Monday morning, we headed North on I-95 and detoured out to Jekyll Island, GA. I’d heard it was a wonderful place, and it truly is! We only spent a couple hours there, but we are confident we’ll be back – we both just loved the vibe and the scenery! Our first stop on the Island was the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. We saw several species of sea turtles (there are seven species in total!); they’re brought to the center after injury, for treatment and rehabilitation. They’re all different sizes, and there were even some babies! Most of their injuries come from being hit by boat propellers, and they can really do some nasty damage to their heads and shells! We saw a veterinarian performing surgery on a turtle to repair its shell. Very interesting place!
From there, we drove around the island and found our way to Driftwood Beach. I was really glad I found this on TripAdvisor because there are really no signs and it’s unlikely we would have stumbled onto it. We walked down a sandy path surrounded by trees and greenery, and as we approached the end and saw the water, we could not believe how much driftwood appeared! As far as we could see in both directions, nothing but driftwood along the beach. I find driftwood to be incredibly beautiful and photogenic, so I snapped a bunch of photos and we really enjoyed our time there (in spite of the heat & humidity!)
I’m a sucker for details when I have my camera out, and I loved these close-ups – with wider shots so you can see what’s what…
We took a quick drive through the Jekyll Island Campground which is huge and beautiful. We checked online later, and of course, they are already fully booked for Feb & March…so it’s not a winter option, but hopefully we will have a chance to camp there at some point. There are wonderful bike/walking trails throughout the island and lots more to see!
We found a picnic area and enjoyed our lunch by the water. We saw lots of people returning on horseback from a ride along the beach – how fun!
From there, we finished driving around the island and headed back toward I-95. We stopped in Savannah and returned our rental car; Mark said he missed having me as his co-pilot and was glad to have me back…but he was also anxious to hand me the keys and have me drive RoVer for a while, too! We left Savannah and headed Northeast out to Charleston, South Carolina for our next stop. Mark and I were in Charleston once before, in 2016, and we both loved the city, so we made sure to include a day on our itinerary for a return visit. Our campground is at James Island County Park, and I was really amazed when I found this one online – sounded pretty deluxe for a county park, and it truly is. We are thoroughly impressed with how beautiful the park is, and how nice the campground is. All of the employees are super friendly, as one would expect – after all, it’s “Southern Hospitality” country! Our site is beautifully shaded and there’s lots of space between sites. Quite the contrast from the KOA in Georgia!
This was one of those nights when I really miss my dishwasher. Ended up with a HUGE pile of dishes, pots, and pans to wash after dinner. And I’m definitely not cooking any gourmet meals…but there’s always so many dishes. Considering I hadn’t had to wash many dishes over the weekend, though, I guess it all balances out!
We took a walk after dinner to check things out a bit, and inquire at the campground office about getting an Uber into Charleston – sounded like it was pretty common and we shouldn’t have any issues in the morning!
Tuesday morning, we did our usual camp ‘chores’ and then requested an Uber around 9:30. It did take a while for the driver to get here (I guess they don’t hang around a county park hoping for rides!), and then it was about a 15-minute drive into the city. And, once again, Charleston did not disappoint! Our focus was to see some things we didn’t see on our prior trip, so we had the driver drop us off at Waterfront Park on the East side of the city where we saw the famous Pineapple Fountain.
We walked the length of the park, enjoyed the view of the water, and found “Rainbow Row” which is somewhat reminiscent of San Francisco’s “Painted Ladies”…but I think some homeowners have repainted their houses in more subdued colors. They’re not as bright as what I’ve seen in some older photos.
From there, we walked through several residential neighborhoods and enjoyed the beautiful southern architecture. If you’ve ever been to Charleston, you’ll recall that the houses are built ‘sideways’, with a piazza or porch along the side of the house, not along the front. And the front door typically opens to the piazza, and then the main entrance to the house is from there. So unique! And so beautiful! I kept stopping to take pictures of greenery, flowers, and gates…so many details to enjoy!
Our destination was the Nathaniel Russell House, an English townhouse built in 1808. We took a guided tour and it was fascinating to learn about the house and the Russell family. The décor was all intended to show off their wealth, with gold leaf detailing in the dining room, Egyptian silk tassels on the bedroom linens, custom-made crown moldings, and more. Their garden was impressive, as well…no surprise, as was the exterior of the home.
