Columbia SC Visit with Family

We stayed in this Marina years ago in Scott Free.
It's on the Beaufort waterfront

At the end of the boardwalk a glimpse up the river.

Atter leaving Fripp Island we walked around Beaufort, SC and then spent one night at the Route 22 Drive-In, a Harvest Host member. Scott watched the movie, The Hail Mary Project and loved it. I was pooped and it ran from 8 PM to 10:30 and I couldn't manage that. We had one more night at the New Green Acres RV Park before continuing on to Columbia. 

Sam, Scott, Heather, LaVerne and Joe at Blue Marlin Restaurant

This was our first visit to Columbia, SC and we were very impressed. The downtown has been clearly restored and seemed very busy. We had an excellent lunch with Scott's niece LaVerne, her husband Sam, and son Joe at Blue Marlin. 

There were lots of benches and tables.

This covered section of the walk was covered in 
yellow flowered vines.

Spring was in full swing there.

The amphitheater for the Kirkin of the Tartan

One of the two bagpipers at the ceremony

It was a busy day seeing some of the city with LaVerne's suggestions. We walked along the River Walk in the morning - so lovely as you can see from the photos. It's a 12 mile paved biking/walking trail with benches and picnic tables. And good fishing we noticed! We started at the West Columbia Park just over the bridge from downtown and surprised a Blessing of the Tartans ceremony  (Kirkin of the Tartan) in the amphitheater. It was the end of the 16th annual Highland Games, bagpipes and all.

Fountain in the Botanical Gardens - not as popular
as the Zoo.

The Skyway gondolas

The Congaree River view from the gondola

After lunch we went to the Botanical Gardens on the west side of the river and then crossed over on the gondolas to the Columbia Zoo. As it was a Saturday we joined enormous numbers of families enjoying both. Our favorites at the zoo were the 3 different kinds of penguins , the flamingos, and otters. But they had a wide variety of species in some lovely grounds. 

It was a full day and we were glad to relax at our excellent site at Sesquicentennial State Park We spent 2 nights there before driving west to North Carolina.

Beautiful Flamingos

Fun Penguins

Fierce looking Komodo Dragons

Adorable Koalas

Fripp Island with Dick & Debbie

I've always loved the marshes at every season and they stretch all up the coast of Georgia and South
Carolina.

One of the many pools at Fripp but this one was the
only one that was heated. Luckily we had a great
time there on the one day when it was warm enough
to enjoy.

Dick, Debbie, Heather & Scott at the Fish Camp Restaurant on Lady Island

Dick enjoys a specially made mock cocktail

And Debbie does the same with her high test one.

 From Savannah we drove just over an hour up to South Carolina's Hunting Island State Park, left "Baby" and drove a short distance over to Fripp Island where our friends Dick & Debbie rented a house for the month of March. We stayed there 4 nights before heading north again to Beaufort, SC.

The Rookery

We kept really busy every day. First touring Fripp itself and enjoying the heated swimming pool. Then walking the nature trail around The Rookery, a beautiful man made sanctuary for birds. And we saw a lot of them, both in numbers and diversity. We saw great egrets, snowy egrets, black-crowned herons, tricolored herons, great blue herons and anhingas, among others I'm sure. And alligators too, or at least one big one! And of course we enjoyed some wonderful meals at their home and nearby restaurants!

Black Crowned Herons

Only one alligator in sight - but it was big!

Snowy Egret on it's nest

The trail to the Bone Yard

Scott and I pose

And Dick and Debbie cuddle up!

Another day we walked into the Bone Yard - a white sand beach at Hunting State Park littered with beached driftwood and trees. 

Dick taking lots of photos with his "Real" camera

Moving South

There are some beautiful marshes on their property with a variety of birds.

The view from the top floor of the Kelley's home in Litchfield by the Sea

 Our three nights with Steve and Kate Kelley went all to quickly. We enjoyed some great meals both in their home and at a lovely restaurant, the Chive Blossom (our second time there and still excellent). We had a chance to visit Steve's mother, Reves, and have dinner with his sister, Jennifer. The weather cooperated, allowing us some good walks along the marsh and beach. We even got in one session of Bone Builders. Scott graciously joined us in 2 sessions of Rummikub! He's doesn't generally enjoy games, except for bridge, but had fun this time. One day we spent seeing Georgetown just south of them. This was a favorite anchoring spot for us on our trips down the ICW with Scott Free. The County Historical Museum was very interesting and we had a great lunch at the River Room overlooking the harbor. 

