MONDAY 9.23.19 NORTH CAROLINA (Outer Banks)

This morning we were up before 6, we are getting back to our normal routine and we are thankful.

If you've never been to the Outer Banks, let me tell you a little about them. They are barrier islands that separate the Atlantic Ocean from the mainland. They are approximately 100 miles in length from its most northern town, Corolla, to its most southern point, Hatteras. You can go further by ferry to Ocracoke.

Today we drove north to Corolla. it was a beautiful day for a drive and to be out and about. Corolla is home to the only herd in the world of wild Spanish Mustang horses.

 They were brought here back in the 1500's by Spanish explorers but the sandbars off of Corolla are totally unpredictable. Their unpredictability has even caused the area to be known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Ships probably capsized and the horses swam to shore and now make this beach area their home. There are also some in Ocracoke.

Corolla is also home to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. 

This lighthouse stands 162 feet tall and its light, the largest First Order Fresnel available for American lighthouses, can be seen 18 nautical miles away.

The lighthouse has 220 steps from the base up to the top. I know this because I read it, not because we climbed it.

This lighthouse is the only one that was left in its original brick exterior, untouched by paint. The other six on the Outer Banks are painted black and white. This was done so that the visitors could marvel at the amount of bricks it took to build it. I guess it didn't take much to entertain folks back in the 1800's.

Leaving Corolla, we entered the town of Duck. This is where I had a timeshare back in the 90's. Oh how the area has changed! One welcome change was the building of The Tomato Shack, a produce market. 

What a great little veggie stand! The man who owns/runs it was just as nice as could be and explained where everything came from. His best friend grows all the tomatoes for him. 

He grows the squash, zucchini and cucumbers himself. The peaches are local from his cousin's trees. The other things, apples, lemons, limes, cantaloupe were obviously bought from a supplier but he sure was proud of his homegrown offering.

I took a walk around the park when we got home and saw this license plate now permanently affixed to this vacation home. Check it out.

Walt tried his hand at fishing this afternoon but nothing seemed to be biting.

Tomorrow, Wright Memorial and a whole lot more!

SUNDAY 9.22.19 NORTH CAROLINA (Outer Banks - OBX)

We may be on vacation but it is still Sunday and in our house that means football. 

Actually, after that long day getting here, we're both on the tired side so would have probably laid pretty low anyway.

That's not to say we didn't do anything. We took a ride for about 45 minutes around noon. We had an errand to run and we wanted to familiarize ourselves with the lay of the land again.

I took some pictures of some pretty typical rental homes here on the Outer Banks. In any given block you can find these palatial beach houses and next to it not much more than a shack in comparison.

Is this the Outer Banks' answer to Charleston's Rainbow Row?

Even though he was in the camper, it seems he's never far from our minds!

We stopped at the Avalon Fishing Pier to get the latest fishing report.  We've had better.  A big storm just came through here last week.  It definitely affects the fishing.

Our first glimpse of the ocean and beach.

This afternoon brought a loss to our beloved Eagles. That's ok, we're just getting the few losses we're going to have over with early in the season. Yeah, that's whats happening.

After dinner we decided it too nice outside to stay inside so we went and played golf. Walt got not one but TWO holes in one! He's on CLOUD NINE!

This was his first hole in one!

This was the second one!

Tomorrow is another adventure!

SATURDAY 9.21.19 SOUTH CAROLINA / NORTH CAROLINA

Today we left Charleston and made our way to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This is one of our favorite places. It just screams BEACH and Walt and I love the beach, in fact we met at the beach all those years ago.

We really enjoy driving over the causeways, this is usually lined with seagulls but today we only saw one.

This is a great ride because we know we aren't too far from the beach now.

It was an interesting trip to say the least. Long, for sure, as it took us nearly 8 hours to get here. We had one section of road that a tractor trailer made very interesting. We don't know if he was drunk, on drugs, falling asleep at the wheel or exactly what was going on but he was all over the road. Both lanes and the shoulder! It was bad enough that cars and other trucks were doing their best to get around him and away from him! I even called 911 to give our location on I-95 and to let highway patrol know that this driver was on the road. After what seemed an eternity, we were able to get past him without incident.

We finally pulled into the campground after a B & P run. (Budweiser & Pepsi) Once parked we didn't want to have to go out again today.

We were able to get the very last spot available in this campground. We're in the Kitty Hawk RV park which is located right across the street from the beach/ocean.

We are crammed in here like sardines but we love it here! I'm sure a lot will be pulling out tomorrow, at least we are hoping so. There are a lot of kids here today and we're thinking they all have to go back to school and will be leaving, at least we are hoping so.

Walt is looking forward to getting some fishing in and I want to see ALL the lighthouses here. And Boss, well Boss wants to go anywhere we're going and do whatever it is we're doing.

