2022 Spring Southern Trip: Carrabelle Beach, Florida Panhandle

Thursday 4/21: 258 miles, parked at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort, Carrabelle, Florida

View from our camper.

Site 36, Beach View

Stage Coach to Carrabelle Beach

We were on the road at 9:45 this morning.  We all woke early this morning to see Christl off.  Her Uber ride was scheduled for 5:00, and he arrived about 15 minutes early.  We were sad to see Christl go, and not see Mark and Charmaine again, but excited to get on the road and see new places. When we travel, I can't get Willie Nelson's song out of my head, "On the road again, seeing places I may never see again, I just can't wait to get on the road again".

We took I-95 north to Jacksonville, 295 west bypass, then I-10 west to Tallahassee.  Then connecting with FL 90 south to FL319 and then FL98.  It was good roads all the way.

We arrived to a sunny afternoon about 3:00.  Carrabelle is a new campground for us, and it is very nice! The sites are immaculately landscaped.  There is quite a mix of RV's, all the way from diesel motorhomes to small R-Pod travel trailers.  For example, our next door neighbors are a retired couple (Carol a music teacher and Len a financial advisor) from Michigan and they have a smallish travel trailer.  It is their very first RV, and they love it and are already planning to move to a size slightly larger.  They rented a site here for the entire month of April.  

While the weather is warm and sunny, the ocean breeze is refreshing.  I have to keep reminding myself, it's not like this all the time.  Hurricane season is just around the corner.

Friday 4/22:

Another warm and sunny day.  Today is a pure catchup day.  First time in 2 weeks when we didn't have any activities planned.  Judy did some reorganizing, and I got caught up on writing the travel blog.  See, life on the road can at times be boring, just like home.  😀  Sometimes boring is good!  Our neighbor Len likes to ocean fish every other day or so.  He showed us a 3 foot black tip shark he caught today.  Neat.  He googled how to filet it and cook it.  Said it was excellent!  Our dinner was crockpot chicken thighs, mushrooms, and peppers served over noodles.

That evening we took the dogs for a walk on the beach.  This beach even has a little bit of history.  It was used as a practice beach for the D-Day invasion in World War II because it resembles the beaches of Normandy.  

It's nice that leashed dogs are allow on the beach here.  Anyway, at the ripe old age of 15 and a half,  the Golden Retriever had a 10 minute spurt of unbridled energy yesterday reliving her youth and playing in the ocean.  She was so tired that later we had to carry her to bed last night.  Like many of us, her brain is still younger than her body.  She's hanging in there though.

Saturday 4/23: 

We made the half hour drive to Apalachicola to find some Tupelo Honey.  This honey is made by bees from the nectar of Tupelo trees, which are in blossom only about 2 to 3 weeks every year.  Tupelo trees grow in the swamps and are found only in a small region of Georgia and Florida Panhandle. Here is a great article from the NY Times about Tupelo honey.

Savannah Bee Company also has a very good article that includes "It's not just the flavor and texture of Tupelo honey that makes it unique, but also the very chemical composition of the honey.  All honey varieties contain the sugars fructose and glucose.  These compounds are used in our bodies as a primary energy source.  Tupelo honey has an unusually high fructose to glucose ratio."

Therefore it metabolizes slower and is more tolerable for diabetic sensitive diets.  It is said that Tupelo honey never crystallizes, unlike most other honeys, apparently due to the unique sugar makeup.

I had always thought that Tupelo Honey came from Tupelo, Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis Presley.  Nope, it's derived from the Tupelo tree.  The 1997 movie Ulee's Gold, starring Peter Fonda was filmed in the surrounding areas and communities. I remember seeing the movie years ago. 

We ended up shopping at two stores. 

Sunday  4/24:

Today it was dog walking, laundry, reading, napping, reading, dog walking, and grilling.  Yet another sunny and 75 day to suffer through.  I think I could enjoy the relaxed attitude here: immaculate park and a beautiful public beach across the road.  We have never stayed at a campground longer than a week before.  Judy and I talked and we might try a 2 week stay at this one next year and see how it goes.  Apalachicola,  St. George Island, including the State Park, and Port St. Joe are all less than an hour drive from here, so there would be places to explore.  Would we get bored without friends to visit?  I don't know.  I can't imagine staying in one place for a month, but who knows.  I think we would also consider 2 week stays in Savannah and St. Augustine in the future.  We'll see what time brings.

Here are some more images of Carrabelle Beach RV Resort.  In addition to the RV spaces, they offer a large selection of cabins and tiny houses to rent.

