#25 Coveys Great Adventure - June 2016 – Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and … Utah

June 2016 – Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and … Utah            

After touring Falling Waters it was time to head to New Hampshire and rejoin Charlie and Mollie. The direct route from Morgantown, PA to Campton, NH leads through New York City, an area that I had no interest in driving through in the coach. Instead, we chose a more scenic route through northeastern Pennsylvania, skirting NYC, into western Massachusetts, across southern Vermont and into north central New Hampshire. While we could have made the drive in a couple of days, we spent three nights near Scranton to explore the Pocono’s region, and three more in Bennington, Vermont.

Promised Land State Park is in Greentown, PA, about 20 miles east of Scranton. It is a large park with a few different campgrounds. We made a reservation for a site on the lake but getting into it would have been a real challenge. The site was quite narrow, the road was tight and the trees were going to be hard to miss. I’ve put enough scratches on Ripley, so we went back to the park office and found a larger site in another campground.

We spent a couple of days exploring the area around Mt Pocono, PA, the heart of the Pocono Mountains, one of the major vacation destinations for people living between New York and Washington, DC. The area is certainly beautiful, covered in trees and the roads constantly move up and down, from one small valley to the next. We kept looking for the “mountains”, though, and finally concluded that people named this area before they had seen the West. I’m sorry, but 1500’ high isn’t a mountain, it’s not even worth an elevation sign! I guess “Pocono Hills” doesn’t have the same ring. 

Judy Powell had stayed at one of the large resorts in the area, the Wolf Creek Lodge, so when we saw signs for it we drove over to take a look. Clearly oriented toward families, it appeared to have every attraction and distraction covered. It wore me out just thinking about all that activity.

There is a certain vibe in Bennington

Bennington, Vermont is a very interesting town. It is in a beautiful setting, the foothills of the White  Mountains in southeastern Vermont. It is home to Bennington College and Southern Vermont College, giving the town a distinct panache that overlays some serious historical roots. A significant series of Revolutionary War military actions were fought near Bennington. It’s strategic location and rich resources made it a popular place for early American luminaries like George Washington to visit. Robert Frost lived in Bennington and is buried here.

Humble scribe

Whole neighborhoods of houses built in the 1700’s and early 1800’s have been maintained or restored. Much of the surrounding land has also been incorporated into state forests, preserving a lovely backdrop for the whole area. The Bennington College campus is worth touring.

The mountains between Bennington and the New Hampshire line might not be as high as the ones out West, but they make up for it by being very steep. We had many long, slow ascents followed by steep, slow (hopefully) descents. It might not be many miles from Bennington to Campton, New Hampshire, but we worked hard for some of them.  An early start proved to be valuable when we ran into bridge construction that required a long detour to avoid. We were too tall to fit under the temporary bridge. Kayeanne’s navigation skills once more saved the day and we weren’t delayed too much.

Casa Kendrick's camp hosts

Casa Kendrick is a couple of acres of heaven along a small river in Campton NH. Charlie and Mollie bought the land several years ago and have been adding improvements and amenities every year. It now has spacious sites for two RV’s, with full utilities including well water, power, sewer and cable TV. A large shed provides storage and workshop space, and a large firepit sees use almost every night. After the first fire Charlie and I decided that the fire pit needed some upgrades, so we built a 7x12’ patio with concrete pavers. That sounds pretty straightforward when you say it quickly, but considering that the combined age of the workforce was 150 years it took several days to get done.

Old guys can still get it done

We were immediately comfortable in Campton and in Plymouth, the “big” town next door where most of the shopping and services are. The Campton Cupboard didn’t look like much on the outside, but inside was the quintessential local market. Great produce, a butcher that makes his own sausage and a deli that makes most everything it sells made it a standout for us. There is also a quite decent Chinese restaurant called Fugaky in Plymouth.

We needed a break from patio building, so one day we headed over to the coast, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s only seaport. Despite being raised in Massachusetts and living in NH for several years, I had never been to Portsmouth. It’s a really interesting town, full of good restaurants, shops, historical buildings and, of course, the harbor. We had lunch overlooking the water, walked around the downtown area and generally had a good time. A number of older buildings have had their upper floors turned into condos and I can see why they are popular. Portsmouth is a city I’d like to return to someday for a longer visit.

