Myrtle Beach, SC and Wilmington, NC

Nice Pier in Myrtle

Cheesin'

We are slowing it down right now. One of the things that we abhor is snow so we are doing our best to pace ourselves and let the north get warm. We also hope to meet up with Anna's brother and his wife, Micah and Rachelle, in the DC area. They will be rolling into that area around April 12th. We could possibly meet up with a friend from what feels like long ago Jamie as well!

This is what surrounds you in Myrtle Beach

I am just going to be honest here and tell you this past week has not been good. These are places I never really felt the need to go to. I have never heard great things about them and I never thought to myself, "One day I am going to South Carolina!"

Beach and Motels of Myrtle

We are doing our best to keep to a budget and we haven't behaved ourselves in the month of March much like every other month we have been on this trip. We decided to hunker down and just go on bare bones mode and just spend the absolute minimum until the end of the month. We ended up having only 40 bucks for the last 3 days of March. Let me tell you about the few things we did see in the places we went to.

Enter North Carolina!

We rolled out of Columbia amidst the dreary rain and headed to Myrtle Beach. Man on the way there, there  were at least 5, "Welcome" centers for Myrtle Beach. They were trying to get you to stop with free soda and popcorn and they had wifi. We didn't need any of that so we just kept on. These stores were as far out as like 50 miles from Myrtle Beach!?! We went to a KOA there to get a much needed shower and were shocked to find out that it was only 30 bucks in this resort town. The facility was beautiful and we got a good relaxation in on the property. Disaster struck in the morning when we went to turn Maander on and immediately an oil spill occurred. It wasn't very cold at all and I didn't feel like I revved the engine more than normal and it just popped. Well we cleaned it up and I went and got more oil and a filter. I have officially changed to 10w-40 now and hope that'll solve this problem without damaging the engine or overheating it.

We walked all over Myrtle Beach. We walked a ton.... We didn't see too much, however. Myrtle Beach is apparently known as having the most miniature golf courses in one place. This has had the effect of influencing the hotels to design their pool areas like miniature gold courses. It felt kinda gimmicky. I imagined this would be a locale for a family where the kids are all below 10 and just running around having a blast and the parents are sitting around eating at buffets, of which are plenty.

Entrance of the college UNCW

We spent a few days there. After the walk we stayed mostly in this developed part of town that had a mall and a Walmart. We just hunkered down went and spent copious amounts of time in coffee shops and tried not to spend money. After 2 days we left for Wilmington.

At the College
the camera actually didn't fall in this time!

We rolled into Wilmington and stopped at a Starbucks by the college. We then spent the next day walking the campus of UNCW. There wasn't too much to the campus but it was nice and it was fun to people watch. Last night we stayed at a KOA and went to church this morning. Everyone was nice but we didn't end up hanging with anyone after the service. We finally headed down to the historic part of the town by the river and Wilmington ended up having some charm to it. There were many placards noting historic happenings around town. All in all it was a nice walk and some good scenery but nothing that charmed the pants off me like Savannah did.

Cardinal

Thought it looked pretty interesting in Wilmington

I feel like I am running on fumes right now. I think I am very home sick or that I am done traveling. I have a big desire just to stay in one spot and do nothing really. I suppose I am sick of the constant moving but that may just be because the towns in my immediate future hold little interest to me. Savannah was a happy accident and I hope to have another one of those experiences soon. These past few days of Anna and I just laying low has had us debating shooting across the country back to Cali very quickly. Our options are wide open and I want to get a great experience from this but sometimes you got to get back to work. I think I may even enjoy getting a job again or going to school and having some work to do. I will unquestionably go to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston but other places on the east coast we will just have to see what happens. We will come back to Sacramento on May 4th leaving from Pittsburgh. We will then finish up the trip on after May 10th. We may just stop in Chicago then pedal to the metal to Rushmore then Denver and home. I look forward to what is ahead but I also want to see some familiar faces. Peace

By the river in Wilmington

Charleston, Ft. Sumter, and Columbia, SC

This blog should be short and sweet so enjoy...

