Our campground is out in the middle of nowhere. It is close to the highway, but about an hour drive from Savannah, Hilton Head, or Charleston. I was looking for quick things to do in the evening after work/school that were close by and saw the Old Sheldon Church Ruins on several lists.
It is off of a two lane road, but cars go speeding by. There is a dirt parking lot directly across the street from the ruins, but it is not very well marked, so slow down when you get close or you might miss it.
The church must have been gorgeous back in the day, because the ruins are still spectacular. There are a few graves around the grounds, so we needed to be careful where we stepped. The plaque on the wall stated that the church was burned in 1779 by British forces, rebuilt, and burned again in1865 by “Federal” forces. However, there was some written evidence later found that the inside of the church had simply been gutted by local people having to rebuild their homes after Sherman came through.
It was interesting to visit, but I would not drive specifically to see it if you are not already in the area.
Even though COVID killed yet another parade as it took down the Savannah’s Saint Patrick’s Day party, we were able to experience a some festive things.
Savannah still turned their fountains green!
Tybee Island decorated their houses. They had just started the day before we visited, so we only saw a few, but it was still really neat.
If you want some St. Patrick’s Day ideas, or easy soda bread or a stew recipe, please check out my other blog here for my St. Patrick’s Day post!
Although we have seen plenty of turtles and been bitten by many mosquitoes, this post is mostly about my favorite, alligators. My kids may be getting sick of me pointing out an alligator every time I see one, especially since we see them all over the place in the South (Florida, Georgia and South Carolina). I’m not sure why, but I get a huge kick out of seeing these guys in the wild. We saw some decent sized alligators (as well as some crocodiles) in the Everglades National Park, Florida. We even got to see one with it’s mouth open!
At our campground in South Carolina, we saw several smaller ones on the nearby walking trail in the ponds. One looked very young, only 2-3 feet long. The campground’s alligators were not even close to being the same size as the ones in the Everglades, so I felt pretty safe walking around the walking path as long as we all stayed aware.
The boys certainly enjoyed the first several ones we saw and it was a great teaching opportunity to slide in some alligator facts. I have some of these facts below!
Fun alligator facts:
Alligators have about 80 teeth and as the old ones get worn down, new ones come in.
Alligators can hear underwater.
Alligators vs Crocodiles: We saw both in the Everglades. It was a great teaching moment.
Alligators have a rounded snout and are dark grey/black in color. Alligators also do not normally show bottom teeth with their mouth closed.
Crocodiles have a pointed snout and are a grey/brown/green color. Crocodiles bottom and top teeth are visible with their mouth closed. Crocodiles tend to be more aggressive.
An alligator can live up to 50 years. They continue to grow throughout their life.
The power in an alligator’s jaw comes in closing, they do not have a lot of jaw opening strength.
To estimate an alligators size from a distance, calculate the length from the tip of their nose to the eye ridge. One inch of distance here is equal to one foot of total length.
Alligators dig burrows (holes, tunnels) and once they move out, other animals move in. These holes are very important, as they can be deep and hold water, even when other areas have dried up.
Alligators can climb, short fences and even ladders, although we did not see any on stilts or ladders during our encounters.
To get away from an alligator, just run in a straight line 20-30 ft, no zig-zag required. To be safe, I would keep running.
They can leap out of the water using their tail, up to 5 feet!
They will balance sticks on their snout to attract birds…to eat.
They do not hibernate, but they do have times where they are dormant when the weather is too cold (below 55℉).
Mating season is May to June. Eggs hatch in Mid-August to September.
The babies gender is determined by the temperature in the nest. The mom will stay with her eggs and protect them for a year to two after they hatch.
If you have any great Alligator or Crocodile stories, we would love to hear them. Post them in the comments.
We are likely posting this a day late as Pi Day was yesterday on 3/14. But, really Pi day is everyday if you are living life well.
We first saw the Carolina Cider Company store while exploring the area around us. It was closed for the day, but that did not deter us. We came back the next day. It was super cute inside with several different types of cider, pies, and jellies.
