Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 14

 27 January 2026

Crooked River State Park

St. Mary's, Georgia

Coming soon.

Marc- We started the day with a freezing 28 degrees with 100 % sunshine.  Luckily the sun this far south worked its magic and we were up to 50 degrees by lunchtime.  I was afraid we had a frozen pipe when I looked at the back of the camper and saw a row of icicles reaching down from the rear bumper to the ground.  Fortunately it was due to a leaky water connection that I quickly tightened up.

Great campsite,

Icicles!

We started out with a visit to The Scrappy Rooster quilt shop in St. Mary's.

St. Mary's city marina.

The oyster fisherman are paying attention to this effort.  Somehow it is useful in reseeding oysters in the area rivers.

A shop in St. Mary's.

St. Mary's French Quarter.

In the afternoon we drove south to Fernandina Beach in nearby Florida.  Fernandina Beach is a great town sandwiched between two paper mills.  It is a thriving community and both a commercial seaport and a pleasure boat haven.  We visited a few shops and returned to the campground before sunset.

Previously a train station, now the Welcome Center.

Beautiful heart pine hardwood in the train station interior.

(Heart pine is dense, durable wood found in the center of old growth longleaf pine trees.)

Local Shrimp fishing family that donated heart pine for restoration of the train station.

Fernandina Beach Marina looking south toward a paper mill.

Looking North from the Marina toward the Shrimp boat docks and the container shipping terminal.

We enjoyed a nice lunch here at the bottom of Main Street.

Main Street shops.

Federal Courthouse and Post Office.

Florida County Courthouse.

Main street home.

The downtown trees are impressive.

Cool shop.

The campground beach.

The campground has 62 campsites and 20 cottages. 

 

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 13

 26 January 2026

Crooked River State Park

St. Mary's, Georgia

Marc-  Today was a travel day from the northern part of South Carolina to the southernmost part of Georgia.  The weather was fine with relatively warm 50 degrees and sunny.  

We met up with our good friend Wendy in Charleston at a restaurant called The Glass Onion with a good reputation.  The food was fantastic.  Southern cooking at its best.  I enjoyed the fried chicken sandwich with butter beans and grits.  Sue enjoyed the Gumbo and fried green tomatoes.

Yes, we did find a quilt shop to visit along the way in Beaufort, SC.

We also found a Buc-ee's in Brunswick, GA.  It is a gigantic gas station with a gigantic store that sells all kinds of fast food hot sandwiches, beef jerky, fudge, and every other kind of junk food imaginable like raw cookie dough.  And dish towels and all kinds of travel mugs, t-shirts and trinkets.  Buc-ee is a beaver.  

Friends.

Georgia sunset on Route 95.

A pretty quilt we saw in St. Mary's.

A new roadside fuel stop phenomenon.

 

 

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 12

 25 January 2026

Huntington Beach State Park

Murrells Inlet, SC   

Brown pelicans looking for breakfast this morning.

Marc-  Our last day here was forecast to be a mess.  Luckily the storm shifted to the North and we ended up on the warm and dry side.  The sun came out by mid-day but temperatures remained in the 40's.  Good enough weather to explore for wildlife.  I also visited the park aquarium at "The Nature Center" where some local sea creatures are highlighted.  

We did a NYT crossword puzzle on Zoom with Brian and Peter Gilmartin.  We did a Monday puzzle from the archives (easy).  We had breakfast with John & Peggy Brewster, and then they came over to the campground and we visited in the trailer.  John & Peggy left in time to get home for the Patriots - Bronco's game.  We tried to watch, but the TV was acting up.  The best we could get was  radio play by play of the Patriots win.  Somehow we do get the Seahawks - Rams game now with Tom Brady doing the color.

Piping plovers frequent the beach here.

Fascinating migration for these small birds.

Great egret with its refection.

Great blue heron with its refection.

Special aquarium location.

Seahorse in full color.

Local turtle in the rehabilitation tank.

In the fish tank.

Skate.

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 11

24 January 2026

Huntington Beach State Park

Murrells Inlet, SC   

The map.

We are in the less likely section of this ice storm impact forecast tonight.   It's raining now and temperatures have been dropping all day.  We are down to 34 degrees and it's not expected to drop any further.  It helps to be on a barrier island surrounded by 55 degree seawater.  Unfortunately it won't help those inland.    

Today was a different story with temperatures in the 40's and dry conditions.  We enjoyed breakfast with our friends Craig and Donna Lewis and visited a quilt store finding some needed fabric.  We also bought a new television antenna to keep up with the news and watch the Patriots play tomorrow.  We walked several trails at Huntington Beach State Park and observed how the waterfowl were dealing with the change in the weather.

Good diesel price at the Exxon.

Heron looking for lunch.

This duck was staying out of the wind close to shore.

There are great blue herons and great egrets out on this small island all with their backs set to the cold wind blowing out of the northwest.

We enjoy doing the New York Times crossword puzzle online with Brian and Peter Gilmartin.  But we were terrible because only the Saturday puzzle was available.  Brian was not able to get into the archives to get us an easy one!  

Sue found a new fabric for the birdhouse quilt backing.

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 10

23 January 2026

Huntington Beach State Park

Murrells Inlet, SC   

Brookgreen Gardens pansies.

Marc-  Another day of fairly warm weather (50's) on the coast.  We visited with our friends John and Peggy Brewster in their new Independent Living home at Brightwater in Myrtle Beach (a CCRC).  We enjoyed our tour of their spacious and bright unit and of the rest of the community.  They took us to lunch at Sakura Hibachi Buffet, a great place Peggy had just discovered.  There were so many choices of a wide variety of delicious food.  

Later we continued walking the trails at Brookgreen Gardens and admiring the many sculptures in bronze and marble.  The foliage was also impressive.  I am always amazed to see flowers blooming in January.  We returned to walk the Park Beach at sunset.

A solid workhorse.

Sue enjoyed visiting this gentlemen.

This live oak tree seems to be lowering one of its many branches for a drink out of the pool.

A young Benjamin Franklin perhaps on his way from Boston to Philadelphia to start his own printing business.

Sue enjoyed this little one with her pet rabbit.

"Builders of the Future"

Happy Penguins.

There is a copy of this boy on a piling at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.

I can feel his excitement.

Huntington March sunset.

Huntington Beach sunset. Incredible colors.