23 March 2020 Savannah GA to Charleston SC

Well, they had another reservation for the site we were in so we decided to move on to Charleston SC today. We stretched the drive out to 3 hours with a long stop for lunch and taking our time on the road. The traffic was still pretty heavy considering the Presidents request for everyone to stay home if they could. We are staying at the Oakland Plantation Campground ($52 per night with GSC) just outside Charleston. We have a nice long pull through site. But as we started to set up, we realized that the previous user had some kind of black tank accident and there was a mess on the ground. The front desk person sent a nice man over to shovel it up, sterilize the area with bleach and then he laid new gravel down. There are not many people in the RV park and very few nightly transients since this is off the main north/south route, so if we need to stay here longer, we should be able to. Fort Sumter and all the tourist sites here are closed, so there will not be much to do for a while. Were going to do our part and hang out around the Wanderer until we see when things might begin to open back up. 

21-22 March 2020 Hunkering Down

With everything of interest now closed, we decided to practice our social distancing and hunker down in the Wanderer. Leslie is starting to go shack wacky. David did a little work and we caught up on our chores. On Sunday, we went to the grocery store and found many shelves still empty (no toilet paper to be found). Georgia has not issued a stay home order yet, so we plan to head to Charleston tomorrow. There are a lot of RVs coming in for only one night, so a lot of people are on the move north. 

20 March 2020 Touring Savannah

They announced their first local case of COVID-19 today. The order to close all the bars, sit down restaurants, non-essential stores and public venues kicks in tomorrow morning, so we decided to see what we could of Savannah today. We drove out to Fort Pulaski NM so we could at least say we tried to see it. The fort was visible on the island across from the closed entrance. The fort was built between 1808 and 1826 as part of the first tier of defenses. It did not see action during the war of 1812. Modifications of the Fort continued through 1846. It was never manned. In January 1861, Confederate forces occupied the fort. Later that spring Union forces set up cannon on Tybee Island and began bombarding the fort. Some of the canons were of a new type with rifled barrels. The new rifled canon tore through the masonry walls of the fort forcing the Confederates inside to surrender. The Union occupied the fort and held it through the war using it to prevent the Confederate forces from using the port of Savannah. For a time, it held the infamous 500 Confederate officer prisoners of war used to prevent the confederates from attacking. The Confederates were doing the same thing with Union officer prisoners of war at other forts. It was later used to house Indian prisoners before being abandoned by the military in 1908. It was made a National Monument in 1924. 

On the way out, we noticed a sign for Old Fort Jackson. So on the way back into town, we stopped at Old Fort Jackson and found that it was open. The Old Fort Jackson is run by a non-profit organization. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. After paying the $20 entrance fee, we did a self tour of the fort. Fort Jackson was built between 1820 and 1848. It became the primary fortification to prevent Union Forces from attacking Savannah from the river. Between the Fort, multiple gun batteries, river barriers and the Iron Clad CSS Georgia, the Union forces never made a serious attempt to sail up the river. Savannah fell from the land during General Sherman’s March to the Sea campaign and Confederate forces abandoned the fort and retreated to South Carolina. We watched a movie on the history of the fort and inspected the rooms and armament. We made it a point not to touch anything.

Returning to Savannah, we drove through the old historic section of Savannah and down to the riverfront.  There’s a beautiful statue commemorating the Legend of the Waving Girl at a water front park. She stood stoically greeting the passing ships and river tugs. It is said that as a very young girl, the love of her life, a young sailor, went off to sea. Young Florence promised to be faithful and patient awaiting his return. With a white apron she waived at passing ships by day and a lantern at night. After 50 years, in 1931, her faithful watch ended.  She passed away 12 years later.  This statue was erected in 1971.  

A few of the stores, bars and restaurants were still open, particularly along the river, but we decided that discretion and social distancing was better than any chance of COVID-19. It a beautiful town with the old houses, Spanish moss covered massive oaks and quaint streets.

We called the RV Park in Charleston and they allowed us to extend our stay until 3 April. 

Entrance Sign

Entrance Gate

Fort Pulaski from the entrance gate

Old Fort Jackson

Parade ground in Old Fort Jackson

Gun deck of Old Fort Jackson

Old Fort Jackson from the river

The Waving Girl

18 March 2020 Perry to Savannah, GA

It’s a straight run down I-16 from Macon to Savannah. We are staying at Red Gate Farm Campground ($51 a night with GSC). When David check us in, he asked if their was future availability in case we fall under a travel ban. He was told that at the current time no, but who knows what the future brings. It’s a nice RV Park with lots of room for big rigs. We have a back in site but there was so much room to maneuver, it was an easy job backing in. All the utilities are good. Its close to Savannah and an easy drive to the major tourist sites. Most of the other things to see in Savannah are still open but we expect them to close soon. 

