BEDDO/CORNING ON THE ROAD: NC, SC, GA

A month of adventures.....and then I give up trying to keep up every day with this beautiful blog. We are busy, and when we're not, we're not. Throwing guilt away.

11/8/11 – Happy Birthday Nic Corning!

As is our custom, got a snap start to the day at 1:00 PM sharp. Headed off to Walmart to see if their opticians could get TC a pair of glasses post haste. Although personable, she could not fulfill our wish. We ended up calling the Costco where he got them a year plus ago, and they recommended a Costco nearby. We’ll see where that goes, it may require us to stay in Virginny longer than expected.

We then took a ride to Williamsburg which was further than I expected, but along the Colonial Parkway, which is a beautiful, winding stretch of road that likely mimics an old Indian trail, or market path. No demarcation lines on the road which made for a ramble between the turning trees and the water. We finally came to the Williamsburg Info Center around 4:30 and found a huge, sprawling complex, complete with hotels, ticket kiosks and gift shops. Found out that you can buy a $37.00 ticket to get into most of the historical Williamsburg structures – museum, church, some houses. Jamestown and Yorktown were run by the feds so Tony’s Golden Passport would get us in free. We then meandered into downtown Williamsburg which is carefully preserved, utterly historically stunning. And then we went to Goodwill which was our real goal!

I scored a Kate Spade purse for $15 which I will promptly sell on eBay for much more. Got directions back to Gloucester without going over the toll bridge, which means back roads – fine by us. Made it to a Thai restaurant we had a hankering for and a delicious dinner. Tony had a Thai rib eye steak that had been marinated in basil and peppercorn pesto – yum! I had Phad Thai ‘cause I just NEEDED it! Back to Blue to liberate Roku for the night, make phone calls, plan the next few days. And start all over again.

Spade Purse from G'Will

1/10/11

No Williamsburg for us! TC in bed with a nasty, phlegmy bug; we decided he needs to rest more than we need to celebrate Veteran’s Day. I hung and cleaned, went driving, found a laundromat and store. Came back late and he was still out, although he had been up to eat. I whipped some dinner together and we ate, then back to bed he went. We planned for the next day to be a touring day, because he doesn’t believe in being sick, even if he is sick.

11/11/11

We talk it through and he stays in bed, thank god. If I had insisted he was sick, he would have gotten up to prove me wrong. He downed some Nyquil, Delsym and Theraflu and went back to bed. I washed half of the outside of Blue, cleaned the windows, took a shower, hauled my read books to the book exchange, put the clean clothes away, vacuumed and read the new People about Gabby the Congresswoman who got shot. Roku and I took a long walk – what a pal he is – he stayed in the bushes for the most part, ran across any open grass if he had too. We went to a couple of sandy beaches where he left his little kitty prints in the sand, next to a raccoons. He started going into the woods but I called him back and he came, walking pretty much beside me all the way back. Wouldn’t come out on the pier with me though, all that water is not his thing.

Where's the Kitty-Boy?

There he is!

11/12/11

TC so much better today. Got up later, hung around, took a much-needed shower (him! not me). I could tell he was still a little puny though, so put off any chance of going to town. I did shove him out the door to get our finances with this park straight, which he did. Meanwhile I made a new recipe thanks to the Barnses: large pasta shells stuffed with spinach, cheeses and broccoli, with a side of cornbread. Ton-Ton loved it, ate a bunch, Nyquilled up and off to bed he goes.

Which left me an evening alone again – Roku immediately abandoned me for night prowling – to make my scheduled call with friend Joey. Then TC’s daughters Sandi and Teresa. Then my sister Dawn. Good night to talk, had to recharge my phone twice!

11/15/11

Fast forward to extending our stay one more day as we just weren’t ready to leave Virginia yet. I left to get my Whitley’s peanuts, after all, I was in their HOME. I’ve always ordered these delicious goobers online; here just up the road, they have a store full of peanuts and peanutty things. A 10 lb burlap bag and many small bags later…..Christmas shopping is done! Texted my bro Ken to let him know where I was standing – he being a Whitley’s fan as well – and he urged me to LOAD UP! Good brotherly advice.

Best peanuts in the world

10 lbs YESSSSSSSSSS

I also hit a couple of thrift stores and finally found my folding camp chair with the extender for my delicate little feet – and it was $4.98. I found a health food store, no mean feat in the south, and picked up a few other items for my new bread making venture.

