Category: 2015-2016 Trip

Florida for 2015 – 2016
Working on my itinerary for the “Real Florida”. Canoeing, biking and forest settings.

It’s been 7 years since we have been to Florida. We are thinking of starting in South Carolina and slowly working our way south into Northern Florida.

Our first day, Wednesday, was a long drive from Sunrise to Sunset but we made our goal a Wal-Mart parking lot just outside of Asheville, NC. It was a 550 mile drive. Sunny but cool and light traffic. No problems except when I put on my Polaroid sun glasses and looked at my computer which displays a GPS map, it was black. No problem, as I have a big Garmin GPS. After a while I found out the screen on my new computer must also be Polarized because when I switched back to standard glasses everything was fine.
Our next stop was only 90 more miles and we got to Greg & Sandy Lewis’s about 9:30 AM. We found the nice little house that Greg designed himself on Lake Keowee in SC.






The community called the Reserve makes the big homes on Deep Creek Lake look like little cottages. One is bigger than the next and the views from his place are fantastic. 




On Thursday they drove us up to the highest waterfall East of the Rocky Mountains on the Whitewater River.

We spent the first 3 days of our trip with Greg & Sandy Lewis in SC. It was like staying in a 5 star resort.

We have known Greg since he was in high school in the 70’s. He is a great friend, kayaker & a fantastic host. He loves to cook and entertain and we truly enjoyed his Southern Hospitality.

Greg prepared gourmet meals each night while also entertaining us each day with local hikes and a boat ride where we could really see the million dollar homes all along the Lake.

His home is near the street and the path down to his boat dock is so steep he needs his high power transportation which is almost an amusement ride of it’s own.

When you drive around the Reserve you can barely see any homes but from his boat these mansions are very visible.

Lake Keowee was created by Duke Power company. They dammed up the main river and all the little tributaries that drop into the lake making for a very long, narrow lake with many fingers.

Occasionally you can see a small stream falling abruptly into the lake.The weather has been cool at night but warms into the high 60’s during the day, with bright blue skies.

On Friday we took a longer drive to Caesar’s Head State Park where we were 2000’ above the surrounding valleys with views to the Piedmont and Table Rock.

We drove into NC to view two very scenic waterfall area with a short hike to Triple Falls and High Falls.

The foothills of SC are a really nice area and both a vacation destination along with a beautiful place to live.

Greg & Sandy have been lucky to be able to retire early and afford a place like this. Sandy was an interior decorator and the home shows her artist touch. Hopefully we can get back another time in the near future. They are only 1 hours drive to the Chatooga River where we have spent many years paddling in the area.

From the Mountains to the Low Country was about a 225 mi drive. We headed to Givhans Ferry State Park. It is on the Endisto River and we had hoped to canoe there. With all the rain the blackwater river was very fast flowing. We were not sure how scenic it would be or if we could set up a shuttle so we decided to do a 6 mile bike ride in the area. It was Peggy’s first bike ride in a year.

The camp was full on the weekend but when we got there on Sunday afternoon, it was empty. We did a short hike and ran into lots of mosquitos, after we put on Off they all went away. We stayed for 2 nights and got a lot of rest. I found out we had a weak cell phone signal signal but boy it worked great tethered to the computer to get me the internet.

On Tuesday we drove 30 miles into Charleston. We did a bike ride around the original colony of Charleston at Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site.

They have a series of paved walking/biking paths. Animals native to Charleston in 1670 can be found in the Animal Forest. They have lots of signs with explanations of how this first settlement managed.

Peggy wasn’t a good girl so she got locked up.

The trails were probably only about 3 miles long but it was a lot more fun riding our bikes. There were lots of schools on field trips. The Adventure is a replica trading vessel docked at Charles Towne Landing.

Several stops had costumed rangers explaining how the colony made friends with the local Indians but introduced African slaves to help them till their farms.

It was beautiful warm day, but tomorrow there is a slight chance of rain and heavy rain is forecast for Thursday.

We decided to camp at a new Wal-Mart just 10 miles outside the historic downtown.  Tomorrow we will drive the RV into the city and hopefully find a parking lot near where we plan to take a walking tour of historic Charleston with 7th generation native Michael Trouche. We also hope to visit the historic Charleston city market which is over 210 years old.

If all goes as planned we should be staying near Savannah on Wednesday night and then drive to Jekyll Island on Thursday.

I read all the reviews on what to do in Charleston, SC and a walking tour sounded like a good way to see the old houses and learn about the history of one of the first settlements in the USA.

We got there about 1-1/2 hrs. early because of the need to find a nearby parking lot that would accommodate our RV. We lucked out, we found a small lot near the city market and only a couple of blocks from where we were to meet Michael Troche, 7th generation native who calls his tours “Charleston Footprints”. So we toured the market and looked at other tour possibilities, like a carriage tour or boat tour to Fort Sumter.

But we like walking so  this two hour tour sounded like the best choice for us.

We met on Meeting Street, Michael limits his tours to 20 persons and you need to make reservations to be sure he can accommodate you on: http://www.charlestonfootprints.com/

We walked all round the old town and Michael regaled us with his stories both historical and humorous.

When we got back to the RV the lot was full, we thought we would have trouble getting out but we made it out in one big turn. We could have been trapped for a day if most people didn’t drive small cars. So on to Jekyll Island tomorrow after spending the night at a Wal-Mart in Savannah.

After a rainy night in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Savannah we only had a short 90 mile drive to Jekyll Island, GA.. We got here at 9:15 AM and there were plenty of available campsites. It is the only campground on this 2 x 8 mile island but it not only has full hookups but it has good fast wireless internet and cable TV.

However the weather on Thursday was the worst of our trip so far. It was a warm 77oF but it rained all day. We got in a lot of rest. Finally on Friday morning, all the rain was gone and we had bright blue skies.

There are over 25 miles of paved bike trails, several golf course and many hotels and homes on the island. The island was purchased by a group of multi-millionaires in 1900 before they discovered Palm Beach, FL. The club was abandoned during World War II when German submarines were spotted nearby.

The Historic District still has the big hotel and many of the huge cottages which have been restored to former grandeur. The island is still a quiet place without a lot of nightlife. There are lots of natural areas and beaches which are probably nice in the Summer. They were cool and windy today.

We saw a group playing croquet at the Island Club Hotel, I guess that’s what you do when you are all dressed in your whites.

Today I decided to try to take pictures with my new cell phone. I still not smart enough to have figured out how to do most things with this Smart Phone but they don’t look too bad.

The picture on the left is a small Villa, which has been restored, it is called the Cherokee Cottage. It is now rented for meetings or weddings. It is typical of the homes the early founders built to be near their club.

The last part of our 10 mile bike ride took us along the Eastern beaches where most of the hotels are.

It was a very windy day and Peggy didn’t like finishing up fighting the wind while riding along the Atlantic beach.

The sunny skies kept us warm even though the temperature was only 70^oF.