ON THE ROAD
with Bill and Anita Schwessinger
NEWSLETTER #2 (2009)
It is so good to be on the road again….since we are traveling! As of this date, Thursday, June 4th, we have driven 1212 miles in the RV, 673 miles in the car and 17 miles on our bikes.
We left Bonita Springs as planned on May 15th, but we didn’t get off to a very good start. As we approached Venice on I-75 about 4 pm our tow car alarm sounded telling us we lost our electrical connection to our RV. I disconnected the car, and with Anita following in the car, we drove into Venice looking for an RV dealer for repairs….but to no avail as 5 PM closing time was rapidly approaching. We decided to drive to our Tampa RV park separately…and of course when it rains it pours…and did it ever, almost the whole trip. I was just setting up the RV plumbing in the rain when Anita drove in about 7:15 PM. Her daughter Alyson had made a 6:30 PM reservation at a very popular restaurant, which of course, she had to cancel, but we were able to go the next night at the same time.
The next morning at 7 AM our power went off because of a bad switch and at 8AM we were at Lazy Days RV complex on I-4 at Tampa, which is the second largest RV dealer in the USA and they graciously said they would take care of us. At 4:30 PM they finished the necessary repairs at a cost of $480.00 and said I needed a new connecting cord for the car which they did not have, so I purchased one next door at Camping World for $103.00, which took care of the towing problem. Yesterday, I received a phone call from Lazy Days, after they received my letter of complaint, apologizing for charging us so much and gave us the good news that they had just mailed us a check for $300.00
On Monday we drove 220 miles in light and heavy rain (Jacksonville received 6 inches that day) to Crooked River State Park just over the Georgia line. It was a lovely park and our site was on the river. We were virtually alone as the heavy wind blew the rain against the RV most of the night.
The next morning we drove 51 miles north to Jekyll Island. The legacy of the original Jekyll Island Club is one of history and hospitality. Founded in 1886, the Jekyll Island Club was once the grand retreat of America’s wealthiest families, with such names as Morgan, Rockefeller, Pulitzer and Vanderbilt wintering here at the turn of the century.
Today, this once very exclusive island is a state park, open to all. After a delicious lunch in the beautiful dining room of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel we toured the area in a tram in the light rain and then visited several of the elegant “cottages”, as they were called, even though most had more than 30 rooms. The island is a barrier island on the Atlantic and is blessed with wide sand beaches, lovely live oak trees, some over 300 years old, and miles of secluded bike paths which we could not use because of the inclement weather. We will return some day!
Hoping to get out of the wet weather on Thursday, the 21st, we decided to leave Jekyll Island a day early and drive 180 miles to Charleston, SC. It was a good decision, as the skies were blue again with some nice tropical breezes keeping us cool. We walked the lower battery area along the waterfront and once again marveled at the beautiful homes with their wide porches on the first, second, and in some cases third stories, all facing east to get the tropical breezes. We were anchored in that area on our sailboat trip 25 years ago. Most of the homes are well over 200 years old and have plaques of their history posted on the property. Charleston is the queen of the south and is known for its friendliness which was proven to us so many times. At noon on Memorial Day we were in the same area and came upon a group of adults on the steps of the Custom House dressed in kooky patriotic costumes playing instruments. It was the 50 piece, Seed and Feed Marching Abominable Band from Atlanta…they come every year for Spoleto. What a great time we had singing along and even dancing a few numbers.
On another day we drove about 15 miles to James Island that has a park for everyone. The six mile bike path is under huge live oak shade trees and takes you past hundreds of families enjoying the park. It has a huge playground with dozens of things to do like sliding, climbing and swinging. It has a huge swimming pool with 3 lifeguards and a wading pool with several fountains. It also has a very nice dog beach on a beautiful fresh water lake…Hunter really enjoyed that! There was even an RV campground.
We spent 6 nights at a 5 star RV resort which was manicured like a golf course. It was about 20 minutes from the historic district of Charlestown. Unfortunately, for 3 days and nights, we had a faulty GFI switch in our RV that deprived us of any electrical service that was plugged in to a socket. Our air conditioning and hot water service was not interrupted. I replaced the GFI, thinking it was malfunctioning, but that wasn’t the answer. We had to wait ‘til the day after Memorial Day to have a RV mechanic come out to our RV and diagnose the problem. He found a short in our ice maker, which we disconnected, and must be repaired at another time.