16 March 2020 Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park

Going to the Ocmulgee National Monument was the purpose of this detour from the coast to continue on our quest to see all the National Parks and National Monuments. Back when we planned this trip, it was a National Monument, but late last year, congress passed a bill changing it to a National Historical Park and adding 2000 acres (which has yet to be bought) to the park.

The park is about 840 acres and covers what was know as the “Old Ocmulgee grounds”. There are six mounds in the park that were built by the Mississippian Indians between 900 and 1600. But they have uncovered artifacts in the park dating back to the early Paleo-Indians around 15,000 years ago. They don’t know why the mounds were built or what they were used for. Buildings were built on top of the mounds as well. One mound was used for burials of high priests and chieftains. That mound was severally damaged by the building of a railroad to Macon back in 1840 and again in 1870s. The other mounds were damaged by the building of defense works during the civil war for the city of Macon and by farming and ranching activities from the 1600 till the early 1900’s. The mounds were built by hand with baskets of dirt carried and dumped to build up the layers. When they excavated they could actually see individual piles of dirt from each basket full. The mounds were capped with a layer of red clay to preserve the mounds (they did not have grass on them back then like they do today). The National Park was created in 1934 or 1936 (different displays had different years). During the 1930’s, a large excavation of site was accomplished with the help of the WPA and CCC. Over 2 million artifacts were cataloged. There was a major Ocmulgee Indian settlement at the base of the mounds. The site was abandoned in the 1600s. During the 1930 excavations, the floor of a Earth Lodge was discovered and carbon dated to be over 1000 years old. The raised dais where the chieftains sat with a clay eagles head was uncovered along with clay benches around the perimeter where the lesser officials sat cross legged. They even had depressions for their feet to rest in. The raised dais was aligned so that the sun would come in through the entrance and align with the place where the chief sat at the summer and winter solstice. They built a recreation of the Earth Lodge using similar wood and reed construction as the original. Another village was founded not far away in the park on the river called the Lamar village. Today it’s a swamp and not accessible by the public. 

The weather was cloudy, fogging, a light drizzle and a bit chilly. So we were not sure if we would walk to the mounds or not when we arrived. We explored the small store, the extensive visitor center exhibit with artifacts unearthed at the site, watched the park movie and collected our 75th passport stamp. We are going to count this as a National Monument since that is what it was when we planned this stop. By the time we got finished in the visitor center, the drizzle had mostly moved off so we hiked out to the Earth Lodge and duck walked down the tunnel into the large room. We then went to the cornfield mound and temple mounds (Great Temple and Lesser Temple). The drizzle moved back in and we headed back to the Behemoth. 

On the way back to the Wanderer, we stopped at the Walmart in Macon to pick up a few items. We were amazed how the shelves were empty from the panic buying. We were able to find the few things we needed. Its just amazing.

Entrance Sign

Earth Lodge Mound from the visitor center

Cornfield Mound

Entrance to the Earth Lodge

Entrance tunnel to the Earth Lodge

Raised Dais and fire pit in the Earth Lodge

Greater Temple Lodge

Lesser Temple Mound

15 March 2020 Brunswick to Perry, GA

We drove up highway US-341 to Perry, GA. We noticed as we went along that there were people setting up tents and displays along the highway as a several hundred mile long flea market. We found out later that it is call “Peaches to Beaches” and they do it once a year. Since we were dragging the wanderer behind us, we did not stop at any of the markets, but we were tempted. We are staying at the Crossroads Travel Park ($41 per night with GSC). We took this detour from the coast because we found out that there is a major St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Savannah each year. I would not have though there was that many Irish in Georgia, but Savannah has the second largest, behind NYC, St. Patrick’s day parade and celebration. So we wanted to delay our arrival in Savannah until after St. Patrick’s day. With the Corona Virus (COVID-19) panic spreading, they canceled the Savannah St. Patrick’s day parade and celebration. We were happy to see the small towns along US-341 that the church parking lots were fairly full, so the panic in the major cities has not spread to the countryside. 

13 March 2020 Jekyll Island, GA

We were told by several folks that we needed to go to Jekyll Island while here. So we headed out to the island in the early afternoon. The island was originally settled by the British, but were bought out by a French contingent. The island was eventually bought by a group of millionaires in the 1930s and turned into an exclusive club. Eventually it was turned over to the state and large parts of the island turned into a state park and the rest turned into a tourist trap. We drove around the island, stopping at several points of interest to read about the history of the settlers of the island. We also walked out to the beach to see the ocean. Probably the best way to see the island is to rent a bike and ride the bike trail around the island. But we were not impressed, particularly considering the $8 entrance fee. But the old oaks with Spanish moss hanging from them were beautiful. 

12 March 2020 Fort Frederica NM

With the building Corona crisis, we are concerned they might close the national parks. So we figured we better get out to Fort Frederica as soon as possible. Fort Frederica was built by the British 1736-1748 in “disputed territory” between the British colony of South Carolina and the Spanish Colony of Florida. It was from this fort that the British sailed to lay siege to Castillo de San Marcos in 1740. In 1742, the Spanish returned the favor by attacking the island of St. Simons. After landing on the southern end of the island, the Spanish stormed and over ran Fort Simons. The British in the fort retreated to Fort Frederica. The British sent out a small force which ambushed a Spanish scouting party at Bloody Marsh. Seven Spanish troops were killed in the exchange of gunfire across the marsh, where the two forces never actually saw each other. Unsure of how big a force they were up against, the Spanish retreated back to Fort Simons. Following the treaty ending the seven years war, the fort was abandoned and the town slowly disappeared. The area was designated a National Monument in 1946. In the 1950s, there was an extensive archeological dig that uncovered many artifacts and identified the town defenses and the fortifications. The park service rebuilt a portion of the fort in the 1950s. We explored the small store, visitor center exhibit, watched the park movie and collected our 74th passport stamp (Our 36^thNational Monument). We self toured the town grounds and fort. There is not a lot to see other than some foundations and a couple of structures that were rebuilt by the park service. But the history is interesting. After visiting the fort, we went into historic St. Simons and found a brewery for a couple of beers before getting dinner at Crawdaddy’s. We recommend it!

Entrance Sign

Old oaks and Spanish moss

Foundations of one of the houses in the town of Frederica

Ruins of Fort Frederica

Cannons on the sea wall

Old oaks on the edge of the old moat

11 March 2020 St. Augustine, FL to Brunswick, GA

Yesterday morning we noticed Etta limping on her right rear leg. The lypoma on that leg was swollen and very angry. Needless to say she was licking it as well. It started to ooze, so David squeezed it and got all kinds of gunk out of it. So we washed it with Hydrogen Peroxide and alternated squeezing and washing off and on through the evening. This morning we woke to find she had licked it into a substantial hole. So we rushed her up to the nearby vet. Unfortunately we had to pack up and leave the KOA before noon since they had no availability that night. So Leslie took care of Etta and David packed the trailer up, hooked up, and brought the whole rig up to the vet’s office. The vet squeezed out even more gunk and washed it out. We got some antibiotics, cream and a large cone of shame and hit the road. 

It was only a two hour drive to Brunswick. We are staying at the Coastal Georgia RV Resort ($44.50 per night with GSC) just off I-95. It’s a really nice RV park with long pull through sites and nice landscaping between sites to give you some privacy. But there are lots of gnats! Definitely would stay here again. Georgia is our 28^thState with the Wanderer.

8 March 2020 Castillo de San Marcos NM

We visited the second of the forts that protected Spanish St. Augustine, Castillo de San Marcos. Castillo is the first masonry fort built in the US and is the oldest. Construction was started in 1672 and mostly completed by 1695 although construction and modifications to the fort were made through 1756. The Fort survived two sieges by the British (1704 and 1740). The fort changed hands by treaty from the Spanish to the British, along with the rest of Florida, in 1763 as a result of the Seven Year War. Florida became the 13^thand 14^thBritish colonies but remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution. The British occupied and strengthened the fort during the Revolution. Then the British returned Florida and the fort to Spain following the American Revolution. The US purchased Florida for $5 million in 1819 and took possession of the fort in 1821. In the 1840s, the US Army filled in the seaward moat and mounted additional naval cannons. When Florida succeeded from the Union on 10 January 1961, there was only one Union soldier manning the fort. When Florida militia requested his surrender of the fort, he agreed but made them inventory the contents of the fort and sign a receipt for the fort and its contents. It is said that the militia was so impressed by his professionalism that they took up a collections and bought first class tickets for him and his family on a steam ship to Philadelphia. The confederacy only briefly occupied the fort before pulling its troops and cannon and sending them north. The Union reoccupied the fort and maintained a garrison there through he rest of the war. Following the war, the fort, just like much of Florida, was used to imprison Plains Indian prisoners until the late 1890s. The Army abandoned the fort in 1902. The fort became a national monument in 1924. After struggling to find parking for the Behemoth in the narrow streets of St. Augustine, we went to the visitor center and collected our 73rd passport stamp and explored the very small monument. The Fort is set up for self tours. We explored the lower rooms and the bastions of the fort for a couple of hours. We then toured the historic downtown area ending up at the San Sebastian winery for a glass of wine. We poked our head into some of the stores, stopped at the Bull and Crown Pub for a beer and snack, and watched the crowds wander by. Rain showers wandered through off and on sending people scrambling for shelter. 