It was close to closing time, so there were only 3 pies left. We got a pecan apple pie, a small blueberry cider, small Black Bing Cherry cider, and a Muscadine jelly (a type of grape). ($38.80 total)
There was also a coffee shop attached to it, Clockwise Coffee. Ben got a plain coffee and I got a mocha. Mine came with a nice design in it!
Everything was delicious and I am glad we stopped, it was definitely worth the trip.
Hope you had a great Pi day! If you did anything special to celebrate, post it in the comments. I can’t wait to read all about it.
After walking River Street, and eating a hearty breakfast, we decided to check out one of the sightseeing/history tours. There were three bus/trolley tours available as we walked around. We went with the Old Savannah Tours and the “hop on and hop off option”. Although we chose the on/off option, we didn’t end up using it as we just stayed on for the whole 90 minute tour instead. We found a $5 off adult tickets coupon at breakfast, which was nice.
We walked a few blocks and picked up the tour at their Visitor Center. It was already pretty full, but we did manage to catch the next bus. It was all open air/open window as well, but we still kept our masks on. (Georgia just recommends masks, although they are required indoors at many places, so we kept ours on the entire time we were out.)
We saw lots of neat architecture, learned about local attractions and soaked in some great Savannah history.
We drove by the Mercer House (Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil), Forsyth Park, Lucas Theater (first public building to have air conditioning in Savannah), the Owens-Thomas house (first indoor plumbing in the US, even before the White House!), the Sorrel Weed house (where the feather drifts from the roof in Forrest Gump), the Mickve Israel (only gothic synagogue in North America), the Scottish Rite building (corner building with really neat detail near the roof), and the first Girl Scout headquarters. We also learned that the stone streets were made from using ships’ ballasts, thus the bumpy ride.
We learned about Haint paint (aint blue, aint green, per our tour guide) and how it was used to ward off evil spirits. I looked it up later, and it was believed that evil spirits (haints/haunts) could not cross water. People painted their porch roofs (interior) a blue shade to make the spirits think that it was water and therefore were unable to come into the house.
Old Savannah Tours also had a couple of stops where a historic figure (actor) would come on board to say a few things. This could have been cool, but it was my least favorite part as they were not wearing masks. Luckily, we were not in the front row. We have also found that the tour guide makes a huge difference in your experience. It was a nice way to see the city and learn some its history.
After we got off of the tour, we walked around the River Street area some more. We stopped by the Plant Riverside District, based on the tour guide’s recommendation. This is part of the JW Marriott, and contains the skeleton of an ice bear, several huge geodes, mammoth tusks, and a chrome replica of the largest dinosaur ever found. It is an amazing space.
We traveled down the river walk, grabbed some cookies at Byrd’s, a coffee at Starbucks, and watched some ships coming in. We found where X marks the spot to hear your echo at Rousakis Plaza. We had walked by it earlier and didn’t even notice, but our tour guide pointed it out. We had to stop back and try it. You can hear your echo if you are in the right spot, although it is faint due to all the background noise of the city. You can also find some great views of the River, the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, and the cargo ships here.
It was a great day exploring and learning about Savannah. If you have been to the Savannah area, what were your favorite activities? Send us a comment and we will be sure to check it out.
We headed back down to River Street in Savannah. There were so many restaurants to try, that we decided to grab breakfast in the downtown area while exploring the city. We found a great parking spot right on the river and walked around for about an hour. We were pretty hungry and stopped at Goose Feathers Cafe for breakfast.
We got a coffee, a frozen mocha, a Baileys Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pie, a breakfast burrito (eggs, cheese, potatoes, turkey sausage), an “Eggetarian” (poached eggs and hollandaise sauce on a croissant), and a blueberry bagel with cream cheese. ($31.43, plus tip)
It was the boys’ first time trying a whoopie pie, so they thought it was a nice treat. The cake part was a little dry, but the flavor was nice. The Bailey’s and mint were a nice nod to Saint Patrick’s Day.
