Author: Doug Chapman

We traveled about 30 minutes to downtown Charleston. We visited several shops downtown, viewed several of the residential homes, and some of the old mansions that had been there for many years.

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We decided to eat lunch at a little pub downtown named The Griffon Pub. It was a really neat place. All over the walls and ceilings was money stapled to the walls. The original owner’s name was Cash. They decided to put cash all over and over the years, the walls filled up and they started putting it on the ceiling. It was wild. Food was great.

After lunch we travelled to the waterfront area. Many of the old mansions were located there. Across the water we saw an aircraft carrier called USS Yorktown.

After the walk we got back into the car and went across a really neat bridge.

We did a lot of walking today. Returned to the campground and rested the rest of the day. Preparing to leave in the morning, on our way back home.

After breakfast we traveled about 30 minutes to downtown Charleston. We drove to a small park that had the oldest tree in the US… over 400 years old! The circumference measured over 25 ft. It’s large branches were so large and heavy that they grew on to the ground. The longest branch was over 187 ft from the trunk. Really amazing!

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We then traveled to a National Park Where Fort Moultrie was located. It was built in the 1800’s to protect Charlestown from the British. The fort was closed to visitors today, but we walked around it to see different artifacts about the history. Across the water was Fort Sumpter.

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We then went to eat a late lunch at a Mexican Restaurant in Mt Pleasant called San Miguel. Food was really good.

We then returned to the campground. Later that evening we went to Marble Slab Creamery for some ice cream. Did some shopping then returned for the evening.

By about lunchtime, we had arrived at the KOA Charleston to stay a couple of days. We washed the new Jeep cause it was filthy from traveling. Decided to just snack for lunch and eat at a restaurant downtown for an early supper.

Drove downtown and walked the shops at the Market. It was full of all kinds of craft stuff, jewelry, etc. Homemade baskets made of straw were everywhere, but were really expensive.

After deciding on where to eat, we found Hymans Seafood. I got the shrimp platter and Renee got the double cheeseburger. Both were sizable portions and were really good.

Headed back to the campground before dark to let Marley out and prepare to go to bed. We did a lot of walking and our feet (and bodies) were ready to relax.

Left the Outer Banks around 9am. The day was still a little windy in places, but sunny and no rain. After about 2.5 hrs, we stopped for gas and took sometime in a parking lot to eat lunch. After about 6 hrs of travel time we stopped at a little town north of Myrtle Beach called Shallott. We boondocked in a Walmart parking lot. In the morning we should arrive in Charleston in about 3 hrs.

Before heading out, we decided to cross the street and see the ocean tides again. Today was sunny but very cold and windy. Saw someone crazy out in the ocean kite boarding.

Then we headed out towards the north end of the Outer Banks to see the four lighthouses. Here is a map of the lighthouses…

The first lighthouse is the Bodie Lighthouse.

The second was the Currituck Beach Lighthouse…

Next we visited a very unusual lighthouse in Manteo called the Roanoke Marsh Lighthouse…

And lastly we travelled to the very south end to see the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse… the largest and most majestic of them all…

It was a fun day visiting all these lighthouses. Only one (Currituck) was open to go to the top. We didn’t make it to the top, but our friends Brad and Lisa did. They said it was quite the view.
You may have noticed each lighthouse had a different image on the face. That was so the ships during the day would know where they were on the long outer banks of North Carolina. At night each lighthouse had different timing when the light was on and off. Very smart!

Tomorrow, we leave the campground headed to South Carolina for a few days.

After breakfast we traveled north to do some sightseeing and shopping. We decided to do an early lunch at Henry’s. Another good place to eat some seafood.

After lunch we visited the Wright Brothers Museum. That was really interesting. They had an actual size replica inside the museum. One of the Museum attendants was there to answer questions. He explained how the design to guide the first flights was quite amazing and well beyond it’s time. He demonstrated how they moved the end of the wing which moved the rudder and the elevator wings at the same time. Really cool. We really enjoyed the whole experience, even though it rained and rained and rained.

We did some shopping in a couple of souvenir shops then hit a really nice Christmas Shop that just opened. Following that we came back to the RV Campground.

Later that afternoon, we decided to go to the other side of the campground to see the ocean. The ocean was very rough and wave caps were everywhere. The wind was probably over 30 mph and it was really cold and still raining hard.

After we thawed out a little, we decided to go find a place to eat. Found the Watermans Bar and Grill about a half mile down from the campground. Ordered some food and took it back to the RV to eat. Was plenty of food and tasted great. Watched some TV then went to bed. Plan on seeing the Outer banks lighthouses tomorrow.

This morning we left about 7:30am to get ahead of a line of storms that had tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama the night before. Rained off and on all day. Took us 8 hrs, which should have been about 6.

The trip made a big mess on our vehicles. After setting up the RV, we had to take some time to wash our Jeep’s. They were a mess, especially for a brand new Jeep!

After the Jeeps were clean, we went out to see the area. We were disappointed to find out most things were closed due to the off-season. The busy season was to start next weekend! Argh!

We did find a new place to eat south of our campsite named Oceanic Bistro. Their special for the night was 2 lbs of steamed shrimp and a side for about $10. We jumped on it and it was delicious! That was about 24 large shrimp!

Returned to the RV and slept on a full stomach! It was rainy and stormy most of the night. The wind shook the RV several times in the night. Winds were 20-30mph here.

After breakfast, we went and toured the Andy Griffith Museum. It was very interesting. Then we parked downtown and did some shopping, eating lunch at Snappy’s Lunch, then got some candy at Opie’s Candy Shop, viewed the replicas of the Sherrif’s Office and Courtroom, Wally’s Service Station, and Walker’s Drug Store. Saw several replicas of vehicles in the show.

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After supper, we decided to leave the campground early to get ahead of the bad storms and head to Camp Hatteras RV Park on the Outer Banks. It was a fun day.

Today we travel to Taylorsville, NC to Foothills RV Repair to install the tow plate and wiring to allow us to flat tow the new Jeep. It took about 6 hours to finish the job. We were very pleased with their work.

Our friends picked us up and we went to Hickory, NC to see some sites and do some shopping while we waited on our Jeep. We ate lunch at Charlie Graingers, a small deli downtown that served different sandwiches and hot dogs. Renee had BBQ Pork Nachos and I had a Beef Brisket sandwich. They were really good!

Our friends returned us to the RV Repair place, only to find out the job was still not done. Our friends continued on to the RV campground to let our Marley out while we waited on our Jeep. We got Wendy’s burgers on the way home. Now we have a new Jeep and it is outfitted to tow home. Now our vacation can begin! Tomorrow, it’s on to Mayberry!!!

Left the Mayberry RV Park around 9:15am and arrived at Tri-City CDJR car dealership about 10:45am. Took a drive in our new Gladiator Rubicon. By about 1:30pm, we were driving off in our new Jeep!

Afterwards we drove across town to a small restaurant called Chaney’s. Had delicious club sandwiches and various dinner specials. Very good home cooking.

We are very thankful to have friends like Brad and Lisa who took us to the dealership, and then waited on us to finalize the deal, almost 3 hours later. We are very blessed by their friendship.

After returning to Mt Airy, Renee and I did some shopping and looking around the town. For supper we ate our leftovers from lunch. Tomorrow, we are taking the Jeep to get the tow plate installed so we can tow it from the motor home.