Twiltley Branch COE at Okatibbee Lake (mostly Pictures)

 Location: Twiltley Branch COE Campground; about 10 miles north of Meridian, Mississippi right on the banks of Okatibbee Lake. 

I've tried to stay at this campground over the years, but something has always come up that made me change my plans. I finally made it here, and I got really lucky with the campsite I chose. It is right on the banks of the lake. The end of Liberty is about 10 feet from the water. As I'm making this post, I can hear the waves lapping against the stone revetment. The good news is I haven't seen a single mosquito since I've been here. Also, Liberty is in the shade which is helping the refrigerator stay in the 50-degree range and best of all, no ants or other bugs like at the last campground. 

Nice shady spot without any near neighbors

This gives an idea how close we are to the water. After this picture I set up my starlink right behind Liberty and it worked at about 70% of optimum

This is looking out my back window in the evening. The party barges are going back to the boat ramp and the geese are getting some exercise.

This is also out the back window but in the morning as the fishermen are heading away from the boat ramp.

This lake seems very popular for family outings with the kids swimming in the lake directly from their campsite. I have a view of the boat ramp from my back window and there must have been a hundred boat launching since I've been here. The campsite is also within easy driving time of Meridian, which is a good vibe, decent sized city.

If I'm at a COE campground, I have to go take a look at the dam. This is gravity dam and since it not on a navigable waterway, there isn't a lock or powerhouse. There are lots of picnic areas and playgrounds,,,more than usual.

 

This is a picnic spot on a peninsula. It was a nice spot.

I explored one museum which was the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience. It is like the Mississippi Hall of Fame for entertainment people. I was surprised how many top entertainers, writers, TV personalities, etc came from Mississippi. As it happens a lot for me, I was the only visitor in the place and could take my time looking around at all of the exhibits and stuff. When I checked in at the front desk, she asked me if I qualified for any discount from the $15.00 entrance fee. I said, I'm a senior veteran. She said the senior part saves you some money, but the veteran part gets you in free. I liked that, especially the way the young girl phrased it. I think my age showed a little though. She asked how I found out about the place, and I answered, "google maps". Which is how I learned about the place as well as directions. The girl I was talking with didn't bat an eye, but the girl behind her couldn't contain her laugh as she repeated, Google Maps. Oh well, it's a nice museum, (7 out of 10) and worth a couple hours to walk through it. 

This stop is my next to last one before getting back to my homebase and it has provided me two nice sunrises. I can see them out my back window. I haven't seen a sunrise or sunset in a long time and it was a good feeling to see one. I have a feeling it will be my last for a while, but you never know. 

First sunrise. This is looking out my back window.

Second sunrise.

This red-headed woodpecker came to this same spot each morning. I like to think he came by to tell me "good morning". 

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be sleeping in Louisiana tomorrow. I'll be staying two nights at Poverty Point State Park just north of Delhi, Louisiana in the middle of nowhere. I've stayed there before and don't plan to explore the Indiana Mounds again. I think I'll just rest up those two days and maybe do a recap of the trip.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.   

3 Slow Days at Demopolis

 Location: Foscue Creek Campground (COE); Demopolis, Alabama (about halfway between Montgomery, AL and Jackson, MS)

I've stayed at this campground before and liked it so I'm back again. But surprisingly, one of the biggest draws for me was a local restaurant about 5 miles away. It is called Simply Delicious Bakery and Eatery and located in front of the Walmart. Although they don't advertise it, there is a sense of Amish/Mennonite influence. No menus are needed. You walk through a small cafeteria type line and chose one of four main entrees and two side dishes, cornbread or roll and drink included in the meal. The main dishes change daily, and they are open from "10 a.m. till everything's gone", five days a week, closed Saturday/Sunday. I got the beef tips/rice, green beans, corn casserole, roll and diet Dr. Pepper. I also bought, separately, a hunk of Humingbird Cake. This was only the second time that I've had that type of cake. The first time was at this same place a couple years ago. To me, it's a strange cake. It starts out tasting really good, but it's downhill from there. If my memory holds, I won't get it again. Too many other choices of homemade desserts. I rarely take pictures of my meals, but I couldn't resist this time. 