Everything was good, but Savannah has so many amazing restaurants, I wouldn’t go back instead of trying another new place. The Cafe did have a few tables outside and the tables inside were pretty well spaced out. It seemed they were doing the best they could with the pandemic, although I’m sure the ambiance was not quite the same as it used to be. The inside decorations were really cute with a glass display case and a tin ceiling.
If you have been to Savannah, what were your favorite restaurants?
After Florida, we continued moving up the coast. Ben and I had been to Savannah many years ago for our honeymoon and loved it; the gorgeous architecture, the Spanish Moss, watching the ships go by. We wanted the boys to experience this awesome city.
Moving day was pretty uneventful. It was a rainy, grey type of day. We got to our campsite and it was pretty muddy along the hook-up side of the RV. I am glad we had our rain boots!
We got set up and decided to drive through Savannah. The River Street area has certainly grown in seventeen years!
Parking looked pretty full, plus we still had to pick up groceries, so we just drove through the River Street area to get a new mental layout of the city. We also drove down Jones Street, which was labeled the prettiest street in Savannah. The houses were very pretty with iron railings and fences, with really neat staircases, and Spanish Moss draping over the street.
We drove over the Talmadge Memorial Bridge. It is a very pretty bridge that spans the Savannah River. It has quite the incline to get to the peak, as cargo ships travel underneath.
After our stay at Miami and the trip to Key West, we went back to Orlando. We had family staying in the area and wanted to spend as much time as we could with them. We hadn’t seen them since July 2020! We stayed at the Orlando Southwest KOA.
It was an easy drive to grocery stores, Disney (approximately 15-30 minutes, depending on traffic) and Universal (20-30 minutes), Costco (30-45 minutes).
The pool looked nice, but was always a little crowded, so we didn’t go in. The office store had a nice selection of RV items, grocery type items, and even a little library! It had a cool spiral staircase in the middle, which I found out leads just to an office.
Pool, bikes for rent, playground, bathrooms, dog area and wash, camp kitchen
There were trees around the campground, which gave some nice shade. Sites were decently spaced out. It was nice to walk around, although there was not a walking trail. This was one of the first KOA’s that we have been to that did not have a front gate. We also had water problems several times while we were here. The park did send out a text to us when they shut the water off for repairs, but it happened a couple of times times. The water pressure was low for most of our stay.
The boys loved the little library. We didn’t use the laundry room. Staff members were always nice when we interacted with them.
We would probably stay here again, although I would choose the Orlando Thousand Trails over this one. We had better water pressure and internet/cell service at the TT campground.
Our rating: 2.5/3 out of 5 hitches (it was nice, but had several water problems)
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, although Verizon got a bit laggy sometimes
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull Through, Back-in (grass and gravel sites)
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site:
Amenities: picnic table, fire pit/grill, cable, pool, playground, 2 dog parks and a dog wash, community camp kitchen, little library in office, pickleball, basketball, horseshoes, bike rental
Cabins: Yes
Tent Camping: Yes
Full Hook-ups: Yes
Amps: 50/30
Pool: Yes
Food On-Site: No, although some snacks and general supplies in camp store
The boys and I headed back to Disney, this time to Disney Springs. There were parking garages, which were free. However, many of the entrances from the garages into the shopping area were closed. We parked in the Orange garage and there was only one entrance available. They had you go through a metal detector and temperature screening in order to go in. Masks were required and they had a disposable mask vending machine there as well ($2).
One of the reasons we went to Disney Springs, was for Everglazed Donuts. They had huge, crazy donuts for sale. They were not cheap. Even the purple glazed donut (which tasted like a regular glazed donut, just dyed purple) was $4.50. We got a Brooklyn Blackout, Cookies and Cream, Peanut Butter Explosion, Purple glazed, and an iced mocha drink. The donuts were delicious and very sweet. The drink was ok, but for the cost I would go to Starbucks next time instead.
We also wanted to check out the crazy cookies at Gideon’s Bakehouse. However, they had a huge line. We had at least a 70 minute wait, so we chose to skip it. Their cookies did look amazing though!
