After letting the fancy GPS get us lost again, we made it to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. We wanted to see the mythical creatures that we keep hearing about but were yet to see. Turns out, the road that loops thru the preserve is temporarily closed, so all we could do was walk thru another part of the preserve. The one Claudia picked was also closed, so we were forced to walk the only open trail. Well we got about 150 feet down the path and we caught sight of an 8 footer basking on the far bank of this creek. Another 100 feet down and there was a bigger one yet across the way. We kept going a little further – DON’T ask me why! The third one was about 12 foot long and on our side of the creek. We didn’t go much further before heading back. We saw what we came for.

The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (8 AF) is a wing of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). Here in Pooler Georgia, there is a museum dedicated to those who served and those that lost their life in service. Great stories of US pilots serving in England before Pearl Harbor, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Women Air Force Service Pilots, the mechanics who ‘loaned’ their aircraft to the pilots for a few hours to fly a mission, Prisoners of War, and more. Several full size aircraft and dozens of models are on display. Most of the B-17 pictured lost it’s tail coming home, but the pilot received a medal for making it back. Rebuilt, it is a wonderful display! Claudia pushed me into a side gunner’s simulator where I took out 17 enemy fighters. There is a small chapel here, too, with stained glass like you never saw. Nice day here.

Sort of like Chicago’s loop, downtown Savannah has a one square mile area of historic buildings and squares (what we call parks in the midwest). We saw the birthplace of the Girl Scouts as well as the birthplace of John Wesley’s Methodist church. Many side streets are pavers while some are even cobblestone. There are FREE buses that run rectangles in the city that let you visit sites in one area and then quickly jump to another. After working our way south, we hopped a bus around to the north side to visit the riverfront which is filled with eateries, shops, and spirits, both alcoholic and supernatural! I didn’t know that this city is known for its paranormal activity to the point that they have ghost tours. They also have our favorite – candy shops! This time, we bought pralines.

Tybee Island is a barrier island with a lot of history and great beaches. We stopped at the Light Station on the way in. Built in 1773 and rebuilt, it has guided many ships into the area. Fun fact: the colored stripes identify this lighthouse so sailors know where they are. We climbed to the top, all 178 steps, to see the incredible view. A picture below shows not only the view, but the battery below that is now a museum for the lighthouse. Afterwards, we drifted down to the other end of the island to the Tybee Beach Pier. Although great views can be found here, the real fun is fishing! The first catch while we were there was a stingray! A good two foot across, after resting for a few minutes, the hook was removed and the fish was released. Next catch was a bluefish also at about 24 inches. Must have been just under the minimum as after several measurements, he also was released. We had a seafood snack and then checked out the little shops.

Oh, so much history here. The first shot of the Civil War was shot at Fort Sumter. While doing a walking tour in the center of town, we saw rainbow row – 13 pastel painted Georgian row houses. They show up a lot on souvenirs and in other art. This area is also home to the richest in the city as well as the blue bloods whose ancestors came here in the 1700s. They live almost exclusively in their own society. We heard the story of Robert Smalls – a man born into slavery that not only freed himself and others, he given a command in the Union Navy and eventually became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Read his history please! We also toured the Magnolia Plantation, founded in 1676 by the Drayton family, it remain in that family. The gardens here are quite famous in travel mags and rightly so. There are several ponds on the grounds that are filled with birds, turtles, and alligators, one of which is nicknamed Red October, and not because he is Russian!

I knew that this stop meant there was a lot of history to see, but this is like a center point in history. Fort Moultrie on Sullivan Island was under construction in June 1776 when it was attacked by the British and it still forced their retreat. After the war, it ended up abandoned. The fort was rebuilt in the 1790s and again in the 1880s as other wars erupted. It last saw duty when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, but after WWII, it was left abandoned one last time. It has since been restored and is a historic place and museum. Leaving Sullivan Island, we stopped at Patriots Point where we toured a destroyer, a submarine, and the the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier. A great deal of each ship is open for the tour – engine room, control room, radio room, CIC, and the flight deck of a carrier. Just trying to think of how many planes took off and landed on that deck blows you away. Many types of those many planes are on display either on the flight deck or below decks, including my favorite, the Corsair F4U. For the sub, you enter thru the forward torpedo room and exit thru the aft torpedo room. Along the route, you pass thru about eight watertight bulkhead doors that were about 36″ high and 24″ wide. These were fun getting thru!