11/23/11

Ah me. Road to camp to camp to road. Stayed at one-nighters in N. Carolina just to get across the state and into S. Carolina. Each one was unique – not great, not great reviews online – but OK in their own right.

We had no incidents or disasters along the way. Yay us!

Landed we have, for five days in Myrtle Beach and a week in Yemessee (about half way between Charleston and Savannah). First of all, Myrtle Beach itself, the beach, is beautiful white, sugar sand. Lots of shells for seeking, few people this time of year, lots of wave action for a real natural cleansing of the old brain stem. And it was about 70. Nice. Myrtle Beach the town is a shithole, just miles of t shirt shops and crappy restaurants, and hotel after hotel. We’ve never seen anything like it. The weird part of it is that there’s no one there this time of the year, so it’s like a ghost town. Like a Steven King novel in the making.

We stayed at Myrtle Beach State Park which has wonderful facilities and fabulous grounds. And that’s not even considering their miles of beaches. We got a great camp site, plenty of woods for Kitty Boy to roam, no one near us, but close to bathrooms/showers and laundry.

Wild Turkey at Myrtle Beach SP

Feet at Myrtle Beach

BBQ Plate at Parker's, Wilson, SC

Hushpuppies at Parker's, Wilson, SC

Parker's packed parking Lot, Wilson, Sc

Smile at Myrtle Beach

Unfortunately I fell into a black hole for about three days, unable to thoroughly enjoy each day to its’ fullest. Tony stayed calm, quiet and non-judgemental, and I hated hindering his good time. After I “came back to myself” I explained to him that depression, or rather, MY depression, is just like his recent four days in bed with a cold. I need to tend to the chemical imbalance, not beat myself up over my inability to think or function, care for myself without heading for bed with the covers over my head. I despise those episodes as they rob me raw of ME.

We hit the road to Charleston to pick up TC’s glasses and our mail. We so enjoyed seeing Charleston again! The last time we were there our granddaughter Holli, who is seven now, was less than a year in the lives of her parents, Tony’s daughter Sandi, and son in law John. We also had Alex B. and grandson Aaron along, with his mom Teresa. We had such a great tour of Charleston and learned that there was only one old man who kept up all the wrought iron that fills the city; and he had one apprentice. Anyway, we were successful with the glasses, not so much with the mail. They again sent back some meds I need.

We have landed at The Oaks in Yemassee, SC and are quite happy here. Very nice people run the place, it’s got a lot of people here, although we’re in our own little space near – you guessed it – the woods. We ventured out a bit today to do our Thanksgiving Day shopping and had a great time listening to all the South Carolinians slow-talking around the collard greens. Fabulous.

Yemassee Landing oaks and Moss

Yemassee Landing Spanish Moss

TC at Beautiful Yemassee

At Yemasee landing

Yemassee Landing Marsh

Tomorrow we pick up my sister Dawn in Savannah as she experiences the south for the first time. I am so excited to have her here, even if she doesn’t read my blog enough – shame!

11/26/11

Seeester Dawn picked up at our cute little Savannah-Hilton Head Airport on Turkey Day, back to Blue for a really great traditional meal of pre-roasted chicken, store bought mashed spuds, fresh cranberry sauce I made from our Cape Cod cranberries (froze them), boxed stuffing, homemade gravy, fresh yulekake rolls (Norwegian yeast rolls that are traditional in our family) and pumpkin pie with cool whip. She’d had a long flight so we just ate, chilled and slept.

Dawn Loving Up Kitty-Boy at The Oaks in Yemassee, SC

Friday was busy, not with black Friday shopping for us, but we jumped in with all six feet and visited beautiful Beaufort, SC. Dawn’s real wish is to get inside some of these civil war era homes, so we chose the Verdier (Ver deer’) House; it lived up to every promise the docent made. Beaufort, interestingly enough, was occupied by Union forces during the entire Civil War! All the white folks moved out, leaving purt much everything behind in their homes, which were now occupied by soldiers. The black folks stayed and worked for the northern occupiers. When the war was over the houses were returned to their original owners – if they had heard through the grapevine that they could return, and if they paid three years of back taxes. Many folks didn’t even hear about it, so the houses were sold.