Disney Springs was huge and had lots of shopping and restaurants. It would probably be easy to spend at least half a day there.
One of the things Epcot is known for is the World Showcase with its different countries and variety of foods. We wanted to try a few things while we were there.
Our first snack was in Mexico. Ben and I shared a strawberry margarita ($12.25), and we all shared a plate of guacamole and chips ($10). The margarita was nice, cold and very sweet. It was great for a hot day. They offered a tri-colored Fiesta margarita. However, the one layer was mango, which is not my favorite, and it was also more expensive ($12.75). It didn’t really make sense to charge extra for just layering the flavors. Mexico was only selling water bottles and they did not have cups of water available.
♫ Let it snow, let it snow, long lines in Norway bother me.♪
Next, we walked into Norway and straight into the Kringla to try a Troll Horn. It looked delicious… but, it was just okay. It was filled with a chilled cream that had a slight citrus taste. Ben said he just tasted sugar, so maybe it was just me. ($4.79)
Next, we went to China. I ended up getting a parasol ($23.43) to help with the sun. I did have sunscreen and a hat on, but it was 84F when we bought it and very sunny. Ben claims it was a good value to mitigate skin cancer. We stopped at Lotus Blossom to get Will some food. Their sit-down dinner area in the back was open, but empty. Will got chicken fried rice ($13.50), and a Diet Coke for Ben ($3.99). ($18.63 total). We all tried a bite of the fried rice, but Will ate most of it! We also grabbed a custom Epcot Ball with Disney Ears charm for the low low price of $15.
Onto Germany, where the soft pretzels are as big as your head, literally. For just $10 we indulged in warm, soft and hot bread from the Vaterland. It was a decent value for a Disney treat.
Italy had a few fun items to offer, but we were only there for one, the Cannoli Cupcake. Unfortunately, COVID struck hard here. The shopkeeper informed us that their pastry chef was out because of the pandemic. Oh mio Dio salvateci.
We moved onto Japan where we got a rainbow shaved ice, drizzled with sweet milk ($5.79). I had never seen a shaved ice with condensed milk on it before until the we were in the South. It is surprisingly good (tasting, probably not good for you). Japan also had nice outdoor seating areas with shade and a koi pond. Super ambiance to enjoy this treat.
We walked checked out Morocco and tried some cookies ($5). We got the kataifi (similar to baklava in taste) and marble koulouria (butter chocolate twist cookie). The kataifi was the favorite.
France, known for delicious desserts and laminated breads didn’t disappoint. They had a cute ice cream store called L’Artisan Des Glaces. We tried the seasonal macaroon ice cream sandwich (when we went it was raspberry with vanilla ice cream, $5) and the Croque Glace (Brioche Ice Cream sandwich, $7.50). For the brioche sandwich, we chose peanut butter ice cream and raspberry sauce. They cut a brioche bun in half, swirl on sauce (chocolate, caramel, or raspberry) and a scoop of ice cream, place it in a grill that looks like a circular waffle maker, and heat it for a few seconds. The process was so interesting we grabbed a quick video. https://tinyurl.com/EpcotBriocheIceCreamSandwich The ice cream was delicious, but I don’t know that I would get the brioche sandwich again. Note: Will was delighted with the Macaroon sandwich, but he loves Macaroons, so this wasn’t too surprising. We also stopped at the bakery and picked up a baguette ($3.10), plain croissant ($2.90), and an almond croissant (almond and chocolate filling, $4.75).
After we watched the show in Canada, we stopped at a booth to pick up some traditional poutine ($7.50). Poutine is french fries with cheese curds and gravy. I am not normally a gravy person, but poutine is delicious and there are a lot of varieties. Although it was good the curds were a little squeaky.
On our way out of the park, we stopped at one of the shops hoping to find some postcards specific to Epcot. We didn’t have any luck, but Nick did get to get a pressed penny. ($1. Remember when they used to be $0.51?)