Monday  4/25:

Today is our last full day in Carrabelle.  So how do we spend it?  By grocery shopping at the local IGA and picking up a couple things at the local ACE Hardware.  After restocking the camper, we are good to go for a few days.  In Gulf Shores we can find a Walmart to restock on items we could not find in Carrabelle.  The rest of the day we spent reading, napping and visiting with neighbors.  We have found interesting folks wherever we have traveled.  No political talk, just one common interest, the love of RV'ing and travel.

In summary, we had a really nice and relaxing time in Carrabelle for 5 days.  We got lucky with weather that was a perfect sunny and 75 every day.  Tuesday we move on to a 7 night stay in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  From there, we start the trek home just in time to mow lawn.  Chores are never done.  😀

Stay tuned!!

2022 Spring Southern Trip: St. Augustine

Easter Sunday 4/17:  158 miles,  Stagecoach RV Park,  St. Augustine, FL

Hot, sunny and humid 85 degrees.

Site 26 at Stagecoach.

I-95 to 295 to I-95 to exit 318.

We were on the road from Savannah just a few minutes after 10:00 this morning.  It's a short drive today at under 200 miles and about 3 hours on Interstate 95.  As I have said before, Interstates are not the most scenic way to travel, but in most cases, they usually allow you to get from point A to point B the fastest.  Plus our present Solitude 5th wheel is 13-5 tall, and I have nightmares about meeting a low underpass.  That's not a problem on the Interstates.  I do subscribe to an online app that warns of low underpasses, and that takes a lot of the stress away.  Today's route was I-95 to I-295 East bypass around Jacksonville, then I-95 again to St. Augustine.  Stagecoach RV park is just a mile off 95 at exit 318.

We are parked on site 26.

We arrived to a sunny and humid 85 degree afternoon about 1:00.  We were sweating up a storm by the time we finished the 20 minute setup and settled down for our traditional after setup beer.  Is it too soon to complain about the hot and humid Florida weather?  😉  After all, back home there were occasional snow flurries last night.  But, 2 hours later we were in the midst of thunder, lightning, and rain.  The dogs were not happy.  But I guess that's typical Florida weather, sunny one minute and thunderstorm the next.

Stagecoach is a very nice park, with lots of trees and it is immaculate!!  The sites are large and it is quiet here.  We have been here once before, way back in 2018.  The only change is a HUGE townhouse development going up across the road, there is some construction noise while that is being built.   In a way, it's too bad about the development, because the last time we were here, it was only forest across the road.

Townhouse development construction across the road.

Monday 4/18:

We are meeting friends Mark and Charmaine at 11:00 at the D'Fontana in nearby Green Cove Springs for lunch.  Mark and Charmaine are another couple who we have known a long while and used to live in Northern NY.  They "saw the light" and moved south some 20 years ago.  Charmaine taught at Potsdam High School with me when I taught there. 

Lunch was excellent!!  D'Fontana is a very small "pizza joint" specializing in Italian cuisine.  The current menu is very small, but they did extremely well during the COVID pandemic specializing in take out.  After lunch, we walked to the City Park to look around and enjoy the nice weather. Mark and Charmaine had to be on their way to care for their pets, and we were back to camper by 2:00. 

 

Judy's daughter Christl arrived a little after 7:00, and is visiting for the rest of our stay here.  She is an elementary reading teacher north of Albany, NY and is on Spring Break this week.

Tuesday 4/19: 

Mark and Charmaine are coming to the camper this morning for waffles and homemade maple syrup we brought from NY.  

After our camper brunch, we went to see the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is the 7th tallest in the United States.  Mark and I decided to climb the 219 steps to the top, and the view from the top was worth the effort.  We were told later that we came just at the right time, as the lighthouse is closed starting next week for renovations.

219 steps to the top.

After 219 steps up.   Now 219 steps down.  😀

Two Potsdam High School Teachers enjoying retirement.

After the lighthouse visit, Mark and Charmaine had to leave, so we said our good byes.  They have commitments tomorrow, so we won't connect again until next year.  It was much too short of a visit with them.

From the lighthouse, the 3 of us went to check out the St. Johns County Ocean Pier.  We walked out to the end and watched the fishermen.  It was a beautiful and sunny day, but the wind was fierce,  In fact, there were rip tide warnings out for the beach goers.

Christl, Judy and I then went to the Salt Life Food Shack for a late lunch.  Then it was back to the camper for naps and eventually leftovers for dinner.  We were exhausted!!

Exhausted mother and daughter.

Wednesday 4/20:  Judy's Birthday!!!!

Today is Judy's birthday.  Christl brought a banner with her, so we put that up early before Judy got up.  We also had her cards and presents piled up.  It turned out to be a very nice birthday morning for her in our "home away from home".