Yet another state woweee

When you have to go......

We got out of Savannah and spent the night at a KOA near Charleston the next day we walked the town of Charleston and saw everything. While we heard good things about this town it didn't live up to how we felt about Savannah. We saw  buildings from the 1600s and there were plaques that told us all about the history  around the town which was cool but the place didn't have the charm Savannah did. Tons of Civil War relics and the mosquitoes here suck big time. They are tiny and tons of them leaving a bunch of tiny bites on you all over the place.

Here is the actual fountain
the kids can play in it:)

Old houses from the Rainbow district
that is the historic section not
a gay enclave

The next day we headed on over to Ft. Sumter. This is where the Civil War began. It was great to hear the history and to see the awesome artifacts from the war. 150 years ago feels like eons yet it truly wasn't that long ago. To think that we have history from 2000 years ago is amazing. There are a ton of statues and memorials in this town that relate to the Civil War as well as the Revolution.

from circa 1680

Anna has been loving the Wisteria 

A big awesome surprise that happened was that my cousin, Daniel, and his wife, Laura, happened to be in Charleston for a wedding! The day after Ft. Sumter we met up and walked the town. Since Anna and I had walked the town already we kinda gave them a guided tour of all the highlights we thought were worth revisiting. We had delicious sandwiches at Firehouse then Anna, Daniel, and Laura decided to sneak up to a guest floor at a historic hotel. They asked the cleaning ladies if they could look at the rooms and they obliged. I guess they got a kick out of that while I just kinda hung at the park across the street enjoying the view :)

On the boat to Ft. Sumter

Inside this was used to kill people!

Inner courtyard of the fort

Some of the wreckage from war

After they snuck some sweet tea (complimentary for guests) they headed out and we parted ways. Laura was busy with wedding stuff so we hoped to see them again soon. Friday we met up with Daniel at a pub had some pub food and drinks and then said good bye this would be the last we saw of them we planned on heading to Columbia after seeing Sucker Punch the  movie.

State Capital building in Columbia

We went to a place that has a full restaurant and bar at the theatre but since we had just ate we declined any food or drink and enjoyed the movie. I heard a criticism of the movie that it was basically eye candy with no story. I would basically agree with that criticism. The visuals were amazing, from the maker of 300 and The Watchmen. This was his first movie where he wasn't going off of a graphic novel or anything so he wrote it and I guess it showed in that the different fantasies and visuals seemed not to link up to the overall narrative very well. I liked it for the most part but wouldn't recommend it unless you have a blueray player and surround sound in your home to rent.

During the Civil War they were "Brick Batting" this statue, whatever
that means, and as a result Washington's
cane got knocked off

So far Columbia has been pretty basic of a town. It has been raining pretty hard but the times when it has let up we walked the capital. The town has a Sacramento feeling to it in the sense that there doesn't seem to have too much going on but there is probably some good times to be had if you knew what to look for. We have been keeping it low key to save money and pace ourselves so we don't throw ourselves into the snow or super cold. It is actually decently cold now which is a first after being in Florida for so long.



Well enjoy the pics. We plan on going to Myrtle Beach then North... Peace

Relic from the Cold War.
This was on the Senate building

Crazy looking statue that commemorated the Women of the Confederacy

St. Augustine, Jacksonville, FL, Ft. Frederica, Brunswick, and Savannah, GA

this is my concerned face

the house isn't amazing looking but it is amazing

they had a bunch of drugs they used to sell
in the 1800s weird

Seems like once a week blog posts have become the norm for me. Let me know if I need to step up my game and post more. I feel like this is a decent pattern for now and there are probably a majority of people with enough free time on Sundays to read my sometimes lengthy blog posts.

