Jekyll Island, GA-June 30, 2011

Since I have read and studied about our Federal Reserve banking system being started on Jekyll Island in complete secrecy, I had high expectations of this island. We were both very shocked and disappointed. There were no beautiful mansions. All of the houses were at least 50 years old, but many were much older. Some were in disrepair, many needed paint, some lawns were not tended. There was one huge beach side hotel crumbling and currently for sale. The beaches were nasty. The first beach we walked near, not on, was covered in oil. The petroleum smell was intense. The second beach we stopped to see was very dark brownish black. It was so hard that people had dug sporadic holes and they were playing golf on the beach. We just stood there with our mouths open in disbelief. People were sitting there like it was the best thing since sliced bread. Oh, my, those poor people. We will never go back there. What a waste of time and money. We then went to downtown Brunswick, GA. It was quaint and cute. We had a great lunch in a place that was packed to the rafters with locals. That's always a good sign. Then we found a new shopping center. I browsed Target while Jerry browsed Lowe's. That was fun. We are not really encouraged to go anywhere else tomorrow because today's excursion was such a disappointment, but we will do something! Stay tuned.

Brunswick, GA-June 29, 2011

We arrived here this afternoon. It was a short hop from Hardeeville, SC. We could have gone farther down the road, but wanted to see this park. It is brand new. There are no permanent residents here. Everything is clean and new. It is not crowded, yet. The disadvantage is that the trees are immature. That means short! We have 2 a/c units on top. We hope and pray they will hang in there with us. There are many, many things to do here. We won't get it all done this trip, but we will do what we can. The dryness in this part of the country is really shocking. Places normally covered by water are so dry, the ground is cracked. No wonder Okefenokee Swamp is on fire. Part of our country is drowning in water. Other places are like this area, are dry and brittle. Sad. I wish rain on those who need it and lack of rain on those who don't. Our tourist trips begin tomorrow-you have been forewarned.

Tybee Island, GA-June 28, 2011

Before I tell you about Tybee Island, I have to tell you that Ron, the RV repairman from yesterday, called this morning to see if things were going well with us. When was the last time a repair person made a follow up call to you? What an exceptionally nice person he is. We made our way to Tybee Island, GA today. I think for the most part we were very disappointed. We do not have to go there again. At least the builders on Orange Beach have not made their way to Tybee yet. So, no gigantic condos exist there. Just old Southern houses and motels. No great places to eat. The sand is white there which means it is trucked in. But they do a great job of grooming the beach. Good for them. As we were returning, we stopped at Fort Pulaski, on the same island. Our son gave us a lifetime pass to all National Parks, so we got in free! Neither of us left home this morning thinking we would spend a long time climbing all over a gigantic fort. But we did just that. The cannons were twice the size of the ones at Fort Morgan in Alabama. The fort is also twice as big. It has been well cared for and it really was fascinating. We had a good time going through it and taking pictures. In the midst of this fort which played a hugh part in the "War of Northern Aggression" was a beautiful fig tree in full bloom. It was actually more of a gigantic bush rather than a tall, standing tree. The young figs were clearly visible. Neither of us had ever seen a fig tree in bloom. I thought about the significance of a fig tree in the Bible and wondered if this tree also bloomed during the war? It seemed a little out of place but it was really pretty anyway. That sort of made the day extra special. We leave in the morning for a park on the coast in Brunswick, GA. We'll be there for July 4th.

A kink in the works-June 27, 2011

We have had electrical problems since we got to this park. There have been storms almost every night but the power surges come in the wee hours of the morning. We are tired from lack of sleep. So, we called a mobile RV repairman this morning. He got here about 1:00. He said this park has a problem with power surges. That's nice to know and also very disappointing. He suggested moving to another spot, but we are leaving day after tomorrow and do not want to go through the work to move next door. He checked everything over on the coach and it is all working according to the way it should. Tom was such a very nice man. We were so blessed that we were lead to select his phone number. And we were impressed that he was so kind and so honest. We have really been fortunate to be lead to great local people when we needed questions answered. He is from Bluffton, the city we visited on Saturday and fell in love with. It is a wonderful place to visit and no doubt, to live in. Sometimes it is a bit overwhelming what great people we have had contact with. I hope it continues to work that way. We did not have much time to visit any place special today, so we will do that tomorrow. We went to Wally World to get a new vacuum cleaner and got so disgusted, we left and went to Target. We really like Target stores. That means the highlight of this day was a trip to Target? I think you need to worry about us! 

forgot to tell you this-June 25, 2011

One of the local fire departments here is having a huge fundraiser. Would you care to guess what it is? They are selling FIREWORKS!
We almost pulled off the side of the road to take a picture of the stand and sign. I could say several things about this, but I am sure you see the humor and insanity of this. Add your own punch line and laugh!

Hilton Head, SC-June 25, 2011

There are many things to say about Hilton Head. First, the traffic is horrible beyond belief and they all drive like they are practicing for a demolition derby. I think we both had high blood pressure by the time we got off that island! Secondly, Pleasure Island cities could learn a huge lesson from Hilton Head's entrance. It is just beautiful. Nice trees, excellent road, no litter, no cops (!). It is so neat and clean and so inviting. No piles of junk. No run down businesses. It has an air of quality and money. It points out why lower Alabama is called the Redneck Riviera and Hilton Head is known for its class. It was delightful to see. Do we want to stay there? No, probably not. But it was really pretty to see. When we came back we stopped to eat at Captain Woody's in Bluffton, SC. It looked sort of run down, but we found out it was new. They hired a reclamation builder to build it. Almost everything in the restaurant was found in another location. Even the table tops came from a long ago restaurant on Hilton Head. It was just delightful. And the food was excellent. We try to find these little out of the way places to eat so we get a unique experience as well as locally grown food. In this case, the seafood was local. We really enjoyed it. Tomorrow will be a day of rest. Have a blessed Sunday. More exploring on Monday.

Savannah, GA-June 24, 2011

What an incredible and wonderful day this has been. After a busy day getting a prescription filled for Jerry from Publix in Orange Beach, we headed to Savannah, to play tourist. What a interesting city. It is big and very busy and filled with semi trucks and hot and steamy and very different from any place we have been. First the streets are old bricks, cobblestone and rocks. It is so hard to walk on and even harder to drive. The main downtown street, Oglethorpe, is also a truck route. So, in the midst of all of these tourists, you have huge semi trucks running red lights and trying to force their way through intersections. Pedestrians have the right of way, but sometimes you can be dead wrong. We walked in the intense heat until we nearly collapsed. Then we saw people streaming into this restaurant called Moon River (no, not the Andy Williams' Moon River) and we were so happy we were there. It was a 200 year old building that has been a host of businesses, including a coal storage facility, a flour mill, a hotel and now a restaurant. It was there that we learned, in Savannah, the Civil War is not called that. It is known as the War of Northern Aggression. I laughed for a long time over that one. I've never heard that in my life. The day started with such stress, after a night of rain, but ended on such a happy note. It was so much fun. We will probably go back before we leave. We missed many stores. When we got back to our parking place, the Downtown Development Group had a band playing music at a huge square. The band was called Train Wreck. Maybe one day we will say we saw them when they were not famous! They were quite good. It was a terrific ending to a terrific day. We look forward to what tomorrow holds.