Georgia, my 14 year old granddaughter who lost her Dad a month ago, wanted to hang out with me on her Spring Break, and she didn't care what we did. The only place where it wouldn't be raining was to the south and east so it limited where we could go. I explained that this was to be a road trip as opposed to a vacation which is more rigid. My general goal was to hug the coast of NE FL all the way to the northern tip of the Outer Banks, NC. Things don't always go as planned.
We started in St. Augustine, founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers. I like forts so we went to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, completed in 1695. I paid $15 to get in and then when inside saw the National Park signs and realized my America the Beautiful NP pass would have gotten us in free. I should have asked. The pics I took were a bust because there were so many people in each shot. Although all forts are cool, I much preferred those on Florida's western panhandle as well as Dry Tortugas NP off the southern keys. Crowds just don't appeal to me.
We headed north of town for a helicopter ride over the ocean and city. Now that was fun!
www.firstcityhelicopters.com
We both decided St. Augustine just wasn't for us so we got on A1A and headed south about 60 miles. This was a nice ride with no traffic. We stopped in north Flagler County and walked on the beach. The weather was perfect with slight overcast and the usual breeze. It had been a long time since I was on the Atlantic, but I recall the waves being quite a bit bigger. Maybe I should have waited for a hurricane LOL We had a $45 lunch at a burger joint in the nearly deserted Daytona Beach. It wasn't that way a month ago during Bike Week.
Downtown Daytona Beach and the Speedway
We left the St. Augustine hotel the next AM to take A1A north as far as we could go. Unfortunately the ferry was out in Mayport and we had to go around so we could pick A1A up again to Fernandina Beach, the end of the line in FL. We crossed into GA on backroads and took took more backroads to the State owned Jekyll Island. Think of it as a big State Park, and it was gorgeous! It was so nice we drove around it a second time to find a tiny road I saw but didn't stop at earlier. I just love Live Oaks and Spanish Moss.
I told Georgia she must have taken 50 pics of this bridge from all angles and locations and she said no. She started counting them and laughed. I said how many and she said---50
I think we crossed 5 bridges of the same architecture, 4 in GA and one in SC. Beautiful!
Quick trips to ST. Simons Island and Tybee Island were a commercial bust.
I hadn't been to the historical section of Savannah since '05 when 3 of us took a 4-5 day motorcycle road trip. I'd forgotten how big it was and the walking ruined me We did find the place where they filmed Forrest Gump sitting on a park bench. The bench was put up just for the movie, but the scenery was still the same only the foliage was nearly 30 years bigger. I wish I'd have gotten a better straight on pic.
The Forrest Gump bench was between the 2 trees on the left where the sign says Chippewa Square.
The goal now is to get to the Outer Banks of NC after a trip to Angel Oak outside of Charleston, SC. In '05 we got there right as it was closing, but somehow we got in and had the place to ourselves. This time? You had to bring your own road to park on There must have been 200 people there. They even had places to park busses. Still, the tree is absolutely magnificent, and some say it's the most beautiful tree in the world. If in the area you won't be disappointed.
en.wikipedia.org
My sweetie at Angel Oak
We ended up in Surfside, SC just south of the popular Myrtle Beach. I'd never been to this area and I really liked it. I might not like it so much during the tourist season. In a perfect world we would have hung out here and made Morehead City that night to catch the 2 hour 15 min. ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke then up the Outer Banks, the Wright Brother's Museum, and Corolla--the end of the line. The weather was about to turn bad, though. 50%+ chance of rain with 30-40 MPH winds. Dramamine time, for sure. I was looking forward to this part the most, then this bad weather that was unexpected.
The ferry only runs at 7:30, 10:30 and 4:30 this time of year and the 10:30 was full. That was my omen to just come back some other time; Georgia agreed. We probably could have gotten on the ferry via a cancellation because of the weather, but then we wouldn't have enjoyed it much in the rain. Plus, leaving out Saturday would have been really bad weather the entire trip back home.
We had a great time, and there's plenty of time to do the Outer Banks during good weather and before the crowds hit. I'm looking forward to our next road trip, that is if she wants to...