It's good eating if you're in the Demopolis area

The only exploration was to see the dam that is nearby. This campground is on the banks of the Black Warrior River which is part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway. The dam is a gravity dam with a navigation lock. No gates on the dam or hydro-electric powerplant. Simple and easy. There is a nice park near the end of the lock for people to picnic or just sit and swing. Good job Corps.

Central Alabama

The setting sun was shining on the refrigerator side. I wish it was more shaded.

This is a young couple sitting in the swing looking at the river. Then entrance/exit of the lock is just to the right and the gravity dam in the background. 

Big bench. This is attached to a pavilion. It would be a great place for a family get-together.

I liked this one. Nice bench in the shade. 

I didn't do any major exploring. An update of the refrigerator: Strangely, it started working for a couple days before I got here but then it decided to slow down. It's maintaining about 60 degrees in the refrigerator and 20 degrees in the freezer. I've gotten confirmation from my x-wife that the thermistors that I ordered have arrived. I'll be back at home-base on the 1st and will install one and cross my fingers.

I picked up some hitchhikers. I always carry some Terro Liquid Ant Bait for situations like this. The ants will be gone by in the morning. 

 Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed to another COE campground. This one will be just north of Meridian, Mississippi on the banks of Okatibbee Lake. I made the reservation in the blind since Recreation.gov didn't have a picture and Google Maps didn't ride through the campground. I hope I get lucky. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Strange Vibes in Montgomery but Peaceful Campground

 Location: Gunter Hill Campground (COE); about 15 minutes west of Montgomery, Alabama

Today is day four and my last day at this campground. The campground is nice, probably in the top 20 COE's where I've stayed. I had plans to explore the Legacy Museum in Montgomery but when I showed up, the line to get in was around the block. I wasn't going to wait that long to explore any museum, especially because I've become so jaded to them. Since I'm a "planner", I went to plan "B". Plan "B" was another museum, sort of. It was The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. When I got there, it was the same thing. People lined up around the block. I couldn't understand it because it was a weekday. Why weren't all of these people at work and leaving these tourist trap places to travelers like me? I've never seen a museum in the middle of the week with so many people waiting in line. I gave up and got something to eat and heading back to the campground. On my way back to the campground I saw a sign about a "Juneteenth" celebration and realized that it was today. That was the reason for so many people in line.

My campsite. Heavy shade with a small opening directly above. I pointed my starlink at it and got a signal. Not 100% reliable, but workable. I still have a strong Verizon signal but it is nice to know that such a small opening will bring in a starlink signal.

 These two museums are located in old downtown Montgomery. I'm familiar with what went down around here back in the 60's but figured time had moved on. Afterall, it has been 60 years. Nope, the strange vibes I had been feeling was like a time warp. It felt as if Montgomery was trapped back in the 60's or early 70's. Once you leave old downtown and head into some of the older residential areas, the same old-time vibe is felt. It's not a heebie-jeebies vibe or a hinky vibe or even a bad ju-ju vibe. I haven't run across it before so I'm going to call it a time-warp vibe. I don't think it is healthy for the town and heck, they may not even be aware of it. It's also probably a pretty safe bet, it could just be my craziness poking its head up. But I'm also betting I'm not the only full-time traveler that trusts his feelings about people and places. I wouldn't have a problem coming back to visit those museums, it's not that type of feeling. We will see what the future holds.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be heading west to another COE campground just outside of Demopolis, Alabama. I've stayed there before and it's a nice campground. This trip is beginning to have the "feels like far" feeling (Jeremiah Johnson movie reference). I'm ready to get back to home base although I'll only be there for a month before hitting the road to the big RV Rally in Goshen, Indiana in mid-August.

This was looking out my door around sundown. It was a nice combination of tree, smooth lake and changing sky. It's a "sleep well" type of feeling,,,,much better than any ole time warp feeling. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Georgia's Little Grand Canyon and a Dam

 Location: White Oak Creek Campground (Corp of Engineers; Eufaula, Alabama. (On the Georgia/Alabama state line about 60 miles north of the Florida State Line)

Dang, I should have just posted a map instead of such a long description. It sure feel great being back in a COE campground. It is just a completely different feeling than private or state parks. This is a seven day stay because I had to scrabble to fill in some time when my reservations at another COE south of here got cancelled. The reason was staffing shortages. Surprisingly, a couple of weeks after I got notified of the closure, I received an email that things had changed, and they would remain open. Too late, I had already modified my reservation to seven days at this campground and I'm glad I did. This is a nice campground and is located close to the descent sized city of Eufaula.

