St. Augustine, FL

The afternoon we arrived in St. Augustine, the weather was warm and sunny but you could see cloud formations indicating rain. We checked into our campground and headed to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Tickets to the venue are good for two consecutive days, so we spent an hour or so checking out the Hall of Fame and the rest of the grounds in anticipation of spending several hours there the next day. Just as we were leaving, the sky became dark and thunder began rumbling. We saw a bolt of lightning in the distance. We headed back to the campground concerned about the possible effects of lightning after our experience in North Carolina. We were lucky and only had to deal with some rain.

We spent several hours at the World Golf Hall of Fame the next day. The tour of the facility introduces people to: the history of golf, information about many of the tournaments and trophies, the evolution of golf clubs and golf balls, and famous male and female golfers. In a section called the locker room, there is a minutia of famous golfers’ memorabilia set up to resemble their lockers. There were many videos of great moments in golf and interviews with famous golfers. One whole section of the Hall of Fame was a tribute to Bob Hope for his support and dedication to the game of golf. After touring the Hall of Fame, we moved on to 18 holes on the putting course where Pete beat me by two strokes, but I had the shot of the day when I got a hole in one on the very difficult 18^th green!!!

The following day we spent time at Castillo de San Marcos, a Spanish fortress that was built in the 1600’s. It took about 24 years to build and is made from a sedimentary rock called Coquina, which is loaded with sea shells. During battles, ships firing cannonballs at the fort were surprised when the cannonballs could not shatter and penetrate the fort’s walls. The composition of the rock absorbed the shock of the cannonballs without damaging the wall. The fort was made with more than 400,000 blocks of Coquina that were all cut and set by hand. Laborers included Indians and Spaniards, a few convicts and some slaves. There were also masons and master workmen. The thickness of the fort’s walls is about 20 feet at the base and then the walls taper upward 35 feet where they are about nine feet thick. There was only one way to get in or out of the fort. The fort is part of our National Park System.

We spent the rest of the day roaming all of the side streets filled with shops and places to eat. While walking down one of the walkways, we saw a couple walking their dogs. The dogs were wearing sunglasses and one of them had a Go-Pro video camera attached to a harness on his back. It was the coolest thing to see. They were getting video from the dog’s point of view. The couple said the videos are really fun to watch!

No visit would be complete without finding some good eats. We enjoyed dinner one evening at Collage, a small bistro restaurant in the historic old village of St. Augustine. We shared a Burrata, which I had never heard of before. It was home made mozzarella stuffed with a goat cheese mousse. It looked like a large ball of mozzarella when it was served but when you cut it open, the inside was soft and fluffy. It was accompanied by an apricot and a raspberry confit, spiced walnuts and foccaccia crostini. It was sooo good. For entrees, Pete had the black grouper that was coated with a Parmesan, pecan and brown sugar crust. It was baked and finished with a Beurre blanc sauce. I had the diver scallops served on butternut squash with a chiffonade of Brussel sprouts. It was topped with bits of bacon, pear and pomegranate.

We couldn’t pass up dessert. We had read rave reviews about their chocolate bread pudding and just had to try it. We ordered one to share and it was a delicious ending to a great dining experience.

Next stop…Key West, Florida!

Savannah, GA

We enjoyed the southern charm of Savannah’s beautifully restored old neighborhoods with over 20 city squares, cobblestone streets and Spanish moss covered trees.  The ornate iron work on fences and balconies of homes and buildings were works of art not seen in new construction in this day and age. 

A trolley tour of the city was filled with historical information about famous people, such as Juliet Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts of America. The trolley also took us past the bench where Forrest Gump sat with his box of chocolates.  Our tour guide also told us tales of pirates and haunted places.

 At Bonaventure Cemetery, a magnificent old cemetery, we viewed towering monuments and statuary marking the graves in family plots from as early as the 1700s. 

There was an Earth Day celebration at Forsyth Park, the largest park in Savannah.   The centerpiece of this 10 acre park is its ornamental fountain which was constructed in 1858.

At the marketplace along the riverfront, we were offered free samples of freshly made sweet and nutty pralines. As much as our travels include sights, history and the natural beauty of our country, there is also a local Foodie obsession. While dining at A.lure restaurant, we were served some incredibly light and luscious southern biscuits accompanied by sweet butter with raspberry and smoked paprika jam. Pete ordered the shrimp and creamy stone ground grits with bacon, peppers, onions, and leeks. I had the slow braised pork shank with roasted garlic and goat cheese grits, charred tomato demi glaze and haricots verts. As Rachel Ray would say, “Yumm-o!” 

