Since Fair Play is 4 miles east of the GA / SC border, we went back into Georgia today to a state park called Tallulah Gorge which bills itself as the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi River. It is definitely worth the trip to visit this place. There is an overlook on a highway designated GA 441 which is quite spectacular. From this overlook the depth of the gorge is 900+ feet which is quite breathtaking. We also bought a GA yearly park parking pass in Laura Walker State Park a week or so ago which gave us free entry into the state park. They have a very nice visitor center with nice exhibits and starting right at the visitor center is the North Rim trail which gives old fogeys like us easy access to a variety of overlooks where the vistas are superb.
The visitor center is a bit of the way down the side of the gorge so the distance from the overlooks down to the water is only about 400 feet but that seems enough. It is fortunate they have installed sturdy railings at the overlooks because one step beyond the rail is certain death. Very impressive part of the world.
On the way home, we elected to drive around the Tallulah Gorge area on back roads and the drive was magnificent. We must be here at the right time because dogwoods, wisterias and jasmines are in bloom and there is new growth on almost all of the flora. Not as much wildlife as in TX or FL but beautiful nevertheless.
We stopped by another state park in GA, Tugaloo, and discerned it is primarily a spot for boaters. Our GA pass got us in free so the reconnaissance was without cost other than a minor fuel expenditure. The park has nice camping facilities and if we were boaters, this would make a good destination. More beautiful flora here.

Departed Baker Creek in the morning following the Garmin that had been programmed with our new destination. The Garmin directed us in a direction that I thought suspect and, sure enough, I was correct. About 5 miles from the entrance to the campsite the nice lady’s voice emanating from the device indicated I should turn on a skinny little road that had “DEAD END” clearly marked on the road sign. We ignored the nice lady’s directions and turned around and went back to McCormick, SC, and got on what appeared to be a real highway. Looks can be deceiving and, in this case, they were since the road we ultimately used (State Highway 28 which should actually be called scary narrow road 28) was a very scenic road to Abbeville, SC. Beyond Abbeville, the road widened out to about 9 feet wide instead of 7 feet wide and we were able to continue on our way without terrifying too many drivers of oncoming cars.
We continued up the highway to Anderson, SC, where we drove by numerous fuel stations with the most inexpensive diesel we have seen in our last nine months of travel – $2.279 per gallon. Ironically, we needed no diesel in Anderson because we had not driven far and our speed was quite low since we were traveling a good portion of the way on narrow roads.
We made our destination, TT Carolina Landing in Fair Play, SC, right about lunch time and it promptly started to rain. We only did a partial setup with the Invader until after the rain quit about an hour later. Carolina Landing is right on a lake but the RV sites near the lake involve going down a winding, steep road which we deferred on choosing instead to camp at the top of a hill in the park. No wi-fi except at the lodge but a few TV channels could be picked up using the Invader’s crank-up antenna and two of the four channels are pretty good; one plays old syndicated comedies like Dick Van Dyke and the other is a movie channels that today was running a John Wayne marathon.

Today is Easter so all the Baptists or other WASPs are packing up for their trips home. No egg hunts visible this morning. Maybe Baptists don’t do egg hunts.
The Ranger came by our site today and put a new breaker in the electrical pedestal so I was able to return the host’s 30 amp extension to him since we now had our own power. Peg and I loafed all day reading and watching Top Gear reruns between prolonged looking out of the windows to gaze at the gorgeous surroundings.