The main reason that Charlie and Mollie built Casa Kendrick is that their kids and grandkids all live in the area. One day, their daughter Holly and her husband Mike invited the family and us for a boat ride. I hadn’t seen Holly since the mid-80’s and had never met Mike. They own a lovely trawler yacht that they keep in Elliot, Maine, just up the Piscataqua River across from Portsmouth. We spent a very nice day motoring up the river, anchoring out and then returning for a great barbeque at the yacht club. Holly and Mike were generous and gracious hosts. I hope it isn’t 30 years until we see them again.

Between building the patio, working on a couple of persistent coach problems and playing tourist, time quickly passed and we started preparations to visit Canada. Mollie’s roots are on Prince Edward Island and they have made many trips to PEI and Nova Scotia. We have been looking forward to joining them for quite awhile.

This trip would also add another checkmark to our RV resume: staying overnight in a Walmart parking lot. Many Walmart stores allow RV’s (and big trucks, we discovered) to park overnight in their lots. Several other store chains like Cabella’s and Cracker Barrel also permit overnighting when local regulations allow it. We had been reluctant to try it, but the Kendicks are long-time Walmart campers, so we decided to spend the first night on our way to PEI at the Walmart in Bangor, Maine.

Well, we’ve stayed in worse campgrounds and had to pay for it. There were four other RVs and three or four big trucks parked in the far corners of a very large lot. There was lots of grass for the dogs to run around on, even a small pond tucked away in one corner with a couple of picnic tables for the employees to use. The store closed about 10 PM and the area was quite peaceful. If this is what camping at Wally World is all about, sign us up!

Ah, sunset over Dysart's truck shop. Beautiful!

When Charlie started his coach Sunday morning, he knew he had a problem: he couldn’t get full air pressure. Our coaches ride on big airbags rather than springs for the suspension. Their coach was clearly not going far without attention. Charlie discovered that Dysart’s Truck Service in Herman, about 8 miles away, had a good reputation and was open. Moving slowly, he managed to nurse the coach to Dysart’s where the problem was immediately discovered: one of the 15 year old airbags that hold up the coach had ruptured. We weren’t going anywhere until that was replaced.

Breakdowns are no fun. We’ve spent a few nights in repair facilities and even the best of them aren’t very appealing. Dysart’s is a big, busy operation running 7 AM to midnight, six and a half days a week. It is noisy and quite dusty, and trucks are moving around almost all night. While they do work on RV’s, they have no utility hookups nor a dedicated area for them, so you have to hang out in the parking lot with the big rigs.

While the diagnosis was easy, the system choked trying to get parts. Dysart’s thought they had parts available from one of their suppliers but that didn’t pan out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t apparent for two days. Charlie finally took charge, located the parts and had them shipped in. We got to Dysart’s on Sunday the 26^th, but they didn’t leave until Thursday. Not any fun and expensive, a bad combination.

Meanwhile, over at our coach, we got a call from Liesa. Her relationship with Luis appeared to have hit the rocks and she needed help. The upshot of all of this was that the four of us decided  on Tuesday morning that this wasn’t the year that we would be visiting PEI. In fact, we had to leave Charlie and Mollie to wait for their parts and head back to Campton to retrieve our car and head west about 2,800 miles to St. George, Utah. At noon we pulled in the slides, walked the dogs and hit the road.

It was hard to leave Casa Kendrick

On Wednesday morning we did a quick load of laundry, hooked on the dolly, loaded the car and pulled out of Casa Kendrick, certainly the best place we have ever stayed. The camp hosts are really special. 

We made it as far as the Walmart in Herkimer, NY that night. Thursday night found us in Wauseon, Ohio at another Walmart. Then on to a very nice RV park called Griff’s Valley View in Altoona, IA, followed by another Walmart in North Platte, NE (ugh).

We decided to make the next long day into two shorter ones and on the spur of the moment called our good friends Chet and Cheryl Baffa, who live near Denver. Luckily they were home and we got together for pizza at their house in Broomfield. It was a real pleasure to see them again and a welcome break from the road.

