April 2, 2013
This was a travel day from Asheville NC to Stone Mountain GA. Close to 200 miles.  Nice weather day.  This is the last stop on our tour with the caravan.  Friday morning we will say goodbye to all our new friends and head for Red Bay Alabama and  Tiffin Motorhomes to get some items repaired on our traveling home.  For this reason Carl insisted that we wash the RV after arriving at the campground.  Kind of like cleaning the house because the maid is coming if you ask me. 
I had never heard of Stone Mountain GA before we signed up for this trip.  It is a tourist destination, a somewhat different kind of amusement park.  There is a stone mountain in the center of the park with a carving commemorating confederate heroes, Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, and "Stonewall" Jackson.
After dark we watched a laser light show with fireworks.  Often lasers and pictures were projected onto the stone mountain.  We enjoyed the show and the music that went along with it.

April 1, 2013 - We spent the day on the 8000 acre Biltmore Estate.  Built by George W. Vanderbilt and opened in 1895.  It is the largest single family home in America.  We toured 42 areas of the house with the aid of an audio tour. No photos were allowed in the house. His Heirs opened the Estate to the public in 1930 to bring in money to preserve the Estate during the depression.  It remains a family business today.   After touring the house we walked around the grounds close to the house and in the gardens. Carl's GPS shows the elevation at 3255'. The trees and shrubs are just starting to bud.  The dafodils were putting on a pretty good show.  We had lunch at Antler Hill Village and Winery.  We joined our caravan group for a tour of the winery and tasting at 4 O’clock.  It was a good day.  The weather was cool at times and warm at others but good overall.  There were lots of stairs in the house so even a little exercise.

                                                                           

                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                   

Preserved, not restored 1913 Stevens-Duryea Model "C-6". One of 10 in existence.

See below - each tank cann hold 3190 gal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 31, 2013  Happy Easter.

Today we had a long drive from Charleston SC to Ashville NC.  About 265 miles.  Some rain and some wind but not too bad overall.  The Caravan provided a nice Easter Dinner.

It has been so much colder than usual this year that the trees in this area are jus starting to show signs of spring.

 

March 28 - 30 Charleston
March 28^th  Was a travel day to Charleston SC, about 106 miles, not too bad.  Shortly outside Savannah Carl and I stopped at The Mighty 8^th Air Force Museum.  Carl picked this stop and he really enjoyed it.  The museum has the history of the Mighty 8^th in WWII but also lots of other Air Force memorabilia. 

March 29^th – Bus tour of historic Charleston and time to shop at the Old City Market.  For lunch we tried boiled peanuts and also grits and fried grits.   Fried grits much better than plain grits.  Boiled peanuts ok but not as good as roasted/salted.
In the afternoon we toured a tea plantation.  The only tea grown and processed in the U.S. On the way to the next stop at Magnolia Plantation we drove by the “Angel Tree”.

This is all one live oak tree, hunreds of years old.  The branches are so big and long they touch the ground

 

 

March 30^th – We toured the Patriot Point Navel and Maritime Museum.  Carl loved it!  They have converted the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier, the Destroyer Laffey, and a submarine to Museums.  You can walk through these vessels and see how life aboard was when they were in use.  The Yorktown had numerous aircraft on board from WWII to much more current.

 

After the Maritime Museum we took a ferrey to Fort Sumter National Monument.  The first shots of the Civil War happened here.

 

 

 

March 25-27, 2013 Savannah
March 25^th was a travel day to Savannah GA. About 68 miles, a short one.  After arrival Carl and I drove the car through downtown Savannah and over to Tybee Island.  The Island drew out attention because it is a National Wildlife Refuge.  It is also said to have beautiful beaches.  On the way we stopped and toured Fort Pulaski National Monument.  In 1862 Union forces took this fort from the confederacy and it became part of the Underground Railroad.  There is easy access to the beaches on Tybee Island but due to cold and wind we failed to appreciate them.

March 26^th – We went on a tour of downtown Savannah historical district on a hop on hop off trolley.  After the tour Carl and I walked around the area until time for our Riverboat Luncheon cruise.  Savannah is a beautiful city.  It’s laid out in a grid with a park/square every few blocks.  It was very cold and windy that day.  We all shivered or hid in shops waiting for the trolley to take us back to our car.

March 27^th was a free day in Savannah.  Carl and I drove to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge.  This Refuge is mostly in South Carolina but a little in Georgia.  We saw lots of birds and alligators. We drove and walked a couple trails.  For lunch we went back to Savannah to the Blue Moon Brewery.  Food was good but beer not so much.  After lunch we went to Bonaventure Cemetery.  In is unlike any cemetery I have seen.  There are large plants of mainly azaleas but others too.  Many live oak trees also.

Downtown Savannah

Cemetery

Cemetery

 

 

 

 

 

March 24th we went to Jekyll Island and had a tour on a trolley in a down pour.  Carl was on the outside and his right leg was quite wet.  Jekyll Island was purchased in 1886 by several prominent East Coast millionaires they called themselves the Jekyll Island club.  In 1910 the first draft of the Federal Reserve Act was drawn up on Jekyll Island. In the early 20^th century the Jekyll Island club members were said to represent one-sixth of the world’s wealth.  The Island is now a Georgia Resort location.  Many of the old homes have been preserved or restored and can be toured.  We had a Buffet lunch at an elegant old hotel.  It was the best meal yet with the caravan.  After lunch the sun came out and we toured the Georgia Sea Turtle center, a rehabilitation and research center for sick and injured sea turtles.  Later yet we went back to camp and got our bikes and rode on a trail through woods and along coast.  Turned out to be another good day.

 

Ancient Turtle skeleton

March 21 - 23, 2013

March 21st was a travel day from Titusville to St. Augustine.  About 104 miles.  Weather was o.k. but a little cold and windy.  After arriving at the RV park Carl and I went to Fort Matanzas, a National Monument. We took a ferry ride across a small river for a tour of the fort.  Interesting history here in that the Spanish held the area for 200 years from 1565.  There were Spanish Colonies here prior to the first English Colonies. After our tour of the fort we walked the nature trails.

 Then we checked out the beach where the staff had intended to serve us "Mexican hot dogs". You can drive your car on the beach for a short distance there.  Then we went on a search for Diesel.  After arriving back at the camp the Staff served the Mexican Hot Dogs that turn out to be Hot Dogs in a Tortilla.

March 22nd we had a bus day.  These bus days are our least favorite but not too bad.  Our first stop was at Mission Nombre De Dios (Name of God) this location claims to be the site of the first Catholic Mass in the New World.  We stopped at Castillo San Marcos, this is another fort that is a National Monument.  We happened to be there when they were demonstrating the cannon.

They let us off for lunch and shopping in St Augustin's Historic District.  Carl and I had lunch at A1A Ales, a craft brewery, very good food and beer.  Next stop the Fountain of Youth - Kind of hokey but more St. Augustine history.  next we visited the Oldest House Museum. This is the oldest house in St Augustine, I thought it was interesting.  Our last stop was at the Lightner Museum.  This Museum hold various collections of Mr. Lightner.  They include buttons, glass,musical instruments, quilts, shrunken head, stuffed lion, samplers and just about anything.

March 23rd, today was a travel day from St. Augustine to Brunswick GA.  About 154 miles. At the 107 mile point we had an En-route stop at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.  We were supposed to have a Boat Cruise into the Swamp land.  On arrival it was raining with lightning and thunder.  The boat cruise was cancelled.  Lightning and aluminum boats don't mix.
We waited about an hour and a half to let some of the worst of the storm pass but still had a very rainy drive.  Carl had to put on full rain gear to get us set up.