Charleston, SC

We left Mayport yesterday about 9:30 and got here, the Air Force base Charleston,  about  3:00.  Didn't do much other than get set up and walk around the campground a couple of times.  Dinner and a lazy night for us.  That was really a long drive for us, 250 miles!

Monday, we get up and go for a bike ride, lasting about 45 min to an hour.  Back to the RV, I showered while Brad looked up a few things to do.  We finally headed into Charleston about 11:00,  a 15-20 min ride, and of course we started to look for a place to eat.  Two side by side restaurants looked good, but Brad left me pick, so we went to Poogan's Porch.  The food was good and the place was beautiful, and some great pictures of Charleston during the Civil War.

We walked around town until our parking meter ran out then we drove to the point of the city, making plans for the next 2 or 3 days of visiting.  More later, Diane and Brad

Mayport to Charleston

Yesterday was a hang out at camp day, first load of laundry in at 8:00, then had breakfast over at the club house, $2.50 for pancakes, sausage, bacon, oj and coffee, not a bad deal.  Finished laundry, then headed down to the beach.  We were there for about 2  hours, walking in and out of the water.  A beautiful day with lots of people, kids and dogs. 

Back to the RV where we both showered then gathered up every piece of dirty laundry threw that in, then sent Brad off to get gas in the car and a few other things while I called dad.  Coming back from the laundry we spoke briefly with the neighbors behind us, found out they have been full timing for over 5 years.  OK.  Back to the neighbors, time for us to ask lots of questions, and they gave us some advice, camp clubs to check out, and a lot of general information.  It is always fun getting information from people who have been at this a lot longer than us, and to find out that it actually takes a good year or so for you to make the full adjustment.

Well time to pack the computer and get ready to hit the road.  Next time I'll let you know how it is in Charleston, South Carolina.

Mayport, Fl 4/28

OK, we did go back to St. Augustine on Thursday.  Stopped at ITT and got tickets for 'Ripleys Believe it or Not' and the 'Pirate and Treasure Museum'.  Both were great, a lot of reading, but a lot to see.  It took us about an hour and a half to do Ripley's and about the same for the Museum.  The Museum would be great for kids as it has a lot of hands on things for them to do and a treasure hunt to do as they go through it.

Of course now it's time for lunch, found the 'Columbia' that had been recommended.....liked Harry's much better.  Not bad, but I guess I'm not all that fond of Spanish Cuisine.  After walking a bit on St. George street, again, we ended up by the dock where the tall ship the "Bounty" was parked, so down we go to see it.  They have 2 tours a day, but we aren't going to be there for one, so we just took a couple of pictures.

Back to walking through town and headed towards the museum.  It is about 3:45 when we get there and finished the tour a little after 5.  We were headed back to the car, then turned around and had a beer on the patio of a little bar on the front street, over looking the water.  Back to the car and headed home,stopping at the 'Reef' again, then left overs when we got home.  Both of us exhausted after 3 days of walking.

The USCGC Eagle

Friday we hung out at camp.  A load of laundry in the morning and then off to the grocery store.  ....Something must be going on, cars parked all over and more people down at the water than we have seen in the last 2 weeks.  OK, I'm nosey and walked over to ask somebody what was going on.  It seems the the Coast Guard Tall Ship the 'Eagle' was scheduled at 11:00, but here it is about 1:00 and should be here soon.  Once owned by Adolph Hitler, check out some of the history, pretty interesting.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Eagle_(WIX-327)

Well it is about 3:00 til we finally head to the stores, first to Wal-Mart, ugh, and then to the 'Fresh Market'.  Back home and an long walk on the beach, pork chops on the grill, and to bed early for me.  Today, pack-up and get ready for tomorrow,  our long 5 hour drive drive to Charleston, SC.

Mayport, Fl 4/25/2012

Well here it Wednesday night and I'm finally getting back to the blog.  First Monday was so windy you couldn't stand to go outside.  So Brad had some chores to do, over to PSD, PO for our mail, then off to the auto place here on base to get the oil changed in the car.  I did some cleaning up and read a lot of my book.  As a side note there were a lot of different ships that went out, one submarine in this morning and two out..

Submarine leaving

Finally when all was done, time to eat dinner and I am stir crazy so

off to this place called Singleton's.It was really a shack looking place and I'm not sure we would have tried it, but people at the camp recommended it.  It was great food and plenty of it.  Brad and I split the 3 choice platter and brought home leftovers, now that's alot of food.  Oh well we made it through the wind and survived. 

Tuesday 

Tuesday morning I headed down to ITT and got our tickets for the Trolley tour in St. Augustine.  Back to camp and finished packing up some snacks, water and we are off.  It is about a 45 min. drive down A1A, and enjoyable ride and didn't have to get on 95.  We get there and find the Trolley station (free parking) and we are ready  for our tour.