The local Cracker Barrel let us park overnight in their lot, right next to a nice greenbelt that the dogs enjoyed. We decided to push a little the next day and made it to Green River State Park, just over the border in eastern Utah. On Tuesday afternoon we pulled into Temple View RV Resort in St. George, UT where we will be for the next several weeks.

Through the windshield on US 70 in Utah

Viewing the country through a windshield leaves lots of impressions. We passed signs for places I didn’t know I wanted to see. I hope we make it back this way at a slower pace. We were constantly impressed with the beauty of the eastern and northeastern states. The late Spring and early Summer gives a vibrancy to the eastern parts of the country that we don’t see in the southwest. 

We were surprised at how much we liked Iowa. It was nothing like what we had pictured. It was a verdant green and gently rolling terrain from one end to the other. I expected one big cornfield. There sure was a lot of corn growing, but there were also rivers and woods and small farms everywhere that were quite attractive.

I don’t know where the “West” officially begins, but I think it is in western Nebraska. The land begins to rise, the air becomes dryer and a little hotter and the trees start to become smaller and further apart. By the time you hit eastern Colorado it is clear that you have left the east far behind. Maybe this is the mid-west? Dunno.

Plans are just that, and often need to be changed. We will certainly return to Casa Kendrick and make that trip to PEI. There is that and so much more to see and we’ll get back to it soon.

#24 Coveys Great Adventure - May 2016 – Charleston, Milledgeville, Birmingham, Murphy, Blue Ridge Parkway, Fayetteville Blowing Springs, Morgantown-

May 2016 – Charleston, Milledgeville, Birmingham, Murphy, Blue Ridge Parkway, Fayetteville Blowing Springs, Morgantown

Yes, it has been a very busy month. We took advantage of the Kendrick’s generosity and stayed another week in their lovely site at the Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort. It was really tough to put aside the luxuries of resort living, but we finally pulled in the slides and hit the road on May 9^th headed to Charleston, SC.

Lake Aire's greeter

Lake Aire RV Park is in Hollywood, about 17 miles from downtown Charleston. The park left a bit to be desired, especially after spending two weeks in HHIMR! Charlie had suggested that we stay at the James Island State Park campground, but our Passport America discount made Lake Aire slightly less expensive. Well, Charlie was right. We drove through the James Island campground and it was much, much nicer than Lake Aire. Plus, the traffic in Charleston is pretty bad and any money we saved just wasn’t worth it. Next time we’ll take his advice.

We enjoyed Charleston. The downtown historic district is quite attractive. Unlike many Southern cities, it survived the Civil War intact and has many lovely Ante Bellum houses and neighborhoods. A horse-drawn carriage tour is a great way to see the historic district. Our driver/guide turned out to be a southern history buff and raconteur of considerable skill. She has been giving these tours for almost 20 years and there wasn’t a building that we passed that she didn’t know intimately. We also enjoyed Market Street which has (wait for it) a large market. We left a few dollars to prop up the local economy. 

Of course we had to take the tour boat to Fort Sumter where the opening shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861. The National Park Service has done a good job preserving the fort and presenting what sounded like a pretty balanced account of the reasons behind the secession movement, the backgrounds of several of the key players and the events leading up to the attack itself. It turned out to be a pretty somber experience, especially in the context of the bloody years that followed. After three nights at Lake Aire it was time to head east.

Why Milledgeville, GA? We were looking for a place to stay to break up the next leg of out trip. Birmingham, AL, is too far from Charleston to drive in one day unless you leave at o-dark hundred and flog it down the interstates. As you know by now that isn’t how we like to travel, so we looked for a spot roughly half way between the two cities and Kayeanne spotted Milledgeville on the map. Scenic Mountain RV Park got great reviews and had reasonable rates so we made a reservation. The park exceeded our expectations and the town turned out to be pretty interesting.

Milledgeville was the original capital of Georgia from statehood until the end of the War. The local historical society offers guided tours of the town and we signed up. Our guide, Joe, was born and raised nearby and graduated from Georgia Military College which took over the capital buildings when the seat of government moved to Atlanta. Joe knows more about the local history than anyone could possibly want to know, but we had a good time.

