The trip to South Carolina was uneventful, the only irritant being the road (I-95) through 100+ miles of Georgia. There was construction for at least half of that leg, with concrete barriers on each side of the two northbound lanes, and no shoulder at all. Quite nerve-racking. Yemassee is about 45 miles from Savannah, a little less than halfway between Savannah and Charleston. Our RV park (“The Oaks at Point South”) is small (88 spaces), old (40 years), rural, heavily treed, and quite pleasant. There is nothing to do, though, so we will have to improvise. They have an internet hot spot in the office, but it’s not free. And our Verizon wireless internet goodie doesn’t work since we are in a bad reception area. Bill discovered that the nearby KOA has a free hot spot, though, so we go there every day to get our email fix.
A few days earlier, Becky had ordered a GPS thingy for our truck. It was waiting for us when we got to the RV park. I have always thought they were unnecessary toys. After all, what are maps for? But, it’s turned out to be an invaluable tool. This may be the only time I have ever been wrong.
Early on Friday evening, there was a barbeque dinner offered on the premises, catered by a local restaurateur (“Ray“).
We tried it; it was fine, but not memorable. There were only a few takers; not the usual early-diner senior citizen crowd.On Saturday, we all went to the Soft Shell Crab Festival in Port Royal---about 50 miles northeast (right next to Beaufort). We got there early, it was raining, so we left early and went to Wal-Mart. How’s that for entertainment?
On Sunday, we walked to the nearby Low Country Visitor Center and Museum (2.5 miles roundtrip) to look at what we thought would be memorabilia from the Civil War (excuse me, here the polite folks call it the War Between the States and the impolite folks call it the War of Northern Aggression). The property had been the home of an important (read: wealthy) local merchant, but the home was burned in 1864 by General Sherman’s army, and rebuilt in 1868. There was virtually no memorabilia there, primarily just a gift shop. Beautiful southern architecture, though. There’s a lot of that around these parts.
On Monday, we went to Walterboro (25 miles) to the dentist for our regular cleaning. We had our records with us, sent by our dentist in Flagstaff, to give them whatever background information they might want. They wanted new x-rays, anyway, which---amazingly---were free. The dentist was very nice, and had a high-tech office and an efficient and friendly staff. (Everyone in the south is friendly.) He advised us to stop at the artisan center in Walterboro to see the arts and crafts offerings from all over South Carolina. We did, and it was interesting. We also wandered through the “historic” downtown area of Walterboro. It was very well preserved; mostly now consisting, though, of high-end jewelry and art stores.
On Tuesday, Becky and I went to Beaufort to take a look. Very nice, pretty town; with well-maintained historical areas. We had lunch at "historic" Blackstone’s Restaurant, on Scott Street just off Bay Street---a block from the shore.
On Thursday, Becky was to leave for Havasupai, flying from Savannah to Las Vegas via Dallas/Forth Worth. Since her first flight was scheduled for 7:00 am, we (including Daisy) spent Wednesday night at the Red Roof Inn in Savannah. There was a Japanese restaurant nearby, so we indulged our passion for sushi and sashimi. Yummy!!! At 5:45 am on Thursday, Becky hopped on the hotel shuttle to go to the airport. At 6:15she called to tell me that she had my keys to our truck in her purse. She left them at the American Eagle counter, and I (also taking the hotel shuttle) picked them up an hour later. Daisy and I then returned to Yemassee and spent the day at extreme leisure.
On Friday, The Wheelers and I went to Charleston and spent an interesting day seeing some of the city. We got involved in a local promotion for a vacation club ("We are NOT a timeshare!!!") for what was intended to be a simple way to score some free tickets for local tours. It was supposed to take about 45 minutes but was so interesting that we ended up spending almost three hours there. But, no sale. And, because it got so late, the tours of Charleston will have to wait until we go back with Becky.