There is a lot more "pivot irrigation" around this part of the south than I expected. I'm used to seeing in other places around the country. 

 

Typical two lane highway in southwester side of central Georgia

This is a rare view in such wooded countryside. It's common out west but not usually in the south. 

When I modified my reservation, I had to give up a nice lake view site but I've been satisfied with this one. It is very shaded and the view out my back window is great for a nosey interested person. 

There were two things I wanted to explore around here. The first was Providence Canyon, which is sometimes referred to as Georgia's Little Grand Canyon. This canyon was not created by nature. It was completely caused by man and his ignorance back in the early 1800's. Around 1830, men started farming the land where the canyon is now located. They foolishly and unknowingly plowed their fields up and down the hillside. It didn't take long or many rainy seasons before the erosion became apparent. By then, there wasn't anything to do except watch it. Well, I decided I wanted to watch it too or at least see it, so off I went to look at it. It cost $5.00 to see it and I felt like a kid at a traveling carnival paying to see the bearded lady or some other sideshow attractions. The younger readers may need to find a seasoned citizen and ask about such things. The $5.00 is paid to an "iron ranger" on the honor system so I could have cheated but I know my conscious well enough that if I had done it, in a month or so I would be mailing $5.00 back to the State of Georgia with an apology. I'm a believer that if you do something bad, you'll be punished 10 times over. Also, if you do something good, you'll be rewarded 10 times over. 

You can spend the day and walk a trail down to the bottom of the washout canyon, but I chose not to do that. The reasons were mosquitoes, recent rains making the trail muddy and laziness. I was able to get some descent pictures from the trail along the rim. So, I got what I came for which was to see it.

This is the breezeway at the Providence Canyon State Park Visitor Center. Nice "rocking benches". 

 

One of two views I'll use to show the "canyon".

Second view. It's worth a stop if you're in the area, but don't go too far out of your way to see it. 

The second thing I wanted to see was the lock, dam and powerhouse that created this nice large lake that I can see from my campsite. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was a lot of siltation at the downstream end of the lock and about half-way across the dam. It was obvious that the lock and half of the dam gates hadn't been opened in a long time. Looking downstream, the river hadn't been maintained either. No commercial traffic had passed this way in a long time. Later, I searched online to find out what happened. Strangely, finding out was hard. It is like it is a big secret but apparently the lock has been closed since 2016 due a flood that over-ran the lock and control room. Apparently, navigation must not be important on this river because it sure appears that the COE has abandoned that portion of the dam. It also looked as though no electricity was being produced but I couldn't find a reason why not. I guess it's a mystery that is hiding in plain view. I was going to leave the conversation at that but, oh hell, I'll give my opinion. I think the navigational work by the Corps of Engineers along the Chattahoochee River should never have been done. The river is too unpredictable and the soils too erodible (note: the Little Grand Canyon). Someone had their head up their a$$ made an honest mistake and now the COE has realized it but wants to keep it quiet. A damaged navigation lock being closed for nine years. Come on, man!!!

This is the surprising view that I saw. The concrete structure is the lock guide-wall. That is the place where barge traffic would enter/exit. The siltation in front of it is just downstream of the dam and in line with half of the gates. Those gates and lock haven't been in operation in a long time.

  

Maybe the lock repair money was spent on this nice "thinking bench". You can see the right half of the gates looks to have not be opened in a while based on the silt downstream. The square bays on the left are the outlet bays from the turbines. Without any movement in the water, I'm assuming no water is passing through the turbines, meaning no electricity is being produced. Another puzzle. 

The view from the top of the dam looking back on the lake was really nice. The sky was putting on a show after weeks of dreary on again, off again rain showers and overcast. I soaked it in (get your mind out of the gutter, I kept my clothes on)

The dam is close to Fort Gaines, Georgia and I thought about exploring a Pioneer Village but changed my mind just as I was about to turn into the place. The buildings were recreations, and you could easily tell they were modern. I've seen the real thing and didn't want to cloud my limited memory with cheap fakes. Plus, remember, I said I was recently self-diagnosed with a case of laziness and exploring this would have taken time and effort.