Castillo de San Marcos from the street

The moat and drawbridge 

The drawbridges

Parade Ground inside the fort

The seaside portion of the moat that was filled in by the US Army in 1840

Cannons on carriages 

Various cannons that were used at the fort over the centuries

St. George street in St Augustine

7 March 2020 Fort Matanzas NM

Leslie took Etta to the groomer in the morning to get her cut for the warmer weather.  Then we headed out to Fort Matanzas National Monument. David had visited this NM before with some of his SAE friends before one of their conferences. The Fort is really a heavily armed lookout post on the Matanzas River, built by the Spanish, from 1740 to 1742, to protect the rear entrance to St. Augustine. The fort was abandoned when Florida was transferred to the US in 1819. We read on the website a couple of weeks ago that the ferry from the visitor center the fort was shut down due to damage to the dock by Hurricane Dorian. But the ferry started back in service last week. So we were looking forward to a trip over to the Fort. When we got to the visitor center, we found out that they had canceled several ferry runs earlier in the day due to the strong winds. We went to the visitor center and collected our 72nd passport stamp, explored the very small store and watched the park movie. As the movie completed, the ranger came in and told us they would be running the 3:30 ferry since the winds had died down some during the day. We collected our FREE ferry ticket, got our safety briefing and boarded the boat. The five minute ride over was smooth compared to our last ferry ride! The Army Corp of Engineers rebuilt the fort in 1962. Prior to that it had been slowly disintegrating for 140 years from neglect. The fort was built from local coquina shell stone on top of a shallow sandbar that had been reinforced with pilings driven into the sand. The tower is 40 feet tall. The fort was normally manned by 6 soldiers and one officer but could hold 50 in times of war. The fort only saw action once, in 1742 when it drove off a British armada attempting to flank St. Augustine following a failed siege in 1740. The river and area around the fort was named after the Spanish word for “Slaughter”. In 1565, the French forces at Fort Caroline attacked the Spanish at St. Augustine but a hurricane drove their ships aground south of St. Augustine. The Spanish sent out soldiers and found 100-150 French trapped on the beach, after the French surrender, the Spanish slaughter all but 6. Two days later they repeated the slaughter with another group of French found at the same location.  After touring the Fort and listening to the Rangers presentation on the history of the fort, we took the ferry back to the visitor center and headed back to the Wanderer. 

Entrance Sign

The fort back in 1912

The fort today

Sentry Copula

Firing portal

Second Level of the Fort

Ready, Aim....

The fort gun position

6 March 2020 Okeechobee to St. Augustine, FL

The trip from Okeechobee to St. Augustine was about five hours of boring interstate travel. We are staying at the KOA in St. Augustine ($77 per night with KOA value card). The RV park is located pretty much in the middle of things. Our site is very unlevel. The rear stabilizers are fully extended and the front stabilizers are mostly retracted. There is also a lot of passenger side lift required to get level. The pull through site is fairly narrow and even though there is a small patio with a table and chairs, they are pretty much just in the way. There is a grill but no propane. There is a lake directly behind us with a catch and release rule. Watching the Anhinga birds dry their wings in the wind is fun. They have no natural oils in their feathers to help dry them after they dive for prey so fanning is the best remedy.  Their beaks are so pointed that they stab their prey.  This is not our favorite KOA, but it is close to all the tourist sites. We plan to visit both National Monuments here and tour the old town area of St. Augustine. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied city in America. First settled in 1572 by the Spanish, it endured attacks by the French and British. It changed hands by treaty to the British following the French and Indian War, then back to Spain following the American Revolution, then to the US in 1819. 