Saturday was another day of leisure. The highlight was my going to the local Piggly Wiggly for some food items. There's an interesting phenomenon in this area: Most stores, even the giants, are set back off the street or highway, hidden by stands of trees. It sometimes makes them hard to find, but it helps the beauty of the environment.
On Sunday, I mostly prepared for Becky’s return---washing dishes and clothes, vacuuming the house, and taking Daisy for long walks. Becky called from Kingman to say they had all successfully taken horses out of the canyon, but, unfortunately, Barbie’s horse had spooked and thrown her off only ten minutes into the return trip. She was injured enough that she was taken to Kingman by helicopter, poked and prodded and scanned, and released---with serious pain medication---to return to Las Vegas with Becky. A later report was to the effect that she was sore but otherwise OK.
On Monday, Becky returned from Las Vegas by plane. She was scheduled to arrive at the Hilton Head-Savannah International Airport at 5:30 pm, but---surprise!!!---her plane was late, due to weather in Dallas/Fort Worth, her interim stop. We kept in touch throughout the afternoon and evening, so I always knew what the flight status was. The flight finally arrived at 10:15. For no explained reason, when I arrived at the airport at 9:45, the Arrivals board showed her flight set to arrive at 9:15 and expected to be On Time. (????)
On Tuesday, Pat’s brother Dan and his wife, Kathie, arrived at our RV park to spend a few days.
They live in Anderson, South Carolina, about 3½ hours Northwest of where we were. Nice people. That night we had a weird dinner with them at the local Denny’s: All the food orders were slightly incorrect and arrived serially---no two at the same time. It was bizarre.
On Wednesday, we all went to Savannah, Georgia, and took the mandatory trolley tour of the historic section.
Becky and I had done that six years ago, and remembered absolutely nothing about Savannah---except that the park bench scene in “Forrest Gump” and “Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil” (with Kevin Spacey) were filmed there. The historic part of Savannah is perfectly charming.
We had a nice lunch at Wild Wings, and then headed home.
On Thursday, we all went to Beaufort and wandered around that charming town. There are beautiful (and beautifully maintained) old southern mansions there, and a lovely waterfront.
The girls went shopping while the boys had lunch. I had a wonderful bowl of French onion soup at Hemingways (no relation to THAT Hemingway) facing the water. We returned to Yemassee to a cookout by Pat. (Yummy hamburgers, hot dogs, and fruit salad).
On Friday, we did little of note, just relaxing Dan and Kathie left, to return home.
On Saturday, we all went back to Charleston. This time we took a carriage ride through the historic area
and a ferry ride to Fort Sumter
(paid for---except for Becky’s carriage ride---via chits we had received from the vacation club people). Charleston is a lovely place. Very charming and full of history---of both the Revolutionary War and the War Between the States. And Fort Sumter was very interesting. (The Civil War started with the shelling of the fort by the rebels, who were trying to force the Yankees out---Fort Sumter‘s being the only federal outpost in the area. The fort was shelled endlessly for many hours, with no casualties on either side, until the Yankees gave up---having run out of supplies.)
On Sunday, Bill and I basically rested while Becky and Pat went shopping in Beaufort (which was essentially closed).
On Monday, we all went to Hilton Head Island and went on a 22-mile bike ride. It‘s a lovely place, very upscale, with wonderful bike trails. The sand at the shoreline is packed so hard that we actually rode our bikes on the beach.
On Tuesday, we all went back to Charleston to have lunch with Sam Heitzman, an old co-worker of Becky’s from First Interstate and Union Bank days. We met him at 82 Queen Street, a restaurant located, not surprisingly, at 82 Queen Street, a historic site in central Charleston. It’s purported (by Sam) to be the best restaurant in Charleston. We certainly can’t disagree; it was delightful.
The popular dish was, surprisingly, barbecued shrimp and grits.
Best of all: Sam picked up the tab. Yea, Sam! On the way to lunch, we stopped at James Island County Park (part of the City of Charleston) where Becky and I had spent some time six years ago. It’s a lovely place, with a beautiful RV park. It was even nicer than I had remembered,
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