27 May 2020 Tropical Storm Bertha

We woke this morning to our phone going off warning us that we were under a tropical storm warning. A tropical depression had formed off the South Carolina Coast and exploded into a Tropical Storm over night. Wind grew to 30 MPH and it became Bertha! The eye of Bertha came ashore about ten miles north of us. We did not get a lot of wind but did have torrential rain for about 5 hours. Then the clouds cleared off and it was just hot and steamy. So we can add “surviving a Tropical Storm” to our lists of firsts for the Wanderer. We had planned to be out of here before the start of Hurricane Season (1 June), but the COVID-19 lockdown has ruined all out plans for this summer. We are waiting to see how the states begin to open up before we start making new plans. But we did find out that the local NP will begin a phased reopening starting the 23^rdof May. So maybe we can finally get in to see Fort Sumter soon.

21 May 2020 Magnolia Plantation

Leslie’s custom made cowboy boots that we ordered back in December arrived today. They look beautiful and fit very well. She is a happy Cowgirl again. David’s sliding shelves arrived giving him a project for the long weekend. We took the afternoon to go to a local restaurant for burgers and beer before heading to Magnolia Plantation. They opened the plantation gardens, but the manor house and gift shop are still closed. The plantation dates back to the original land grant to the Drayton Family in the 1640’s for service to the King. The plantation main crop was rice through the end of the civil war. At one point, over 150 slaves were on the property. After the civil war, the Drayton family sold off much of the plantation to pay for rebuilding the manor house after the Union Troops had burned it. They opened the gardens up in the 1870s as a tourist spot and it has been open ever since. It is still owned by the Drayton family. The oldest garden on the plantation dates back to the 1680s making it the oldest formal manor garden in the USA. We took the nature tram ride around the property seeming many birds and alligators. We then did our own walking tour of the gardens before heading back to the Wanderer, happy to be doing something other than sitting around the RV. 

Sand Hill Crane in the nest

Peacock in the gardens

Long White Bridge in the Magnolia Gardens

Leslie on the Long White Bridge built in the 1680s

Magnolia Plantation Manor House built in 1867

The Red Bridge in the gardens

11 May 2020 We ate in a Restaurant!

We ate in a real sit down restaurant for the first time in over two months!! We were on our way to pick up our new prescription glasses and stopped in North Charleston and ate at a nice little Mexican café (Azul Mexicano). It felt so strange having people in masks serving us but also exciting to be able to finally taste some of Charleston’s famous eateries. Ahhh, margaritas again! It was also great to get our new glasses and be able to see clearly again! Now if they will open the barbershops and salons! We also found out they have opened some of the National Parks out west and in Kentucky, so there is hope the NP here in South Carolina will open soon and we can get back on the road again! Can’t wait!

Eating at a restaurant again!

3 May 2020 Angel Oak Tree

With the state allowing some stores to reopen with limited numbers of customers, we went to the nearby Mall and found the LensCrafters store open for business! So we picked out some new frames and order our new glasses. Since we figure we are stuck here until at least the middle of the month, we decided it would be our only opportunity. There were only two or three other stores open in the mall. It was strange walking through the mall with all the closed stores and wearing a mask. After ordering our glasses, we decided to go check out the Angel Oak Tree. A large Oak tree not too far from our RV Park, it is estimated to be over 500 years old. The park around the tree was still closed, but we could see the tree through the fence. The trunk was massive with huge branches going off in every direction, dipping down onto the ground, or even under it, before surging back up. It is magnificent!

We decided to cancel all out reservations through the middle of June. It is obvious that the northeast corridor is going to be closed for quite a while and will open slowly. So once the NP begin to reopen, we plan to head west to Tennessee then up into Kentucky and Ohio before cutting across the west end of New York, assuming that area will open before the area around New York City. Then on to Maine. We will have to wait and see what the Northeast corridor does to determine if we will come back through that area. So we have started plotting out stops, RV parks and NP to visit. But we won’t make reservations until we see the NP begin to open in those states.  

Angel Oak Tree

Angel Oak Tree