The old Jail and Trolley Station

 

The Old Drug Store

Until we figured out what was going on, we were both hungry, we got off at stop number 4, 'The Old Drug Store'  We toured that and then down the street to an Irish Pub for lunch.  Food was good, but only one person working...glad we weren't in a real hurry.

We went back to the Drug Store and got on the next Trolley and rode it until stop number 15 and toured the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.  It was getting fairly late in the afternoon so we just decided to walk down St. George Street.  Lots of shops, sites and people to see.

We we got done with St. George Street we realized the Trolley's are no longer running and it is about 15 blocks back to the car.  At least it was a nice day for a walk.  We finally head out and find this bar called 'Reef's'.  Stopped for a drink, great bartender and great views, decided we should stop again.  Back to camp and left overs for dinner, we are going back tomorrow.

Wednesday

OK, now for today, what a day.  We first found a parking spot in front of stop number 20 (catch the last trolley).  We toured the old mission and the original landing of Ponce de L eon. (In the mean time we notice a large sail boat out in the bay entrance.)  We pick a place to catch the Trolley and head down that way, planning on riding it to the end for all the history they give and then decide where we want to go from there.  As we are walking down the street we notice that the Fort, street and bridge are lined with people and then notice the sail boat heading towards the draw bridge, which is already up.  OK, plans out the window, over to the fort and get pictures.

Now that was cool to see and this other smaller ship was following along behind.  Well, now that we are here, let's tour the fort.  From the time we left the car and toured the mission and fort it is now 1:00, time to find something to eat.  We had originally planned on going over to Anastasia Island, but no Trolley.  We walk down the street and find a restaurant and another and another and another......how do you decide.  We had run into people in Sumterville that recommended about 5 or 6 restaurants and start looking for one of them, low and behold we find 'Harry's' so in we go. 

Harry's Court Yard

I had the recommended Shrimp & Scallop Orleans (lightened blackened over grit cakes with tasso ham cream sauce) and Brad had the Jambalaya, mine was to die for and I ate it all and Brad's was almost as good and we brought a lot home....lunch another day.  OK, now back to the car with the leftovers (did catch a trolley) then back towards the Fort to catch another trolley to finish the trip. 

On to the trolley, finished the trip and got a lot of history.  The sail boats we saw was actually out of a movie 'Mutiny on the Bounty' that Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins made and will be in town with a big ta-do on Saturday.  We also saw the Wax Museum that an Anthony Quinn movie was made in.  (Learned a lot from the trolley ride and would suggest anyone to take them, good for three days, they run back and forth all over town and each time you are one you pick us something new).  Got off at the fort, again, but headed back towards St. George Street going up and down the side streets.  We found some neat homes with beautiful gardens

some neat stores, then back to St. George Street.  Walked to the end of that then back up to the San Marco Avenue (main street) found a little bar where you could see the river had a beer then headed back to camp.

OK, now we are out of St. Augustine and back across the bridge and decide to check out this camp ground we saw on the way in, 'North Beach Camp Resort'.  We decided we might have to do a week there next year or so.  We stopped back at the 'Reef', had a beer, something to eat and headed home.  Late night, it was after 8:00 when we got back.  Oh well, back to St. Augustine tomorrow, I think. 

Mayport, Fl 4/23/2012

Well Saturday and Sunday were do nothing days.

Saturday was one load of laundry and a run to the 'Fresh Market', our favorite grocery store.  Saturday they called for rain all day and we never got it until Saturday night.  Sat around camp and just enjoyed watching the ships and things.  It was such a lazy day, that we bought dinner at the store and just reheated it in the microwave. 

Sunday it did rain on and off most of the morning.  I read a lot of my book, Brad spent a lot of time on the computer, and old movies were on the TV.  We did manage to get a bike ride in, although it was tough riding into the wind, even on the streets away from the water.  We had chicken on the grill for dinner and walked a little, but the wind and rain kept inside most of the day. 

Mayport, Fl 4/21/2012

Hi, I'm back.  Thursday our grand-daughter Morgan had a district track meet in Jacksonville, so we did the 40 minute drive over for that and Shari with Matthew, Mckayden and Maddie did the 2.5 hour drive to see the race.

Matthew watching his sister race!

 Oh well, it is always worth it to see the kids run. 

We didn't really have time to do much else, back home to make baked spaghetti for the pot luck dinner.  That was a lot of fun.  Good food and a lot of interesting people.  We did have to go for a walk after dinner, not like we ate too much or anything. 

