My first stop on the way to NJ was a short ride to Jacksonville. Leaving Marvin's in mid-afternoon, it was late when I arrived and it was starting to drizzle. I managed to get set-up, pick up some Chinese take out, some fresh fruits & vegies, and get back just as it started raining. A TV movie and an early night. It looks like it'll be raining on and off for the next couple of days and there are a few movies I've wanted to see anyway, so... I think I've read every one of the "Jack Reacher" books so a movie starring Tom Cruise sounds good. The movie was ok, not great and not bad. In the books Jack Reacher is about 6'5" and Tom Cruise is just over 5'6", at least the numbers are the same (lol). The second movie I saw was the Promised Land, starring Matt Damon. Another movie star I like and another movie that was ok.
I stopped in Jacksonville to attend my cousin Bobbi's after New Years party and see a show at the Alhambra Dinner Theater with her and her friends. Bobbi, your party was great, the food was fantastic and your friends and neighbors are very nice. I enjoyed meeting them. The show we saw was "Ring of Fire", the Johnny Cash story. I liked that they didn't try to mimic Johnny Cash, but rather had some talented people sing his songs and play guitar as a tribute to him. The show was very enjoyable.
In the next morning I'm off for a long drive to the Charleston, SC area. Jolly Acres was a friendly place to stay last year. It was great when the owners and work campers all remembered me. A couple staying again at the cg also remembered me, Bud & Pat. We sat out chatting a few evenings in the beautiful weather, warm for mid-January. It was restaurant week in Charleston and many of the restaurants had special menus. The salmon frittata accompanied by a Bloody Mary was a perfect brunch. Charleston is one of my three favorite southern cities, the others being; Savannah and St. Augustine. You're able to walk these cities and there always seems to be something going on in addition to great food and attractions. I also saw yet another movie on one rainy day, "Guilt Trip" with Barbra Streisand. This is really one cute movie that even brought a tear to my eyes at a few points. Then again, it doesn't take much to get my eyes watery.
Another long ride to Wilson, NC. I'll stay only a few days. Not much doing around here besides a really great barbecue place. I did check out the North Carolina Baseball Museum. The docent was a real chatty guy and the place is packed with memorabilia. They could easily fill a building twice this size. I was amazed at the number of famous ballplayers who have had some contact with North Carolina, lots of people from Ted Williams to Catfish Hunter. An original program from the 1956 world series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the NY Yankees brought a tear to my eyes. I'm sure I held an identical program. It was the last year for my Dodgers before they deserted me :=( I loved baseball as a kid and played all through High School. I even played in a few adult leagues right up to becoming a single parent not that many years ago. I just stood by the field remembering such great times. The walking tour of Wilson, NC was kind of depressing. There are 23 stops on the published tour of about a 1 1/2 mile cool walk around town (cool 'cause it was in the 40's). Many of the stops are nothing more than boarded up buildings. Even the docent in the visitor center warned me to be careful walking down some of the streets. There are several old buildings with some interesting architecture but they're in such disrepair it didn't look like they would stand up to a stiff breeze.
Newport News Municipal cg was the second place I stayed at when I started RV'ing in 2011. It's in a great location, close to lots of "stuff". It's also one of the few cg's in the area open this time of year. It's cold! Today is the warmest day and it's only in the mid-40's. The rest of the week has the day's forecasted in the 30's and the nights in the teens. I left my water line in rather than deal with a long popsicle (lol). I went to the Living Museum on the warmer day since it's mostly outside. Pretty interesting place. In a relatively small area they have several outdoor habitats with; wolfs, fox, turkeys, deer, bobcat, bald eagles, beaver, otters, coyote. They set up a large outdoor aviary that you walk through which has lots of local birds including brown pelicans. As large as these birds are, the aviary is big enough to allow them to fly a little. I was happy to look around the indoor portion of the museum to warm up (lol). I'm parked directly across from the park showers and this is one of the few cg's in my travels that I've enjoyed using their showers. Especially for a public park the showers are well maintained, clean, hot, with lots of pressure. As cold as it is this will save my on board water until I get to a cg's where I can deploy my heated hose. RV'ing is lots of fun, but I'll be glad when I no longer need to deal with camping in the cold.
Wow, what a surprise, what a great museum! I almost didn't go to the Mariners' Museum. I'm ex-Army, not Navy, and, while I enjoy the ocean, I don't have any experience with ships and such. Still, I'd seen and enjoyed the Hunley Museum in Charleston and the Mariners' Museum has the relics from the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (the former USS Merrimack). There was so much more than just "stuff" from the Monitor & Merrimack! There is a section dedicated to the Titanic with lots of artifacts. They have an entire room of incredible miniature ship models with details that are seen with magnifying glasses. I'm still fussing with my little craved manatee I started in the woodworking class I took while in Bradenton, FL (lol). I was really fascinated by the number of artifacts on navigation; books, and instruments from hundreds of years ago. If you're in the area you wouldn't be disappointed strolling through this museum. I also went to the Virginia War Museum and the US Army Transportation Museum located at Ft. Eustis. The war museum traced the US military, with separate rooms of displays, from the Revolution, to the War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American, right through WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the current wars in the Middle East. Isn't it sad how much of our history is traced through conflict? The US Army Transportation Museum was interesting. When I was in the Army I don't remember thinking about transportation much. Our resupplies were mostly prearranged. If we needed something urgent or special I put in the request via radio. Like magic, our supplies would appear and usually be dropped out of a helicopter at a prearranged time and place. I spent most of my work career in a field called project management. Over the years I got a much better appreciation for the planning and logistics to coordinate and move people and materials. The Army Transportation motto is "Nothing happens until something moves!". Think about what it takes to move hundreds of thousands of military personnel, with all the thousands of tons of needed equipment, all around the world. These are massive projects!
It remained cold but the rain and snow held off. I wasn't looking forward to the drive around the DC beltway but all turned out fine. The drive was long, over 4 hours, but sunny and easy. The Gettysburg cg left a list of available sites for me to chose from. The entire cg was covered with snow. I pulled in with no problems and hooked up my heated water hose. The water worked fine at night but I had a long popsicle in the morning with a frozen hose. Turns out the 120v outlet didn't work (lol). When I checked in on Monday morning, Sue, the manager, lent me a 50amp adapter for the 120v outlet. A few hours later the water was running fine. The one day it was sunny and in the 50 's I walked the Gettysburg battlefield. It's interesting to actually see what the soldiers saw from the ground. At Gettysburg, from the observation deck, the battlefield seems very flat. Yet, when you walk the fields you realize that the slight rises are enough to completely shield an enemy from just a few hundred yards. The visitor center included a large circular painting of the battle completed a few years after it actually took place. The museum and films presented a pretty balanced view even suggesting that the South came very close to winning. If you're ever in the area be sure to stop into the diorama in town. They have a 30 minute presentation around a scale model of the battle area. Very interesting!.
My final drive to NJ was easy and without event. The son of the cg owner, Darin, immediately remembered me. He drove me around the cg to pick out whatever open space I liked best. It's funny, I've laughed several times to couples setting up their portable sat. dish with the wife yelling out their rv to the husband. "honey, two more feet to the left"! Here I was with Darin listening just outside my rig door, my TV on loud, yelling at me backing up "move it over two feet to the left". I was laughing out loud at the whole scene (lol). Once I finally got situated I headed out to food shop. When I returned, Darin had set up and connected PVC to my sewer line and reinsulated my heated water hose. If anyone ever wants a cg in NJ I heartily recommend Tip Tam. The owners will do whatever they can to make your stay as pleasant as possible. Guess I'm settled in till April.