Scott, Kate and Steve at the County Museum
in Georgetown

A selfie on the boardwalk at Georgetown.

From there we drove down to Savannah, But it wasn't an easy trip! On Route 95 the trailer started to sway back and forth and then the trailer brakes slammed on. Well this is scary on that highway! We reduced the speed to 40 miles and hour and put on our emergency lights and slowly continued on. That solved the immediate problem but we needed servicing help fast. The trailer brake warning light had gone on several times earlier in the trip but Scott's tightening the wires seemed to solve it. Now it was on all the time.

Rex Trailer after a day and a half work - Baby
ready to hit the road. 

After settling in at Skidaway Island State Park, we looked up all the nearby trailer servicing people. Since it was Sunday we could only leave messages On Monday, 0ne fellow called back and we made an appt for Tuesday at Noon. But then Rex Trailer called back. Talking to Scott they said they were very busy but he could drop the trailer off and they'd do it later. I took the phone and gave the sob story - we live in the trailer and need to continue south. Is there anything they could do (emotion laded voice). Well, in that case, we could come over at 11 AM when the technician came in and they'd see what they could do. 

It wasn't that easy. The technician had problems and was at the VA that morning. He didn't answer his phone and finally came in at 4 PM! It was a long day sitting around the service yard. But the Manager, Barry, and the secretary, Shelby, were SO nice. We hung out in their office and got to know them. At 4 PM Daniel got right to work and continued, lit by the truck headlights, until 7 PM. But wasn't finished then. Barry refused to leave us until we had to give up. And Shelby volunteered to put us up in her house! We couldn't stay in their yard so had to get a hotel room. We didn't feel we could impose on Shelby, Such nice folks!

That's the Fort seen from the Visitor's Center. You can only see the part of the structure where the
workers and "village" existed while it was being built. The fort itself is beyond where you see
the land side wall.

Scott on the drawbridge over the moat. In
 the distance you can see the parade grounds.
The distance between them shows the 
thickness of the walls. 

The Commander's office and location of the 
famous surrender. 

The huge fort was mostly built by enslaved people.
After the capture of the Fort, Union General David
 Hunter issued a declaration freeing all enslaved people
 -in April which was well before Lincoln's in January.

The next day Barry told us to enjoy ourselves and he'd call when the work was done. So we went to Fort Pulaski National Monument out near Tybee Island for the morning. What a lovely place and so interesting. This fort was surrendered to Union Forces after heavy bombardment during the Civil War. It is an amazing structure and totally restored now. The day was beautiful as you can see from the photos. And the work was completed successfully by 2 PM, We were able to return to Skidaway Island State Park.

Storms Here Too!

 

Kate and Stephen with the beautiful view down the lagoon from their living room at Litchfield by the Sea.

Well it's not snow but we had lots of rain and wind with severe thunderstorms/tornado warnings. So we felt very lucky to be staying with our friends Stephen and Kate at their lovely home at Litchfield by the Sea in South Carolina. Baby was happily set up at in nearby Huntington Beach State Park. Stephen and Kate were neighbors of ours' in Brookline and our kids grew up together. Kate and I were coleaders of a Camp Fire Boys and Girls Club with our two youngest children as members. They were also part of our Family Hiking Group that did a Hut to Hut 2 or 3 night hike each summer over the Presidential Range in N.H.

A selfie with the four of us.

They welcomed us with a terrific dinner and it was great to catch up on news. Stephen's sister Jennifer came for a delicious big breakfast the next morning and then we enjoyed a walk on the beach and around their resort. The next day was very stormy and we planned some indoor activities followed by seeing the movie Boys in the Boat and dinner at the Bonefish Grill. On the way to the theater we had a visit with Stephen's mother, now 96 but living in her own home in a Continuing Care Community.  We were handling the storm without an difficulty so it was a surprise to be the only customers in the big restaurant!

Our next stop was Skidaway Island State Park just outside of Savannah, GA. We've been here before and like the big wooded sites that are almost all pull through. Despite many visits to Savannah (many in our boat), we never get tired of walking around this lovely city. But our first day we retraced out route a little to pay a visit to our friend Debra (formerly of Tango) in Hilton Head. We had a great visit with she and her husband Richard last January but he has since past away, quite unexpectedly, last summer. We had a very nice lunch out and talked about our wonderful times together with them in Trinidad, Bonaire, Aruba and Cartagena, Columbia. Richard was so full of life and other than the rare cancer he was suddenly diagnosed with, in excellent health, so it is really hard to believe he is gone. We were glad to see that Debra has such a good supportive community and very close family. That afternoon she took us to see the Coastal Discovery Museum nearby and we enjoyed their exhibits inside and beautiful camellia garden outside. 