Hunger set in and we headed to a local café for some yummy sandwiches, and then to the Charleston City Market. We’d been there previously, but loved it, so definitely had to return. As in the past, there were several vendors selling handmade sweetgrass baskets, unique to the South Carolina lowcountry. We wandered through and bought a hand-painted Christmas ornament to remember our visit. By mid-afternoon, we were ready to head back and enjoy some air conditioning; our Uber arrived a few minutes later and we were back at the campground soon after.
After dinner, we unloaded the bikes from the cargo carrier and took a long bike ride around the campground and park. The biking/walking trails are wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing more of the park. We knew there was a chance of rain Wednesday morning and packing up in the rain is no fun…so we did everything we could Tuesday night – packed the bikes away, rolled up the rug, put away our camp chairs, etc. Really just left the electric and water connected for a quick and easy “getaway” in the morning!
As it turned out, there was no rain Wednesday morning, but it was really humid – so definitely still glad we did most of the work Tuesday night! I went for an early walk and snapped a few photos of the park and the very cool clouds with the sun lighting them beautifully!
We headed out of the campground and made a grocery store stop to restock fruit, veggies, and bottled water. Mark says I drink too much, but it’s darn hot and I need to stay hydrated! And the water in each campground isn’t always the tastiest, even with our water filter…so bottled water is really our best bet. Our route took us through the outskirts of Charleston and then West toward Columbia and then Spartanburg. We saw that there was a BJ’s Wholesale Club along our route, so we thought we’d save some money and stop for gas there, even though the tank was still pretty full. Well, that turned into a half hour detour…we pulled in behind someone who was filling his pickup and his gas can. The pump was SO SLOW, it literally took him 20+ minutes to finish up, and then Mark gave up after about 10 minutes of filling our tank, so it didn’t even get to “F”. As Mark said, it’s too bad we’re not retired with more free time – it would be less annoying when stuff like this happens! Ha!
While I was driving, my OCD tendencies were very happy to see our tire pressures so beautifully symmetrical. Both front tires with the same pressure. Both rear outer tires with the same pressure. Both rear inner tires with the same pressure. Ahh. All is right in the world.
Our destination today…Swannanoa, North Carolina, just a little East of Asheville. During our drive, as we approached Spartanburg, our GPS was warning us of an accident with a 50+ minute delay (so glad it has live traffic updates!). So we found an alternate route that was a bit out of the way but would save us about 20 minutes, and continued to watch the potential delay so we could exit if it continued. The alternate route was telling us to take exit 49A to “Bat Cave”. Hmmm, did it think we were driving the batmobile?!?!? Turns out, Bat Cave is a city in NC.
As we got closer, the delay was getting shorter and shorter, so we decided to stay the course and it was a good decision – there was hardly any delay by the time we got to that area, and we really didn’t lose much time at all! And, the scenery as we came into the area was just beautiful. All we could see ahead of us was pine trees, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and blue skies with puffy white clouds (and a few tractor trailers!). Breathtaking!
We arrived at the KOA Asheville East and headed to our campsite. I knew we had a ‘lakeside’ site reserved, and I have to say, this is the most scenic campsite we’ve ever had.
RoVer likes it here! 
The view from RoVer’s door
For the past few days, the forecast had been showing some rain/thunderstorms in Swannanoa for the afternoon, but by this morning, no more rain in the forecast. Well, they screwed that one up! We got setup/connected, and the rain came. In buckets. Thunder. Lightning. Crazy heavy downpours. For almost two hours. We were SO glad we got here when we did and that everything was connected before the deluge started…and glad our dinner was an indoor cooking night, no grill required. I was bummed because I was looking forward to sitting by the lake and enjoying our view…hopefully tomorrow night!
I’ll close this post with something that came up in my Facebook feed today. I couldn’t agree more…
September 8, 2021, 8:22 pm
Jekyll island is where people go to Hyde! 😂🤣😂
September 9, 2021, 8:57 pm
Charleston, so so beautiful.