A VISIT TO CHARLESTON

We left Savannah for Charleston and our CG was in Mt. Pleasant just north of Charleston. It was a very nice area with lots of shopping and beautiful homes. We drove out to Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island to see how the rich folks live. It was a nice area, but I can't imagine being there during a hurricane. We ate lunch at Water's Edge and went home to spend some time with our kitties.
                                          
This is Nickie with his arms around Bentley. He just loves Bentley sooooo much.He just won't leave him alone.

The next morning we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast and afterward we took a nice ride through downtown Charleston.

This is the Marketplace where they sell all kinds of items, jewelry, books, snacks and several vendors selling sweet grass baskets.When we were in Mt Pleasant we saw many roadside stands selling them. They were all custom made by Afro-Americans and they were all beautiful. I wanted to buy one, but when I saw the price of $125 for a tiny 4" basket to $300 for a 10" basket I changed my mind. Loved them all, but just to expensive for me.

We didn't take a tour in Charleston, but just rode all around.checking out various churches, streets and houses.

Last year Kim had this great panel at the shop which is a map of the USA. I made it to fit the MH wall and put french knots in every place we have stayed in the MH. Now got to add Savannah and Charleston to the map.

We will be in Asheville next before going home.

Tour of Savannah

We took a Trolley Tour of Savannah which was great. The weather was perfect and the tour guides were very informative. Lots and lots of squares to see, beautiful homes, and gardens.

It was a great tour, so great that we rode through it twice on the trolley. It was a perfect time of year.

Savannah, Ga

We checked into the KOA CG in Richmond Hill, just outside of Savannah. It was a nice CG, but no where near as nice as Compass (or as expensive). It was on a very large lake that had geese and beautiful swans. Bentley had a great time on a stroll though the CG and by the lake.

We had dinner at Love's Seafood. We had eaten there about 25 years ago and the food was gain excellent. Sunday we plan to take a tour of Savannah since the last time we were here was over New Year's and it was freezing cold and most things were closed.

Another Fun Day in St. Augustine

Since the kids had a sleepover with us we invited Ryan & Najla over to have pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Lots of pancakes and lots of sausage. After breakfast the kids played outside and we went for another walk over to the play ground. The kids had a good time there and also tried their hand at playing ping pong.

It was harder than it looked, but the kids had fun anyway. We met later at the Meyers house for a quick dinner before we had to say goodbye. We were leaving the next day for Savannah.

Moving to the Next CG in SA

On Wednesday we had to move to the other CG which was Compass RV Resort. This is a very nice CG that we had also stayed in before. It's the one where we ran into the tree and broke our windshield and the owner gave us his site to stay in because we couldn't drive with a broken windshield. UGHH
Since we were there last they have built a whole new section with very spacious sites and beautiful pavers to park on. We were in site 125 which was a pie shaped space with lots of room.

After we got settled in Ryan, Najla and the kids came over an we had a cookout with hamburgers, etc. The kids were busy finding lots of baby grasshoppers in the grass and plants and they played a toss Tic, Tac, Toe games outside We went for a nice walk on the nature trail and returned back to the campsite for an Ice cream cones.

We had a good time hanging out and Emma and Trevor spent the night in the MH. They watched the movie Rio 2 and had a good night's sleep. And we did too!!!

St. Augustine----Here We Come!

We left On Sunday to drive to St. Augustine  with a stop over night in Tifton, Ga at the KOA CG there. We have stayed there many times before. It is nice and quiet and they have a walking trail around the grounds. After stopping it was nice to get out and walk around with Bentley in his stroller. Along the walking  trail we ran into 7 horses and a cow that live there. Bentley was a little concerned when I went to the fence and rubbed each of the horses on their great big noses. He was a bit intimidated with their size and I'm sure he could smell them. He just kind of sunk down in his stroller to hide, but he did enjoy the outing.

The next day we were on the road again for SA. Bentley sometimes like to ride on the dashboard.