Something to keep my life exciting is my refrigerator is acting up. The freezer is working just fine, but the refrigerator is only getting down to about 50 degrees. I suspect the thermistor needs replacing. For those unfamiliar with RV refrigerators like mine, they have a temperature sensor (thermistor) that is attached to the cooling fins in the refrigerator. If you slide it up, the refrigerator gets colder, slide it down and it gets warmer. They are cheap and you can get them from Walmart or Amazon for about $10. Apparently, no stores carry them in stock. I checked with Walmart, Bass Pro, Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply, etc. No joy. I tried to have it shipped to a store so I could pick it up down the road. I've done that before, but this time it didn't work. None of the stores could receive it until June 30th. Heck, I'll be back at home base on July 1st, so I'll just tough it out till then. I'll order it so it will be waiting on me. In fact, I'll order at least two because I plan to try replacing just the senor. If that works, it will save me the headache of replacing it in the back of the refrigerator where there is very limited working space. I'm hoping to prevent myself from learning new cuss words by doing it this way. We will see. I'm also ordering an electric ice chest. Does anyone have any experience with them?

Tomorrow is moving day, and I'll be heading to another COE campground. This one is about 20 minutes west of Montgomery, Alabama. It looks nice and I haven't been to it before.  

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Andersonville & Unique but Sad National Cemetery

 Location: Andersonville RV Park; Andersonville, Georgia (60 miles southwest of Macon and 120 miles south of Atlanta)

This campground is an older, small city owned campground. It's in the small town of Andersonville. Don't plan on buying groceries or getting gas in this town. It is only some houses, a museum and town buildings. Its claim to fame is it was the railroad siding for the prisoners coming to Andersonville Prisoner of War Camp. My campsite, while a little small, is comfortable after a little jockeying to get in just right. I have a strong cell signal so not even setting up Star Link. 

OK, I guess this will be mid-Georgia

It's hard to see, but there is a nice grassy hill going down to the site. I wouldn't want to be here when this place is full.

This will be my last post on the War of Northern Aggression, War for Southern Independence, Southern Revolutionary War, Civil War for a while. I'm tired of it. History is written by the winner and it's too late for changes now. It may be fitting that my last post will be about one of the more shameful parts of the war. Andersonville was a Prisoner of War camp run by the Confederates. Life in the camp was horrendous. But the inhumane treatment of prisoners occurred on both sides. The northern equivalents to Andersonville would be Fort Douglas in Chicago or Elmira in New York State. I'm pointing fingers at both sides but using Andersonville as an example since that is where I'm camped. There is a trifecta of National items at the same location. There is the Andersonville National Historic Site, The National Prisoner of War Museum and The Andersonville National Cemetery. 

The Andersonville National Historic Site is the location of the old POW camp. It was located on 26 acres of land and housed 45,000 Union prisoners of which 13,000 died due mainly to poor living conditions. The dead were buried naked so their clothes could be used by the other prisoners. The camp was open for 14 months which means the average daily death count was 30. The water source for the men was a small creek that flowed through the camp. This creek was used for drinking water, cooking water, bathing water and bathroom. There wasn't enough water for that number of men, so the men started digging holes to get a mouthful of water from the seepage. The men were praying for help. That help came from a huge thunderstorm that hit the camp. The large amount of rainfall created a flood that cleaned the camp of all the leftover meal scraps and human waste. But their prayer was really answered when lightning struck the ground which created a hole where an artesian well opened up and gave the men fresh clean water until they were liberated in May of 1865.

This is the area of the camp. That low area going left to right in the picture is the creek that originally provided water for the prisoners. Later an artesian well was opened up by lightening during a thunderstorm.

As usual in places like this States erect their monuments to honor their citizens who were prisoners here. This is one of the better ones and is Wisconsin's. 