Yesterday we got moving fairly early.  Headed over to the Mayport Ferry.  It is a 5 min. ride over to Ft. George Island.  We toured the Kingsley Plantation

 and then headed up towords Amelia Island in search of a restaurant for lunch.  We ate on the patio of the Marche Burette Market/Deli, nice place.  There were a few shops here so we walked around them for a while and then we drove north along the Fernandina Beach area.  They actually had a lot of public access areas, so we stopped and walked to the Beach.  Crossing the Board walk we ran across a turtle comming out of his hole. 

From there we headed into the Fernandina Historic District and walked around there for a while.  A lot of neat old buildings and lots of shops for me to visit.  We were there until after 4:00 and then headed back to camp.  Was a nice day for touring, not real hot and as always a nice breeze off the ocean.    

Mayport, Fl 4/19/2012

Hello again.  Tuesday was a quiet day, hung out here in the campground.  Got to see a submarine come into port,

and pay close attention to the smaller boat, yes it is armed.

We went for a ride to orient ourselves with the area.  Headed down A1A to a place called Neptune Beach. Drove around for a while, found some beautiful homes and not so beautiful homes.  But it is a nice area.  We then headed to 'old' town Mayport.  Not really much there.  a block or two of old homes, some marina, and and the Safe Harbor Fish Market/Restaurant. 

Back to camp.  Just sausages for dinner and a walk to the beach...what more can you ask for.

They are calling for rain, so not much planned.  Did a load of laundry and  just hanging out at camp and a trip to the commissary.  Need a cassarole for a pot luck dinner on Thursday.  You do see a lot of interesting things comming and going.

Lots of nice people here, Jim and Robbyn from Alabama, the people next to us are from PA, Pittsburg area.  Last night on our walk through camp we met a couple, she was from NC and he was from Syracuse NY.  New to camping and they need help hooking up cable. 

Mayport, Fl 4/16/2012

Well after a busy morning, getting documents notarized, and faxed off, we headed to 'The Jacksonville Landing'.  The brochure looked nice with shopping and dining.  We did have lunch, but there wasn't near as much to walk around and see as we had hoped.  We did have a nice lunch on the water front.

St. Johns River in Jacksonville

 We headed back to Mayport and went for a walk on the beach.  The ocean was actually warmer than what I thought.  We just hung out at the campsite watching everything going on in the water. We are at the beginning of the St. John's River and the Intercoastal Waterway.  They are dredging the water and that in itself is interesting and

all the ships coming and going.

Mayport Naval Station, Florida 4/16/2012

Well, we said good-by to all the kids and left Sumterville yesterday for our very slow trek north (the 3 year old grandson said 'bye, and don't forget to text').  We made it the whole way to Mayport Naval Station (Jacksonville area).  We are here for 2 weeks.  We got here about 4:00, set up and walked around the campground, nice place. 

Not a bad view from the RV.  The St. Johns River is right in from of us, and just over the jetty is the Atlantic Ocean.  Lots of site seeing to do, so we'll have to keep posting.  I think today will be just getting used to the area, but who knows.

Diane and Brad

Still in Florida

OK.  Not much going on all week but we have been doing some driving around the area.  Drove to Inverness, had lunch and then drove around the lake .

and then checked out a couple of the developments around the lake.  Yes we saw a couple of alligators (now I know they are this far inland) and a few other creatures hanging around.

We did have lunch in the RV yesterday with the O'Donnells.....thanks to little Matthew.  We went into the house to get an apple and then he just carried his plate to the RV to eat.  So Shari and Matt came out as well...that was nice.

Did some more sight seeing another day and made it to Floral City.  Stopped at a few places along the way, this one had some unusual flower pots.

Today we are getting laundry caught up and getting ready to leave on Sunday.  Had to be here to get Mackayden off the bus, mom was working and dad went to Morgan's Track Meet.  The rest of the O'Donnells and us went to the Lucero's for dinner.  That was nice, lots of pasta to eat and the kids did get in the pool.  Well we finish packing tomorrow so we are ready to hit the road on Sunday.  Will keep all posted on our further travels.

Happy Easter to all, from Sumterville, Florida.

Ok, we are now back in Sumterville at Shari and Matt's.  Here is our camp site....pretty nice.

We are here for about 1 1/2 weeks then headed north....very slowly. I'll try to keep posting while here as to what we do or don't do for that matter.  Lots of kids and grandkids to visit.

After staying two nights at the Collier-Seminole State Park (near the everglades), we arrived in Bushnell Fl. today around 3pm.  An average day for us we left at 10am and. arrived at 3pm.  Five hours of driving and went 235mi.  We had a wonderful pork roll done on the grill.  We will spend a couple weeks visiting the kids before heading to Mayport Fl.