Blythe Island Regional Park to James Island County Park
March 31, 2013

Took most of the day to load up the camper and drive up to Charleston.  We made it to the James Island County Park about 2:30 and got the camper set up by 3:00.  Rested a little and then headed down to Folly Beach about 12 miles south of us.  It was a beautiful day with high in the 70s and sunny.  Rain is suppose to move in tonight though.

At Folly Beach

Campsite at James Island Regional Park.  I had the awning out but the wind picked up and decided to close it.

They are having a TAB rally here and I took a couple of photos.  May get some more.  One of the owners let me look inside one.  They are small but when the exterior screened room is added it makes a great set up.  The only drawback is the lack of a shower, but a new company has started making them again and they have one with a shower.

TABs are larger sized teardrops.  Light weight and small footprints.  Great for pulling and comfortable camping.

Blythe Island Regional Park
March 30, 2013

We did absolutely nothing today.  Had pancakes for breakfast and then rode our bikes around the campground.  This is a large park with lots of walking/biking trails and canoe trails.  We read most of the afternoon.  Unfortunately it is hard to be outside due to the sand gnats.  This is the time of year for them and they are bad this year.  They are tiny little things that pack quite a whallop when they bite.  When we are outside we use lots of insect repellent and now have the camper closed up with the air on because they are so small they come in through the screens.

Carol and her bike

A green heron we saw while biking.

Shots of the campground.

Heading out for Charleston tomorrow.

Okefenokee Swamp
March 29, 2013

What a great place.  We got there about noon and got onto a boat tour about 12:45.  Our boat guide Joey was an older fella who had grown up in the area and boy could you tell it.  He did a great job of making the trip entertaining though and we really enjoyed getting out on the swamp.  I must admit though that I am jealous of the folks I saw with loaded canoes, or kayaks who were going out to spend a couple of nights in the swamp.  Now, that would be fun.

Here is a link to their website if you want to learn more about this great national wildlife refuge.

Okefenokee Swamp

Visitor Center

Our boat and guide

Gator

Red Shouldered Hawk

Cypress trees
Back in the early 1900s a company purchased this land and put a railroad in and logged all of the old growth cypress out.  It was gone by 1930.  It never ceases to amaze me how people used the land to make millions and then just went on their merry way.
The area was names a national wildlife refuge in 1937.

Canoe trail signs

Large wet areas called prairies

Boy standing in the water.  It isn't deep.

Another boat like ours going out

Kayaker

Barred owl

Old homestead on the refuge

Not too shabby living in the early 1900s

The hiking trails around here are spoiling me.  There are no (none) hills.

Blue sky.  I love it.

We checked the weather in Charleston, our next stop, and it doesn't look too good so we considered heading south instead but couldn't find any Florida state parks with camping available so since we had reservations in Charleston, I guess we will head up there Sunday.  We will just have to suffer through the cold and rain.  Go away winter.

Tomorrow, Saturday, we will just hang out here at the campground and enjoy the sunny warmth, perhaps we will go to the beach for a little while.

Brunswick and St. Simon's Island
March 28, 2013

Stayed close to home today.  Went into Brunswick and then over to St. Simon's Island.  We did a little shopping and enjoyed some of the old homes in the area.  My brother Mike suggested a few months ago that I  try putting a map on here so here goes.  The central point of the map is the campground we are at, Blythe Island Regional Park, but hopefully you will be able to tell where I am talking about.


View Larger Map

Let's see if that works.  My camera needed charging so I didn't take too many photos.  Here are a couple though.  By the way, you can click on the 'View Larger Map' at the bottom and then move around, and enlarge or reduce the size of this map to get a better perspective of places I talk about.

One of the squares in Brunswick.  We went into a couple of antique stores but they were too expensive for us.  We're use to garage sales.  We also went into a nice little book store named Hattie's and Carol bought a book about Cumberland Island called 'Plum Orchard'.

The light house on St. Simon's Island.

We found a nice little cafe for lunch.

After lunch we drove out to Ft. Fredricka on the west side of St. Simon's Island.  This was one of the original colonial settlement's by the British and was the main defense against the Spanish who occupied the area south into Florida.  It was established and commanded by General James Oglethorpe who is considered to be the founder of the Georgia colony.
Here is a link to learn more about Ft. Fredricka.

For supper last night we went to a little dive up in Darien just north of Brunswick that was recommended by a couple of locals for their seafood.  It was a buffet of rib eye steak, baby back ribs, and fried and boiled shrimp.  About all I ate was the shrimp.  I think I got my money's worth.  After that we drove through a close by water fowl preserve to do some bird watching.  Carol enjoyed that.

Heading to Okeefenokee Swamp tomorrow.

Sapelo Island and Savannah
March 27, 2013

Busy day.  We had to be at the Sapelo Island visitor center to catch a ferry at 8:00.  Another early morning :-(. We made it though.  Got to the island and hopped a bus for a tour.  Our driver and guide was a lady who had lived on the island for 33 years.  She married a man who was born on the island and was descended from slaves who had been on the island for 8 gnerations.  Here are a few photos from our visit.

One of the homes in Hog Hammock the only community left on the island.

Carol at the only store and bar in Hog Hammock.  Yesterday she was in hog heaven and today she is in Hog Hammock.  Is there a trend here?

Just in case it rains a lot.

Another house in Hog Hammock

All of Sapelo Island is now owned by the State of Georgia except for about 400 acres that are privately owned by the residents of Hog Hammock.  The state purchased this island from RJ Reynolds heirs a few years ago.

RJ Reynolds (think tabacco and cigarettes) bought the island when he was 28.  He had inherited the tobacco business and had a lots of money.  I'm beginning to think that most of the coast was owned by rich people at one time. He remodeled and added to a summer mansion there and here are a few photos of it.

There was also a lighthouse on Sapelo.

We actually saw a dolphin when we got back to the dock on the mainland.

See it?

We got back about 1:00 and headed for Savannah.  We took a trolley tour of Savannah.

While we were impressed with the beauty and history of Savannah, we weren't impressed with the traffic and crowds.  I think we may have had enough of it.  We'll see more history when we get up to Charleston.  We've decided we would rather spend more time at Harris Neck than Savannah.  We're just more inclined to the natural things than the man made things.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.