America

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Alabama here we come!

Sunday morning we woke up, packed our things, and ate a quick breakfast in the RV before making our way west. Our Airbnb host, Tom, showed us an RV he was renovating to replace the Yellow Submarine. Compared to where we had spent the previous two nights, this was a mansion! If only we were making our way through at a later date…

We ignored the GPS and took the scenic route north–back toward Jacksonville on route A1A. For the first time on our trip, the sun made its way out from behind the clouds. It was a great day for a road trip! We stopped at South Ponte Verda Beach for a little while to enjoy the great weather and beautiful views. There were signs about whale sightings, but we were only able to see a pelican riding the waves.

We continued on A1A until we reached Jacksonville and then hopped on I-10 towards Alabama. We intended to stop at Florida Caverns State Park; however, it was damaged by Hurricane Michael in October and was closed for cleanup efforts. Another great option, if the weather would have been warmer, would have been a float down the Ichetucknee River in Ichetucknee Springs State Park. You can rent tubes/rafts, diving equipment, and snorkels and float down the river. You might even see MANATEES!! Unfortunately, given that it was March, it was too cold for river floating.

As we made our way toward Tallahassee, our stomachs started to rumble and we were ready for lunch. We stopped at Lichgate on High Road. Dr. Laura Jepsen, an English professor from Florida State University, purchased the grounds in 1956 in order to preserve the enormous Live Oak at the center. Following her death, her friends and students created a not-for-profit to continue to maintain the area in her memory. On the property, there is a small cottage, gardens and a labyrinth built by Jepsen. There are also picnic tables and lots of shade, which made it a great stop for lunch. Good thing we brought our cooler! Tip** There is a small sign on the side of the road marking the entrance to Lichgate. It’s very easy to miss so keep your eyes peeled.

After lunch, we hopped back in the car. Next stop, the graffiti bridge in Pensacola! Although there wasn’t much going on around it (except for lots of traffic…), the graffiti was beautiful and it was a great stop to stretch our legs. At this point, we had a couple of different options. Since we had already been on the road for about seven hours, we decided to just head straight to the Airbnb (don’t worry we didn’t skip anything! We just put it on the schedule for the next day!). As a bonus, we were now on Central Time. Yay for an extra hour!

Because of our stop in Pensacola, the GPS took us on some back roads through eastern Alabama. We’re talking “see nothing for miles” backroads. Just as we were starting to think we were lost, we finally made it to our stop in Daphne, Alabama. Since we had decided to stay in Airbnbs, exclusively, we weren’t really near anything, but Foley was only a 10-minute drive away.

We unpacked, laid on the bed exhausted for an hour, and headed to dinner. Thankfully, our host suggested a spot as we were too hungry and tired to make decisions. We ate dinner at Fish River Grill, a local hot spot. Although quite greasy, the food hit the spot after a long day on the road. On the drive back to Daphne, I spotted a medical museum. Add that to the list for tomorrow!

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I thought Florida was supposed to be warm…

It seems like every time we travel we run into some pretty nasty weather. Florida did not disappoint. We woke up Sunday morning to gray skies and cold winds. Despite this, we only had 24 hours left in St. Augustine and needed to make the best of it.

We made an effort to shower in the tiny RV shower (don’t even get me started…) and headed into America’s oldest city. There are several hop on hop off tours in St. Augustine. We chose the Old Town Trolley. Twenty-five dollars covered parking, stops at St. Augustine’s most popular stops, and a narrated tour of the city. You can also buy packages which include an entry fee to other attractions for an added cost. The Old Town Trolley company also boasted a free beach shuttle with stops at the Alligator farm, Lighthouse, and beach. I’ll get back to the “beach bus” later.

As we hopped on the trolley, the winds picked up and the rain started to fall. We chose to stay on the trolley for a full rotation. First, to avoid the rain, and second, to get the lay of the land and figure out where we wanted to stop. After making our way around, we hopped off at Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest and largest fort in the continental US. **Important tip: when the weather is nice, reenactors in Spanish Colonial clothing fire the cannons. Details can be found here. We walked around the fort checking out the cannons and the views of the city before heading to Columbia, a traditional Spanish restaurant, for lunch.

After stuffing ourselves with Cuban sandwiches and key lime pie, we were in desperate need of a walk. We headed first towards Flagler College, a private, Liberal Arts College in the heart of St. Augustine. The college was developed from the former grounds of the luxurious, Ponce de Leon Hotel, and boasts beautiful architecture.


Presbyterian Church

A quick tour of the grounds and we made our way back to the beach bus stop. There were only two hours left for the trolley tours so we thought we would stop at the beach and the lighthouse. Once we were boarded, the driver asked where we wanted to go and gave us the timeline. Turns out the “beach bus” was the bus that brought everybody over from their hotels on Anastasia Island. It took nearly an hour to stop at all the hotels (I didn’t even know there were so many!) along the way before finally making it to the beach. Unfortunately, this meant we missed the lighthouse. But…the rain, FINALLY, stopped!

As we stepped onto the beach, we noticed an SUV buried in the sand. There were three women shoveling sand/pushing, and one behind the wheel attempting to push it out. We quickly rushed over to help. With our added strength and one big heave-ho, we were able to push them out. A few minutes spent picking up shells and taking pictures, to document that we had at least seen a beach on this trip, was about all we could handle. The wind was incredibly cold and we were unable to stand out there for very long. I thought Florida was supposed to be warm?! was definitely the theme of the day.

We made our way back towards the road and stopped for a drink at the Beachcomber. Imagine our surprise when we ran into our new friends from the beach who bought us some drinks!

