Maggie

 Ships have names: Yorktown, Lexington, Freedom, Oasis of the Sea...


 Planes have names: Spirit of St. Louis, Enola Gay...


 Cars have names: Herbie, General Lee, Kat, Christine...


 Homes have names: Tara, Biltmore, Breakers, Fallingwater....


 So it is with our "home"




 Meet Maggie!

New home

 In my last post I promised you a picture of our new home. Promise made, is a promise delivered!



Eat your heart out!

Just try and hide those pangs of jealousy!

Details

Gone for 91 days. Where did those crazy kids go during those days you ask. Well since you asked I will show you where we spent those nights.

 It went in a roughly counter clockwise fashion


 So after 91 days, 3487 miles what did we learn? We were born to roam! Before we left we were not sure that we would still own a coach, be married, or one of us dead the other in jail after 3 months.None of those things happened. We came back to this stationary house we own. Our "home" is on 6 wheels. When we bought this coach it was a test, as cheap as possible test, to verify if it is indeed something we want to do. Jury has decided yes.

In keeping with that we, will announce here that in about 10 days we return to Little Rock Arkansas. It is there are trusty coach will stay and our new home will bring us back to North Texas. Sorry no pictures at this time but check back in a week or two. Mary's siblings think we are crazy to travel and they do not know of our new home. In for a shock I would say!



Can't wait to get back on the road again....

Veteran's Day

 Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable day. One brought to you and made possible by our veterans.


 I failed to show you any scenes of Tombigbee State Park outside of Tupelo. A pretty park in a beautiful setting.

 We spent Veterans Day at the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

 Which also includes this cemetery

 There is so much history here you owe it to yourself to visit. It was a beautiful fall day to pay homage to soldiers who gave all on this hallowed ground

 We have three more stops on our way to North Texas. None of those stops will have anything of interest to my readers. If something does happen I will let you know. Otherwise a final post when we have safely arrived in Alvord. Thanks for coming along with Mary and I.

Savannah

What?   Where?

 Did the fool forget to mention something from weeks ago?


 No, we did return to Georgia. How about Savannah Tennesse. There are so many one liners I could use....

 Remember the movie "Walking Tall" about the sheriff of McNairy county in Tennesse? Well we just drove down Buford Pusser Highway in McNairy county! I know, pretty exciting huh?...No? Well let me put this song in your head, yes you will hate me for it!

 Green Acres is the place to be, farm living is the life for me...


I warned you!


 We are at Green Acres RV park just south of Savannah. Will be here a couple of days meeting up with Ron, Maureen and the three ankle biters. Our paths were close to overlapping so we adjusted the schedule. Mentioned it sometime back. Plans still show us back in North Texas next Sunday.

 A return to Shiloh battlefield tomorrow.



Green acres is....

A little update

We are still alive and well. It has quit raining and we are caught up on our laundry. Good set of washers and driers here at state park, and reasonable cost. Reasonable is $1.50 to wash and same to dry. Remember the $7 to wash back in Destin Florida?

 Drove to Red Bay Alabama to tour Tiffin motor home factory. Enjoyed seeing coaches being built from frame up. We will either buy one, or have one built to our specs. If have one built it would interfere with our spring plans. This coach has been fine although it did not like the hills in North Alabama.

 This coach was relatively inexpensive. We wanted to be sure about using one prior to spending stupid amounts of money. Well, we are ready to stay gone more than stationary. Ready to raid the accounts or promise the banker I will live another 100 years. Stayed tuned on that issue...

 Moving day tomorrow. ....



Carpe diem

Budget? We don't need no stinkin budget

Four or five years ago we stopped in Tupelo while driving the Natchez Trace. Speaking of that if you have not driven it you should. You can take it from Natchez Mississippi to Nashville Tennessee. A lot of information to be learned along the way. Find out more HERE A wonderful drive to enjoy if not in a hurry.

 But I digress. When here on that trip we happened upon a rib shack for dinner. Have remembered those ribs ever since then. Well we are here, it's raining so what better place to spend some time than that memorable of a place.

 Back in Charleston I enjoyed some great ribs at Melvins, went there twice. Mary was pigging out on pulled pork.

 Enjoyed those as I judged them against my memory of Tupelo years ago. Well we returned to Crossroads  Second time as good as the first! Tender, tasty beyond description, of course dry not wet. If you do not know what that means,shame shame on you!

 The winner is Crossroads Rib Shack


 Not much time left on this trip but remaining meals are coming out of this kitchen. Did not pack enough fat pants...


 To quote a line from Dead Poets Society

 "Gather ye rose buds while ye may"    RIP Robin William

Dining sugestion

 Well it has been a rainy day here in Tupelo. Two tired people decided touring was not on the agenda for today. We did need to forage for food and Mary wanted to look for some sweats. As I have told you before we do not eat at chain restaurants available back home. On a road trip, try something new. Well we found this butcher shop that also had a counter and some tables. Supposed to have a killer burger.

 If you ever find yourself in Tupelo, stop HERE for a meal. A burger to die for. Internet being funky so could not get full list of stuff on burger, but meat, two patties worth, is this:


Smash Grind Aged filet, ribeye, new york strip, Sirloin, and Benton's Bacon. Rich and Smokey, and the BEST burger in the world.