One of the Touristy historic streets of St. Augustine

Oldest wooden school

A mill

After Disney World we slept and were too exhausted to go to church the following day. We started slow and headed downtown where we went to the pub that we had been to before and got the brunch there. I got the traditional Irish breakfast and it was very good. Sausage, beans, eggs, potatoes. Everything was great and I had a Mimosa to go with it, I know that is girly but they are hella good and I am not going to apologize for the :). We made our way back to the coast where we traveled to Titusville. We thought maybe this would be a stopping point but the town was super small and there just was nothing there at all. We headed up A1A to see what we would run into. The drive was fantastic. Unlike PCH on the west coast, A1A is a very easy drive that brought us by some fantastic looking houses and wasn't right up against the ocean.

The fort at St. Augustine that is where the moat was
too just no water now. pretty sick
imagine laying siege on that?
yea i can't either

This is where they kept their balls warm...
their cannon balls you sickos

We rolled into St. Augustine and planned on going to a popular coffee joint there. Parking wasn't easy to find and we were fiending for some wifi and some down time so we headed just a bit south to a starbucks. We didn't do much the first day and just got our bearings. When we drove through the historic district the city seemed to have tons of character so we were excited to see the first successful European settlement in the new world. We stayed at a Walmart that according to my app I have on my phone didn't allow camping there but when we rolled into the parking lot it had about 8 RVs in there already parked for the night. We decided to risk it and had no problems.

Me trying to kick down the door
of the oldest building

St. Augustine's Lighthouse

We got going the next day and found a free parking space that required just a bit of walking to get to the historic part. As we walked we drove by a guy who embodies the moniker, "Rainbow Person" He was looking like a hippy straight out of 1969. He was walking down the street with his small dog and had a drum that he would make some beats with as he meandered around. We parked and started walking to the places of interest and he happened to be going down the same street as us. He noticed us and stopped and waited. We introduced ourselves, his name is Bo and his dogs name is Merlin. We walked and talked for awhile and we just asked if he was a local and if he knew good places to go. He said that when he becomes an old man he will live in St. Augustine but now it is just a place he enjoys to visit. Gave us a couple suggestions and we were off.

Yarrrrr in in Amelie Island

Anna took this probably 5 feet away
after she did this about 5 ppl walked over and
did the same. She is such a trend setter

Shipping and what not

We walked the streets of St. Augustine and it was an amazing feeling. In California you will rarely if ever see a building that is from 1850 or older and here we had homes from the early 1800s. The streets were very touristy which took away from the experience some but nothing to ruin our fun. We found that the fort was the most awe inspiring. For the time it was built I am sure it was basically impenitrable. Everything that looked the most interesting to see, such as the oldest wooden schoolroom in America cost money so while we were able to see the things we did not get to have a tour. After a long meander around the town we walked to the coffee shop we had planned on going to the day before. Lo and behold we saw Bo there hanging out so we got our coffee and grabbed a slice of Key Lime Pie since we hadn't yet here in Florida and sat by him. We talked of our travels and it turned out he is a traveler as well. He is originally from Ohio and heads down south during the winter. He is a true traveler on account of it looked like he had a small bag and that was it. He told us of "Festivuls" to check out. These gatherings were just where a bunch of rainbow children get together and hang. He likely thought we were those types mainly because of my massive beard and our VW. Those gatherings sound good and all but I would imagine a lot of drug use goes on there.

We ended the day at the beach and just kept it lazy in general.

We headed North to Jacksonville up A1A yet again. We rolled into town saw a movie cuz that was what we were in the mood for and then did some laundry. We spent the night there and then started driving through the town the next day. Jacksonville seemed pretty lame and there was nothing there that looked attractive to go see or walk around. We made an executive decision just to keep on keepin' on to Georgia! We passed the boarder and then found an RV camp site to shower up and get some R & R. This one was great. It was the cheapest we ever stayed at the grounds were beautiful and in the morning they had a free Waffle Breakfast. We headed on to Brunswick after that hey it was March 17th! St. Paddy's day. We planned on getting into trouble.

