Washington NC - Waves NC 5/18/2011

We left Washington NC early this morning anticipating a long drive and wanting to get to the beach early enough to go for a walk upon it.  We really liked the small town - Old Town atmosphere of this town.  They must be hitting hard times because there were tons of houses for sale!

We drove east on Hwy 264.  This is probably the most beautiful drive we have been on in a long time!  It was almost all farmland.  Growing mostly corn, Irish potatoes and white winter wheat.

  The farm houses all looked like they have been there for a long time.

Here is a field of wheat.

 And another old farm house.

We love the red 2 lane roads!  They take more time and use more fuel, but they sure beat the freeways!!!

  Interspersed amongst all the farm land is lots of water!

  And in the southeast, where there is water there are lots of turtles!  Unfortunately, they try to cross the roads and sometimes get hit.  Wayne stops for each turtle that is crossing the road and helps them to the other side.

  Sometimes they are injured from being hit by a car.  Sometimes they are dead.  But many times they are just dazed and will make it okay if they get to the other side.  This one was dazed.  You can see the marks on his shell.  When wayne put him on the other side in the grass, he slowly poked his head out and began to move.

 But when I got the camera out he got shy.  But this one will make it!

 We got to Englehard on Hwy 264 and were turned back because there was a bad fire and the road was closed.  So, we turned back and drove to Hwy 94 and drove up to Columbia on Hwy 64 where we headed east towards Nags Head and the Cape Hatteras National Sea Shore.
 Crossing over the sound to Roanoke Island, there was a draw bridge opening for a boat to pass.  We watched it go in one side....

 ...and out the other side.  You grand kids, look up Roanoke Island and the lost colony.  It is interesting to learn about!  You can tell your teachers that your Grandpa and Grandma Cowley were there today!

 We hit the Atlantic Ocean and turned south on Hwy 12.  We drove down a very narrow spit of land to our campground.

 Arriving in the beach town of Waves, we found our campground.

 We parked the rig in our space and then immediately went for a walk on the beach along the Atlantic Ocean.

There weren't a lot of people, even though the weather was beautiful. 

 We love to walk in the surf as we explore and.....

 ....watch the birds dig for crabs.....

 ...watch the sea gulls try to figure out how to steal the crabs the other birds caught......

 ....watch the kayakers maneuver the waves....

 ...and watch the reluctant dogs be drug out into the water.

 After an hour of beach walking, we climbed the fore dune and headed back to our camp.

 Home Sweet Home!!!!

 We enjoyed the good weather, only in the high 70's and relaxed after our walk.  Ann sewed.

 Wayne did a couple blog entries.

 But ya know, there is one thing we have not gotten used to on the east coast.... the sun doesn't set in the ocean!!!!!

POPLAR GROVE PLANTATION 5/17/2011

 Continuing north on Hwy 17 we crossed the border into North Carolina.  We found both South Carolina and North Carolina to be green and full of trees and farms.  There are a few big cities, but most places are old quaint smaller towns.

 Take for instance Wilmington, North Carolina.  It is not much of a town, but as you enter town there is a very nicely maintained old plantation dating back to before the Civil War.  They had several thousand acres and they grew mostly peanuts.  They had 60+ slaves that lived and worked the plantation.

28 acres now remain and it is run by the state of North Carolina.  It is used for educational purposes now and for a fee, they will take you on a tour.  We decided to do this and it was well worth it.  This is the front of the mansion.  We are looking out at the main road and the railroad tracks where the peanuts were shipped all over the USA.

 The house was 3 stories and would have been a wonderful place to live if you were alive back in the 1800's.

 After the tour of the inside of the mansion, we sat on the cool back porch and enjoyed the breeze.  We are beginning to appreciate rocking chairs more and more.  Sitting on the porch in them of the last few mansions we toured has become a favorite activity.

 After that we toured the grounds of about 2 acres that was set up as it was back then around the main house.  This is the smaoke hose where they smoked their meat so it would last longer.

 This is one of the slave cabins.  Compared to some we have seen recently, these were luxurious!!  The family that owned this plantation were Union sympathizers during the Civil War and actually freed all his slaves in 1861.  But only on wanted to leave.  The rest stayed on and share cropped with the owners.

 Here is a photo of some of the families a generation or two later, still working on the plantation, growing peanuts.

 They had a weaving shop on the plantation and this lady has been the master weaver here for the last 28 years.  She was very informative!

 They keep a few animals on the place to exemplify what they had back in the old days.