 Had cheese, bacon bits, pickled onions, home made pickles and some sauces. May not be the best, but would be damn hard to beat! Wonderful meal, delightful laid back atmosphere, nice people.

 Speaking of people: even at Wally World people are more polite here than in Florida...

 Northern Alabama is very pretty with nice hardwood covered hills...

 Because it has been raining I have been going through our trip expenses. We have eaten our weight in crab cakes, shrimp, other sea food and bar b que. Did not have a set budget, but for the sake of our waist lines,and wallet, we need to cut back. Way back...But damn we have sampled the local cuisine.



carpe diem...

Changes

 Not sure if I  should start with Van Morrison's version of Tupelo Honey, or just something from Elvis. You guessed it, we are in Tupelo. Turned 2 easy days into a lonnnng day. Rain, fog, bad directions result in two tired puppies. Early to bed for us. Thunderstorms forcast for around 3am. No, we are not visiting Elvis related sites. We are safe and happy, you be the same!

Well dang....

 We knew this would happen, but why so soon? That dreaded day has arrived, the day we turn for home. All along we told our selves three months, but who knew three months would fly past so quickly? This has been the adventure of a life time, yet we are already planning our destinations for next year. Spring will find us in the 4 corners region. Lest your memory fails you that is where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet. Probably majority of time in Arizona and Utah. September and October will find us back in Florida. We know, hard to see America when you return to the same place. Trouble is, we love it there so will do what makes us happy. Pretty selfish.


 Sometimes you have to be selfish. Life brings no guarantees. We know that all too well. November 2nd was an anniversary for us. Number 28 to be exact. As you are probably scratching your head, I will help you out. Monday marked the 28th anniversary of the phrase "Mary, cancer survivor". Do the math, we only had 15 years, as young kids, when cancer was NOT in our vocabulary. We do not take the future for granted.


 Having said that, I want to talk about the others on this trip. In spirit, it has been a full house. I mention the others with us in no particular order.


 I consider this young man to be my third son. Matt Hoelscher is that dear to us. (his mother Sharon is screaming at me now saying I named him MATTHEW!)

In recovery from a stroke:

 I prefer this view of the young man.

 This next photo includes some dear friends on a magical trip to Mexico

 Little did we know what later that year would bring for Dan, and Rhonda as his care giver. Dan underwent bone marrow/stem cell transplant treatment. It was successful, but complications happen

 Before we left we took this photo of our three members of the 'walker brigade'. Mary post back surgery, Dan continuing his fight and JD post knee replacement surgery.

 Little did we know then that JD would become sick to the point he spent many days in ICU. There went their plans for a train trip to NYC. Ms Pat and JD have been taking care of things for us while we have been gone. Don't know how to repay their kindness.


The Wesley's always looking out for us. Calling and making sure we were aware of possible dangers ahead. We thank you and appreciate it, stay with us!

 Ahead is a couple of one night stays on the way home. Friday should find us in Tupelo MS for 4 nights. We want to tour the Tiffin RV manufacturing plant in Red Bay Alabama on Monday. There are also some other things we want to visit/revisit. Then it is on to Tennessee for a quick rendezvous with friends and a revisit of Shiloh. Then back to Mississippi to visit my Mothers grave and visit the casino's. Mary has a hankering to loose the .50c we have left. Then a night on the road before reaching home. Not much more in the way of history lessons, but see us home. Will post from Tupelo and Tennessee for sure. I will wrap it all up when we get to that place where the mail gets delivered. Our "home" is this 9 by 31 feet house on wheels.

Mary's motto: "Today is a good day for a good day"

Carpe diem...

Charles Pinckney

 Wondering what the hell that title means? Did you sleep thru American History or Civics class like I did? Must confess we had never heard of him before today. But if you have your very own National Historic Site, you must have done something.

 Do some research and you find he was responsible for the Pinckney Plan,or draught, in creating the constitution. I failed to photograph the bullet points but you can thank him many times.


 More information HERE


 Multilingual? Do you speak Gullah? What, you never heard of it?

 Be sure and click on photo so you can read some interesting stuff.



 Fasten your seat belt as we are jumping forward nearly 200 years...


 We chose to avoid over priced "plantation" tours in favor of something else. Very glad as once again we learned things and got more than our moneys worth. The area is known as Patriot's Point. Read more about it HERE  We had been on the Lexington down in Corpus Christie before but there was so much more to be seen here. Ended up spending about 4 hours, walking climbing and reading.

 They do not call this the low country with out good reason. We are 6 plus miles from the Atlantic ocean. Even so the tidal currents in the creek below are very strong. The grass you see is really giant mud flats.

 Depending on the weather we hope to visit a tea plantation tomorrow. Successful or not, our stay here is drawing to a close.

Charleston day 2

 Our first impression of Charleston was far from favorable. We went back today to see some sights on our want list. Charleston is horribly congested in the downtown area. It really does not have a central business district. What it does have is narrow two lane streets. If you choose the inside lane it is a sure bet someone will be trying to turn left, without a signal. If you choose the right lane it will suddenly become parking spots. All this adds to near gridlock. Charleston is home to the Citadel University, College of Charleston, Medical University of South Carolina. Yes, there were young people everywhere. Parking is at an absolute premium as you might expect.


