St. Augustine, FL

This little town may be the best-kept secret in Florida. Older than the Jamestown colony by nearly 50 years, St. Augustine was held alternately by the Spanish and the British. What the two left behind is a charming oceanside community of white sand beaches, old colonial architecture, and lush hotels built by and for America's elite of the 19th century. From wandering down the narrow streets full of eclectic shops to strolling through the museums and down the beaches, we had a great time.

Savannah, GA

What a beautiful city! The streets of Savannah are canopied with live oak trees draped with Spanish moss, there's a lush city square park every few blocks, and the riverwalk area is a delight, with all kinds of shops and restaurants tucked into historic brick buildings right along the harbor. There are all these Victorian "painted lady" homes, as well as neighborhoods that feel almost like the French Quarter of New Orleans, with intricate wrought iron balconies. The College of Art and Design seems to have a campus building everywhere you look, and the whole city feels like a designer's sensibility is behind it, from the architecture to the decorating to the landscaping. We had a great time today roaming the shops on River Street and Bay Street, and we're going back to take a historic trolley tour and a ghost tour, too.


Savannah is now on our short list of cities we'd visit again at the drop of a hat. I'll bet it's magnificent in the springtime!

Charleston, SC

When we left Myrtle Beach, we fully intended to get to Savannah, GA. But just before we left, we got our mail. In our Escapees magazine, I read an article on the Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park in Charleston. I started telling Cory about it as we were pulling out, and before we reached Georgetown, we decided, "Why not?" So we stopped in Charleston!

We had to drycamp the first night in the overflow area of the county park. The HFOL is a big deal and the campground fills up every weekend through the holiday season. But we were able to get into a full hookup site the next day, and we planned to stay here through Thanksgiving. As it turns out, we've both been sick all week--caught a nasty bronchitis--so we extended our stay another couple of nights. We managed a nice Thanksgiving Day dinner, turkey and all the trimmings, here at home, and got out to see the big sand sculpture across the way at the Winter Wonderland.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Over the last week, we've shared our beautiful oceanside resort with more than 900 horses! And we loved it! The event was the 23rd Annual American Heart Association Rideathon. Riders collected pledges, just like in a walkathon, then spent four days here in Myrtle Beach riding their horses on the beach to raise money for the AHA. We knew this would be something special when the long, long lines of horse trailers started arriving. The check-in system was very efficient; every horse went through a "Coggins inspection" to verify its health and vaccination history while the owners got their site assignments.

They came from everywhere--we saw plates from Texas, New York, Colorado, Wyoming, as well as lots from the Carolinas and neighboring states--and as they set up their portable corrals and started exercising the horses, you could feel the excitement spread across the campground.

We were surrounded by horses! (See us? That's the B.A.T. in center frame above.) The dogs were surprisingly calm about it all, only getting a little excited when they were outside next to a nickering neighbor. The group hosted a lot of entertainment and other events, and we were made to feel fully welcome to join right in at country music concerts, karaoke events and more.

But the best part was watching them ride on the 20+ mile stretch of beach. It's a relatively rare treat for both man and beast---to walk, trot and even gallop along the ocean surf in the company of hundreds of other horsemen. The sight is something we won't soon forget.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Just arrived, so no pics yet, but Myrtle Beach looks like fun! We decided to settle in here for a couple of weeks. That will give us time to do some beachcombing, check out the local entertainment scene, and enjoy the indoor heated pool that's within sight of our spot here.

Virginia Beach, VA

We've become part of a mini-caravan! We met Judy in Luray at the RVing Women rally, joined her and a few of the other gals again the next weekend at Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, then found she was headed to Virginia Beach to visit her son. So we made arrangements to rendezvous again!

Judy is a solo full-timer who knows this area fairly well, so she became our guide for a visit to the Virginia Beach Aquarium. We got a late start today, so we're going back tomorrow to see more. The weather has turned cool, but we still hope to see a day warm enough to do a harbor cruise before we leave VA Beach on Saturday. No destination planned as yet...just south! Judy, on the other hand, will be heading back toward her home base in northern Virginia. But we'll stay in touch and hope for another opportunity to meet on the road.

Luray, VA

An auspicious omen for our arrival in Virginia...the most beautiful, full arc rainbow I've ever seen. Couldn't even get it all in the picture! While in Luray, we visited the caverns. We've done Mammoth and Carlsbad, but never been in caves where we literally stepped around stalagmites in our path and had to remember not to touch them as we moved by. Almost all the formations were really up close--not as huge as in the bigger caves, but a lot more accessible.

We were getting ready to leave Luray on Saturday morning, the 23rd, when I spotted a crowd of women around a campfire a few sites down. Curious (you never see 20 or 25 women together at a campsite), I went down and introduced myself and asked if they were a club. Turns out it was the MidAtlantic Chapter of RVing Women, having their fall rally. They invited us to join in, so we stayed an extra night. We learned how to play Mexican Train dominoes, then went to a potluck dinner, where two accordian players and a harmonica player led a sing-along. We had a great time. We were planning on heading down to Virginia Beach on Sunday, when a few of the gals told us they were going to be camping in Richmond the next weekend. So...we stopped in Richmond for a while! The drive down through the Blue Ridge Mountains was spectacular.