Maybe you're thinking General Sherman liberated the camp on his way from Atlanta to Savannah during his infamous "March to the Sea" in late 1864. Nope. Although his right flank went through Macon (60 miles from the camp) and he was aware of the terrible living conditions in the camp, he consciously decided NOT to liberate. After the war, when he was asked why he didn't, he said it would have taken time, manpower and supplies to have done it and he considered his march to the sea more important. Remember, his march to the sea wasn't against an opposing army, it was to terrorize the civilian population by allowing his men to rape, steal, burn or kill anything they came across. The intent was to break the will of the Confederate population. To summarize, Sherman allowed his fellow soldiers to die in terrible conditions at the camp so his men could punish civilians. Is it any wonder that his name is not respected as an honorable man, at least in the south? But to be fair, although he was one of the first to practice, "total war", he wasn't the last. Just think of the London Blitz, the Dresden bombing, the Tokyo fire-bombings, etc. The latest in this sad type of war is the October 7th invasion of Israel by Hamas.

The National Prisoner of War Museum was opened at the Andersonville Historic Site in 1998. It is to honor and memorialize all POW's, not just the ones that were in Andersonville. There are two videos you can watch, each about 15 minutes long before you tour the displays and artifacts. I was in the video theater by myself and couldn't make it past 5 minutes. It was just too sad. I left. If you plan to visit it and have children, think long and hard before doing so. Adults need to know and remember, but it is much too much for children (just my humble opinion).

This is the cross from the POW camp in Luzon, Phillippines. It was made from cement that the Japanese gave to the Americans/Phillipinoes to build a shrine. The Japanese were thinking Shinto Shrine but they made this cross instead. After the war, the American Battle Monuments Commission found it and saved it. It was later placed here in the National POW Museum. This was the only picture I took in the museum.

The Andersonville National Cemetery is attached, but separate, from the Andersonville Historic Site (location of the old camp). I used the word "unique" in the title to this post and will explain why. I always take the opportunity to pay my respects at the National Cemeteries in my travels. I've seen the ones at Arlington, Rock Island, Battle of Little Big Horn, Battle of New Orleans, Shiloh and dozens more. But this one at Andersonville was a first. Two things really. One was that most graves had names. That is unusual. The reason is the camp doctor/medical staff kept a list of the names of the dead. They smuggled that list out and gave it to the press so it wouldn't be destroyed. The second was the closeness of the headstones for those that died during the Civil War. It took me a few minutes to realized that was because those men had been buried in a trench, not individual graves. I hadn't seen that before, or if I had, I hadn't noticed it. The modern era graves are separated like most other cemeteries. The latest date I saw on one of the stones was March of this year. 

This is the entrance to the National Cemetery

Surprisingly, with the large amount of pain, suffering and death around this area, it was a peaceful place. 

This picture is reminiscent of so many other National Cemeteries.

This is the area of the original burial trenches. The stones were added much later. 

Showing the difference between the newer on the left and originals on the right. 

Between the POW video, artifacts, displays, the camp history and the national cemetery,,, I was totally bummed out. I'll be glad to leave here tomorrow. 

This is a picture of a picture located in the Little Drummer Boy Museum in Andersonville. The picture was taken at a Gettysburg reunion of soldiers in the early 1900's. Obviously, it colorized later. Looking at it, after the sadness earlier in the day, made me smile a little. It was good. 

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed to a Corps of Engineers campground on the border of Alabama and Georgia. I hope to find a little peace there. You can bet your a$$ there won't be any Civil War explorations.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.    

Finally - "Parade of Unity"

 Location: Paulk RV Park (city-owned); Fitzgerald, Georgia

Two days ago, I put the Atlantic coast in my rearview side mirror and headed west towards Louisiana. After 325 miles of "thinking", "head-clearing", "soul-cleansing" (wow, I built that up pretty big uh?) towing, I stopped at a city owned campground in the city of Fitzgerald, Georgia. It was a good tow on descent roads with nice fuel/rest stops. It seems as though a traveler needs drives like those just to let time catch up and put some things in perspective.  As I've said before, I'll pick something to think about during the day and wear a colored silicone ring to remind me of it. The words of the day, for the tow, was "faith" and "gratitude". My daughter is who suggested "faith". It was a good day. 

Represents the South Carolina/Georgia border area

It turned into a pretty day with puffy white clouds and blue sky.

Campsite #2. Full hook-ups and not crowded. The campground feels more open and exposed than my normal COE or NFS campgrounds. It was OK, but I doubt I'll be back. 

Fitzgerald is located about 150 miles south of Atlanta and the only thing I knew about the town was it had a museum named "The Fitzgerald Blue & Gray Museum". That sparked my interest enough to stop here for three days and take a look. When I started exploring the museum, I was very surprised by what I found out. 

