Weather forecasts are often wrong...and this year was no exception when it predicted a warmer than usual spring...well, let's say the ground hog was not quite in touch!We decided to leave the country after having seen that 0-5 C like temperatures were persisting in our area! We packed the tents, the Hibachi and Coleman cookers, the big sleeping bags (there were nights a 7 C!) and of course our folding bikes!
First destination was North Carolina. Last road trip to this destination was 2006! Of course, most of our visits in this part of the USA was on board our sail boat!
Anyhow, we spent 4 days in the New Bern area, camping in the Croatan forest...it's an area that we like!
Besides enjoying hiking and biking paths in the forest, we also visited the area...We enjoyed the town of New Bern with its blooming cherry trees, bougainvillae and wysteria vines! We even got excited just seeing bloody tulips!!! That's what happens to Canadians after an always too long winter!!!
Live oak trees although not yet green have a special look with their moss holding on to their branches and swaying in the wind!
A bit of American trivia...If Coca Cola was invented in Georgia (Atlanta), Pepsi's birthplace was right there in New Bern!!! There is a store (old pharmacy) detailing its history...I asked the manager which one was invented first: Coke or Pepsi????. He laughed and said that it was Dr. Pepper marketed in Texas in 1885!!!!!
On April 1 st, we celebrated our 42 nd anniversary...hum!!! are we that old ? Nope!!! If we still can camp and eat fried sea food, we are not old! Despite the gray and rainy weather, we sat at the Ruddy Duck Tavern in Morehead city for an excellent meal of fried oysters (and they were delicious!!!) and fried flounder with some shrimps and calamari bits! Ah! fresh sea food!
The weather got nasty...big rains fell on our tent all night long! But our tarp proved to be 100% waterproof! Thank God!
We moved southwards to Myrtle beach state park..we had never been to Myrtle beach and were struck by contrasts: the absolute tackiness of the business highway 17 with its advertisements and plastic figures ....
and the beauty of the beach and forest!
After a very enjoyable walk on the beach, we got fresh shrimps which we cooked at the camp site and enjoyed with a nice glass of wine..the air was mild, all looking good for our trip further south to Georgia. Gerogia on my mind....
Gergia's Atlantic coast is not touristic...there is Savannah, then the millionaire's resorts at Jekyll's island and then nothing more than swamps! Our camp site was located on the edge of the Crooked River, at the border of Florida and offered a typical Georgia river landscape! The park had great hiking paths, some bordered with palmettos and with the most appealing one named Sempervirens which is Latin for “ever living.” Indeed, the trail is one where we encountered so many species of oaks and hollys, as well as southern magnolia, red cedar, and American basswood.
As we followed the path along the river, we stumbled upon some kind of turtle...we could not quite identify it until a local told us that we saw a gopher tortoise (see photo below), Georgia’s state reptile. These large land turtles dig burrows in sandy soil and feed on small grasses. They never go to the water!!! We also saw raccoons, squirrels, as well as an armadillo visiting our camp site!
One of our day trip was to the small town of St Mary's on the St Mary's river...a very quiet place and with all its attractions closed on Mondays! including the cemetery!!! We nevertheless enjoyed the place, admiring gardens, small churches and overlooking the swamp! We managed to find a place open for lunch: the Riverside Café where we ate fish and cajun chicken! and from where we could admire the river and its winding wild grasses!
Here is the First Presbyterian Church - oldest church in Georgia in continuous use - on Conyers St....
Another excursion brought us to Florida's Amelia island...the day was sunny but windy! We nevertheless went to the beach...reminiscent of Daytona Beach with its cars driving on the sand as well as people riding horses on its hard sand surfaces! So enjoyable!