The reason we headed back to Alabama was that I had a senior moment on the way to Florida a couple of months ago and forgot all about the Barber Motorsport Museum in Leeds, AL, just east of Birmingham. BMM is the largest motorcycle collection in the country, housed in a world class facility next to a race track I’d love to ride someday. BMM owns over 1,000 bikes and displays roughly 700 at any time. The museum also houses one of the most complete Lotus race car collections in the world. The bike and automobile collections are constantly growing and a new exhibition building is nearing completion.

One of the highlights for me was the John Surtees exhibit. Surtees is the only man to win world championships on motorcycles and in Formula One race cars. He went on to build F1 cars and win another world championship as a constructor.

One morning Kayeanne dropped me at Barber and headed off to Birmingham for the day. To say that Barber has motorcycles is to say that dogs have fur. Walking in the front door the first thing you see are four columns of bikes stretching five stories high. And then it gets better. Old bikes, new bikes, significant bikes, common bikes, legendary successes and spectacular failures sit side by side with the most prosaic bikes designed solely for cheap transportation. What impressed me was how many were not restored at all, but were in original, albeit

Moto-crack: 1974 Ducati 750SS

very good, condition. Every bike there looked like it would start and run, some even leaked oil. Six hours later I emerged into the sunshine, still dazzled by the sheer magnitude of the collection. I’d gladly return to see the expanded exhibits that the new building will deliver. Unfortunately my camera quit shortly after I arrived, because I forgot to charge it. Urrrgh!

Kelly Ingram Park

While I was at the Barber Museum, Kayeanne visited Kelly Ingram Park in the Civil Rights District where the Freedom Marches took place in 1963.  She noted, "A collection of sculptures interpret the events that took place during this turbulent period.  Although the Civil Rights Institute was closed because it was Monday, you can use your cell phone to take an audio tour through the entire district.  As you punch in the numbers listed on the trail plaques, you are given a detailed description of each historical event.  It's very well-done and informative, and well worth your time if you're in the area."

After our detour to Birmingham it was time to head north. Rather than return to the coast, we decided to travel through Appalachia and the Pocono’s, then across NY to New England. Our first stop was Murphy, NC, about 100 miles west of Asheville at Persimmon Creek Campground. PCC is built into an organic farm that grows mushrooms, raises chickens for the eggs and breeds Nubian goats. The owners live on site and do it all themselves.

The campground is very small, only a dozen spaces for RVs and about 20 tent sites. We bought shitake mushrooms and very fresh eggs from our hosts and both were delicious, we should have bought more before we left.

Murphy turned out to be a neat town. It is a summer destination for hiking, rafting and off roading, but we were a little early in the season, so it wasn’t crowded. The Downtown Bakery serves great sandwiches on freshly baked  bread and didn’t mind us hanging out to use the internet. Ingles Supermarket was a pleasant surprise, one of the nicest we’ve shopped in a while.

We both wanted to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway so the next stop was Doughton Park campground near Sparta, NC. This is an older, tight campground with no hookups in really gorgeous country. It took some maneuvering to get into our space, but it was worth it.

The BRP is one of the best uses of tax funds I have seen, right up there with the Kennedy Space Center. It winds almost 500 miles through some of the most scenic country in the US, each vista seemingly better than the last. It is well maintained, clean, quiet and commercial vehicles are banned. It has got to be one of the great motorcycle roads in the country.

One day we went 60 miles south on the Parkway to the Parkway Craft Center located in the Moses Cone Manor House. Cone Manor is the 20-room mansion that the Cone family built on 3500 acres in 1901. Unfortunately the house tours were not scheduled that day, but the craft center was worth the trip. Every piece in the place was hand made by North Carolina crafts persons and were in aggregate some of the best work we have seen. Ceramics, jewelry, glass, wood, textiles, printing, drawing and painting were all presented in a very attractive gallery setting that made shopping a pleasure, something I don’t usually enjoy at all. Don’t miss it if you are in the area.