On Wednesday the 28th, we were glad to hit the road again, driving 88 miles north to Huntington Beach State Park, 15 miles south of Myrtle Beach, SC. We got the last place available and it was under a huge live oak tree and a great place for Hunter to chase his ball. We were only about a hundred yards from a big sandy beach; the sound of the heavy surf was truly relaxing.
We spent 2 days at Brookgreen Sculpture Garden, the oldest and largest sculpture garden in the United States. In 1931, Archer and Anna Huntington, he the only son of the railroad magnate, Richard Huntington, purchased three plantations totaling 9000 acres for $300,000. Anna was a famed sculptor and Archer was a philanthropist. He designed a 50 acre garden that is impossible to describe as it has many fountains and just about every species of flora that grows in the Carolina climate. It has a number of gardens all displaying over 1200 metal, stone and wood sculptures, from artists all over. Amazingly, the admission charge for seniors is only $9 and the ticket is good for another 6 days.
Archer also designed, Atalaya, their one story winter home on the beach, which is made with over 2 million bricks. It has 30 rooms, but none for guests!
On this leg of the trip we wanted to stay as close to the Atlantic Ocean as possible, so on Saturday, the 30th, we drove 230 miles northeast to a little island called Cedar Island, in North Carolina. It only had a motel, campground, and a ferry dock. The next morning at 7:30 we were aboard the ferry for a 2 ½ hour trip to an island named, Ocracoke, the southern terminus of the outer banks of North Carolina. We arrived at 10 AM, took the bikes off the car and toured the quaint village, riding on all the little narrow streets. It was a delightful day, light breezes and lots of sun. We then drove 12 miles along a gorgeous beach, named the best beach in the USA a couple of years ago. There were no buildings or development the entire distance. We then put the RV and car on another ferry for a 45 minute ride to the village of Hatteras. Our campground was nearby and our site was on a little beach overlooking Pamlico Sound with fresh sea breezes keeping us cool. Hunter adopted the beach!
The next morning, June 1st, we drove north about 10 miles to visit the famed Cape Hatteras lighthouse, which is the tallest brick lighthouse in the nation, 208 feet tall. When we were here 25 years ago with our sailboat, the lighthouse was less than 100 feet from the surf, and originally 1200 feet from the sea when constructed in 1870. At that time they were talking about moving it further back to save it from destruction. They did that in 1999. It took 5 years of planning, 3 months to lift it on to a specially built track, and 23 days to move it 2900 feet, all at a cost of 11 million dollars. We watched a 45 minute film of the move…it was incredible!
That afternoon we went to the beach where Anita swam and I carved for a couple of delightful hours.
I should mention at this time that we have met many nice people over the last 4 years, but at this site we met, Mark and Sarah Ashley, from Indiana, an incredible couple with their daughter from Indiana. We really enjoyed their company and hope to meet them again.
On Tuesday we moved 58 miles up the outer banks to Roanoke Island, where 30 people from England landed in 1578 to start a new settlement, 20 years before Jamestown. Their supply ship ran aground and never reached them. They decided to send their ship back to England to bring them what they needed, but Queen Elizabeth cancelled the voyage back as she needed all her ships for the war with France. When the relief ship finally returned three years later they could not find a trace of the 30 people. They now call it the “Lost Colony” and it is a historical site.
That afternoon we drove a few miles up to Kitty Hawk to visit the site of the first mechanical flight by the Wright brothers in 1903. They also flew gliders there, without power in 1901 and 1902. They chose this site because of the winds and the soft sand for landing. The exhibits are very well done and it is a monumental mark of history.
Yesterday we drove 190 miles to this little island on the Atlantic called Chincoteague, in Virginia. When we got to Norfolk we crossed over and under the Chesapeake Bay for 17 miles. The two tunnels were about a mile each. Our campground is on water once again. A cold front with thunderstorms greeted us after our arrival. Today the temperature is about 60 degrees with cold north winds. This morning Anita took a tour of the refuge and saw many species of birds and wild horses. I visited a nearby NASA site on Wappy Island, and took a tour of their museum. I had never heard of the facility, but they have launched over 15,000 test rockets from this base.
Tomorrow (Friday, June 5th, Anita’s 39th birthday) we will drive north into Delaware and the next day, Saturday, we hope to arrive in Washington, DC.
We are without internet access today (Thursday, June 4), we hope to send the above tomorrow or Saturday.
We hope all is well. Thanx for traveling with us.