4-6 March 2020 Lake Okeechobee, FL

The drive from Ohio Key to Lake Okeechobee (248 miles) was uneventful. We were happy to be off the keys and back on the mainland. Can’t quite explain why we felt uneasy on the key, might have something to do with only being a foot above the surrounding ocean. But we definitely felt better with dry land around us, even if it is only 18 inches higher above sea level. We are staying at the Waters Edge RV Park ($85 per night). It’s a really nice RV park with large paved sites, beautiful landscaping, paved roads and beautiful trees which were well trimmed. But there is a canal and a 30 foot levee between the RV resort and the lake, so the name is a bit deceptive. We’re here for two nights primarily to break up the drive between the Keys and Saint Augustine (our next stop). Lake Okeechobee feeds the everglades with millions of gallons of fresh water. But it is only 14 feet deep at its deepest point. We were surprised to find the town overrun with young people who were there for a Punk Rock festival. How Retro! We considered going to the festival, but have long ago ditched our punk rock cloths. 

Waters Edge RV Park

Waters Edge RV Park

Waters Edge RV Park

Lake Okeechobee

Lake Okeechobee

1-2 March 2020 Key West, FL

We finally spent time exploring Key West. On Sunday, we drove the one hour drive (38 miles) into the city and parked not far from the ferry terminal ($4 and hour) (since we knew where that parking lot was located and that it could handle the Behemoth). From there we walked to Kermit’s to get a slice of authentic Key Lime pie. It was delicious! Our Cousin Beth had recommended it. From there we walked down to the Little White House where President Truman went for summer respite during his presidency. At that time, it was on the Key West Naval Station grounds. It has since been sold to a private non-profit to run as a museum. We did not go in since we were running low on time to get to our next destination. From the Little White house, we walked along the exclusive Front Street residences before cutting up to Whitehead Street. From there we walked south and came across the southern terminus of US-1. US-1 goes from Key West Florida all the way to the Canadian boarder in northern Maine. Just beyond US-1 is the Hemmingway House where Ernest Hemmingway lived and wrote several of his books. We wanted to tour the house, but they wanted $15 per person entrance fee and only took cash. We just don’t walk around with much cash on us anymore. So we did not have enough cash for the entrance fee. We did see one of the famous six toed cats that live on the grounds of the house. From there we made our way to what is advertised as the southernmost point on the contiguous 48 states. It’s a bit of a misnomer since you can see right behind the marker is a point that sticks out further and is therefore further south, but it is on the Key West Naval Air Station (Truman annex) and not accessible by the public. But in truth, there is a small sand key further south than even the point, but it is not accessible except by boat. After waiting in line to get our picture taken, we walked to Duval Street and made our way up Duval Street with the intention of getting to Mallory Square for the sunset. Along the way we stopped at a wine shop and enjoyed a nice cold glass of Pinot Grigio. Duval Street kind of reminds us of the French Quarter of New Orleans with back to back bars and tourist shops. It was very crowded and dirty. As we walked along, we noticed there was a heavy deck of clouds moving in which meant there would not be a good sunset to view. So we stopped at Bogobelle restaurant for a wonderful seafood dinner before heading back to the Behemoth and home. 

Monday was another beautiful day in the keys. We headed back down to Key West intent on catching the sunset at Mallory Square. After poking around on the narrow streets near Mallory Square, we were finally able to find a parking spot for the Behemoth ($25) for the evening. We wandered toward Mallory Square and ducked into the Hogs Breath to grab a couple of beers to take with us. Apparently it is not legal to carry an alcoholic beverage on the public street but we were told enforcement is pretty lax. We saw another group doing the same thing so we felt there was strength in numbers! As we headed toward the square, Leslie stubbed her big toe (the one with a blister on it from our hike in the Everglades) pretty hard on a lip in the sidewalk. But fortunately she did not spill a drop of her beer. Wandering into the square about 30 minutes prior to sunset, there were a lot of people milling around. There were several street performers in the square vying for attention and other folks were staking place out on the waters edge for the sunset viewing. We stopped and watched one performer that was doing a combination balancing, juggling and comedy act. Fortunately he did not fall or cut himself. We found a good spot along the sea wall and absorbed the beautiful slow setting sun. There were lots of sailboats on the bay making for some great photographic opportunities. After the sunset and a cheer was raised in the square, we headed for the harbor. We had dinner at the Commodore Restaurant overlooking the harbor. Our friends Gale and Michael had recommended it. It was delicious and the view over the harbor was beautiful. This was the second night in a row we had stayed out late which meant Etta was home alone and her dinner was later than normal. So after we finished dinner we rushed home to the Wanderer feeling guilty for making her wait. 

Kermit Key Lime Pie!!!

The Little White House

Souther Terminus of Hwy US-1

Hemmingway House

"Southernmost" point of Contiguous 48 states

Street Performer in Mallory Square

Rays of sunshine light up this sail boat

Us in Mallory Square

With a few thousand friends

Golden cloud

Sailboats captured in the rays of the sun

Going

Going!

Gone