I've traveled a lot over the last 11 years, and I've explored many Civil War museums, battlefields, cemeteries and memorials. I've explored Fort Sumter where it all started and Appomattox Court House where it ended. I've walked on the battlefields and felt many lost souls in places like Shiloh, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Corith etc. In each place, I could sense how the information being presented was skewed/tilted in one direction or the other. In non-weasel words, it was either a Yankee or Rebal place, but they always said a few nice things about the other side mainly just to placate visitors. As with almost everything in this life, you can listen to whatever they want to tell you, but you have to do your own research and figure it out for yourself. If you don't, then you can be easily mis-led. Sometimes, you will figure it out wrong and that's OK because you were following yourself, not someone else. The vast majority of the time, you will be right. I did this in my career and am still during it in my retirement. In all of those places and all of the research I did, I never heard of Fitzgerald or any of the other places that are similar to it. Here is the towns story as briefly as I can tell it. 

A man named Philander H. Fitzgerald was an editor/owner? of the newspaper, Indianapolis Tribune, in the late 1800's. During the Civil War, he was a drummer boy for the Union Army. After the war, he noticed the Yankee Vets in the mid-west (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio) were having a tough time due to drought conditions and very cold winters. Around 1895, Fitzgerald got an idea about how to help them. He formed the American Tribune Soldiers Colony Company and sold 50,000 shares for $10.00 a share. With this money, he went shopping for land in the South so as to have better weather. What he bought was 100,000 acres of pine forest and a small settlement named Swan. The local industry was tapping the pine trees and making turpentine. Fitzgerald bought everything around and had the place cleared to make room for the veterans who bought shares and even those that didn't. The place was on its way to becoming a Soldier Colony (a term I just found out about). They laid the city out in squares and named the streets after some Civil War Generals making sure that each side had the same number. The first four were Lee, Grant, Sherman and Johnston. Before the city was laid out entirely, he looked around and there were 2,700 Union Vets and 600 Confederate Vets. Everyone mostly got along just fine. If someone acted up, the peer pressure of the rest of the people would put them in their place. The town was mostly self-sufficient, but they realized a railroad would be needed to bring some things in and their products out. So, they built a railroad. It wasn't long before tickets were being sold to tourists in Atlanta and the other big southern cities saying, "Take a train ride to Fitzgerald and see the Yankees". 

A couple of years after the city was incorporated, they planned a big shindig to highlight what they had accomplished. It was going to be a Thanksgiving Harvest Parade. The plan was to have the Confederate Vets and their band go first followed by the Union Vets and their band. All of the parade members and bands gathered in the very large Corn and Cotton Palace building. When the music began and the doors swung open, the bands and vets had combined into one and marched, together, to the National Anthem. That parade became an annual affair and known has the Parade of Unity. 

This town, which was created for veterans from both sides, having come together in reconciliation is something that I needed. I needed it to make all of my civil war explorations come together. I'm satisfied. 

This is the only picture I took inside of the museum. It is located in the old Train Depot and the mantle/fireplace is original dating back to the late 1890's. The state flags represent the states of the residents of the town. Impressive. 

Tomorrow is moving day and a much shorter tow. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Moultrie, Headless Osceola & a Triangular Lighthouse

 Location: Buck Hall Campground (National Forest Service); on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway about 30 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina

Today is the fourth and last day at this campground. It is another National Forest Service campground so I'm getting it for half price with my Senior pass. It is close enough to explore Charleston but since I did that back on April 6, 2014, I was not interested in backtracking on the same exploration. The visit to Fort Sumter back then was great and I didn't want to tarnish that memory, so I stayed on the north side of the harbor this time.

This is from North Carolina. They have pretty good roads.

This is the road going into the small town of McClellanville. It is just down the road from the campground, and I had a hankering for some fresh shrimp.

There were 3 shrimp boats tied up when I got there in the early afternoon. There were two sides to their building, one for wholesale and the other retail. I went in and there were 4 women sitting at a table in the back cleaning shrimp. One came up to wait on me. I told her I was a traveling and had a hankering for some shrimp. I said it's just me so I only needed one pound. She said, "you travel by yourself"?, I said "yep, decisions are easier that way",,, she winked at me and said, "I like to travel." Nope, no hitchhikers, at least not yet. Now if she had been a redhead,,,,,oh, nevermind.