Debra and Scott enjoying lunch, Scott is 
showing off his dozen oysters!

The lovely grounds at the Costal Discovery 
Museum at Hilton Head

I LOVED the camellias!

And there were so many, every one beautiful.

You can see my hand below left trying to hold
the blossom to take it's photo!

Our secluded site at Skidaway Island State Park

And the view from our dining table.

More on Savannah in my next post!

Through Georgia to Florida

The fabulous view from the Boileau's deck in Hilton Head. Their house was at the end of the road and had views on 2 sides over to the intercoastal waterway. 

The four of us pose under the Harbor
Town sign

Both Debra and Richard are accomplished conch
musicians, the traditional announcement of the 
sunset in the cruising community.

The weather has been beautiful. The famous
lighthouse at Hilton Head is behind us.

After our visit with the Kelley's we continued south to the Skidaway Island State Park outside of Savannah. This is a very popular place and we had to make our reservations early last fall - it was full the whole 4 days there. And we can see why - surrounded by marshes with miles of trails but not far from the city. 

But our first day there we left Baby in her site and backtracked up to Hilton Head to visit cruiser friends, Debra and Richard Boileau. We got to know them in Trinidad, Bonaire, Aruba and Cartagena, Columbia. Long time cruisers, they circumnavigated in their first boat Strider and then purchased a large catamaran, Tango, and cruised the Caribbean.

It was a fun visit with lots of stories of times together. We visited them two years ago on our first RV trip in Homosassa, FL but they moved up to Hilton Head this summer and have settled in here very happily. 

The next day we turned south again and stopped in Savannah to walk all around and have lunch. Vic's on the River is a favorite spot from our past visits and didn't disappoint this time. After a quiet night out at Skidaway Island, we returned to Savannah on Sunday and walked all over, admiring the many parks and beautiful homes. We started the day at Clary's for breakfast, the famous location from the Garden of Good and Evil book and movie, then toured the Owen's-Thomas House & Slave Quarters. "Built in 1819, this mansion exemplifies the neoclassical styles popular in England during the Regency period. It allows visitors to explore the complicated relationships between the most powerful and least powerful people in the city of Savannah in the early 19th century." We were moved by the stories and histories of the enslaved people that lived and worked in that house. 

Next we visited the Telfair Academy Art Museum as they had a special exhibit on the Bonaventure Cemetery with the Bird Girl Statue, removed from the cemetery for safety. But the morning walk had tired us out so after a lunch and nap back at Baby, we went out again for a walk through the marshes at Skidaway Island. They have miles of trails with signs detailing the wildlife and vegetation. 

On Monday we drove south again to visit our friends and neighbors from Shrewsbury, VT, Doris and George Perry. They have a second home in Palm Coast, FL. George prepared a delicious meal for us and we had fun catching up with local and world news. Doris volunteers as a whale watcher to track right whales and for the last two years she hadn't seen any. The morning we arrived she watched a mother and baby playing off the coast for hours - so exciting!!! But next morning we were off again, this time to Winter Park to see Harpal & Jeannie Dharma. More in my next post.

The garden at the Smith- Thomas House is modern,
 other than a small herb patch. It originally would
have been the work space for the enslaved people and
14 of them crowded into the one half of the Carriage
 House you see beyond it - along with laundries etc. 

The main entrance to the home. Marquis de
 Lafayette stayed here in 1825, a dedicated 
abolitionist, all enslaved peoples were banned 
from appearing in public during his visit! 
Never the less during a tour of nearby Yorktown
he recognized and embraced James Armistead
Lafayette, a free man of color who had served
with him during the Revolutionary War (he was
the first US double agent spy).

 

The iconic Bird Girl statue, made famous on the
cover of the book The Garden of Good and Evil.

One of the countless beautiful parks in Savannah.

Our very private site at Skidaway Island State Park

Heather, Doris, George and Scott in a selfie

A view from the trail at Skidaway Island State Park - in the far distance is one of the many 
bridges on the ICW that Scott Free passed under during our trips south and north along the eastern coast.