Week 45
Last week we left Florida and crossed into Georgia along the east coast. This week we left Georgia and headed on to South Carolina where we explored several beaches and Charleston along the way then made our way back west to Congaree National Park near Columbia as we said goodbye to the coast for the rest of the trip.
Day 311 Mon 02/12
This morning we left the Savannah Visitor Center parking lot early and drove to Hunting Island State Park. We were able to get a campsite as they just reopened this campground a week ago. This campground was damaged by Hurricane Matthew and Irma with flooding and wind damage. The dunes were wiped out by the storms and the 80 campsites that used to be on the water were unrecognizable and won’t be rebuilt. Our neighbor camper was an older gentleman named Preston who had just started full time RVing with his wife last week…they sold, donated or burned everything (even family photos) they owned and hit the road…so we talked a bit about that freedom from Stuff traded in for experiences. He also shared that he had developed a passion for gardening, so we also shared that in common too, and he encouraged me to make compost tea for my garden when I get home. We walked on the beach and found all kinds of shells and probably 15 full sand dollars. We just happened to get there at low tide, so the water was as far out as we have seen since Fundy National Park in Canada. The campground had installed new wireless routers and strong internet, so we decided to catch up on some winter Olympics in the RV. I went back out to the beach for sunset at high tide.
Day 312 Tues 02/13
Today in Hunting Island State Park it was cold cloudy and windy. John went for a run on the beach to check out the lighthouse, and I did my exercises. Our neighbors to the other side of us had a JFK 50 miler sticker on their car so we met that couple who the husband had run the race and sold the car stickers at the races and knows the race director well. We took another long walk on the beach with Cooper before dinner but it was much windier and colder than yesterday. We made veggie soup for dinner and watched a documentary called Wasted, The Story of Food Waste narrated by Anthony Bourdain. In the US 40% of all food produced is being wasted! This impacts climate change due to the methane gas released because it doesn’t biodegrade in the landfill. There were several interesting things shared that organizations and people are doing to fight food waste like the former President of Trader Joes who opened The Daily Table, a nonprofit super market in Boston that serves an underserved population with surplus food at a discount for low to mid income residents. They also have a prep kitchen to prepare meals for working families that don’t have time to make healthy food rather than unhealthy fast food options. Most food is donated or discounted because of nearing sell by dates that would otherwise go to waste in the dumpster. They also shared how South Korea handles their food waste by requiring by law, separation of food waste and charging people per pound of food. The country banned food waste from landfills in 2005! Chef Massimo Bottura opened Rafatorio Ambrosiano in Milan, a soup kitchen that serves the neediest residents with excess food from the 5 month long Expo, and the other 7 months of the year prepares food with the daily supply of supermarket waste. World renowned chefs and designers created a concept that feeds the body and soul by providing dignity. General Mills in Murfreesboro TN makes Greek Yogurt with 3 gallons of milk for every 1 gallon of yogurt and with the wasted milk byproduct they have an anaerobic digester that produces electricity to run the entire plant! It was a good documentary and serious food for thought.
Day 313 Wed 02/14
Today we left Hunting Island State Park and drove to Charleston, SC. We had arranged to volunteer at the local Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Urban Farm located on a 1/2 acre on the MUSC campus. Carmen who is in charge of the garden was awesome as she worked with us to prepare an open raised bed for planting arugula and lettuce. She explained the benefits of their no till strategies and also explained how she tests and builds the soil based on what it is lacking. The farm is a resource to the faculty staff students and local community as anyone can come volunteer in exchange for fresh produce and knowledge. They are building an outdoor kitchen next to expand their education abilities for integrating healthy food into your diet. We took home some spicy arugula and a few radishes. We talked about the benefit for the doctors and students to be exposed to this type of resource as they are only exposed to 20 hours of nutrition courses as part of their training as health professionals…After touring the amazing network of educational gardens on the campus and hearing about the hospitals vision for green space that was more than just turf lawn we walked the neighborhood back to the RV with pit stops at to local bakeries. We picked up some Valentine’s Day cupcakes at Sugar Bakeshop started by 2 former architects for our dinner with our friend Jennifer (Graham) Charzewski, from undergrad at Texas A&M College of Architecture that we have not seen in 15 years. For the afternoon we parked at the local Visitor Center parking garage and walked downtown Charleston enjoying the unique character and southern charm of the city. We enjoyed dinner with Jennifer and her husband Jared who is a sculptor and professor at the local university and their 3 boys Jack, Evan and Robert. Cooper kept trying to find their cats who were more than capable of holding their own against our 75 lbs dog. We checked out the kids amazing fort that Jared had created out of plastic playhouses, it was so cool! They prepared an awesome veggie meal of potato and sunchoke salad and butternut squash lasagna with green beans. We indulged in the yummy cupcakes after dinner and caught up on 15 years gone by. They sent us off with a pick your own 6 pack of local South Carolina beer for us to try next month in March since we aren’t drinking alcohol this month. They also offered for me to donate our food scraps to their backyard compost pile for their garden! We headed to Walmart outside of Charleston for the night and caught up on the day’s news of the horrendous school shooting in Florida today. Our hearts break for the families and community impacted by this troubled teen’s decision to take so many innocent lives. When is enough enough…I can’t imagine being a parent or a student that has to live with this kind of fear. Columbine happened the spring semester of my senior year in high school, and it was so shocking then and events like it have become so commonplace now. Something has to be done, and not just a quick fix bandaid, real change needs to happen on many levels with gun reform, mental health reform, school security… so not one more child dies because of our own inaction.