We wanted to visit the historic Old Town St. Augustine and so to beat the crowds and find parking, we arrived at the visitor center parking garage by 10:00.  There were lots of spaces at that time, and the price is right: $15.00 for 24 hours.  We spent about 2 hours walking up and down St. George Street which is pedestrian only and is also very touristy.  Not much history but lots of shopping available.  

Entrance to historic St. George Street, now pedestrian only.

We beat the crowds by going early.  By noon, it was
wall to wall people and school children tour groups.

Shortly after noon we went to the Ice Plant for lunch.  Judy and I had grilled shrimp with white bean ragu and it was excellent!  Christl chose a very good strawberry panzanella salad.  

After lunch, it was back to the camper for a mid afternoon break.  About 5:00 we went to a nearby outlet center to pick up a few things and then to checkout the "famous" Buc-ees convenience store and gas station chain.  

Tomorrow Christl is getting a 5:00 AM Uber ride to the Jacksonville airpot.  Then later that morning we pack up and make the 4 hour drive to Carrabelle Beach RV Resort for a 5 night stay.

So, stay tuned.  For the next 2 weeks, no old friends to visit.  We are on our own.  As always, we enjoy the company as we travel!

2022 Spring Southern Trip: Savannah, Georgia

  Sunday 4/10:  237  miles,  parked at Creek Fire RV Resort, Savannah, GA

Now in Savannah, and more Tee-shirt weather.

Site 50 at Creek Fire RV Resort.

Myrtle Beach KOA to Fire Creek RV Resort.

Our neighbors, big diesel motorhomes on each side of us.  😀

We left the KOA in Myrtle Beach just about 10:00.  The drive was on Interstate Highways a good share of the way; took 501 to Conway, 378 to I-95 South.  The resort was just a mile off I-95 at exit 94 in Georgia.  I-95 traffic in South Carolina was brutal.  70 miles per hour, and then for no reason, stopped. This happened time and again.  When we crossed the Georgia line, 95 turned into 3 lanes instead of just 2, and traffic flowed freely.  The RV Resort was just a mile off exit 94 outside Savannah.

Creek Fire is a new campground for us.  And when they say resort, they mean resort; 4 pools, tiki bar, gym and onsite restaurant.  All the roadways are paved.  This resort is only a couple years old, and it was designed for todays large glamping RV's.  It seems like the only thing they went cheap on is no cable TV, and the air channels are limited.  I had been planning to watch 60 Minutes on CBS, and we couldn't get it.  I know in today's world I can stream it, but when traveling I don't like to exceed my Verizon and ATT data plans.  And I'm not a big user of public wifi.  Call me old fashioned, but I really don't trust public wifi.  Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of FBI.  😀

Adult pool and Lodge

Fire Pit

Splash pool

Lazy River tubing 

View from our camper

Ping pong and game area

Campground Map

Where we are, site 50.

Monday 4/11:  Today turned out to be beautiful sunny and 80 degrees.  We hit a nearby Walmart for some grocery shopping and supplies.  We spent the afternoon relaxing, reading and dog walking.  We also made plans to meet tomorrow with long time friends Charlotte and Robert, who now live in Savannah.

Tuesday 4/12: We agreed to meet Charlotte and Robert at their home at 10:00.  They live about 30 minutes from the campground.  Robert and Char are another North Country couple who have relocated to the south in their retirement.  Charlotte was an English teacher at Potsdam High School when I taught there.  They have both found a new love for the city of Savannah and they are a fountain of information about the history of the city.

First they took us to the Georgia State Railroad Museum where we spent a couple hours.  The museum is the site of the original Central Railroad of Georgia Savannah repair shop.  Active restoration is still being done here,  and parts of the original Roundhouse and turntable are still in use.  I'm always fascinated by railroad history.  It seems like wherever we have traveled in this country, there has been railroad history involved in the original development of the area. 

 

Repair shop in the roundhouse.

Turn table

Early diesel switcher engine.

Coal switcher engine

Wooden brick flooring that adsorbed spilled grease and oil.

Segregated passenger car

Lunch was a stop at the beer garden at Moon River Brewing Company.  We had a wonderful long and lazy lunch in the warm sunshine.  Later the 3 of us sat at Johnson Square while Robert volunteered to fetch the car, which was parked several blocks away.  Charlotte filled us in on the history of the square, which was laid out in 1733 and is the oldest and largest square in Savannah, and the nearby Davenport House.

Lunch at the Moon river Beer Garden

Couple of retired Potsdam High School teachers.   😀

Historic 1820 Davenport House

We were back to the campground about 5:00.  Dinner was light and simple and we crashed.  It was a fulfilled and tiring day.  We're out of shape after spending all winter indoors in snow bound Northern New York.  😉

Wednesday 4/13:  We again met Robert and Char at their home about 10:00, and it's another sunny and warm day.  Charlotte suggested we visit the William Scarbrough House and gardens.  The house was built in 1819, and at one time housed the West Broad Street Colored School. It is now the home of the Ships of the Sea Museum.

The plan was to then visit Plant Riverside, but after circling several city blocks, we could find no parking. (On a side note, parking is a HUGE problem in Savannah.  And I don't know what the answer is.  Above ground parking garages would ruin the historic appearance of the area.  Underground garages? Limit auto traffic to force more public transportation? I just don't know.)    Anyway, we gave up and decided to go to the The Pirate's House for lunch.  Again, no parking available.  😞  So Plan C was The Wyld Bar, a tidewater bar and grill outside of Savannah proper.  Here we had lots of parking, and enjoyed a really nice lunch of fish tacos while sitting on an outdoor deck.  Thank you Robert and Char for knowing the area so well.  If we had been typical tourists, we would have never found it.

We were back to camper by 4:00.  Another fun day in Savannah.

Thursday 4/14:  This morning we had time to complete a few chores.  Yes, just like living at a house, when your home is temporarily on the road, you still have chores to do.  Judy went to the nearby campground laundry facility while I puttered around the camper.  A lawn chair storage rack needed repairing.  I took the living room wall clock down and realigned the hour arm.  I emptied the grey water tanks.  I finished just in time to help Judy fold laundry.  Sound like an exciting day??

We met Char and Robert at the Pinpoint Heritage Museum at 1:00.  The Pin Point community was founded in 1890 and allowed Emancipated freedmen to purchase property at a reasonable price.  An  oyster and crab factory was opened and operated until the factory closed in 1985.  In 2011 the original factory buildings were restored and the small interpretive museum was created.  We viewed a 35 documentary which was very informative.  Pin Point is also the birthplace of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  I found the 2 hour visit really moving.  This link will take you to the excellent 35 minute documentary that is shown at the museum explaining the history of Pin Point.  If you have the time, I highly recommend it!  As we travel around the country, it is so interesting to learn about the various cultures that make up the United States.

After visiting the museum, we all went to Char and Robert's house for dinner.  Robert cooked salmon and mahi on cedar plank over his Big Green Egg.  We chatted and chatted, and then chatted some more.  Great dinner and great conversation.  We were back "home" by 7:30.

Friday 4/15:  Another absolutely beautiful sunny and warm day.  This Savannah area is really starting to grow on me.  However, as a country boy, I'd sure have to learn how to get used to all the traffic.  And does Savannah ever get bad weather?  Oh ya, I forgot.  There is something called the Atlantic Hurricane Season that runs from June to November.  😀  About 10:30 we went to the nearby Super Walmart for some grocery shopping.  We are hosting Charlotte and Robert for dinner at the camper tonight and we are making a shrimp, cod, and white bean soup.  Sort of a North Country version of a seafood dinner, as all the seafood we used was frozen, not fresh.  Our guests arrived about 4:30 and after giving them the tour, we tried to sit outside, but it was just too windy.  So it was appetizers, dinner, and dessert inside the camper.  For dessert Char brought 3 different flavors of Savannah's famous Leopold's Ice Cream; Coffee-Chocolate Chip, Honey-Almond, and Lavender.  What a treat!!  Robert and Charlotte left for their home about 7:30, and we crashed soon after.  Another wonderful day in Savannah.

Saturday 4/16:  Today is our last full day in Savannah.  We are meeting Char and Robert at 4:00 at Love's Seafood for dinner.  Other than that, the day is unscheduled.  We decided to cook our Easter Ham today since we were going to be on the road tomorrow, Easter Sunday.  We finally settled on using the slow cooker with a simple brown sugar glaze.  Showers were forecast so we put away away the outside furniture.  Lunch was very lite as we were having an early dinner.  I spent some time getting the next blog post ready while Judy spent over an hour on the phone trying to get our account balance at Sam's Club.  We upgraded to a new Sam's credit card and the new card did not arrive before we left on our trip.  Customer service over the phone was unproductive.  The language barriers with the help line made communication difficult.  We ended calling my brother-in-law who picked up our mail and went through it until he found the new card.  After finding the card he sent us a picture.  Once we had the new card number, creating the new account online was a breeze.  We met for dinner at Love's and had a wonderful meal.  Again, we all chose seafood, with Judy and I getting stuffed flounder.  When near the ocean, might as well enjoy it.  After dinner they followed us back to the camper to visit and say our good byes.  We had such a good time in Savannah this week.  Tomorrow it is off to St. Augustine, Florida for 4 nights to catch up with good friends there.

Good bye Savannah!!  See ya next year.

Stay tuned!!