Worth the Drive: Two "Bay Sunrise" cocktails at Up the Creek Raw Bar in Apalachicola
Welcome to our spring 2022 travel blog. We haven't been camping since October, so we're very excited about getting back on the road. As you can see from the maps below we will be revisiting some of our favorite spots, but also exploring some new ones too. Based on lots of feedback, I'm returning to my old post format where the text and the photos are from the same day.

Stops on our southern leg:

Stops on our southern leg: -Red Lion Inn -Massena, NY -Martin Guitar Factory -Gettysburg, PA -Monocacy National Battlefield -Richmond, VA -Grimesland, NC -Sunset Beach, NC -Savanah, GA -Skidaway State Park, GA -St. Simon’s Island, GA -Jekyll Island, GA -Crooked River State Park, GA -Cumberland Island National Seashore, GA -St. George’s Island, FL

Heading South

Heading South

Stops on our northern leg:

Stops on our northern leg: -St. George’s Island, FL -Plains, GA -Andersonville, GA -Atlanta, GA -Keenesaw Mountain, GA -Fort Mountain State Park, GA -Smoky Mountains, TN -Asheville, NC -Blue Ridge Parkway -Mount Mitchell, NC -Floyd General Store, VA -Gettysburg, PA -Home

Heading North

Heading North

Sunday, May 1, 2022

DAY 16

 Sadly we left St. George Island this morning after being there less than 24 hours, but that was the only vacancy that we could get when we started booking camping spots in February!

FINAL PIX FROM ST. GEORGE ISLAND

Site #3, Dr. Julian Bruce State Park, St. George Island, FL 

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Found this tree frog in the electrical box this morning!

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The bridge back to the mainland from St. George Island

Breakfast at the Sand Dollar in Port St. Joe



Better than a full Monty

On to Plains

Leaving Port St. around 10 AM after that disgustingly good breakfast, we headed for Plains, GA, to visit several of the President Jimmy Carter sites.  The 300 mile route to Plains was straight as an arrow, and flat as a pancake as we headed north to the Georgia border.  As we approached Georgia, the pine barren waste land gave way to green productive farms, and the closer we got Plains, the more prosperous the farms appeared.




Earl Carter purchased this farm in 1928, and like any children growing up on farms, young Jimmy had plenty of chores.  There was no indoor plumbing for the first ten years that the Carters lived there.  Jimmy, an Anapolis graduate, gave up his career in the Navy to run the family farm when his father died in 1953.  


Jimmy's bedroom.  Notice the books in corner which included Treasure Island.  Jimmy loved to read and one of his school teachers, Miss Julia, recognized he was something special and gave him War and Peace to read when he was 12.

Earl and Miss Lilian's bedroom



The Carters had a clay tennis court and Jimmy and Earl often played each other.


Billy Carter's Gas Station

Main St. 

Official White House Portrait


Jimmy, age 97, and Roslyn, age 94,  still live in the same house they built in 1961.  It's now well protected and inaccessible for public viewing.  The ranger at the visitors' center said the President is now confined to a wheel chair, so he doesn't get around.  

The audio guide to his boyhood home included tapes that the President recorded, making it even more touching.  Certainly in my life time we have not had a more honorable man in the White House.  The more I learn about Jimmy Carter the more I like him.  






Day 15

We were on the road by 7:15 heading to St. George Island and Apalachicola which are in the Florida panhandle.  We arrived in Apalachicola around 12:30 PM, just in time for lunch at Up the Creek Raw Bar.   Needless to say the food, drinks, atmosphere, & view were worth every inch of that 300+ mile drive!














St. George Island Lighthouse

The beach along St. George Island



Terry Bull, this one's for  you.



Pizza from Joe Mama's in Port St. Joe...44 mile drive from our campsite.

Site #3 at the Sugar Hill Campground on St. George Island

What a great finish to our day!
















 

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Day 14

 This was a rest day for us.  We only put 31 miles on our car as we drove south to St. Mary's and back for gas, groceries, water, and a little site seeing

The Crooked River
Swimming is discouraged in the Crooked River?

Our campground is adjacent to the Kings Bay Naval Station, a nuclear submarine base.
This guy really ran aground!

Back to the village of St. Mary's, which was originally a small fishing village, but between the development of the nearby naval base and the ferry service to Cumberland Island National Seashore, it has grown into a charming little town.  While in town we visited the Submarine Museum which is is dedicated to preserving the distinguished history of the submarine.

 More than 99% of all WW II submarine combat war patrol reports are housed here, and files on nearly every submarine the United States has or has had in service as part of the collection.  There is a variety of pictures, paintings, models, artifacts and rare historical documents, some of which have not been made available to the general public.

Even DVD's of all the classic WWII submarine movies were available for sale.  If you're into submarines, visiting this museum would be on your bucket list.





Site #37, Crooked River State Park

No food photos from today;  cereal for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, and hotdogs and beans for dinner.