I don’t remember why we happened to pick Fayetteville, WV, as our next stop, but we decided to take a look. I spotted Rifrafters Campground on the web and it turned out to be a neat, pretty funky place built single-handedly by Randy, a former coal miner, in his “spare time” over an 8 year period. It has RV and camping sites, and a few rustic cabins on a pretty hilly 52 acre site just outside of town. Randy single-handedly cleared the land, graded the sites, put in the utilities, built most of the buildings and now cuts the grass. As you might expect, he is a real character and fascinating to talk to.

Fayetteville was interesting, but not worthy of being called “the Coolest Small Town of 2011”, as the signs around town proclaimed. Most of the services and shops are in Oak Hill, a few miles down the road. The Secret Sandwich Shop in Fayetteville did serve great fries and cheap beer and wine for a nice happy hour one afternoon. The New River Gorge Bridge is just up the road and well worth the time to visit. When built it was the longest single-span arch bridge in the world, it is now the third longest.

We tend to lose track of holidays, so Memorial Day caught us without reservations. That is a no-no unless you want to spend a couple of days hanging out in Walmart parking lots or at truck stops. Randy was sold out, so after a little frantic web work and some phone calls we found the Blowing Springs NFS campground. It’s actually in VA, way off in the sticks about 40 miles from White Sulfur Springs, WV. All sites there are first-come, so we got an early start to be sure we got there before all the sites were taken. Blowing Springs is a beautiful, primitive campground along a shallow river. Our site was huge, one of the largest we’ve ever seen, so we settled in for a couple of days.

We passed through WSS on the way to the campground and agreed that we wanted to return for a closer look. WSS is best know as the home of the Greenbrier mega-resort, but the little town itself caught our eye, too. The Greenbrier is so big that visitors have to park in remote lots and take trams to the facility. That was more hassle than we wanted to deal with, so just focused on the town. Memorial Day meant that there were food carts, craft vendors and good street music. We spent a couple of pleasant hours looking around, nibbling and enjoying the music.

Since leaving Birmingham we have been aiming for southwestern Pennsylvania and Frank Lloyd Wright’s signature design, Falling Waters. There are no campgrounds near Falling Waters, but Coopers Rock State Forest outside of Morgantown, WV, was close enough. Coopers Rock was a bit of a tight fit for a coach like ours, but we made it into site 15. Despite being way out in the woods, we were pleasantly surprised to get several OTA channels and useful cell service.

Morgantown is home to West Virginia University, but unlike other college towns we have been to and enjoyed, we didn’t see the kind of cultural impact that makes the city more vibrant and interesting. The campus was very nice, but we didn’t see that the areas around it had been much effected by it. It is almost like the two coexist but don’t have much to say to each other. Morgantown has good shopping, though, so we took advantage of that.

You may recall our visit to Taliesin West in February. We were so taken with it that we joined the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and decided to visit as many FLW buildings as we can this year. We have been looking forward to seeing Falling Waters for months. It didn’t disappoint in any way. 80 years later it is still easy to see why this one design catapulted Wright to worldwide celebrity and dramatically influenced architecture forever. He was 67 and semi-retired when he received the commission to design Falling Waters in 1935. Before his death in 1959, he and his associates went on to design over 400 buildings throughout the world. We are looking forward to visiting several other FLW sites during our travels.

More soon,

Bob   

#23 Coveys Great Adventure - April 2016 - Florida, Hilton Head Island and Savannah

April 2016 – Florida, Hilton Head Island and Savannah

We had some time to fill before heading to St. Petersburg, so our next stop was the other Escapee park in Florida, The Resort SKP Park in Wauchula. The contrast between it and Sumter Oaks in Bushnell couldn’t have been greater. The Resort is aptly named: spacious manicured lots, a large pool, many activities to pick from and very friendly residents who went out of their way to be sure we felt welcome. We had a great time!

Distinctly Frank Lloyd Wright

The Resort is not far from Lakeland, a lovely city named for its many scenic lakes, and home to Florida Southern College, the largest single collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings in the country. We were so taken with Frank Lloyd Wright architecture when we visited Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona that we joined the FLW Society and plan to visit as many sites as we can during our travels this year.

The Florida Southern College campus is a real gem. Each structure is unique while being clearly related to the other buildings in on the campus. The buildings fit seamlessly into the gently sloping site with great views of one of the city’s many picturesque lakes from every one. We didn’t take one of the guided tours but will if we return.