The barracks of Ft. Frederica
this is about 280 years old

This is the candlestick makers house

Our first stop was to go to St. Simon's Island where there was supposed to be a lot of history and a Fort there. It was beautiful and seemed like a pretty rich area. We rolled into Fort Frederica and got the tour. The price was reasonable and the history was amazing. The reason Georgia is here is because of this nobleman Oglethorpe. He went to settle here and he built the fort because to the south of them was the Spanish and they were disputing the boundaries. Well a famous battle called the Battle of Bloody Marsh happened on this island so we learned all about it and battle is what kept the Spanish from fighting for anymore land up any farther north of St. Augustine. Oglethorpe even led a party to try and fight the fort down in St. Augustine which was a huge failure which isn't surprising to me.

Beautiful spanish moss

The park had the original town Frederica there uncovered. It was the foundations of a bunch of houses that were there in the early to mid 1700s. The historians had found a town map that laid out all the properties and who they belonged to so it was great seeing all these unique foundation plans of these buildling then seeing a sign that described the people that lived there what they did and any interesting things that went on. One of the most amazing things was that John Wesley used to have a church in the town. They met in a storehouse that held supplies for the town. Needless to say Wesley is a prominent figure in the surrounding area with lots of Methodist churches about. It was great to see the history there, something you can never see in California because European settlement just wasn't happening out there yet.

Getting my Paddy's on
wangs and Guinees

Celebratin in Savannah now

We got into Brunswick and found a shopping center that had a Starbucks a Pub and a burger joint. This was perfect for everything we needed for the rest of the day. We hung at Starbucks a long while then got some food then headed to the Pub to celebrate St. Paddy's day. At the Pub it was packed but we eventually found a spot by the bar and ordered our drinks. We started talking to this old couple next to us and the lady was starting to get sloppy drunk and it ended up being hilarious. As we nommed on all you can eat hot wings and I was having my Guiness she started getting silly. The husband was just along for the ride and was just as hilarious but a little more subdued. Well we laughed and joked and talked about travels the rest of the night. The lady used to live in Alameda and had experienced an earthquake so she was convinced California was falling off the earth and that the forest was continually burning. She said she worked at the Walmart Subway and would be there in the morning and to come by the next morning. We did just that and she hooked us up on some breakfast sandwiches that had us paying $1.07 for a decent breakfast. Onward to Savannah. My mom had called that day and said Savannah was supposed to be amazing and beautiful we were looking forward to it.

Streets of Savannah

Savannah has the second largest St. Paddy's day celebration in the world and the Paddy's day spirit was still going strong the friday following the official day. There was lots of people walking the streets sporting their green and getting stupid. The whole town was laid out beautifully and every building looked to be from the 1830s. The river walk was where all the things happening were going on. Live music and tons of people whoopin and hollering. It would have been nice to have another day of celebration but we just couldnt swing the cost. We enjoyed the scenery and were absolutely captivated by the sites the history and the people. It seemed to have a bohemian feel to it and every single park and big house had some plaque on it where a famous event from either the Civil War or the Revolutionary War happened. We have spent the last 3 days here and thoroughly enjoyed it. If we were to get stuck in this town I would not be disappointed. Of course we haven't experiences the humidity which I hear is the worst though.

the most recent grave here is from 1850 wow

Live music I was scared this old rocker would fall and break a hip

I have been feeling sick ever since the Pub in Brunswick so I am fighting that off right now. We are keeping it easy today which is Sunday. We went to church and it was a really big one. We didn't meet anyone which is ok we didn't expect to just hoped to. The plan is to go to Tybee Island which is directly east of Savannah. The weather is getting warmer and we feel confident that we can pace ourselves as we go north and not have to worry about the snow. Both Anna and I are incredibly homesick but we know this is a trip of a lifetime. We will do our best to enjoy ourselves and just look forward to the things we love about Sacramento. Peaces and kisses.

Buildings that are on the river walk

Law enforcement is much more lax during St. Paddy's day

Anna really liked this house and I think its great too

Green fountain!

The biggest Art and Design school is scattered all over Savannah

Green fountain again!