Another part of a day on the road as we left the Oaks at Point South and drove about three and a half hours northwest to Baker Creek State Park near McCormick, SC. It was a beautiful drive through swampy land with extensive forest canopy changing to hilly land with extensive forest canopy. The dogwoods are in bloom and liberally sprinkled throughout the pine and hardwood forests on both sides of the road. The blooming wisteria vines around here have apparently gone native and completely cover some of the trees resulting in hundred foot tall purple cascades that seem to really complement the emerald green primary growth with the dogwood accents.
Almost the entire drive was on two-lane blacktop roads with the exception of small towns and the miserable portion of the drive through Augusta, GA, where the Masters golf tournament is scheduled to occur in another week. An abundance of golfers have already arrived for the festivities and these diehard funny dressers are all out and about in big Dodge automobiles cluttering the highways looking for restaurants and perhaps golf balls. Traffic was a nightmare and the stupid Garmin or the stupid guy who programmed it ended up sending us directly by the main entrance to the golf course for this rich person’s event where hordes of golf wannabes are amassing to watch the lack of drama. I am not a golf fan primarily because I lack the finesse and talent to play, I refuse to wear the bizarre but colorful knickerbockers and floppy hats and due to the fact I own no golf bats.
As we drove through these gorgeous rural parts of this world, we noticed that misspelled signage and abundant churches seem to be ubiquitous. We saw signs that proclaimed the sale of “ire wood” which must be oak since it is so hard to split. We also spotted a couple of signs that indicated there was a nearby “A-H Baptist Church.” Now I’m not to familiar with many or any Baptists but Asshole Baptists are a cult I have never heard of previously and I’m not sure I want to meet any. Sprinkled among the Baptist churches, which seem to number about equal to 10% of the population, we would occasionally spot a Methodist church. Almost all of the buildings in each rural enclave seem to be in pretty miserable shape except the churches which are quite attractive, sturdy structures. No wonder some refer to this area as the Bible Belt. I’m not sure who puts up the signs around here but there are lots of them that proclaim that abortion is bad, a fetus’s heart starts beating 3 weeks after conception (I’m not sure what they intend to convey here other than alleged biological factoids), Jesus seemingly died for my sins although I can’t remember committing any sins in his presence and that drugs are bad as long as you are indulging in drug use not used by the purchaser of the advertisement. Right next to the signs advocating refraining from sin of most any sort are other signs advertising adult sex toy stores and gentleman’s clubs which are actually strip joints. It seems unlikely I might find any gentlemen in businesses of this type.
We ultimately made it to Baker Creek and found our campsite right away. It is a beautiful spot with lake views out both sides of the Invader. Unfortunately, the campsite assigned to us was a bit out-of-level so considerable jockeying of the Invader was required to find an area where it could be made level through the careful application of leveling blocks and that was only possible by entering the campsite with the trailer facing the opposite direction originally intended by park staff.
Once I got the trailer situated in exactly the right spot and disconnecting from Charlotte, I promptly drove over a partially concealed stump and high-centered the truck. Some cursing and weird maneuvering later, we popped into town and bought some groceries at a store one of the other campers referred to as the “Food Line” but we found out later was actually called the Food Lion. I foolishly bought a variety of meat because they had great prices. On the way home to the Invader, we found out that only a secret location in McCormick (home of the Food Line) sells diesel motor fuel and considerable driving about was required to find the cleverly hidden location.
Once we arrived back at the Invader and Peg engaged in almost supernatural trickery to get all the meat I bought into our modest refrigerator / freezer combo, I found that a new water hose I found at Pio Pico TT in San Diego was not quite the find that I anticipated because it had a substantial leak in one of the fittings. I am such an anal guy that I had sufficient replacement hoses in my equipment horde to connect to the water despite having the Invader pointing the wrong way in the campsite.
At just about dark, as the temperature was dropping, the 30 amp breaker in the park’s electrical pedestal made some ominous-sounding sizzling noises and failed, cutting off 120 volt power to the Invader. Going again to the anal man’s horde, I pulled out a 20 amp extension cord and some conversion fittings and again hooked up power to the Invader. This lash-up promptly failed right after barbecuing steaks for dinner so we were again on 12 volt battery backup power. I strolled across the street to the campground host’s trailer and notified him that the power pedestal was wonky and he said he would contact the ranger to fix it. However, about 5 minutes later he arrived with a long 30 amp extension cord he had made and cleverly walked into the adjacent, unoccupied campsite and robbed power from that location. We were back in business without having to use propane to run our recently overstocked fridge and heat the trailer. What a guy.
Although the events of today were sufficient to bring sobs and curses, the views and surrounding areas are beautiful and the irritating misfortunes of the day were melted away by the spectacular scenery. I hope the rotten luck of today does not reoccur without being in such a magnificent spot. If these events had occurred earlier in our journeys, I’m not sure we would still be doing this. Protracted vacationing had inured us to these misfortunes but I still hope they don’t reoccur, particularly in such abundance.

Boy, this permanent vacationing is rugged. Today we devoted our valuable time to lounging around the trailer eating and reading. I also spent some of the day reviewing and organizing the thousands of pictures we have taken on the trip this year, primarily because I had no other pressing engagements. Having a clear schedule is so distressing for a layabout, ne’er-do-well like me.
It is a gorgeous day today but we spent quite a bit of time inside the Invader with the air conditioning on because we could. Hahahahahaha.