The Knotty Pirate

We had to be back at the bus stop by 4:04 (specific) to make it back to the mainland on the trolley. Otherwise, we would have had to find other transportation back. On our walk to lunch we noticed a place called Auggie’s Draft Room where you could pour your own beer. We stopped in a for a few drinks (it was surprisingly quite pricey for DIY!), grabbed some Kilwin’s ice cream ( I know, I know…I said I was cold…) and made our way back to the RV.

The gates to the city

I was frozen at this point. I put on several layers of clothes, cranked the heat and crawled into the bed to try to warm up. We had a low key dinner in the RV, watched whatever we could find on the TV, and headed to bed early. Luckily, we were in for a better nights sleep!

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“You’re going to drive from South Carolina to Texas in a week? Are you insane?!”

Dave and I have a goal to visit every state in the United States. We keep track of this with a scratch-off map. So what better way to spend his Spring Break than driving across the South?

We booked five Airbnbs, used roadtripper.com to plan our route, packed a carry-on, and set off on a great adventure. Our road trip departed from Dave’s house in Clemson, South Carolina. The plan? To stop in five different states with an ending point in Wichita Falls, Texas to visit family.

Hitting the road

Like any good road trip, our first stop was…TARGET! Whenever we travel we pack a cooler with stuff for wraps and snacks. This cuts back on fast food and gives us the opportunity to stop in parks for picnics along the way. I also picked up a selfie stick. If you know me at all…you would know I’m very anti-selfie stick. However, I’ve changed my mind. This brought me a lot of joy!

First selfie!

South Carolina

Thanks to Roadtripper, we found a bunch of really random stops along the way. The world’s largest fire hydrant and a tunnel vision mural entertained us in Columbia, South Carolina. We found a large, bright red rocking chair and beautiful cemetery at our lunch stop in Walterboro, huge elephants in a fireworks store parking lot in Hardeeville, and the smallest church in America after just crossing the border into Georgia.

  • World’s Largest Fire Hydrant
  • Big, red rocking chair at The Great Swamp Sanctuary in Walterboro, SC
Tunnel Vision wall mural, Columbia, SC
Giant elephants, Hardeeville, SC
  • The Smallest Church in America
  • There were only 12 seats inside!

St. Simon’s Island

We made a quick stop at Peach World and headed to our last stop before sunset at St. Simon’s lighthouse. We intended to stop at Jekyll Island, however, we chose to sleep in a little instead and put it on the calendar for another day.

  • St. Simon Lighthouse
  • Sunset on St. Simon Island

The Yellow Submarine, St. Augustine, Florida

After dark we made our way to our final destination in St. Augustine, Florida. Although, he was resistant, I convinced Dave to stay in a renovated RV, aptly named “The Yellow Submarine.” We checked in, ate a late dinner at Carmelo’s, an Italian restaurant (surprisingly delicious for being attached to a gas station), and tried to get comfortable in our tiny little RV. Turns out it was a little crowded for two people…

Total miles driven: 550

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Did you say dinosaurs?!

Because we ended the road trip a little short yesterday, we started the trip by backtracking. I had read on roadtripper.com that we could find some giant dinosaurs hidden in southern Alabama. So off we went!

We headed back towards Foley first. The Holmes Medical Museum is a museum showcasing all of the old medical instruments used by a father and son medical team. The museum is located in the same building which functioned as a hospital on the site between 1936-1958. We saw everything from old anesthesia machines, obstetric (baby delivery…ew!) equipment, and the bedroom where one of the nurses lived. It was really cool to see instruments from the past, as well as some that hadn’t changed a bit. AND THE MUSEUM IS FREE!! We stopped at the old pharmacy next door for 50 cent coffee and continued on our way.

  • For collapsed lungs
  • Anesthetic Machine

Next, we made our way towards Elberta where we discovered a random scattering of large fiberglass structures. Commissioned by billionaire George Barber, the structures can be found along Barber Marina Road. There are four Elberta dinosaurs, a re-creation of Stonehenge, aptly named Bamahenge, and Lady in the Lake (which can be seen at the mrina, but is not pictured here). After turning onto the marina road Bamahenge can be seen first. It is easy to see the Stegosaurus and Triceratops from the road; however, the Brontosaurus and T. Rex are more difficult to spot. While driving from Bamahenge, the T. Rex can be seen on the left if you’re looking carefully through the trees. The Brontosaurus is on the right past the other two. There is also a giant sundial, but it’s on private property.

  • Getting a fresh paint job

After we left Bamahenge, we made our way towards Daphne, Alabama. First stop, TARGET!…again. We replenished our supplies and headed out in search of some scrap metal sports figurines (which is naturally where someone goes after shopping at Target.) What we were not expecting to find was the United States Sports Academy. Inside, there was a small, free sports museum, but the building is actually a college for students who want to become sport professionals (sports management, coaching, etc. ). The classes are online.

Our last stop in Alabama was at the Gator Boardwalk in Daphne. Unfortunately, it was too early/cold for gator season so we had to settle for the fake ones in the grass. 🙁

The GPS took us on the rural route towards Jackson, Mississippi. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a picnic table or rest stop anywhere along the way. We had some car snacks and made the short three-hour drive in one swoop.

Our Airbnb was located in an up and coming neighborhood in Jackson, called Fondren. The house was incredibly comfortable and the host left us a couple of dinner suggestions. This is one of my favorite things about Airbnb. It’s a great way to discover restaurants that the locals love and often places that are off the beaten path.

Since it was Taco Tuesday, we chose Babalu Tapas and Tacos. There was an hour wait so we walked across the parking lot to Brent’s Drugs, a diner. Hidden in the back (walk straight through), is The Apothecary, a cool speakeasy with dim lights and fancy drinks. The hour flew by and before we knew it we were stuffing our faces with delicious tacos and tableside guacamole.

  • An Ode to Death
  • The tacos and margs are a-okay!

We walked back to the house and ended another great day of travel!