North Beach Camp Resort - St. Augustine, FL

We stayed at North Beach Camp Resort from Dec. 5th thru 12th.  (I'm much behind in posting 😕) . We thoroughly enjoyed the remoteness and easy, peaceful feeling of this campground.  While we used it as a base to explore St. Augustine, which was 10 min away, it was an oasis of calm we were very happy to return to after the crowds and bustle in town.  North Beach Camp is actually across the road from Villano Beach.

Villano Beach

The weather was only in the 60's during our stay, so while we enjoyed walking the beach, we didn't actually hang out on or swim in the water.  There is a parking area beachside for campground guests, so you can either walk or drive to the beach (in mere moments).  There is a nice restaurant, The Reef, on the beach, just across the street from the campground which is a nice location for an oceanfront meal or cocktail.  We enjoyed a beachfront drink there during our visit.

The campground extends from beachside to inner coastal.  This map gives a clear picture of the "front" and "rear" of the property.  We stayed on site 101 during our visit, which was ideal as it was close to the front of the property, the showers, the store, the laundry, the dumpsters, etc.

North Beach Camp Resort map

We walked back and explored the inner coastal side.  There is another casual dining restaurant on the canal side, Aunt Kate's.  We didn't eat here, so I can't say too much other than it looked like a great spot to hang out. 

Aunt Kate's Restaurant 

Aunt Kate's Restaurant

View from pier facing canal

View from pier facing campground

There was plenty of vegetation separating sites and creating a nice feeling of privacy and opportunity to enjoy the natural surroundings.  

This shot shows a single site.  You can get a sense of the natural privacy the vegetation creates.

This is a view of the center road looking towards the ocean.  

The property was very well maintained and maintenance staff were readily available if needed.  We had a little "situation" while we were there that they handled very promptly.  We woke at 4:30 am to discover our strand of Christmas lights outside the camper was flashing on and off.  Thinking they were shorting out or something, I simply unplugged them.  When I came back inside the camper the microwave clock was flashing. At this point I realized we had a power problem 😳.  .     I walk I walked around the camper to the electric pedestal and I hear a snap crackly popping sound. $#!T Panicking, I flipped the breaker and unplugged from the pedestal. In the morning I go to the office to report the problem and a maintenance guy comes along quickly to check it out. I’m imagining all the horror stories that could possibly be the end of this story, berating myself for not having a surge protector, wondering how far we will have to travel to have the entire electrical system replaced... it turns out there was a tiny salamander that had gotten into the box and sizzled up. It was arcing creating our flashing power. Problem solved, power restored. RIP Kamikaze Salamander 🦎


We took advantage of the laundry and washroom facilities.  There are 3 washers ($2 a load) and 3 dryers ($2 a load), which we found very reasonable and well functioning.  We used the showers daily also, and while I would have liked them to be cleaner, the water was hot and plentiful.  There was a beautiful swimming pool and lounge area, as well as play ground area and shuffleboard courts.  We didn't use these, but they looked to be in wonderful condition.  There is a good size camp store, with both food and drink items (including a small selection of beer and wine) as well as many gifts also.  There is a living room/den area off the office with TV, wifi, book and video library and local area information, maps, etc. 

This campground is more expensive than what we would normally spend.  I hesitated initially at the ~$70/nite fee.  There is a "stay 6 days, get the 7th free" offer, so it made it more like ~$60/nite.  It was a splurge, but I don't regret it.  Had the weather been better and we'd been able to take more advantage of the beach, I would have been delighted.  Regardless, we loved the campground and would happily return.

I 💚 Savannah

We thoroughly enjoyed exploring Savannah, GA.  I love a good old cemetery and Savannah has one of the best - Bonaventure Cemetery.  The pictures are a sample of some of the beautiful headstones and sculpture we saw.  They are in no particular order and of no specific historic figure's grave - although there were plenty of those to see if you wish.  Without realizing just how big the cemetery was, we started to just walk around.  Once we got lost, we asked a groundskeeper for directions back to the gate.  Then we saw the office where you could get a map, which we did and took a more intentional walk around some of the older more spectacular headstones.  

While some of the photos attempt to capture it, it is hard to appreciate without seeing it on a larger scale, how the dripping Spanish moss adds to the character and ambience of this cemetery.  It is somber and serene.

 

       

           

Our next stop was Tybee Island.  This beach community is "Georgia's Peach of a Beach."  I have to agree.  While it was not "beach weather" we still enjoyed walking the pier and small strip of beach shops.  There was just something about this place that instantly felt like home.  

Looking towards the beach

On the pier looking north.

From the pier looking south.

At the end of the pier, looking towards town.