Today our activity was to drive about 30 miles back south to Savannah, GA, which both Peg and I wanted to see. Savannah has a great layout with little square parks all over the city and around these parks are a multitude of old Victorian, Queen Anne and Classical buildings with wonderful architecture. We took a trolley tour around the city that led us through a variety of neighborhoods and it was terrific with a couple of minor exceptions. One exception is that the seats on the trolley are quite stiff and are capable of doing nasty things to your blood circulation in your legs and almost medieval torture to one’s bottom. This is coupled with paving technology that seems to use artillery to smooth the road surfaces resulting in an informative but punishing ride.
There is scant parking anywhere in this city except in the parking lot at the visitor’s center or in parking structures that were installed at the expense of the former glorious architecture near some of the delightful square parks. Walking may be an option to truly see this city but the place ain’t small so you better bring your hiking gear if you select this option. Driving all twenty-some feet of Charlotte around the city would be tough because the streets are quite narrow and there is no place to really stop and look without drawing the wrath of other motorists. Nevertheless, the city is beautiful and I would recommend a visit by all. Peg and I can cross this off our bucket lists.
After having our butts rendered senseless on the tour, we re-boarded Charlotte and spun out to a restaurant on nearby Tybee Island called the Crab Shack. It is a waterfront restaurant sort of tucked away in a residential neighborhood with a big, dirt parking lot underneath a grove of oak trees. It is definitely informal with outside dining on a big deck, plastic tableware and styrofoam dishware but the food was terrific. They serve beer and cocktails but no porter so we had water with our lunch which was a seafood combo for two that was ample for three or four. They brought our meal on big platter about 2 feet across that had King crab legs, some other crabs, mussels, crayfish, a bunch of peel-n-eat shrimp, sausage slices, seasoned boiled red potatoes and corn for $40. It was great but took both Peg and me about 90 minutes to eat it all. Hearty recommendation for this place – definitely a five star lowbrow eatery.
Just outside the entrance to the restaurant they have a big stuffed alligator, an equally large stuffed sea turtle with hair and a mustache added and a pond with little alligators you can feed. Fortunately, they have poles with lines attached to the ends that you use to feed the gators since without these I am sure there would be many tourists sporting bloody bite wounds and missing important parts. This is a great place, in my opinion.
After waddling back to Charlotte, we returned home by dead reckoning and only took wrong turns about 3 or 4 times before making it back to the Invader. Our drive went in all four directions of the compass and we ultimately ended up where we started.

We strapped ourselves into Charlotte and zipped up the road to Yamassee, South Carolina, where we checked into a Thousand Trails campground called “The Oaks at Point South.” There are abundant live oak trees with Spanish Moss decorating them but I did not find any point anywhere, regardless of the direction I looked. We will be here for a few days since it is a TT park and we get to camp here for free.
Unfortunately, we arrived early so we had time to do tasks that we would prefer to forget but cannot. I did some bodywork maintenance on the Invader and Peg did the wash. The laundry facilities here are good and, if one pops into the clubhouse, the wi-fi worked quite well. We also made some reservations for the next few stops ahead of us.

We popped into the Okefenokee Swamp NWR today for a glimpse of an area we had heard about all our lives. We initially looked for the area in Florida which was unwise because most of the swamp is in Georgia. However, we found it where it has always been and went there and took a boat ride into the swamp which was great.
Quite a bit of the boat ride is in the Suwannee Canal which is a big excavation made last century by land speculators who believed they could drain the swamp and sell the land to idiots for farmland. Fortunately for everyone, their venture went belly-up after four years of digging and losing money and they went away leaving a several miles long canal that is filled with water, abundant vegetation and lots of turtles and gators. Our boat pilot / guide was a guy named Bill who used to be a school teacher so he was able to explain what we were seeing in a way that even ignoramuses like us could understand. I would recommend the boat ride to all especially since it only costs about $20 a head and lasted almost two hours. The swamp is a strange place with truly bizarre lifeforms that seem fascinating to me.
Inside the park is also a loop drive that we took and we spotted several gators and some turtles lounging right next to the road. Some of the other folks on the loop apparently are not too savvy on spotting turtles or alligators because they would drive up behind us and then appear to pass Charlotte but instead would stop their vision-obscuring vans between us and the fauna or flora at which we were gazing. Blind, obnoxious twits that, fortunately, were very happy to continue on their way after blocking our view for a while because they still seemed to be unable to see what was plainly evident to us.
Barbecued steak and Caesar salad for dinner tonight. Boy, this traveling is tough.