Verdier (Ver' Deer) House, Beaufort, SC

Beaufort, SC River Park

We had a great southern lunch at the recommended “Plums” restaurant – Dawn enjoying a crab po’boy sandwich. I went for their fresh shrimp on a salad and sweet tea, of course. All of it was superb and gave us the energy to walk the waterfront. We then headed to Hilton Head, another wish of Dawn’s, ostensibly to view how the rich live. It was all a large disappointment, really just running down a major highway and not finding any public beaches. We did hit a great grocery store that was unique and expensive.


TC and Seester Dawn at Plum's in Beaufort, Sc

Got home quite late and were all ready to hit the hay in order to get up early the next morning and head for Savannah. We did get on the road about 9:00, making for the Savannah trolly tour we figure will give us the most bang for our buck as far as seeing that beautiful city. The tour was lead by kind of an uptight woman (read: librarian), and it was a whirlwind. We saw a gob of houses before we were dropped off at the River Walk, where we enjoyed - surprisingly due to its proximity to massive tourists - another fabulous lunch of seafood bisque with blueberry muffins, club sandwich and shrimp sandwich. Dawn’s favorite was her sweet Georgia tea and sweet tea vodka – killer, she said.

We then pulled out the city map and planned our next series of visits: Leopold’s Ice Cream Shop, Paula Deen’s store and the Telfair Museum. However as we walked from Leopold’s, Dawn’s antenna went wicky-wacky and she was drawn like a magnet to a store called Paris. Replete with ice cream, she picked up each and every item, examining its’ worth for herself, and her granddaughters. Cobwebs enveloped her. Tony waited outside in the meager sun. The store changed owners. Inventory was replaced before she could return to purchase the items. Tony and I left for the Deen store and vowed to return to pick her up.

Leopold's Ice Cream Shop - 5th best in the world!

Paula’s store is so worth the visit – everything Deen! It’s right next door to her restaurant, “The Lady and Sons”, in fact shares a doorway. Very nice staff (one from Seattle), kitchy items, but pretty good gifts. My favorite is her “butter” flavored lip gloss! Fits the south to a “t”.

Back for Dawn, blew off the Telfair Museum and caught the trolley back to the car. GREAT day of touring and shopping and eating, of course.

Savannah, GA Bridge

Savannah Building

Captain's House, Savannah

Savannah Building

Fancy Hats in Savannah

Savannah Row Houses

Mercer House, Savannah

Savannah Row Houses

Sunday was eff-off day, caught up on stuff, barely showered. Felt good to do nothing. It’s important to have a “nothing” day in between a lot of running around, or you’ll burn yourself out, get cranky and call each other names. We did go to a little beach in Port Royal, but just napped and did some lukewarm beachcombing. I walked a bit looking for shark’s teeth – a big item at this beach – sauntered down a long boardwalk up to a three story observation tower, then circled back to be picked up by TC and Dawn. Talked with a couple of fishers whose poles were in the water for the ever popular whiting, but were catching a lot of blue crabs instead. Yum! By the way, these folks aren’t doing this for sport, this is to eat, to supplement their diet. Times are tough.

TC and Seester at Frampton Plantation Spanish Moss

We stopped to eat some BBQ at a mediocre place. Man I hates me some mediocre BBQ! Then back to Blue to gear up for Charleston the next day.

11/28/11

Got a late start due to Roku wandering in the woods, not answering our calls to come back. Headed straight for Drayton Hall and the Magnolia Gardens next to it, as I found a discount coupon online for both. Let me just say that Drayton was the bomb! One of Dawn’s goals, remember, was to see a plantation house – Drayton fit it to a tee, although with a twist – no furniture or decorations of any kind, just a bare house. We all loved this as it let you enjoy the craftsmanship of the building itself, the architecture laid bare.

I leave you with pictures as I can’t begin to describe the beauty of this Civil War era abode. Also, it was the only plantation NOT burned to the ground by Sherman – no one knows why.

TC in Drayton Hall Foyer

Dawn in Basement Kitchen

Drayton Hall Fireplace Woodwork

Drayton Hall Fireplace Wood Detail

Drayton Hall Writing on Fireplace - never verified

Drayton Hall Fancy Room Fireplace

Drayton Hall Foyer Ceiling

Drayton Hall Front Entrance, with Carriage Mound

Drayton Hall Model

Drayton Hall Front to Back

Drayton Hall Kitchen Shelf

Drayton Hall Driveway

Drayton Hall Stair Detail

View of Drayton Hall from Privy

Privy at Drayton Hall, it has a fireplace too!

