Much of our Fall 2023 tour prior to Thanksgiving encompassed 4 different areas; Washington DC, Upstate South Carolina, Jekyll Island, and lastly an oldie-but-goodie, Myrtle Beach.
We had not been to DC for several years after Jessie’s family moved to CT so was nice to be back and revisit some of our favorites as well as take in some new sites. The newly remodeled Air and Space Museum was well worth the re-visit as there were new exhibits that we had not seen before as well as updated displays and presentations that were much more interactive and diverse. We especially enjoyed the film features in the planetarium. New to us, were our visits to the Department of the Interior (often called the “Department of Everything Else”) and Post Office museums. Both were in beautiful buildings, were very interesting and informative, with histories of both agencies and current activities. The Department of the Interior building itself had over 40 murals depicting different aspects of American history. Many interesting stories from our tour guide made the stop very fun. Who knew that the DOI employs >70,000 people nationwide and is invested in maintaining the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples. No trip to DC would be complete without dinner at Old Ebbit Grill and an evening jazz concert at Blues Alley. A drive by Jessie’s former home in Ashburn, VA led us to reminisce about the many happy memories spent with the Belloni family in that house.
After a brief visit to the Wake Forest area to the Bakers, we moved onto Cleveland in Upstate South Carolina. One typically thinks of SC as a state of beaches, coastal communities, and relatively low, flat territory. However, western South Carolina is anything but. It is mountainous forested country with many streams, waterfalls, small lakes, and populated with small towns. We were here at the peak of the autumn leaf changes and were blessed with warm weather and sunny skies. It was breathtakingly beautiful, with fantastic hiking and spectacular views. We were also fortunate to stay in one of the prettiest, small, campgrounds we’ve ever camped in. Visits to near-by dinners, a fun brewery, and a fabulous tour of a local tea farm made this a great stop in our Fall tour. Even as a life-long tea drinker, I learned so much about the growing and processing of tea from this visit and was one of my favorite stops. Needless to say, I purchased a fair amount of their tea to tide me over.
After leaving SC, we headed to the coast of Georgia for a sojourn on Jekyll Island. I had rather low expectation as I expected it to be like many other southern barrier islands: very commercial, over-developed with crowded beaches, golf courses, and strip malls. We were pleasantly surprised by both the Island and our campground. It was beautiful place with gorgeous old Live Oaks everywhere, miles of empty beaches (although it was November) and a cool bike path around the island. The whole island is owned by the state of Georgia and a law was passed in 1971 that mandated 65% of the island would remain undeveloped. Such a wise move and surprising for that time. Much of the island is devoted to conservation, despite the few golf courses, and we enjoyed a visit to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center (both hospital and sanctuary for sea turtles). We also were surprised to visit a beautiful national monument on nearby St. Simon Island, Fort Frederika. It is a historical monument of the town and fort of Frederika, settled in 1742 and fought over by the English and Spanish. Of course, we could not leave Jekyll, without indulging several times in the local seafood specialty, freshly caught Georgia shrimp. Yum! Off to Myrtle Beach to hang at Ocean Lakes, walk the beach, and eat roasted oysters!