Artwork on the Pavillon

I LOVE LIFE

Historic downtown Savannah - We took a narrated tour around Savannah so we could get a good look at the city.  It was amazing.  I've never seen a city like this.  Not only is it gorgeous because of the carefully planted live oak trees which create stunning canopies and a sense of coziness that is rare in a city, but it features 22 squares laid out across the city.  Each square is a mini-park.  And to top if all of is Forsyth Park featuring this spectacular fountain.

 

Another notable feature is the free downtown area transit shuttle.  Every 10 min or so you can get on this free shuttle and various places across the city.  After taking the narrated tour, we used DOT to go back to a few spots we wanted to explore further on our own.  This was a GREAT option!

https://www.connectonthedot.com/

While in Savannah, we stayed at Skidaway Island State Park.  This campground was about 20 min outside downtown Savannah and we loved it.  We had an enormous site, and the campground was lovely.  This is somewhere I would gladly return. 

Entering Skidaway State Park, Savannah, GA

South Carolina State Parks

We have stayed in three different SC State Parks for the last 10 days, so I decided to share them all in one post.

Twin Lakes Campground, Clemson, SC

NOTE:  I listed Twin Lakes Campground as a SC State Park in error.  Twin Lakes is actually an Army Core of Engineers campground.  (Corrected 12/1/18)

We were only at this park for one night.  We were in the area to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins.  This is a beautiful park and we would absolutely return.  We had a sandy beach site.

View looking towards the lake from our site.

View from the shore.

Looking from the beach back up to our site.

Of the 3 SC parks, the bath house at this park was our least favorite.  We shower in the campground showers to save space in our gray tank and because an RV shower has to be quick before the hot water runs out.  In this case the water was not what I'd call hot, so... it was still a pretty quick one :-) . Since we weren't here very long I can't say too much else about the park.  The campground is nestled between two lakes (hence the name) and so almost every site is on the water.

Lake Greenwood State Park, Ninety-six, SC

We were at this park for Thanksgiving.  While there were empty sites when we arrived on Monday, by Wednesday the place was packed, and every site was full for Thanksgiving.  Never having camped at Thanksgiving before, we were unprepared for how busy campgrounds are at this time.  We had tried several other campgrounds for a reservation this week only to find them all already booked.  It makes sense that when you live somewhere warm enough to camp in November that lots of folks would take advantage of the holiday to get in one last hurrah.  

Beautiful moonlit night.

View from our site.  Rocky shore line.

Our evening's entertainment - many nights.

We would give the park an OK rating.  We didn't love it, we didn't hate it, but we wouldn't go back.

Huntington Beach State Park, Murrells Inlet, SC

This is the ideal campground.  We have a spacious site, with plenty of room between other sites and campers.  We are able to walk across the road and over a board walk to the ocean and the most amazing beach.  The water in the showers is so hot you actually have to use cold water also and there is free wireless.  We were on site 12, which is an outstanding location.  The bathhouse was "in our backyard" and the ocean was in our front yard.  The wireless router is housed in the bathhouse so the signal at our site was excellent.  There is also a nice campground gift store with basics and lots of cute touristy stuff.  There is a paved bike path which runs north and south from the campground.  We rode it for a bit, but it runs so close to the highway that all you could hear was traffic noise.  Walking the beach was a better option. 

The boardwalk to the beach.

The approach from the boardwalk to the beach.

Huntington Beach.

Site 12

This campground is in a busy oceanfront area, near Myrtle Beach.  Other nearby attractions include Pawley's Island and Georgetown, SC.  We took a drive to Georgetown and walked around the quaint downtown.  It's got cute shops and several restaurants.  We had a nice lunch at Rollin' Local.  We have friends who live in Murrells Inlet, so another bonus of our visit was getting to spend time with them.

Kelly, Carol, John and Gina

Thanksgiving Top 10 List

We've learned so much since we started RVing less than one month ago.  Some of what we've learned is how to do things (attach the towing hitch, level the camper, dump the black water tank 😧) and some of it is about things that make life easier/better/smoother living the full-time dream.  This is a list of 10 things that have come into our life since we started RVing that I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving.

1.  Unlimited Data - We opted to upgrade to Beyond Unlimited with Verizon Wireless for our wireless access.  This has worked out very well so far.  We can get on our iPad, computer, Kindle and Roku using a wireless hotspot.  We use the Waze app daily for directions and so far have had plenty of data and plenty of connectivity.  Unlimited data makings blogging (and so much more) possible.

2.  Amazon Locker - This was a truly marvelous discovery.  While trying to figure out where to have an Amazon package shipped, I noticed a shipping option was Amazon Locker, so I clicked on it and found that you can select a locker to have your package shipped to in thousands of locations across the country.  You put in a zip code and it gives you a list of the nearest lockers.  When you ship to the locker, you are emailed an access code.  When you go to the locker, you enter the access code and the locker containing your package pops open.  Needless to say, being on the road having an address to get stuff shipped to is a challenge, so this was a great relief to discover!  This locker was located at a Quik Trip Convenience Store in Greenville, SC.

