Oct 21 - 25, 2012 Savannah GA

Sunday, Oct 21, 2012

We drove on down to Hardeeville, SC, which is just 10 miles from Savannah, GA.  We to in around 2 and just hung out…I bought us 2 day trolley passes for downtown Savannah..stay tuned!

Monday, Oct 22, 2012

We drove into Savannah and got on our trolley, I must say I totally recommend this way of seeing the city.  If you go by yourself, you may very well see all the sites, but you won’t know it!  Also the parking in the downtown area is atrocious!  Anywho, we got off at stop #2 and strolled over to ‘The Lady and Sons’ Paula Dean’s restaurant.  Now there are good and bad reviews on this restaurant, but we fall into the ‘exellent’ review!  We walked up to the window at 10:45, gave our names for the 11 o’clock seating, and our names were called at 11:05 – we were sent to the third level dining (elevator) and a lovely young lady brought us each a hot hoecake and a garlic cheddar biscuit, took our drink orders and left menus…  I got the buffet, and I must say that the fried chicken was melt off the bone tender with crispy breading – fantastic!  Also there was meatloaf, any number of veggies, mashed potatoes, a fantastic corn soufflé dish, sweet potatoes, and for dessert, peach cobbler!  David ordered a meatloaf sandwich, and there must have been a pound of meatloaf on that sandwich, along with very different fried potatoes…wow, we waddled out of there!

We hopped back on our trolley and off again to see several very old building (1792 old), and then when we got to River St we got off – David sat and watched the river while I shopped – in and out of at least 20 stores…we got back on the trolley and continued around back to the beginning. 

Got back home and just collapsed – had leftovers for dinner and watched the boob tube until the sandman came wandering by!

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012

This was a rest and catch up day – did a load of laundry – the Laundromat at the park was pretty crappy, so I only did one load – cleaned the MH, took Cinder for a long walk, then we headed out to find a WalMart – can you believe we had to go 11 miles to find one!  Sheesh!

Oct 24, 2012

OK - today we ate at Mrs Wilkes - we got on the trolley at 9 and were there by 9:25 - if you are very early like we were, there are benches for about 9 people, so we got a bench - they opened at 11 and holy cow, the trolley drivers told us it was the best southern food in GA, and they were right!  There was fried chicken that was hot and crisp on the outside and melted off the bone on the inside, beef stew, meatloaf/gravy, stuffing, collard greens, au gratin potatoes, black eyed peas, green beans, baked beans, rutabagas, sweet potato casserole, sauteed cabbage, mac and cheese, cukes with vinegar, cole slaw, biscuits and cornbread, corn on the cob and corn casserole, blueberry cobbler and banana pudding.  It was served family style and was so fantastic and fun!  We waddled out of there!  Highly recommend Wilkes.

We got back on the trolley and got off at River Street once again, and I shopped the other direction! 

Oct 25, 2012

We drove to Hilton Head Island – what a bore!  We’re looking to find a beach and play in the water, but every beach was a far walk from the parking area.  It was around ¼ mile from the car to the beach and David was not up to walking that far, especially carrying chairs and paraphernalia so we came back home.

We went to dinner at Crab Shack on Tybee Island – with Nick, Terry, Greg & Jan…the food was fabulous as well as the company!  I’ll let the pictures speak for me!

Top photo is Greg and Jan, bottom photo is Nick and Terry!  We had a great time - thanks for letting us horn in on your celebration! 

 

I'll try to get back on with pictures when we get somewhere with a good internet connection!

Oct 15, 2012 through 20th, Myrtle Beach SC

Monday, October 15, 2012
We made the 44 mile trip to Myrtle Beach.  Here at the Moose club we have full 30 amp hookup with water, and a dump station next door.  We set up and had lunch at the club, burgers/cheesesteak.
We then took a ride to find the Landmark Resort where we need to be in the morning – so we got a little sightseeing in as well.  We came back and had dinner at the moose – all you can eat spaghetti, salad, garlic bread for $5 each…it was pretty good!  Of course I had a nice glass of wine too J

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Today was the first day of the USS Tolovana Reunion, which is the ship that David served on during his 5 tours of duty in Vietnam.  We went to the Landmark Resort (huge, 4 swimming pools, lazy river, pool side tikki bar, etc) and basically spent the day chatting with folks who had also served on the Tolovana…and this evening a group of us went to Captain Benjamin’s Original Calabash seafood house – it was excellent.  The crab legs were hot, fresh and delish, as well as over 170 items on the buffet.  We finished up with butter  pecan ice cream – yum!

Wednesday, October 17

We had an appointment with the Camping Connection to come out and put a new seal on our toilet.  David didn’t feel that he could do it and it started leaking and was causing problems with our new wood floor!  Well, took the guy about 20 mins from start to finish and charged us $166.33.  Believe me, if we need to replace another one I will do it myself if I have to!  Sheesh!

We went into the Landmark for a 10 am meet & greet, and ended up staying there until noon!  Afterwards we went for a drive along Ocean BLVD, which was pretty nice.  Stopped at ‘The Beach House’ for lunch, David of course had a burger and I had a fantastic grouper sandwich…boy I miss the seafood when we are back in TX or PA…along the Atlantic Coast it is so fresh it literally pops in your mouth! 

We stopped at a couple of ‘junque’ shops and once again I found nothing to buy :)  We came home, got naps and then I made a pot of cheddar broccoli soup for dinner – it was very good, and since the temps had dropped into the sixties, it was an ideal fall meal. 

Thursday, Oct 18, 2012

Since the dinner/banquet was this evening, we went to a pancake house for a good breakfast about 11:30, then we went to the beach and sat in our chairs for a couple hours, watching the para-sailers, the surfer dudes, the ski-doos and of course old people like us, just sitting around looking!  It was a lot of fun!
We came home and got naps, got all gussied up and went to the Landmark where they served a marvelous Prime Rib dinner – it was excellent and had all the trimmings with it, right down to the cheesecake with strawberries!  Then it was time to say goodbye to all the lovely people we met this week!  We didn’t get home until almost 10 pm – that is a late night for us!

Friday, Oct 19, 2012

First time all week we got to sleep in – we took full advantage!  I did a little cleaning, played with Cinder, watched a movie, then we got ready and headed out to a Mongolian Grill.  This was a terrific choice – we love them because we pick what we want fresh and they grill it without oil/butter so if you get lots of veggies it is very healthy.   It was in North Myrtle Beach which is quite a drive, but I had a $5 off each person discount coupon which made our dinner under $20…and it included a salad bar, soup and dessert!  An excellent value .  We came home, played on FB and went to bed after the ball game!

Saturday, Oct 20, 2012

Today was a sleep in day again – we went next door and dumped our tanks at the church where there are 3 cleanouts!  We called Pastor Mike and he gave us permission to use one, so for a donation (20) to the church, we can just head out in the morning – no sloshing around!  So, for staying at the Moose club for 6 nights, $60 with full 30 amp hookups, and a dump for 20, it was $80 for a week – what a great deal!  Yes, we could have put $5 in an envelope as our donation, but we might want to come back this way again and stay – and Pastor Mike will remember us I hope :)
We had a great pizza/salad lunch, and we have enough pizza for lunch tomorrow.  David’s sugar does better if he eats the carbs at lunch rather than dinner – I have a pot of beef/onion/potato soup on right now since I had 3 potatoes I needed to use up.  I also had leftover spicy beef that needed used. 
I will wash the windshield on the MH this evening, and do a little other cleaning as we get ready to head south again tomorrow.  The planned route is 211 miles, and I don’t know if we will do it all in one day or stop somewhere.  This retirement is hard to take sometimes!

Oct 9 through Oct 14, 2012 Wilmington NC

Tuesday, Oct 9 – Sun Oct 14,

Moose Lodge
1501 Carolina Beach Road
Wilmington, NC

After about a 110 mile travel day, we arrived at the Moose Lodge.  They have 20 amp power, which will keep the oxygen machine running, and our computers.  Unfortunately their wifi will not reach to the motorhome, so we will have to cart the computers into the club to use the internet – not a problem, it is only about 100 feet away J

 We lucked out when we stopped – it was Taco Tuesday, so their tacos was make your own, $1 each and salad $2…David had 2 tacos and I had a huge salad, they were very good…and the price can’t be beat!

We did take off after naps and drove to Carolina Beach where we walked to the beach and watched people in the water – I hope there is a beach closer to us, since that one is about 20 miles away!  I did stick my feet in it – and it was cool but by no means cold.  There were a lot of folks in swimming in the waves.

We came back home, set up and had soup and sandwiches for supper – Cinder got the opportunity to be OFF LEASH for quite a while and got to chase the tennis ball – when we are at most campgrounds there is no place for her to run and it is hard on her – she loves to run after the ball and tires herself out!

 We do get about 14 TV channels, and one of them is CBS so I will be able to get NCIS – yippee!
Oct 10^th – we went to visit the Battleship North Carolina – this is an exceptionally well done restoration of a World War II Battleship – from the beginning movie through the gift shop, if you are in this area you should plan at a minimum of 3 hours to see the ship.  We came back home about 2, got naps then went over to the Moose club for a great dinner – I had a great chicken salad and David had a burger and fries J

Oct 11^th – my birthday!  I got text messages from dear daughter, Dawn and SIL Daryl…we went to downtown Wilmington where we took a river tour – and were disappointed.  It was up the river maybe a mile – less than 3, and back with little to no information about the history of the area.  Recommendation – take a trolley or horse drawn carriage tour to hear/see about the history of downtown.  I shopped at the Wharf and Riverwalk bought nothing – I must really be off my game! 

We then went to Front Street Brewery – WOW…this is a must do!  Great little brewery tour followed by amazing food – I had a dish recommended by our waiter, Chicken Nachos which was fantastic, bbq's shredded pork over tortilla chips, with cheese, onions, tomatoes, fresh salsa and a chipolte cream sauce– here is a picture J 

That evening I skyped with Dawn and kids, Branden and Ariel who sang happy birthday to me – that was very special to me!  Later on I got a call from grandson Devon, and that really topped off my birthday right!

Oct 12^th – we traveled about 20 miles to Fort Fisher, which was a blockade fort during the Civil War – Wilmington was the last southern port to be shut during the war, because of the blockade runners at Fort Fisher.  You can read all about it at:  http://www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher/fisher.htm

After wandering around for a while we drove up to Kure Beach where we watched the ocean for a while, then up to Carolina Beach where we had some great hot dogs  at Island Hots.  The sea air made them extra tasty! 

After naps we went to the Moose club for dinner, where I had a reasonably healthy crisp chicken salad – it was delicious!  At 7 pm the Moose Club had BINGO open to the public, and if you are a Moose Member you get a free packet…so I played 18 cards – didn’t win a thing :) but I had a great time chatting with a lady who is from Pittsburgh area.  We talked about all that terrific food, haluski, halupki, apple butter, pierogies…the good stuff!

Oct 13^th – was get ready to go day – do a little email, watch a little tv, go for a drive to get Krispy Kremes – wait what???  Yep, we indulged in a couple fresh donuts – they were so good!  We put up all the awnings, hooked up the car, and hit the hay early. 

S & W RV Park

532 Holden Beach Rd, S.W.
Shallotte NC  28459
910-754-8576

Nice little park, we are in site 20 – we needed to dump our tanks, clean our sinks, etc., before we head to the Moose Club in Myrtle Beach South!  After 5 days at the Moose club we definitely needed to dump and clean up!  So we came all the way 40 miles south – and tomorrow we’ll go another 44 miles and be there! 

We’re heading out to Golden Corral to get FOOD – starving it is after noon and we haven’t eaten (David had a stick of cheese and some crackers :)  We could not find the Golden Corral, but came upon Jerome’s Seafood & Steak house and had an absolutely fantastic buffet, at $8.95 each it had everything you could want.  Besides wonderful fried chicken and bbq pork, they had melt in your mouth shrimp and handmade stuffed cabbage rolls.  I haven’t had any that good in years!!!  To top it all off was homemade apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream – wow, we waddled out! 

Then we drove down to Holden Beach and looked at the ocean a bit…now we’re back home, inside the AC because it is HOT outside – 88 degrees!  Tomorrow we will head down the road and be in another state.  Man, I love this life.

Sept 27 – Oct 1, 2012 John H Kerr COE Park

This is our first time at a COE campground – to say we were impressed is an understatement.  The site we are in, 131B is fabulous, with a water view out the back.  All the sites here at this loop are very nice. The lake is 55,000 acres!

There is water and electric at the site, with a shower house right next door that is spotless!

The folks have been extremely helpful!  Several swimming beaches and at this time of year the lake is like bathwater J

 

Here is a picture of our site, from the beginning of 'our' driveway!  It is far back in and as you can see, nobody parked near us!

 Here is a picture of the view out our dinette window...NICE!

 

The restaurant Pino’s was fabulous – I had chicken parmesan and David had Stromboli…Yum! 

Friday we drove around, through Boydton several times where we visited a Dollar Store (the only one in town) that had a little veggie/fruit market in front of it.  We also toured Rudds Creek, and although the sites are very nice, they are not as long as the ones in North Bend Park. 

We toured Buffalo Creek campground as well as Longwood – none compare to North Bend.

We visited South Hills and Clarksville, and had a wonderful Mexican meal in Clarksville, can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but on the south end of business 58 – absolutely fantastic!  Service was lousy, but we were in no rush and the food was outstanding!  Also in Clarksville they have a beautiful Veterans Memorial

RATES:  With the access pass it is $15 per night, 14 day limit…Fabulous! 

Sept 25 – 26, 2012 Appomattox & Lynchburg VA

After yet another terrible twisty windy roads, we arrived at Paradise Lake, which is halfway between Appomattox and Lynchburg.  Nice wide sites under shade trees, lot of seasonal campers.

We drove into Lynchburg and ate at a terrific place called The Neighbors Place where we had fabulous shrimp in a chipotle cream sauce over choice of pasta – and David had a STOUT…first time since spring that he had a stout! 

On Wednesday we went to Appomattox National Surrender site, did that tour and saw some interesting things!  Lots of paraphernalia from the Civil War and about Lee surrendering to Grant.  With the access pass we paid nothing.

We ate lunch at Granny Bee’s – which I highly recommend!  Good food, very fair price!

RATES:  PA park, but still $20 a night for full hookups.