so look forward to being in the south. Folks are just plain different!

Tomorrow, Sunday, I'll be arriving in Hardeeville, SC at Camp Lake Jasper where I'll remain until Wednesday. There, good friends and fellow retirees, Roger and Wendy will greet me. They live in neighboring Bluffton and, finally, I'll visit with people I know and enjoy their unsurpassed hospitality. And speaking of friends and how far back we go, here's a photo from Easter Sunday, April 11, 1982. 35 years ago at Lake Arrowhead in Myrtle Beach, SC, site #1300. 

21 people making up 6 families getting ready to enjoy an Easter Sunday dinner:
The Arnold's, Kuczma's, Merz's, Wyskida's, Rossi's and Wilke's.
Ray and Charlie are not in the photo. They were busy taking the pictures.

As for my two teenagers in the photo, 13 and 16, I've blinked twice and now find two adults ages 49 and 52 each with kids 23, 22 and 16. A very big slap of reality there, my friends. Well, with that nasty realization, I'll end my ramblings. Thanks for the company and your comments. I'll write again soon.

On The Road Again...

And time marches on. I haven't written anything since October 2017. One after another, rain, wind, ice and snow storms; temps in the 50's down to wind chills of -15° made their characteristic seasonal appearance as I counted down the days. Looking back, my "inactive" season memories included twice weekly visits for an afternoon with my 98 year old mother, two great holidays with family, parties with friends, family get-togethers, travel, funerals, incredible dining experiences and more than ten novels read. They've all flashed by and left me memories; some sad, most happy. My current favorite authors, Brent Weeks and Michael J. Sullivan take great delight in producing their Sci-Fi/Fantasy series with novels that are between seven hundred and thirteen hundred pages. Great reading nonetheless. 

To refresh or introduce readers to my blog, I've changed the format and look of the blog this year. You have to click on READ MORE to open the post and while I tried to keep the links (tabs) along the top of the page the same, it looks like you have to click a left pointing arrow to see the tabs and then click on HOME to return to the post. I'm not crazy about that. I may have to re-think it. The number of page views has been reset to 0 with the new look. Kinda wished it would continue from the 7,897 views of prior years. Let me know how you like it in the comments below.

Anyway, a click on the "Winter 2018" will show my winter itinerary that I've had planned since September. It will last only 39 days so I can be home in time for my mother's 99th birthday. I hope you'll enjoy the trip and the ramblings and photos that will go along with each stop.

A small segment of wall space
showing about 25% of my
visitors.

A click on "My Visitors" will show the up-to-date photos of the over 180 people who have stopped by to visit me and Winnie these past four years. Is your photo there? If not, I look forward to having you stop by and wind up on my "Wall of Fame". For the local folks I guess that'll have to be when I spend some time at Croton's RV Park. No plans for that as yet.

A click on "What Are The Chances?" will share a listing of coincidences in my life I found interesting and worthy of mention.

A click on "About Winnie" displays the stats and photos of Winnie and it's interior design and amenities.

And so that's it for now. Winnie will be driven from Cross River, NY to the lower parking lot in my complex on Tuesday. I'll pack Tuesday and Wednesday. With last minute shopping and a haircut on Wednesday, I'll be ready to leave Thursday morning for Shartlesburg, PA for the night. Diesel fuel has gone from $2.59/gal when I last filled to $2.99 locally.