TC and Dawn on Drayton Hall Front Porch

Off we went to Charleston, hoping to see the city with a carriage ride. We picked up some mail from the oh-so-beautiful downtown PO, which houses the most lackadaisical worker in our current experience – once again didn’t hold our Gen Delivery mail, but sent it back as unknown - team from my ears. There was also a little southern bell behind us, whose bell I would like to have rung. The more questions we asked, the more sighs and harrumphing she let fly. Patience, Scarlett!

We parked then decided to eat before our tour, and found a place with uber delicious peel and eat shrimp (fresh!), smoked tuna sandwich and another sweet tea liquor drink for Dawn. This one proved a bit more full o’ the booze, and she was feeling it. Off we went to await our carriage.

The draft horses I expected were actually donkeys – isn’t that funny!? Our driver, Jeremy, was a handsome lad who holds a degree in architectural archeology, and was full of info for us. We all agreed it was the best $20.00 we had spent thus far. What a way to see a section of the city, by slowly clopping through, time enough to see each beautiful building – and Charleston is so full of beautiful buildings, wrought iron galore. When TC and I were there several years ago, there was one man, Philip Simmons, who did the wrought iron for the entire city; Jeremy informed us that he had just passed. Wonder what kind of effect that will have on repairing authentically. Please visit this exceptional man's foundation website: http://www.philipsimmons.us/aboutsimmons.html

Donkeys and Jeremy in Charleston, SC

About the last 15 minutes of our tour the rains came in sideways and we were all completely soaked. We had a few umbrellas that proved futile. Kind of a charming end to a lovely day, in its way. Barreled back home to Yemassee to release the panther and more sleep before our goodbyes tomorrow.

11/29/11

Packed up and hit the road to Savannah again, leaving Blue in a Walmart and taking the car to Bonaventure Cemetery. It is so splendid. It is so peaceful. It is so beautifully rendered. Dawn soon disappeared to soak up her own ambiance, as did TC and I. A few pics of that special place:

Little Gracie Sign, Bonaventure, Charleston, SC

Little Gracie

Bonaventure Cemetary, Savannah, GA

We then realized that we were within spitting distance of a restaurant Dawn had researched and wanted to try, but we didn’t think there would be time. Always time for southern BBQ!!! Off we went to “Sisters of the New South”, typical southern restaurant where the staff serves you buffet style as you drool and pick your way through the smothered everythings. Always collards or turnip greens – no thanks. Smothered hamburger steak, fried chicken, mac and cheese and sweet potatoes, of course. We were so happy. Sent Dawn home full of great southern fare.

JB AND DAWN AT SISTERS OF THE NEW SOUTH, SAVANNAH

TC and I then continued south to our next RPI (the club that gives us $10.00 stays) park in Woodbine, GA. It’s a small little place but quite full. Got checked in and are STILL here after extending a few times. Lots of stuff to do and see around here, and we’re a mere 7 miles from the Florida border.

Walkabout RV Park, Woodbine, GA

Got acclimated with the local paper and found a charity BBQ going on at the Woodbine River Park. Traveled 100 miles an hour to get there, be first in line for BBQ! As we were early and they were still setting up, we took a circular walk on their boardwalk beside the Satilla River, ending up back at the BBQ. As they greeted us, “How are y’all?”, we replied “Hungry!”, and they said, “Sold out!” Crap. They suggested the funky Capt Stan’s Smokehouse up the road, which we had eyed earlier.
OK. Capt Stan and his smokehouse. Just another place I didn’t want to leave. If I were still 21, I would have danced on the bar to Skynard as they all clapped and howled. Done it before. Open seating under a little bit of cover, fire pit in the middle with chairs around, picnic tables – and the best, the most delicious of smoked meats.

Woodbine Trestle Bridge Over Satilla River

New Woodbine Bridge over Satilla River

Woodbine Trestle Bridge

Manatee Basics for Boaters on the Satilla River

The bar is kind of a tiki bar, with monkeys and a curved wooden bar, stools. It had a few people drinking around it and a bartender. We looked over toward the bar and listened in when a loud and happy voice began talking to a friend, wishing him a happy something or other, then explaining his trip to Miami that day, and “did he know he had a new girlfriend? 36 years old and I’m telling you, she’s keeping me in shape!” Everyone cracked up and we learned that the speaker IS Captain Stan. He eventually ended up sitting behind us with a pal, called over, “How are you folks? I’m Stan!” I proceeded to tell him just how glad I was to be there, how his place fills my soul, how I could just set up camp there.