Site 41 at Clearwater RV Resort: the dogs loved it, too.

Finding an affordable RV park near St. Petersburg turned out to be a challenge. A number of “RV resorts” in the area charge $60-100 a night, way beyond our budget. Our coach is too big for many of the smaller parks with more reasonable rate. We were kind of stuck when we happened to read the small print on the Clearwater RV Resort website: they offered discounts to Passport America members beginning April 1. PA discounts vary widely from park to park, but Clearwater’s are pretty generous: 50% off and you can stay as long as you wish! Perfect, and just 24 miles from St. Petersburg. The first site we were given was easy to get into but had no shade at all and was clearly going to be a mud bog when it rained. Luckily one of the best sites in the park opened up a couple of days later and we were able to move. Site 41 is large, private, completely shaded and it backed up to a large pond that was a perfect dog walking area.

Grant and scribe at The Vinoy Terrace Bar

Seeing Kayeanne’s brother Grant was one of the reasons we headed east this year. We spent several days with him visiting St. Pete, touring the local neighborhoods, the beaches and meeting some of his many gracious friends.

Downtown St. Pete. The Vinoy is on the left

Downtown St. Pete is really nice. Many shops, great restaurants and pubs line the streets. High-rises haven’t taken over yet, making for easy views of the bay. The Vinoy is a classic 1920’s era grand hotel that has been painstakingly restored to its original lavish glory. Be sure to have a drink at the terrace bar and tour the public areas. Two other must-see downtown sites are the Dali Museum and the Chihuly Collection.  

Distincly Dali

The Dali Museum is world renown. The museum building itself is designed as a work of art and the collection is really fascinating. There was a special exhibition featuring his relationship with Walt Disney. We had no idea that Dali and Disney were friends, influenced each other and collaborated on a couple of projects.

Dale Chihuly is widely acknowledged as the foremost living glass sculptor in the world, clearly one of the best of all time. We have been fans for many years and couldn’t pass up a chance to see this collection. The sheer scale and artistry of his work really affects me. We spent hours in what was actually a fairly small space just soaking in the colors and forms and the composition of his works. Pictures simply don’t do it justice. Amazing.

Don't miss any chance to see Chihuly's work

 A minor medical hassle required us to extend our stay in Clearwater an extra week. We had a date to meet our friends Charlie and Mollie Kendrick in Hilton Head, South Carolina, so rather than change plans we decided to speed up. By trimming a day or two from each stop we figured we could still see everything we had planned if we didn’t doddle.  We set out to visit Marco Island, the Keys, the Kennedy Space Center and St. Augustine in eight days. We had our doubts, but it worked out just fine.

Not your everyday sign

Kayeanne hadn’t seen her cousin Tracy in over 20 years, so a visit was somewhat overdue! Tracy has lived in Marco2 Island for many years and manages a large, diverse marina operation. We had a really nice time visiting with Tracy and his lovely companion, Shelley. Tracy really knows Marco Island and acted as our guide for a short tour of the town followed by a great dinner at one of the many “locals” places. I hope it won’t be quite so long before we see them again.

As we headed across the width of Florida to the Keys the next morning, it finally hit me just how flat the state really is. I thought west Texas was flat; it is mountainous compared to southern Florida. Driving US 41, the aptly named Alligator Alley is like driving through a featureless green tunnel. Almost nothing rises above the tree line except cell towers for mile after mile. The Arizona desert is more interesting to look at  than southern Florida.

 

Speaking of alligators, we finally saw what everyone was excited about. We pulled into the Big Cypress National Preserve visitors center to stretch our legs and give the dogs a break. Seeing a number of people lining an elevated boardwalk piqued our curiosity and we wandered over to see what was so interesting. Yup, we found the alligators, dozens of them just hanging out in the slough next to the road, soaking up the sun. The park ranger said that the numbers were actually way down. When it rains they will see over a hundred gators in the area where we saw roughly forty. One gator is interesting, but seeing forty of them a few feet away gives me a slightly creepy feeling.