The weatherman says we're going to have a beautiful week here on the Outer Banks. Let's just hope the fish are biting!

FRIDAY 9.20.19 SOUTH CAROLINA (Charleston) Part 2

We took a ride on a horse drawn carriage through the streets of downtown Charleston today.

 Same as with the trolley, the ride didn't lend itself to picture taking. I snapped a few but mostly of buildings because, I truly believe, I was an award winning architect in a previous life. I'm just so taken with these old buildings and the detail put into them. 

And wrought iron, we both just love the wrought iron work on the balconies. 

We passed this one set of buildings and the driver pointed out this tree.  Seems that when the land was sold the owner of one of the lots wouldn't see because of this tree.  He was promised the tree would live.  As you can see it is growing out between two buildings.

These two buildings have been for sale for a long time and the price dropped several times.  Seems as though because of building codes and for some reason these can't be updated, the owners can't sell them.  So year after year they pay the insurance, the property taxes and hope they always have tenants.

We did take the time to walk through the Market.  This is a long, one story building that is just vendor after vendor selling everything you can imagine.  We bought Eagles coasters and several "flowers" made from reeds.  And fudge.  We bought fudge.

If you visit Charleston, one of the have to see, can't leave without visiting, must do things is go to Rainbow Row. This is a group of 13 homes all painted bright pastel colors.

These homes were built around 1740 and were first places of business with the proprietors living in the upper floors.

After the Civil War the area was rundown and considered a slum area. This all changed when Judge Lionel Legge and his wife Dorothy bought a section of housing. Mrs. Legge had one of the houses painted a pretty shade of pink in hopes of making the area more attractive. Soon after other residents starting painting their homes pastel colors.

Many have speculated over the true reason for the color transformation of Rainbow Row. One theory is that the homes were painted various pastel colors so that drunk sailors might find their way home easier. Others believe that the various hues were the merchants’ way of indicating what types of items they sold there. One other theory is that the homes were painted lighter colors to keep them cooler during the hot Charleston summers. City ordinances are in place to insure the homes keep their pastel colors intact.

Charleston is a beautiful city and we wish had more time here. Next trip though here we'll spend more time for sure.

FRIDAY 9.20.19 SOUTH CAROLINA (Charleston) (Part 1)

Our first adventure in Charleston was a trip to the Angel Tree on Johns Island. 

This live oak tree is estimated to be 400 to 500 years old and its stands 65 feet tall and measures 28 feet in circumference. It shades an area of 17,000 square feet. Not hard to do when the longest branch measures 187 feet.

Southern live oaks are native to the lowland country of the coastal Carolina's. They tend to grow more outward than upward but, due to its age, the Angel Oak has done both.

Its branches reach in all directions, with some driving underground and then growing back up above the surface.

Its name comes from the Angel Estate, owned by couple Justus Angel and Martha Wright Angel. However, local legends say the ghosts of former slaves appear as angels around the tree.

 This tree was just so amazing to see!  We had seen signs for it on the road and when I asked at the campground office what should we not miss, both ladies shouted out, "Go see the Angel Tree."

THURSDAY 9.19.19 GEORGIA / SOUTH CAROLINA

Today it took us all of two hours to move from Savannah to Charleston. The traffic! 

We found our Passport America campground and on the way we noticed all the trees that were down. Big trees!

We're now in Lake Aire RV Park in Hollywood, South Carolina. It's a small campground and it looks like there are a lot of permanent sites. Most are well kept and there is a nice pool area. There is a small lake here or at least a tributary of one and catch and release is allowed. 

Well, let me tell you, he no sooner finished setting up and he had fishing pole in hand. He caught a turtle by the leg and a good sized sunny.

The need to fish satisfied, it was time to do something. At first we thought we would go see something but the driving range won out.  We found that Shadowmoss Plantation Country Club was the closest to us.

We had the driving range to ourselves.  A fellow from the country club had just finished collecting the balls off the driving range and had buckets of balls on the back of his Gator.  He hit one bump and the bucket closest to the end fell off without him knowing it.  I went over to start collecting the balls up and putting them back in the bucket.  He came back within minutes and also started picking them up in his own bucket.  When we finished he thanked me for helping and told me to keep the ones in the bucket that I had collected.  So we had plenty of balls for the driving range.

When we got back to the campground we worked together to make dinner and enjoyed a good steak with all the trimmings.

We took Boss for a nice long walk around the campground and heard lots of comments about him.  Mostly, "Look at the size of that dog!".  Yep, we hear that all the time.

There are two families of ducks that live here.  Boss did not know what to make of them.  He just stood there and stared as they walked to the waters edge and jumped in for a swim.

Of course Walt found a little time to get more fishing it.  

This evening we had a campfire and went through brochures for sites to see for tomorrow.

Life is good. Very good.