We have heard of the famous ‘Myrtle Beach’ for years, but now we can say we have been there! It is also our first time seeing the Atlantic together. Too cold for swimming but it is an awesome site. We are actually staying in an RV resort in North Myrtle Beach so we have a 25 minute ride to the strip in MB. For the off season, it is still quite busy, yet we got there just in time to be first on the Sky Wheel – the big ferris wheel like the one home at Navy Pier. We walked down on the beach, which is loaded with sea shells, and then back on the boardwalk. We visited shops along the way and had lunch at the Land Shark restaurant. This place is just as commercial as Gatlinburg, but it is much more spread out. Worst part here so far was the lousy crab I was served for dinner at some upscale place. Tonight, we are indoors as rains from the storm in the gulf are just making it up here. We had a nice morning walk thru a botanical garden right here on the Intracoastal Waterway at the NC – SC state line. We walked another set of boardwalks thru the swamp along the ICW. Digger loved the sights and smells more than us.

We have a method to our travels in that we try not to drive more than 3 – 4 hours in a day, and then we like to sit for at least three nights to relax. Columbia was to be a short stop on the way to the coast, but it has been a nice visit. The Palmetto Trail is currently 350 miles (going to eventually be 500) that stretches from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic coast thru South Carolina. It is a great nature walk that we hiked first near the town of Peak which is 30 miles west of Columbia. There we crossed train trestles and tried to count the turtles swimming in the river and walk a trail thru a forest that had a bear sighting not too long ago. We hiked the trail again the next day where it crosses thru downtown Columbia where it runs along the Columbia canal in their Riverfront Park. Nice urban setting where you can relax in a hammock while listening to the Broad river babble down the rocks. Signs here warn to not feed the alligators. We also toured the South Carolina Military Museum – this was a great find that Claudia found looking for FREE things to do here. Two buildings full of exhibits, stories, and memorabilia from the civil war thru every war since. If you are near here, stop and see this.

Our current base here in Marion North Carolina puts us 10 miles south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. North of the parkway is the Pisgah National Forest. There is so much to see in this area, we could spends weeks here. We have seen the highest point east of the Mississippi – Mount Mitchell, one of the areas largest waterfalls – Linville Falls, and Lake James – a hotspot for water recreation. Fall has arrived here and it is quite beautiful here. The ride to the parkway from our campground is scary. The first five miles are nice and scenic, but the last five are up the side of a mountain, switchback after switchback. 45 mile per hour limit and I can barely keep it above 20. The parkway is a two lane that is a much better drive with many pullouts for taking pictures. On Friday night, we went to a local hall to listen to some true Appellation Bluegrass Music. There is a movement in the region to keep the area’s original music alive. The concert was free and the music is a slower version of the current bluegrass and is done as folk music that tells the story of these hills.

Our campground here in Sevierville is about 20 miles from the park entrance, yet the Smokys are quite prominent. It has been overcast our time here yet that has added more character to the area. We drove more than halfway across the center section of the park as there are pullouts all along the road. We walked the Appalachian Trail for a VERY short way. It stretches from Georgia up to Maine. We (and that includes me) made it up to the top of Clingmans Dome – the highest point in the park at 6643 feet. The last 330 feet up is done walking up a steep half mile paved path. The view was worth the near heart attack. After our fingers were cramped from picture taking, we drove back down to Gatlinburg for some lunch. This is the biggest tourist trap I have ever seen. There are shows, rides, waterparks, shops, food, museums, and everything else you can imagine. The change from the park to this is like walking out of a solemn service at church and into a circus. Back in Sevierville, we are about 1000 feet from the largest knife store in America – Smoky Mountain Knife Works! There is also a Coleman Outlet as well as a Lodge Outlet right next door. We even bought a bottle of Tennessee Moonshine before we start to pack up. Tomorrow night we will be in Marion, NC. We will be10 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway.