We have to backtrack a bit, just to prove we were
actually in Mississippi,
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| Swamp and River |
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| Welcome to Mississippi |
and Alabama
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| Welcome Centre |
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| Mobile, Alabama |
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| Tunnel under the river |
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| Battleship Alabama |
and I was awake. When we entered the
Florida Welcome Center,
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| Welcome |
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| Spirit of Naval Aviation, Welcome Centre |
we were offered fresh orange or grapefruit juice. I
couldn’t resist. It was delicious!
We had decided to go to the Airstream RV Park north of
Pensacola. It was quite 42km north, then off the highway on a small country
road to Mystic Springs Airstream Campground. There were seven trailers there
plus the host.
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| Beautiful Campsite, no one home! |
We find out that actually, there is no one in the trailers, some
are storage, some are left there for members to come up to on a rally. There is
just the host. She is a delightful lady, who is hosting for the first time. She
said take any spot, except the blue power boxes as they were 50amp. Each site
had a small concrete rectangle as a patio or front step or porch. It wasn’t
large enough for a picnic table or chairs. It was a little difficult to figure
out where the sites were as often the electricity was in one place, the water
in another, often different sides of the site, and the sewer was somewhere
else.
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| Which is the site? |
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| Our site on the edge |
We found sites on the outside which were a little more conventional, and
used one of those. In spite of some challenges, the park was quite pretty, and
Carol was a great host! She had a large covered site, with a couple of chairs,
outdoor chesterfields and a swinging bench which made it perfect for our
nightly cocktail hours.
We drove to see the National Naval Aviation Museum at
Pensacola Naval Base.
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| Museum |
We had a wonderful guide, a Vietnam vet, who had flown
for 51 years. He was able to give us interesting anecdotes about each of the
planes.
On our way into Pensacola, a funeral procession led by 3 police cars,
approached on the opposite side of the highway. All traffic stopped until the
tailing police car passed.
We had a couple of stormy days, so stayed longer
than we originally planned. When we had a break in the rain, we decided to go down to
Historic Pensacola. We had seen a group of four Airstreams used as food carts/restaurants.
There were four-Thai, BarBQ, Everything Gouda and Tacos. There was a large
patio with tables and umbrellas.
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| Al Fresco Dining - at Airstreams |
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| Tasty Airstreams |
We
stopped for lunch, then went across the road to a wonderful coffee house. We
then walked around the historic buildings.
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| Now a Museum |
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| Colonial Home |
Unfortunately they were closed, so
we could only wander down the streets, and look at the architectural ruins of
the old fort.
We decided to drive over the bridge and over the causeway to an
island and a peninsula. There were some beautiful beach-front houses,
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| Beach House |
many in
water frount communities. All houses were up on stilts with garages below.
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| On stilts |
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| Para-sailing on the Gulf side |
Another
couple came in on our second day, and two more arrived as we were leaving, so
Carol had someone to host.
On our way again, we drove along hwy 4, then I-10 to
Torreya State Park, just west of Tallahassee. Beautiful azaleas, were in
practically every yard,
and often used as hedges. It looks as if it was just
south of I-10, but it was actually 14 miles off it. However, it was a lovely
trip along a winding country highway. The road was lined with clouds of red
“You Can’t See Me’s”.
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| You Can't See Me wild flowers |
The park was beautiful, wooded site. When we arrived a
friendly neighbour came over to chat. He said to be careful the ticks were
falling from the trees and the snakes were out because it was getting warmer.
That was enough for me, I spent most of the time in the trailer! I went to log
on to the computer, but it had done an update and locked me out of my own
computer. Several hours later, I had figured out how to fix it. We just stayed
the night, so we didn’t even unhitch.
Next day, we were on the way again, this time to Crooked
River State Park in Georgia.
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| A huge site |
It is another beautiful campground, friendly,
helpful, gated, with large, level sites well laid out, and with all sites
off-set. There was only one problem - bugs- clouds of gnats and mosquitoes. We
tried to sit outside, but were slapping bugs non-stop, so indoors became our
choice.
The next day was beautiful, so we decided to go to
Cumberland Island, Georgia’s southernmost barrier island. It is a 30 minute ferry
ride from Historic St. Marys through saltwater marshes and the intracoastal
waterway.
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| Landing on the Island |
It is absolutely beautiful. We walked up the alley of Live Oaks
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| Live Oaks |
to
the Dungeness ruins. These are from the third house on this site. The first house was built by Catherine
Green, widow of Revolutionary war hero, Gen. Nathaneal Green, who purchased the
land in 1783. The house was a 4 storey, 26 room tabby with 6 foot thick walls,
that she named Dungeness. Tabby is a
type of concrete made from oyster shells, sand, lime and water. This house
burned down. In 1884, Thomas Carnegie, brother of steel magnate Andrew
Carnegie, with his wife Lucy built on the Dungeness foundations. It is the
ruins of this last house we see.
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| From the driveway |
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| From the water-side, wild horses on the grass |
Beside it is a 2 storey tabby house which was
originally built for the architect, and subsequently used for 2 slave families.
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| Tabby House |
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| Pergola, covered in vines and flowers, wide enough for the carriage to drive through |
There were ruins of various outbuildings, a pergola, and the boathouse. Around
the front is a huge lawn with a beautiful fountain. There were feral
horses, including a young foal, grazing on the lawns.
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| The foal is lying in the grass |
From there we walked along
the oyster shell paths towards the beach.
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| Oyster Shell paths |
We walked along the boardwalks over
the marshes
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| The marsh from the boardwalk |
and the inter-dune meadow to the dunes
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| The Dunes |
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| Inter-Dune Meadow |
and the on to the beach. It
is incredible, wide pale sand as far as you can see in both directions.
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| To the South |
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| A type of gull - all facing the wind |
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| To the North |
We
walked barefoot and were surprised how hard the sand was. We wandered to the ferry dock, past the
camping area.
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| A beautiful picnic area beside camp sites |
Unfortunately, we did not have time to go to the north end of the island where
The Settlement was established in 1890’s for black workers. When we got back to
the mainland, we found a great little coffee-house, the Blue Goose, and enjoyed
excellent lattes.
The next day after doing
some cleaning of the RV, we did a bit of the necessary shopping, wandered
around Historic St. Marys, and bought a couple of books at the Visitors’
Center. Later we had an excellent late lunch of fish and chips at the Seafood
Grill.
On our last day, we decided to check out the ruins of a
tabby sugar works.
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| Walking towards the Sugar Works |
Unfortunately, John slipped and the oyster shells jumped up
and cut his leg. After he was appropriately bandaged, we went to dinner at
Lang’s, a fabulous Seafood restaurant, known far and wide for their fresh
caught shrimp. We both decided on “all you can eat large shrimp”, the special
of the day. It was wonderful - boiled and perfectly seasoned. We each managed
two full plates.
On our way again, straight to Georgia, to Oak Plantations
Campground,
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| Our second site |
just north of Charleston. We booked in for 2 days. Our site was a
back-in, wide, grassy and almost level. We got ribs from the “Home Team”, a
restaurant which had been recommended. They were delicious- smoked with a rub,
but tender and juicy.
We went to Magnolia Plantation, planning to look around
there in the morning and go into Charleston in the afternoon. We spent the
whole day at the Plantation. It is the oldest on the Ashley River, and has been
in the Drayton family for nine generations, since 1676. The gardens are extensive,
over 70 acres, and magnificent. There
were azaleas throughout the entire estate, in an array of colours.
Flower
gardens were fully planted so there were blooms everywhere, from tulips and
daffodils to lilys and marigolds.
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| A secluded garden |
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| A camillia in a tree |
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| Azaleas and Wisteria everywhere |
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| A garden path, Now |
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| ... and 150 years ago |
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| There were also several lakes |
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| Cypress trees beside a lake - the knobs sticking up are their roots |
We took the tour of the house
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| Magnolia Plantation |
and also the
self tour of the Audubon Swamp Garden. The house was furnished as a summer home
and looked as if the family would return at any moment.
The Swamp Garden is 60
acres of cypress, gum trees and black water. You wander along raised boardwalks,
bridges and dikes to enjoy the diversity of wildlife in their natural, hauntingly
beautiful setting. We saw alligators, lazily swimming near a dike,
turtles
climbing on slides,
snakes on logs nearby
and Great Blue Herons, Egrets,
Cattle Egret and black and white Anhinga in the Rookery.