That package contains the next two things on my list.

3.  RV Hose Water Filter - We noticed at First Landing Campground another camper had a water filter on the hose bringing water into the RV.  I loved that idea.  We had used the campground water for washing dishes and brushing teeth, but I was reluctant to drink it.  Now that we have the filter, I'm comfortable drinking the water and it tastes much better.  This has cut down on buying 2.5 gallon jugs of water.  Reducing plastic consumption - SCORE!

4.  Refrigerator Shelf Guards - I had seen these before, but until I opened the fridge after traveling to have something inevitably fall out, I didn't realize how necessary they really are.  It's no problem when you are stationary, but once you start driving around with stuff in the fridge, it moves around - go figure :-) so this is a great solution.  Think mini-shower curtain tension rods that snap in place.  

5.  RV/Marine Toilet Paper - In case you didn't know (and I certainly didn't prior to this adventure) you can't use regular toilet paper in your RV toilet.  You need fast degrading toilet paper that will dissolve quickly so as not to clog up your tank and hose when dumping.  We bought a case of this stuff before we hit the road.  I DO NOT want to run out...

6.  Jack-it Bike Rack - This is a specialty bike rack designed to go over the trailer tongue on campers (like ours) with no bumper to attach a rack to.  It is very easy to adjust the cradles to try to get the just right placement for your bikes.  I'm grateful to have been able to bring our bikes on this trip.  It's a great way to explore and get some exercise.

7.  Store bought kindling - If you've ever bought firewood at a campground, you know that it often isn't very dry.  We have an axe and I tried to split some of it to make kindling, but still couldn't start a fire.  At a hardware store, we found a bundle of soft dry strips that make great kindling and make fire starting possible.  This was a very welcome discovery.

8.  Propane Tank Gauge - We use propane for heating, keeping the fridge cold while traveling, and cooking.  The "is there propane left in the tank" roulette was a little nerve-wracking.  So we went looking for and found a gauge to indicate the tank level.  Jury is still out on the accuracy, but I love the idea of being able to check this thing!

9.  Campendium - This is an awesome website (and app) listing campgrounds, public and private, featuring reviews, photos, website links and has been invaluable in finding and making reservations.  I had an unrealistic idea that we would just go and stay as long as we wished where ever we wanted.  In reality, most places have limited availability and reservations are kind of essential.  This has been a huge help in finding great places to camp.  Check it out at Campendium.com

10.  Kindness of Strangers - While this is not new to us since RVing, it is essential to our successful life on the road.  At our first dump station, there was another person dumping, when he heard us talking through the process before starting, he could tell we were newbies.  He came over and walked us through it all.  Much appreciated.  When we were hooking up to the water here, there was a second spout that water came out of when I lifted the handle to start the water flow.  The guy on the next site figured out that you had to pull down on the nozzle to stop the flow in the second spout.  Yesterday we were putting the bikes back up on the bike rack and a guy driving by stopped to offer to help.  There are so many other examples, and I know there will continue to be many more.  We are so very thankful to know we really aren't alone out here.  It's really nice to know that kindness surrounds us. 

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!   

Mama Gertie's Hideaway Campground

We've been in Swananoa, North Carolina since Nov. 12th.  When I saw the name "Mama Gertie's"  I wanted to stay here just for the name, it had such a down-home southern hospitality sound to it.  It had great reviews and is 10 min. from Asheville, which added to the allure.  But I'll be honest, I had a bit of trepidation about the fact that it is built into the side of a mountain.  I was a little nervous about navigating the "hill".  

Looking up "the hill"

Looking down "the hill"

This is the lowest level on "the hill".  There are three levels.  The top level is empty in the off season.  But we took a trip to the top to see the view.

In reality, there was nothing to worry about.  The campground is so well laid out and each site is level despite the incline.  We liked it so much, we decided to stay 3 extra days.  The facilities are the most immaculate I have ever seen.  The showers are each in a private room, the water is hot and has been such a treat in the cold, rainy weather we've been having.  The laundry room is a dream and we actually enjoyed doing our laundry there yesterday.  I give Mama Gertie's 10 stars! ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮

Swananoa has an Ingels grocery store, a CVS and Ace Hardware which were a mile from the campground.  Very convenient.  But our real destination was Asheville.  Everyone told us how much we were going to love Asheville.  Unfortunately the cold rainy weather cut down on our exploration time.  However, "Everyone" was right.  We do love Asheville.  It is one GROOVY town.  It is artsy, fun, funky, hippie, chic, hip, and full of gorgeous architecture.  We have already decided we need to return in the spring when we can see the place in bloom.   I promise an Asheville highlights post then.