Fiesta Key RV Resort occupies its own small peninsula along US 1, the famous Overseas Highway that connects the Florida Keys to the mainland. It is roughly half way between the mainland and Key West, on the northern end of Long Key. As an RV park it left something to be desired, but as a location it was hard to beat, with unobstructed 180° views of the Gulf of Mexico and the Keys sweeping way on both sides. The peak visitor season had passed and we were able to use our Passport America membership to get a reasonable rate.

The Keys are quite beautiful, with sweeping vistas of the Gulf and the Atlantic from almost everywhere. The sunsets were simply spectacular. We drove up to Marathon, the largest island, which has much of the infrastructure that serves several keys. We had a great lunch right on the water at Lazy Days South in the Marathon Marina, poked around some of the neighborhoods and generally tried to get a feel for the place. I am glad we were here midweek and after the peak season, because with only the one road connecting everything the traffic is just nuts. The resort staff had cautioned us about traffic concerns, so we decided to save visiting Key West for another visit.

The drive from Fiesta Key to the Kennedy Space Center looked harder than it turned out to be. Not wanting to fool with Miami congestion, we decided to pay the toll on the Florida Turnpike. We still ended up in a lot of stop-and-go traffic but finally managed to break free after passing Fort Lauderdale. We pulled into Seasons of the Sun RV Resort in Mims, Florida, around 3 pm, leaving plenty of time to set up, walk the dogs and explore a really nice RV park. We were assigned site 28 in a recently renovated section that had all the right stuff: fully  paved, flat, very large and easy to back in with intelligently placed utility connection points. It even had cable TV! About the only drawback was the lack of any shade. If we return, I’d ask for one of the “forest” sites. They are a little smaller but most are completely shaded.

I am a life-long space junky. I’ve been reading sci-fi since I was 10 and we just saw The Martian twice. I think NASA is one of the greatest achievements of mankind and am dumbfounded that is has been over 40 years since the last moon landing, With that background, you can imagine how I felt finally getting to visit KSC. I was braced to be disappointed, but it turned out to be fantastic. Walking under a Saturn V rocket like those that took men to the moon kind of choked me up. There were even retired NASA folks everywhere who were delighted to answer questions.

Unfortunately tours are not allowed into the Vehicle Assembly Building, the iconic structure that towers above the complex where the rocket stages are assembled and where all of the Shuttles were joined to their boosters. It is still an active facility, so no visitors, but just to be able to drive by it was great. We also drove right next to one of the enormous crawlers that move assembled rockets from the VAB to the launch pad at a breathtaking ½ mile per hour. It really is much, much bigger than any image can portray.

And then the screen opened......

The Atlantis Shuttle exhibit was another highlight. You pass under a full scale replica of the mammoth, iconic fuel tank and solid rocket boosters that every shuttle rode into space and into a darkened theater. A short film reviews the history of the shuttle program and the triumphs and tragedies spanning 135 flights, then the screen opens and you are facing the nose of Atlantis about 10 feet away! That’s something I’ll remember for a long time. I wish I’d been here for just one of the launches. The video was terrific, the real thing must be mind-boggling.

KSC would be a tough act to follow for any place, so with that in mind we headed out for the short trip to St. Augustine. Compass RV Park recently changed hands and the new owner has been working hard to overhaul and revitalize a park the had been getting such bad reviews that we would never have considered it. As it is, we’d gladly return, if only to see what more they have accomplished. It is nice to see the enthusiasm and commitment that the new owners clearly have for the park.

A pretty tourist

St. Augustine was high on Kayeanne’s list of places to see, and I was also interested. As we all learned in History class many years ago, it is the oldest city on the country, predating both the Massachusetts and Virginia colonies. While certainly “touristy”, it has enough real history and relevance to avoid being just a tourist trap. On the advice of the camp ground managers we left the car at the park and took a shuttle to one of the tour tram terminals. For $25 you can ride the tram all over town for three days, getting on and off at any of over twenty stops.

Contemporary St. Augustine, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Key West were essentially the creations of Henry Flagler. Flagler confounded Standard Oil in the late 1800’s with John D. Rockefeller and built the Florida East Coast Railway linking

Flagler College dorms and dining room

eastern Florida to the rest of the country. He also built the Overseas Railway, the first land connection to Key West. Flagler’s vision was to entice his rich friends from the Northeast and Europe to Florida during the winter, the same way they did the New England coast in the summer. Clearly, he succeeded.