Since we had not yet seen Charleston, we decided to stay
for an extra day in spite of a forecast of rain. Unfortunately we had to move
sites in the morning, in the rain. We were a little annoyed, as our first site
was not occupied and there were many sites which had been unoccupied for our
entire stay.
Charleston has really interesting architecture.
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| one of the most photographed buildings |
We drove
in, parked right downtown and walked. First we found a wonderful coffee cafe,
with excellent quiche, on East Bay Street. Then we walked around the Harbour
area, out onto the pier, and saw a dolphin by the shore. We walked up to the
City Market,
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| City Market |
often called the slave market because this is where the slaves
shopped, and back along Meeting Street. We walked around a round church,
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| Front of the Round Church |
which
was the original meeting place, hence the name of the street. The main
graveyard was behind the church, but there were special crypts and headstones
in front and at the side of the church.
Then it began to pour, so we ran from
tree to awning to any overhang or doorway that afforded some shelter, as we
made our way along cobbled side-streets back to the car.
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| 1688 - Pink House is for sale |
We drove north to Medoc Mountain State Park in North
Carolina,
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| At a Rest Stop- Snowbirds heading North again, one even with a golf cart! |
just south of the Virginia border. We didn’t even unhitch, as we were
only staying one night. Here, there were fewer trees in full leaf, but the
dogwoods and wild pear trees were in bloom. There was the spring mist of green
on the trees and bushes.
Next day was a long drive up I-95 to Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, so we were up and out by 10am - early for us. Traffic was
reasonable as we skipped through 4 states in one day: North Carolina
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| Bridge over one of the many rivers |
through
Virginia
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| Although we didn't stop, we were pleased to see it was "Open for Business"! |
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| Virginia Blooms! |
and Maryland
to Pennsylvania!
We pulled into a lovely wooded KOA just outside
Gettysburg. Since it was Easter weekend, it was really busy, but we had a site
down near one end, away from families, and the kids’ thoroughfare! We had full
hookups and sites were arranged so each had privacy.
We drove around to get a
feel for the battlegrounds and town. It had really changed since we were there
in the 90’s. Much of Gettysburg is designated as a National Military Park. It was
developed as a memorial to both armies, by identifying and marking the lines of
battle. The Welcome Centre houses a theatre, a huge museum and a cyclorama of
the battlegrounds, as well as a cafeteria and bookshop.
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| The Theatre and Cyclorama to the left The Cafeteria, Museum in the centre and the Bookstore to the right |
There were several options
to see the battlegrounds: a bus tour with a guide, hire a guide to go with you
in your own car, or take a self guided tour with a CD or cassette audio, or
read a pamphlet with notes. We first watched the movie – a clever mix of actual
photos and footage mixed with re-enactments footage to tell the story of the
battle of Gettysburg on the first 3 days of July 1863.
The museum is outstanding with pictures, artifacts and
audio segments and film shorts of each day of the battle. You start with an excellent
overview and, as you wander through the myriad of rooms, the battle “plays out”
from July 1st to 3rd. You gain an excellent understanding
of the causes, the strategies and rationale of both the Union and the
Confederate armies. Gettysburg was the turning point in the American Civil War.
The eventual Union victory ended General Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the
North. It was also the bloodiest, with 51,000 casualties. It was here that
Lincoln gave his famous “Gettysburg Address”.
We chose to take the audio self-tour, but without the
audio, as there is no CD player in the Ram. It was getting late, so we only
followed the first 6 of the 16 stops. All along the route, which is very
plainly marked with signs, there are many information tablets,
cannons, monuments and markers. By
1912, the US War Department placed more than 350 tablets and markers explaining
the roles of various military units.
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| Markers- square base indicate Confederate army, Round base indicates Union Army |
Regimental monuments commemorate State and
US Regular Army regiments and batteries, placed usually placed at the site of
their line of battle.
Confederate and State memorials commemorate all soldiers
from a particular state.
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| Pennsylvania State Memorial has the name of every soldier who fought |
Generals and other notable persons associated with the
battle are commemorated with bronze sculptures.