 For lunch one day, we chose the Gryphon Tea Room which is owned by the Savannah College of Art and Design and staffed by their students.  It is a great little restaurant in a restored turn of the century apothecary shop. They served pots of tea and three-tiered trays of tea sandwiches, scones with Devonshire cream and strawberry preserves and an array of delectable mini sweet treats.

We departed Savannah very satisfied and...maybe a few pounds heavier!

Next stop, St. Augustine, Florida!

Charleston, South Carolina

We spent a couple of days at a KOA campground in Mt. Pleasant, SC which is about 20 minutes north of Charleston. On one of our days, we wandered around Charleston in the Marketplace area which is similar but much larger than Faneuil Hall in Boston. There were lots of small booths selling local crafts, art, and specialty foods. Although the weather was unsettled, we lucked out with a warm but overcast day. We took a tour of the city on a horse drawn wagon and learned about the history of the homes, buildings and the people who inhabited them.

Click on images to enlarge

On another day, we went on a Segway tour of Old Town, a part of Mt. Pleasant. We saw many remnants of a time long ago. Many of the Civil War era homes are well preserved and occupied.

We also had an opportunity to visit with Tommy, a buddy of Pete’s from his Navy days. Tommy lives about a half hour north of Mt. Pleasant. They had a great time catching up with each other over lunch one day.

We were beginning to have good eats withdrawal and missing our Local Eatery and the great dishes Chef Kevin Halligan prepares, so we went on the prowl. We did find some good eats…Hot dogs at Jack’s Cosmic Dogs which was featured on the Food Network. Then, at a restaurant called Graze, Pete had Catfish with black eye pea, butterbean, and sweet corn succotash and I had Cinnamon chili dusted scallops with sweet potato praline risotto. It was a visit to remember.

Next stop, Savannah, Georgia!

Cross-Country2015

CROSS-COUNTRY 2015

Well, it is time to get this blog going! It has been quite an adventure in the few days we have been on our journey. In fact, I’m referring to it as a comedy of errors at this point!

Our first night was at a campground in East Stroudsburg, PA. The water to the campsites was not running yet because the ground was still frozen. We were able to get water for our holding tank from a spigot by the campground office. When we arrived at our campsite and I walked to the bedroom at the back of the motor home, I noticed the carpet was wet. There was a leak from under the bed where the water tank resides. Pete determined that there was a small filter component that must have had some water left in it in the fall and it had frozen over the winter and cracked the component. We were able to get a new part for only about $10.00 and Pete replaced it. We used a fan to dry out the carpet. Not so bad!

We journeyed onto Washington, D.C. where it was cool (upper 40s to low 50s) and drizzly but we were still able to view the cherry blossoms and visit the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. The cherry blossoms were gorgeous and would have been even more glorious if there had been some sunlight. After many trips to D.C. we were finally able to see these elusive cherry blossoms! The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was immense. The white granite blocks from China that were used to create it were unlike the granite we see in New Hampshire. It was quite impressive.

After two nights in D.C. we headed to North Carolina and that’s where things really got interesting. We set up at a campground and around 8:00 PM, it began to rain. By 9:30 it tuned into a torrential downpour with the worst thunder and lightning that I have ever experienced. I was able to follow the storm by using my iPhone to access the internet. The amount of lightning this storm was generating was unbelievable. During one deafening lightning strike, the RV took a hit and some of our RV’s electronic components got fried. We had smoke in the RV so Pete immediately flipped all of the circuit breakers off and shutdown anything that required power. I had already turned off the TV and computers when the thunder and lightning first began. Luckily, there was no fire, just smelly burned out electronic components. For me, it was 2 ½ hours of white knuckles with a flash light until the storm passed. Pete went back to sleep! We were able to find a replacement voltage converter in Myrtle Beach. Pete installed it and we now have AC as well as DC power. Pete is attempting to locate schematics from the manufacturers of the other burned out electronic components and hopes to repair them himself. Those components are not critical in order for the RV to function.  After all of that, we arrived at a campground in Myrtle Beach. Pete disconnected the car from the motor home, and low and behold, the battery in the car was dead! We are now wondering what will happen next???  Hopefully, nothing else! Next stop on our adventure... Charleston, SC. Stay tuned…