 Here is a cat that reminded us of our cat, Niko.

 This is the back of the big house as it looks out on the fields and farm.

 We really enjoyed our couple hour visit here.  We left and drove on north a little bit and then realizing we hadn't eaten lunch, stopped at Taco Bell for a late lunch/early dinner.  Later in the evening, we arrived in Washington, NC where we stayed the night at Camp WalMart.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH 5/17/2011

After spending Sunday and Monday in Myrtle Beach, SC, we headed out of town Tuesday about noon.  We left late because we first had to find a trailer store to buy and then install a new vent lid over the bathroom.  It apparently blew off last night.  Then we had to fuel up.  Then finally we got to drive through North Myrtle Beach.  It was an amazing place.  It was like a mini Las Vegas that was full of bikers.  IT was bikers week here.

  They had lots of Vegas type places.....

  ...big city places.....

 ...Broadway and Vegas type shows....

 ....tourist traps galore....

 ...and miniature golf places on every other corner....

 ...using every kind of gimmick to try to entice you to their place of business.

But after we got out of town things settled down to nice country style driving and we eased into North Carolina.

MT. PLEASANT and MYRTLE POINT SC 5/14-15/2011

After the good night's sleep at Camp WalMart we were ready for another day of historical experience.  We drove to Sullivan's Island across the water from Mt. Pleasant.  And were we surprised!  They had manhole covers there!!

  We were there to tour Fort Moultrie, sister fort to Fort Sumpter.

  We have been amazed as we go through the states by forts and the play they took in our nation's development.  We have been to many and it is fun to be able to compare them to each other and now to begin to see similarities and begin grouping them into timeline and style categories.  Cannons too are beginning to fit into groups.

Fort Moultrie is very similar to Fort Stevens on the Oregon.  Both coastal forts designed to defend a river entering a port

We took a couple hours to explore the fort and its grounds.

 Tim and Marcie, look familiar??

 The grounds gave us a good walk!!

  And lots of history to read, very similar to Fort Stevens too!

 Then we walked back to our trailer and see the park on the other side of the trailer?

 We had a picnic lunch there.  We love doing picnics!

 Then on up Hwy 17 to another historical place.  The plantation of one of the composers and signers of the U.S. Constitution, Charles Pinckney.  He was so instrumental in the writing of the constitution that they began to call him "Constitution Charlie".  I felt blessed to be able to see this place as he was one that I read a lot about a few months ago as I read about the lives of the signers of the Constitution.

 The grounds were beautiful and very peaceful.

Though the house was not the original, it was one built shortly after his life here and on the same foundation.  But this land was his and it was where he spent his off days, walking and contemplating.

 The inside of the house is now dedicated to teaching about him.

The remains of this well is the well he used.

 As we walked the grounds that he walked we were amazed at the many magnolia trees there.

 The paths through the forests were very peaceful.

 This is the front of the house.

 We spent time on the porch looking over the grounds and pondering the great ideas that came to Charles Pinckney as he sat on a porch in the house that was here before this one.

 This was our view.

  We left this plantation and moved on to the Boone Hall Plantation nearby, but found they wanted $20.00 each to get in and see it.  We took a picture of the oak lined road leading to it and left....

 ... to go down the road to the Hampton Plantation, which was not as well maintained in its original state, but it was free!!!

 Through the imposing gates we went.

 The plantation house is in really great shape considering it is so old!

  From its porch we looked out on the grounds and tried to imagine it all in its heyday.

  Out where Mr. Hampton had his race horse track.

 Down the road that led up to the big house, imagining visitors coming up the way in horse and buggy to visit and stay the night.

 And looking out on the tree that tradition says was saved by George Washington when he came to visit here as president and when Mrs. Hampton threatened to cut the tree down because it blocked the view of the race track from the front porch and President Washington said, "Leave the tree be."  And she did.

 And there the tree stands today.

 Then we drove north to Georgetown, where we spent the night at and LDS Church parking lot so we could go to church on Sunday.

 At church, to our surprise, we ran into some friends of our son, Sean and his wife Amanda.  They used to live in Redmond, Oregon too!  Also a couple that was serving as missionaries there happened to be from Morgan, UT and lived right next door to some people we counted as dear friends when they lived in Etna, CA.  Sam and JoAnn Thackery!!  Small world!!!

 After church and a quick lunch, we drove to Myrlte Beach, SC to spend two nights at Braircliffe RV Park.

We will leave here Tuesday, May 17, and continue our travels north.