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| Lt Gen. James Longstreet Bronze Statue |
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| Minister blessing all the Union troops prior to battle |
The next day, having extended our stay, [does this sound
like a familiar theme?], we decided to buy a book with a more detailed account
for each of the stops. It also had the CD. We decided to take John’s laptop,
plugged it into the truck, loaded the CD, and we were set for the rest of the
tour. We actually sat and listened to the first part, then began at stop 6 and and
wound our way along streets, around hills and through fields following the
conflicts to the end of July 3rd
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| Confederate Major Gen. George E. Pickett attacked on July 3rd 12.000 men forming a battle line a mile long across the field, with little protecction |
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| The Union's Defense - a fish hook along the top of Cemetery ridge |
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| Looking across the fiels where Pickett's Virginian Confederates charged the Union Fish hook |
and then to the Soldier’s cemetery.
It was an incredible journey.
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| McPherson Barn-still in use |
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| Army units could only take the top rail for firewood |
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| Trostle Barn with a cannonball hole [just above the lower roof] |
We spent a couple of evenings with another Airstream
couple from London, Ont. who were travelling much like ourselves, except for
only part of the year. We exchanged places to stay, places to eat and “must
see” sites across the country.
Our time in the the US was coming to a close, but there
was one more place we wanted to see, Corning Museum of Glass. We headed north
and found Ferenbraugh Campsite in Corning had just opened for the season. When
we got there, they were indeed open, but barely. It had been such a long
winter, that the upper wooded section was still too wet to clear and get ready,
and their opening had been delayed. We were able to stay in a large open field
in the front where there was one other RV.
The owners were friendly, the site,
a pull-through, quite large, but with just electricity.
The Corning Glass Museum is certainly a must-see. It is
amazing. There are several sections- basically Explore Glass through a section
on Contemporary Glass [1975-2000],
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| One of our favourite bowls |
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| A Cup Within a Cup |
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| Glass Rocking Chair- not for sitting! |
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| All Glass Chess Set - each figure holds a different religious symbol |
the story of design, craft and art of
American glass, a very large section of the history of glass and collections
around the world, from the Cavemen, through Roman, Islamic, Venetian, European,
American,
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| 450-400BC glass |
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| Snake Thread Glass |
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| Sasanian Glass 500AD |
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| German Enamelled GLass |
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| Beilby Glass, 1700 |
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| Copy of the Liberty Bell, 1905 |
and collections of paperweights, stained glass,
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| A Glass Moasic Table |
modern glass
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| Connected: An interesting showcase |
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| and of course - Chihully |
and
interesting uses of glass.
The second main section is Experience Glass - one part
a glass breaking demonstration, how sheet glass is made, a hot glass show, an
optical fibre demonstration, unique treatments of glass, eg argon low-e, and
how it works, how sheet glass is made, and a lot of hands-on experiments to do.
Of course, there is the Glass Market Shops where you can buy everything glass.
Each day there is a “You design it, and we make it” contest. One design from
the day is chosen, and the lucky artist gets to see his or her design being
turned into glass.
We spent 5 hours there and could have spent the entire
day! But we needed to get on to Ontario and Bronte Provincial Park.
We drove along I-95
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| New York "Rest Areas are called "Text Stops"! |
up
to Highway 104 west from Rochester. It was a pleasant, drive on a two-lane road, with many beautiful stone houses,
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| one of many beautiful stone houses |
that brought us right to the Lewiston Bridge to Canada.
US phone and money put
away, Canadian phone and money out, and we were good to go. We were a little
later than we’d planned, so we were unhitching as dusk fell. But, we are ‘pros’
now, so it was no problem. We have a few days here, a few days in London with
my brother when the Airstream gets its annual check-up, a few days in Glen
Rouge, east of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal then back to Ontario for a while.
We will be catching up with family and friends as we travel - so look for us at
a park near you!
It has seemed very odd to go from the dry, quite barren,
though beautiful desert to the lush green and full blooms of New Orleans and
Charleston with azaleas, spring bulbs and roses blooming, and shorts and tank top
weather, to the ever more barren trees and bushes and more layers of sweaters
and jackets as we travelled north. It was like going back in time from summer
to early spring.
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