When making reservations for SA the CGs were so booked I could only get 2 nights at one CG and 2 at another. The first  2 nights we stayed at  KOA  which is closer to Ryan and Najla. It is an OK CG and the people there are very nice.Monday night we met the Meyers for dinner at their house with take out from Seafood Kitchen which is right around the corner from their house. The food was excellent and we had a great time.

The next day we took Emma and Trevor to the JAX Zoo which was about an hours drive. It was a fun day and we ended up walking about 4 miles around the zoo grounds. They had plenty of animals, a 4D movie, stingrays that you touch, a train ride and a live animal show.

We had a great time at the zoo, but David and I were worn out. It was a long day--but lots of fun.

More Fun in Asheville

The weather was not the best while we were there,but we were able to take Bentley for a nice walk around the campground. He loved being in his stroller and Emma and Trevor took turns pushing him around the very large campground.----

-----until Trevor spotted a large pile of gravel and he wanted to play King of the Mountain. Emma gladly joined him while Bentley watched.

Speaking of Bentley, he just cannot get away from Nicholas. Nicholas loves him sooooo much and is always hugging him or licking him, or snuggling with him. Bentley would just like to be left alone.

On rainy days at the campground there were a few things for the kids to do inside like indoor bean bag Tic Tac Toe.

Trevor does everything with enthusiasm, especially when he wins at Tic Tac Toe.

When the rains cleared up the kids were back outside. A 5th wheel pulled in with a Mom and Dad and a family of 4 kids. All the kids got together and had a great time running, screaming playing and throwing leaves into the air and on each other. The little red headed 2 year old little girl in the picture was so cute.

The other family was not staying as long as we were, but the kids made the most of running and playing with their new friends. The squeals of delight were heard by all.

One day when the weather was nice Najla, Ryan and the kids went on  a 3 mile hike to a waterfall. David and I stayed home with the kitties. Finnegan really enjoyed the personal time and attention.

The Meyers had a great time hiking and said the hike wasn't as long as they thought.

I had printed a Nature Scavenger Hunt Bingo Game off the internet before we left and one afternoon we sat outside and played it. It was a fun game. Everyone won at least one game. Trevor helped me call out some of the items when he got tired of playing the game. It was a good  game. with both pictures and words and perfect for building reading .skills.

We made our Hobo meals on the grill, but they weren't the best. The potatoes and carrots were a bit under cooked. We were running low on charcoal and I think the grill just didn't get hot enough. We just might have to ditch that meal as one of our traditional camping meals.

We tried the technique of cooking popcorn in a tin foil packet over the campfire and that was a bust too. We had to resort to doing it in a paper bag in the microwave. Oh well--live and learn.  With the time change we were always eating in the dark. because it got dark so early and fast. We'll have to remember to buy more lanterns.

One day when the weather was nice we went to downtown Asheville. There is a nice mall and shopping area to walk around. It was interesting to see the area and I ran across 2 yarns shops and found some sock yarn. One shop sold yarn, and also tons of knitted hats. I think they had a co-op that made them and sold them there. All, very nice, but not much need for hats like that in Florida and when you don't go out very much. But I did love the yarn shops.

Asheville is well know for it''s craft breweries and craft beer. Najla  and Ryan  found one to go to.so we went to see what it was all about. It was Highland Brewery. Good grief!!!! It was packed with people. It was huge, with hundreds of people. They were releasing a new Winter beer and so they were extra busy that night. They did not have food inside, but they had several food trucks outside where you could buy some really good food and take it inside to eat. There was a live band and the kids had a great time too. Most all the breweries in Asheville are family friendly, one even has story time for the kids. They were busing people in from another parking lots and transporting them in the EMMA bus. No wonder they were so many people there.

Another rainy day and there was time for inside rock painting.  It was all fun.

It was sad to have to leave Friday morning to go home. It was such a great time, a good location and the kids got to experience real Fall weather. Maybe we can do it again sometime. I asked the kids what they like best about camping and Trevor screamed "EVERYTHING".  I think we'll wan to do this again.