My shrimp frying station. The shrimp were large and delicious. You could easily tell they were freshly caught. That's my electric skillet on the bottom left. That is one of the best things I've bought for the RV. I use it for everything. I've made gumbo, chili, steaks, eggs, pancakes, etc. Easy cleanup. 

My campsite here at Buck Hall. I've been really happy with the campground, but I doubt I'll be back.

The weather just barely cooperated one more with a sunrise peeking through.

The campground is right on the banks of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. There isn't much commercial traffic on this part of the ICW but there sure are a lot of private boats and docks. 

I found a "thinking bench" along the canal, but the mosquitoes were pretty tough. I got lucky a couple times when the wind picked up and kept them off of me. 

I visited Fort Moultrie, which is one of the forts that fired on Fort Sumter to begin the Civil War. I think I'm getting burned out or a little jaded at visiting old forts. First there was Fort Macon a few days ago that I sort of blew off after seeing a documentary then the other day, I essentially did the same thing after just briefly wandering around Fort Moultrie. Their documentary was good enough that seeing the old fort was like an afterthought.

This is Fort Moultrie. I walked around it a little bit, but didn't take many pictures. I sure need to think about why I'm so jaded about the old forts.

 One thing that surprised me was the grave of the Seminole Indian, Osceola, located near the entrance to the fort. I remember learning about him in school but would be very surprised if the current generation has even heard of him. Osceola was a Seminole warrior and leader during the Second Seminole War when the U.S. was trying to relocate the Indians to the Oklahoma Territory. He was captured while under a white flag to discuss peace. The U.S. General that did that was looked down on because he brought shame not only to himself, but also to the country he represented. Osceola was brought as a prisoner to Fort Moultrie where he died under mysterious circumstances. He was 34 years of age. Some say he died of malaria, while others say it was a mysterious infection. The weird part of it all was that the attending physician, at the time of his death, cut his head off had it displayed in a medical museum. It was later sold and its whereabouts are unknown. I bet some of ya'll had to re-read that twice to make sure you read it right.

That's Osceola's grave on the right where his head-less body lies. The monument on the left is the Patapsco Monument. It commemorates the sailors on the U.S.S. Patapsco who lost them lives when the ship hit a mine in the Charleston Harbor during the Civil War. 

It's the strangest lighthouse I've seen but the triangular shape makes a little sense. There is also an elevator in the center.

 On my way to the Fort, I stopped by the Charleston Lighthouse on Sullivan Island. It is triangular shaped lighthouse with a steel girder interior and aluminum siding. It was built in 1962 and is the last major lighthouse built in the country. Its original daymark was red/orange and white but once the local residents say that color combo, they complained and had the color changed to its current Black and White. 

Looking back to the lighthouse from the beach walk

There isn't a parking lot to see the lighthouse, so you have to park along the public street. The lighthouse is one block from the beach area and there is a nice boardwalk/fabricwalk approach. It was a nice little walk and served as my "farewell" to the Atlantic Ocean. I doubt that I'll see her again.

Wow,,,his and hers thinking benches. (Nope, I ain't gonna make a comment that would get me in trouble, I've learned). This is also on the way to the beach. 

Really good timing on my part with a large container ship pulling out of Charleston Harbor. There were about 20 people on the beach and swimming. I talked with one lady who had her dog with her, she said, a shark attacked a dog in the water a few days ago. The dog was quick enough to escape but everyone is on edge and aware of the possibility now.
This will probably be my last look at the Atlantic Ocean. As I was looking out at the water and realizing that, it caused a sad, melancholy feeling  

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed southwest to a city-owed campground in Georgia. Georgia will be my 11th state on this trip. The tow will be a little over 300 miles and I did that for two reasons. The first is South Carolina doesn't have many campgrounds of the type I like and the COE's they do have are closed for repairs. The second reason is it feels like I'm turning towards home. For the last 10 weeks I've been gradually getting farther and farther from home, but this next campground will be a little closer. My plan is to be back in Louisiana on July 1st. I'll stay for one month to see the kids, grandkids, doctors and mechanics then off to the big Forest River RV Rally in Goshen, Indiana around the middle of August.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.