A few of the Tiffany windows in the dining room 

Primarily a ruthless robber baron, Flagler had enough vision and community spirit to insure that the commercial enterprises that he created also served a wider purpose. St. Augustine is certainly an example of his vision. High on the list of Flagler’s legacy is Flagler College, a small liberal arts school located in the heart of the city. Built by Flagler as the Ponce de León Hotel in 1888, it became Flagler College in 1968. The central campus building is the original hotel and features many spectacular Tiffany stained glass windows.

The tram tickets turned out to be a good investment because the driver really knew the city’s history and reeled off one anecdote after another as we wended our way through the very interesting streets and alleys. We found another Cuban restaurant for lunch, too. While not up to Smokin’ Cuban standards it was good. We kind of ran out of gas after a pretty full day and came back the next day to visit the St. Augustine distillery and the chocolate factory. Despite the free samples and an interesting tour, we weren’t impressed with the booze, but the chocolate was quite good.  

We could have spent another day or two touring the areas around St. Augustine, in particular visiting the World Golf Hall of Fame, but we needed to move on. The drive to Hilton Head Island didn’t look hard, but we decided to get an early start, anyway. I’m glad we did because when we got to Jacksonville traffic came to a complete stop. We creeped ahead for almost an hour before deciding that any route, even local roads with stop lights, was better than waiting it out in that mess. Adroit navigating by Kayeanne found a way around the problem and we were finally clear of the mess and back on track to Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort where Charlie and Mollie Kendrick have owned a lot for several years.

We weren’t quite prepared for HHIMR. We have never stayed in an RV park that was anything like this one. As you pull in the sign says, “Welcome to Paradise,” and it’s pretty close. All of the 400 lots are privately owned, many are lavishly landscaped. The entire park is carefully carved into an oak forest. Facilities include tennis courts, a heated pool and spa, a large clubhouse and a fulltime staff to keep everything spotless. As the name says, this is a motorcoach resort, so no towed trailers, no matter how elaborate are allowed. We were escorted and carefully guided into lot 160, just in time for the Kendricks to come calling.

It's their fault

I met Charlie and Mollie in 1966 and we have been friends ever since. They have owned their lot for about 10 years, and Charlie just retired as President of the Board of Directors of the park. Our first exposure to the RV life occurred when they visited us in California in 2009. We’ll get even one of these days.

Along Savannah's river front 

The Kendricks only had a few days to spend with us before they had to leave for family commitments, so we packed quite a lot into a short time, especially a trip to Savannah. We looked forward to visiting Savannah and they know the city very well. It is a charming, diverse and active place. We enjoyed cruising the diverse squares that make up most of the downtown area. Each one has its own distinct style and charm, with many houses built long before the Civil War. Unlike most southern cities, Savannah was not burned when Union forces captured it late in the war. We also strolled the length of the river front, enjoying views, the shops and the historic buildings.

Yes, we are having fun now

We both liked Savannah and look forward to spending more time on another visit.

When Charlie and Mollie pulled out for New Hampshire they graciously offered us their lot to use for the rest of our stay. We quickly decided to make the most of their generosity and added another week to our stay. Hey, it’s the South, y’all, and the place is beautiful. Plus the cable and the WIFI are the best we’ve had in two years. We’d be fools not to.

Ripley at home on the Kendrick's lovely site at HHIMR

We had been running around the island for a couple of days, running errands, doing a little shopping and generally catching up with life. One the spur of the moment we decided to stop for lunch at Signe’s Heaven Bound Bakery and Café, a local’s place just down the street from the resort. It turned out to be another great find. Besides being both charming and friendly, the food was outstanding. I had shrimp and grits which included homemade andouille turkey sausage and Kayeanne had the tomato tart. Both were outstanding. On the way out I spotted a sign for the daily desert special, Key Lime Bread Pudding. Wow, that was great: tart, sweet, golden brown on the top and firm enough to eat with a fork. If you visit HHI you have to stop at Signe’s.

More soon from Paradise.