Day 314 Thurs 02/15
Today was laundry day, so we found a laundromat in Georgetown then headed to our next State Park. We decided to chance getting campsites in South Carolina in person vs online to avoid the Reserve America fees and 2 day minimum reservation requirement, but that almost backfired today when I called ahead to the park we wanted to go to at Huntington Beach and we got one of the last spots for today. They are full for tomorrow, so I called the next closest park at Myrtle Beach and they only had one spot left for tomorrow, so we got lucky…maybe it is because it is a holiday weekend? Turns out they charge the Reserve America fee anyway so camping at South Carolina State Parks are not cheap. Today I had my book club call with HKS for the Regenerative Business by Carol Sanford, then we took a walk on the beach with Cooper. We love that South Carolina’s State Parks and beaches are dog friendly! This State Park also had a historic estate on the grounds called Atalaya Castle that we walked around because it was already closed for the day. It looked really cool so we will definitely check it out tomorrow. Tonight, John made sloppy chicks for dinner and they hit the spot.
Day 315 Fri 02/16
This morning, John ran some of the park trails and beaches, and became a birder for the day while I took Cooper for a long walk on the beach and did my exercises. After lunch we toured Atalaya. It was the winter residence for industrialist and philanthropist Archer Huntington and his wife, the sculptor, Anne. The house was built in the 1930s and the design was based on Moorish castles in Spain. The residence also had a large indoor and outdoor sculpture studio, and even had cages for bears. Live bears were sometimes used as the models for sculptures. This afternoon we drove to Myrtle Beach State Park Campground. After settling in to our campsite we took Cooper for a long walk on the beach and this time the beach was horse and dog friendly!
Day 316 Sat 02/17
Today we left Myrtle Beach State Park Campground and drove to our first Harvest Host in a while at Willard Farm. Tonight, we watched two documentaries. The first one called Class Divide that documented the stark contrast between the elite private school, Avenues: The World School where it costs $40,000+ a year to send your kid and the Elliot Chelsea public housing projects 115 steps across the street where a typical family doesn’t even make $20,000 a year in income if they are employed at all… in the West Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan that has quickly gentrified since the development of the Highline Park transforming the real estate market and pushing out jobs and housing for low income residents in the area. The 2nd was Becoming Warren Buffet that outlined the path of the self-made businessman to what he is today and how he gives away his fortune as a philanthropist. Both very good documentaries about the impacts of money and its ripple effects on society.
Day 317 Sun 02/18
This morning we left Willard Farm and drove to Congaree National Park for a hike. It is a fairly small national park with a trail system that is dog friendly but there is not any RV camping, only tent camping within the park. We hiked 7.25 miles on the Oakridge trail with Cooper. The trail started out on a boardwalk then adventured into the wild heart of the South Carolina wilderness amongst the bald cypress and old growth forest in the last remaining flood plains of its kind in the states. We would love to come back at a different time of year as it changes constantly based on water levels and seasons. After our magical adventure we napped in the parking lot for a bit before we drove to Cracker Barrel north of Columbia, SC for the night.
We are a bit sad about leaving the beach and the east coast this week…Cooper is the saddest, but we are looking forward to seeing mountains again as we make our way back west next week towards Huntsville, AL to visit John’s sister Natalie and her family in a few weeks.
This map below indicates our route last week from Savannah, GA to Columbia, SC.
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