Our trip for today was taking the Invader to Laura Walker State Park near Waycross, GA. Northern Florida and southern Georgia have beautiful roads with ample conifer and hardwood forests lining both sides. Our Garmin tried to send us down a dirt road into the park but we outsmarted it by ignoring it’s advice and making it take us by an alternate route. I am a big chicken about taking a 51 foot, 10 ton monster down roads that I am not sure lead anywhere since getting stuck or turning around may be impossible and backing up is problematic if required to reverse for more than the first straight section.
We ultimately made it into the park and the spaces are bordering a lake that was intentionally lowered for some type of construction but there was still water in the lake. We were notified in advance that the lake was going to have a reduced volume but we went anyway and we were not disappointed. The campground is very nice with water and electrical hookups that were more than adequate. We met some folks along the lake that had dogs and they let us play with them. It is nice to still see doggles when ours are so conveniently remaining at home in San Diego.
We drove into Waycross after we set up the Invader in the campground since it was only about 5 miles away. Waycross (at least the part we saw) has an abundance of old, formerly beautiful houses that seem to be falling apart from neglect or extended vacancy and it seems a pity because the variety of architectural styles is amazing with a good mix of Craftsman and Victorian styles. I don’t know what happened in this community but it seems to be falling apart. Maybe some factory closed down or industry failed.
Peg found a fabric store which made her happy although I was smart-assing in the store so she got me away from there pretty quickly. We also noted that the weather seems to be unusually warm and there seemed to be a substantial fly hatch so we were able to keep ourselves busy executing flies with my Bug-A-Salt, a gun that shoots table salt like a shotgun that makes killing flies sporty.

On this, our last day in Florida, we went to Kingsley Plantation which was pretty interesting. Old Zephaniah (no shit) Kingsley was a pretty progressive plantation owner. Although he had slaves, he married one of them, Anna, and she ended up being basically the plantation operator and owned some slaves herself. It was a different era, then.
Anna Kingsley ended up with 350 acres of the plantation because she engaged in a scorched earth policy when the land was going to be overrun by the enemy and was awarded the land as compensation. She was able to defend her interests against suits filed by some of Zephaniah’s scumbag kin who thought they should get her land despite being unworthy. She was no slouch and basically ended up being about the best asset Ol’ Zeph ever had. The plantation house is not too big but the lands around it were extensively farmed for cotton. Most of the land, except that portion at the plantation house, is now overgrown with magnificent Florida flora. The roads are all covered with a shady canopy of trees. The brush on either side of the entry road (all 3 miles of it) is impenetrable unless armed with machetes or chain saws.
We left Kingsley and drove up the road to Amelia Island which is covered with high-end housing tracts with names like “The Enclave” and stores in upscale mini-malls with names like “The Shops at Amelia Island.” It is nice if you are rich but it definitely cuts down on coastal access for mere peons. Almost the entire beachfront is privately owned, probably so you folks can’t see or walk on our beach.
At the very NE corner of Florida we went to a pre-Civil War fort called Fort Clinch. It is a masonry fort from the early 1850s that is remarkably good condition and has a terrific views over the St. Mary’s River and the Atlantic. Maybe one of the reasons that the fort is in such good shape is because absolutely no battles were fought here although the North and the South both occupied the fort at different times during the Civil War. Robert E. Lee told his troops to desert the fort when the Union Army got close because, like future far-sighted military leaders, he believed fixed fortifications were a testament to military stupidity.
From the fort we headed back to the Invader to prep for our journey tomorrow into Georgia.
Florida has been a great place to visit with plenty of stuff to see, abundant wildlife and pretty good roads despite the fact they seem to be working on all the roads all the time even though we were rarely able to see any highway workers on the job. We did see lots of detours, hundreds of thousands of delineator cones and barrels, many cautionary signs and lots of road construction equipment but no workers doing anything ever. Stay away from the beaches and Disney World and you will be okay.