Wait a minute, that wasn't a cemetery!

We spent the last week on Edisto Island, SC, at a Wyndham Resort. Yeah, we got into the time share points thing, and now we are trying to use our points before we lose them. We had a nice quiet week, not doing too much of anything, partly because the weather was chilly and/or windy.

Edisto Beach was nice, and we did some walking around. Had a great dinner at the Dockside Restaurant, and did an island history bus tour. That was where I found out that we were not in a cemetery at St. Simons Island in Georgia as I reported in my previous entry! Our guide let us know while we were at a church on Edisto, the grave markers were not a cemetery, but rather a graveyard. Cemeteries are at a distance from the church, while graveyards are are in the churchyard.

We are now at a beautiful county park at St. James Island, just south of Charleston, SC. The park is a bit pricey, but has it all, including WiFi, full hookups, and a shuttle (for a price) to downtown Charleston. We will use that as I am not sure I want to park the big truck downtown. More on our Charleston adventure as it unfolds.

St. Simons Island, GA

We are in front of the beautiful Christ Church Setting

We had a great day on this island with good friends Marshall and Lucy Kendall. This is one of the richest areas in the country, with one neighboring island, Sea Island, is closed to the public! Lots of famous stars go there because of its privacy.

As we are 'normal folks', we settled for the trolley tour, narrated by Bunny (born on Easter), a grand lady of the South. She gave a heckuva tour, full of history, facts, tidbits, and jokes. Stopping spots included Christ Church, where the Wesleys prayed and preached. This church has seen several Presidents attend worship service, including Carter, Bush Sr., and Wilson. On two sides of the church lies a beautiful cemetery, with many historic family plots.

We later spent time at the church and cemetery, as well as at Fort Frederica, where the British under Oglethorpe created a bastion in 1736 to prevent the Spanish from advancing up the Atlantic Coast. At its peak, the settlement had a population of over 1000. It was surrounded by a wall/moat, and was guarded by the fort which overlooked the waterway.

The National Site is peaceful and well kept, with many of the shops and buildings' foundations intact. The walls are not there, but there are many plaques with info on the structures, as well as some of the artifacts found at each site. Parts of the fort are there too, but it is eerie to know that hundreds of years ago this settlement was thriving, and now there is hardly anything remaining.

Here we are by part of the fort remains.
The trolley near the St. Simons Lighthouse

A Little "catch-up"

I'm going to try and catch up a bit while we are at Edisto Island, SC. We are 'sitting still' at a Wyndham Condo, and the weather isn't going to be too nice the next day or so...so here goes-

We left Florida for Kingsland, GA and spent 5 days there. Kingsland is right off I-95 halfway between Jacksonville and Brunswick, GA. Our first full day there we took care of maintenance issues onthe coach, sort of got organized, and I did some woodcarving. I'm working on some Father Christmas carvings. The next day we headed for the Okeefenokee Swamp.

Tim standing by the Chesser House

We enjoyed the National Park Center there, catching up on some history of the "Swampers"--those brave self-reliant folks who made do in a tough environment. They battled insects, snakes, alligators, not to mention the hot humid summers, and scrabbled out a living. The Chesser House still stands hidden among a bunch of pine trees and palmettos and is open to the public. Built in 1928, it is in good shape, although one can see the sand below the house through the spaces between the floorboards. The whole white sand yard is raked continuously to aid in the spotting of approaching snakes!

We also did a swamp tour, enjoying the banter of a 7th generation Swamper. We saw countless alligators, turtles, water birds, but thankfully no snakes. It was a quiet and still area, punctuated only by bird calls. A lot of the tour was through a canal dug by a company bent on harvesting the cedar forest in the swamp. The work was done by prisoners mostly, and the project ended when the lumber company went belly up.

A gator slithering through some swamp plant life

Late that afternoon, we met up with Lucy and Marshall Kendall in Brunswick. Marshall was also a Proton Therapy patient, just graduating Monday. Marshall is an amateur woodworker, and he is changing the lucite lenses used in beam treatment into bowls. He is turning them on a lathe and then attaching the bowl to a turned wooden base. They are beautiful, and he making them as a fund raising project to assist proton patients needing assistance in housing during their 8 week treatment regimen. He now has one of my lenses, and we are excited to see the finished product.

Next...St. Simons Island, GA, a must-see in this neck of the woods.

A Day at the Beach

We are finally getting some nice weather here on the Florida panhandle. We took advantage by spending the afternoon on the "Emerald Coast" (so-called for the color of the water), finding a quiet spot on Blue Mountain Beach. We honestly have not seen any mountains in Florida...there is a medium sized hill near this beach, not sure if it called Blue Mountain or not.

The breeze was light, the skies were sunny and the waves were mesmerizing. The sands along this part Florida's Gulf Coast are amazingly white and fine. The sand squeaks when you walk along. And the sand is so soft, it takes quite a bit of effort to make headway.

The weatherman is calling for an even nicer day tomorrow, so we plan to return on our last full day in these parts. Sunday we are making our way into southern Georgia.

The only negative about our stay in DeFuniak Springs has been poor internet and phone service. We have 'the network', but there isn't a crowd following that Verizon Geek anywhere around here. When we get our next laptop we hope to upgrade our broadband card--ours is an oldie that doesn't have an aerial assist, nor a port for a remote antenna.

Thought for today: I have such a great memory, I can remember some things that never happened.

The Florida Panhandle

Well, we are near DeFuniak Springs, FL, in an area that has spotty internet service...so I am hoping I can stay connected long enough to get this post in.

Larry and Nancy Broers stopped in the area on their way to Dallas from Naples, FL. It was a nice reunion, visiting while sitting by the Destin Harbor in the warm Florida sun. I managed to doze off a couple of times (must be the post-radiation effects...maybe--sorry, Larry and Nancy). We had a local dining experience at Dewey's Destin Seafood place...rustic, and at the end of a bumpy gravel drive, but tasty food.

I appreciate those who have indicated they have been reading my blog. If you post a comment, it has to be okayed by me for publication onto the site, so that comment might not show up for a while, especially with my internet uncertainties. So feel free to let me know you're out there!

I am now out of cancer treatment for 3 weeks. Amazing how the time goes by so quickly. Still doing pretty darn good. I truly appreciate all those who have shared their support and concern.

Tim, Larry and Nancy at Dewy's in Destin