We started in St. Augustine, founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers. I like forts so we went to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, completed in 1695. I paid $15 to get in and then when inside saw the National Park signs and realized my America the Beautiful NP pass would have gotten us in free. I should have asked. The pics I took were a bust because there were so many people in each shot. Although all forts are cool, I much preferred those on Florida's western panhandle as well as Dry Tortugas NP off the southern keys. Crowds just don't appeal to me.
We headed north of town for a helicopter ride over the ocean and city. Now that was fun!
Helicopter Tours Over St. Augustine | First City Helicopters | Reserve Your Flight Today
First City Helicopters offers scenic tours of St. Augustine. Ariel tours over America's oldest city offer breathtaking views. A Helicopter Tour is the best way to view the historic landscape around St. Augustine!
www.firstcityhelicopters.com
We both decided St. Augustine just wasn't for us so we got on A1A and headed south about 60 miles. This was a nice ride with no traffic. We stopped in north Flagler County and walked on the beach. The weather was perfect with slight overcast and the usual breeze. It had been a long time since I was on the Atlantic, but I recall the waves being quite a bit bigger. Maybe I should have waited for a hurricane LOL We had a $45 lunch at a burger joint in the nearly deserted Daytona Beach. It wasn't that way a month ago during Bike Week.
Downtown Daytona Beach and the Speedway
We left the St. Augustine hotel the next AM to take A1A north as far as we could go. Unfortunately the ferry was out in Mayport and we had to go around so we could pick A1A up again to Fernandina Beach, the end of the line in FL. We crossed into GA on backroads and took took more backroads to the State owned Jekyll Island. Think of it as a big State Park, and it was gorgeous! It was so nice we drove around it a second time to find a tiny road I saw but didn't stop at earlier. I just love Live Oaks and Spanish Moss.
I told Georgia she must have taken 50 pics of this bridge from all angles and locations and she said no. She started counting them and laughed. I said how many and she said---50
I think we crossed 5 bridges of the same architecture, 4 in GA and one in SC. Beautiful!Quick trips to ST. Simons Island and Tybee Island were a commercial bust.
I hadn't been to the historical section of Savannah since '05 when 3 of us took a 4-5 day motorcycle road trip. I'd forgotten how big it was and the walking ruined me
We did find the place where they filmed Forrest Gump sitting on a park bench. The bench was put up just for the movie, but the scenery was still the same only the foliage was nearly 30 years bigger. I wish I'd have gotten a better straight on pic.The Forrest Gump bench was between the 2 trees on the left where the sign says Chippewa Square.
The goal now is to get to the Outer Banks of NC after a trip to Angel Oak outside of Charleston, SC. In '05 we got there right as it was closing, but somehow we got in and had the place to ourselves. This time? You had to bring your own road to park on
There must have been 200 people there. They even had places to park busses. Still, the tree is absolutely magnificent, and some say it's the most beautiful tree in the world. If in the area you won't be disappointed.
Angel Oak - Wikipedia
My sweetie at Angel Oak
We ended up in Surfside, SC just south of the popular Myrtle Beach. I'd never been to this area and I really liked it. I might not like it so much during the tourist season. In a perfect world we would have hung out here and made Morehead City that night to catch the 2 hour 15 min. ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke then up the Outer Banks, the Wright Brother's Museum, and Corolla--the end of the line. The weather was about to turn bad, though. 50%+ chance of rain with 30-40 MPH winds. Dramamine time, for sure. I was looking forward to this part the most, then this bad weather that was unexpected.
The ferry only runs at 7:30, 10:30 and 4:30 this time of year and the 10:30 was full. That was my omen to just come back some other time; Georgia agreed. We probably could have gotten on the ferry via a cancellation because of the weather, but then we wouldn't have enjoyed it much in the rain. Plus, leaving out Saturday would have been really bad weather the entire trip back home.
We had a great time, and there's plenty of time to do the Outer Banks during good weather and before the crowds hit. I'm looking forward to our next road trip, that is if she wants to...