 The city is referred to the "Holy City" around here. It does have an abundance of churches. Could not get to most of them but here are a few photos.

 The last photo is one of a Church known as the round Church. It sets in the middle of a cemetery which is right on Meeting street, a main road.

 While no where near as charming as Savannah,it is not without it's own charming buildings.

 This cobblestone street was so uneven and rough it was difficult to walk on.

 We did tour a small museum, The Old Slave Mart. What we learned was that slaves used to be traded on the street. City fathers thought this unbecoming so they changed laws so that they had to do the trading inside. This building was the largest and only survivor. We also learned that those traded were born here, not brought over from Africa. In addition free blacks were buying and selling slaves as well. All to make a profit and there was a sliding scale of worth based on age/sex/condition and skills. The traders were the middle men between sellers and the buyers. Unfortunately no cameras allowed inside.

  Charleston has taken some old buildings and created a nice area. It is known as City Market This area changed our opinion of Charleston. While we have no plans to return, we no longer think as negatively about the place as we did. Remainder of our time will be spent at various locations in the countryside, plantations, old and current and a winery/distillery!

Fort Sumter

 Way back in August the PBS station in Alabama replayed Ken Burn's epic film The Civil War. It was in celebration of it's 20 years since first showing. You have seen it haven't you? If not, why the hell not? Even though I had seen it several times before, we watched it again, all episodes.

 Because the first shot was fired here, this place holds a significant place in history. I am far from a Civil war nut, but do enjoy history. We have in the past visited battlefields at Pea Ridge, Vicksburg and Shiloh. In fact a return visit to Shiloh is in store for us on way home.

 Many unique things about this fort. You have to take a ferry out to it, it has NOT been restored. While a center battery was built in 1890's, the exterior walls that remain are as they were post siege. Many forts were restored/rebuilt in 1930's by the CCC's. While that effort is great, always better to see the real thing. And with that a quick visit to Fort Sumter.

View when approaching via ferry. At the start of Civil War it was 3 stories hign, 55 feet high. What you see is whats left, mostly around 9 foot to 25 foot in height.

Some views of the walls of the fort

 A plaque for the Union soldiers stationed there April 12, 1961. No such plaque for Rebel forces who abandoned the fort 4 years later.

A view of Charleston from ferry. Notice the LACK of skyline. Charleston is one of the largest bulk ports on east coast. Hard to tell by skyline, or lack thereof. Charleston was leveled during Civil war. Thus nothing,or precious little, predates that time period.

 More on Charleston tomorrow. Warning, I may reset your expectation or view of Charleston.

Charleston

 Well we have made it to Charleston, South Carolina. Travel day so no pictures to wow you with. Front coming thru bringing clear skies, drier air and cooler temps. Rain forcast next week so will have our butt's in high gear trying to see all we can. Several venues are outside so those first, inside stuff for Monday or Tuesday.

I told you earlier about higher tides in Georgia. The last few days tides were above normal, in 10 foot range. As we were on barrier islands we would drive past a marsh that was mostly grass with muddy spots. Next morning it was mostly water with shoots of grass protruding up.

 Skidaway Island, except for state park, is one big gated community. Noted a lot of other gated communities around Savannah. The haves and the have nots.

 We are at a park owned and operated by the county. The campground is but a small portion of the park. They are in process of putting up Christmas lights. Starting on 14th it becomes one of those drive thru Christmas scenes.


 Tourist information tomorrow.


 We are here:

Savannah part 3

Well the rain has altered our plans, but not washed them out. A couple of random bits of news then a funny story, then some photos.

 Most of the world does not know, or care, but Georgia Tech upset Florida State in football last Saturday. The game has been shown at least 4 times since then here.

 EVERYTHING here has somebody's name. Joe Blow parkway, Joe Blow bridge, even Joe Blow boat ramp. Not famous names, at least not famous outside south Georgia.

 You know when a prank or gag startles you? Funny first time, second or third time not so much? Well since Amelia Island we have been in the land of the oaks. What do oaks do in the fall? Drop acorns of course. Now give them some size, and a thirty foot drop to gain speed, and they make a loud noise even on rubber roof of RV. Now let them hit roof of Jeep while in it and you need to change clothes...

 Between rain showers we went to visit a cemetery. Ok, we are weird, get over it. This was a historic cemetery with character. In a day when you are lucky to get small bronze plaque, these monuments are impressive. Some were 30 feet or so tall.

 It's the south, a barrier island so guess whats next?

 Why the name you ask?

 This one surrounded by moat, fed by elaborate system designed by a young engineer named Robert E. Lee when he was 29

 Battle here proved the effectiveness of rifled cannons instead of smooth bore.

 And while he is famous for it, he once overturned the same thing..

  Our next stop is Charleston, SC. I assure you that reports from there will include a report on a fort. Fort Sumpter where the first shot of the Civil War was fired. We have learned something new at every fort we have visited, hope that you have as well.