James Island County Park, Charleston, SC

James Island County Park, Charleston, SC

January 16 - 24, 2020

Our new truck came in on the Saturday before we were to leave on Thursday.  That gave John time to put in the hitch and cover and a couple other things.  This new truck comes with anything you can think of and some you can't.

It pulls really well and John says he can't even tell the 5th wheel is back there.

On Thursday, January 16 we got to James Island County Campground and got set up.

It was busy on the weekend but has thinned out.

On Friday, January 17 we went to the Charleston Tea Plantation and 'toured' the factory.  They have a walkway by where they process the tea and videos that show how it works.  This isn't the time of year for tea harvesting so the machines weren't working.

I drink a cup of tea almost every morning but never thought about the tea plants, where it came from or how it was processed.  This is the only place in the United States where tea is grown.

After we left the tea plantation we went to the Angel Oak.  It is a southern live oak and is estimated to be 400-500 years old.  It is huge and the pictures really can't capture how big it really is.

On Wednesday, January 22 we took the Gray Line bus tour of Charleston.  It was really interesting and our tour guide, Kim, was very knowledgeable about the city.  I've been on several of the carriage rides around the city but being January we decided the bus would be warmer.  Here is some of what we saw.

At the visitor's center we bought the Museum Mile Pass.  In January it's $25 per person and covers 13 sites.  After lunch at the Market Street Deli we went to the Confederate Museum.  It is the two story building at the west end of the Market.  (I forgot to get a picture so here's one from their website).

In 1894 the Charleston Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy was founded.  They immediately began to collect relics and the collection grew quickly.  By 1898 this group of ladies became Charleston Chapter #4, United Daughters of the Confederacy.  In 1899 the reunion of the United Confederate Veterans was held in Charleston.  The men decided to help these ladies form a permanent Confederate Museum in Charleston.  A call was sent out asking former soldiers to bring their war-time possessions to the reunion for donation to the new museum.  The enthusiastic response showed that a large building would be needed to house the collection.  Since the Mayor and the city councilmen were all former Confederate soldiers, it was only natural that they selected Market Hall for this purpose.  The same building where they had gone to become young soldiers became the place they brought their relics to be preserved for the future.  The Confederate Museum opened here in 1899.

Next we went to the Old Slave Mart Museum.

This was one of many slave markets in Charleston.  35-40% of slaves coming to the U.S. entered through Charleston.  It was very sobering and slavery was very wrong.

After that we went to the Powder Museum.

Completed in 1713, The Powder Magazine is South Carolina's oldest government building. The building was used as an arsenal from 1713-1748 and during the American Revolution in order to defend the city. After 1780, it was retired, and by the early 19th century, it was privately owned. During this period, The Powder Magazine served as a print shop, livery stable, wine cellar, and carriage house. In 1902, The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of South Carolina purchased the building, saving it from demolition. Within a year, it was opened to the public.

On Thursday, January 23 we went back into Charleston to the Joseph Manigault House.

No one else was there so we got a private tour.  It was interesting to learn that dining rooms were a new thing in the early 1800s.  Only the very upper class had them.

This secretary was in Joseph Manigault's office.

This was one of the entry halls and staircase.  All the weight of the staircase is on the bottom step.  The chandelier is a 1930s addition.

This is a gathering room.  The sofa was a new thing from France.

It was common for ladies to entertain other ladies for tea in their bedrooms.  They just didn't have the number of rooms that we have today.

After the tour we went across the street to the Charleston Museum.  There is a history of Charleston from the natives to present day.  There is also a silver and textiles exhibit but we didn't see that.  We spent quite a bit of time there.

This is one of the first sewing machines made.  We've come a lot way.

This is a dress worn by a lady in the 1860s.  It's always amazed me that the dress hoops were so big and the doors were so narrow. 

Out in front of the museum is a replica of the H.L. Hunley.  The replica is actually larger than the original.

After the museum we decided to go back to the campground.  We still have a lot to see so more later.

Roving on...

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.  Psalm 19:1

South Shore, KY to Camp Creek, WV

South Shore, KY to Camp Creek, WV

October 18 - 29, 2019

On Friday, October 18, Bill and Donna took us to the flood wall in Portsmouth, OH, just across the river from South Shore, KY.

In 1937 the Ohio River overflowed it's banks and flooded almost two-thirds of Portsmouth.  In the 1940s they built the flood wall and raised the levies.  In the 1990s Robert Dafford was hired to paint a history of the area on the flood wall.  He worked on it every summer for 10 years, beginning with Indian settlements to present day.  He did an excellent job and we enjoyed seeing it.  Here are a few shots of some of the paintings (I was shooting into the sun so they aren't as good as I would have liked).

After we looked at the wall we drove to the site of the Ohio & Erie Canal lock.

It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  Once the railroad came through the locks were no longer needed.

On Saturday, October 19 we drove to Kendall Campground (CoE) south of Jamestown, KY.

When we got there the campground was full but Sunday afternoon it pretty much emptied out and was really quiet.  The leaves were starting to change and it was pretty.

On Tuesday, October 22 we drove to Oliver Springs, TN and stayed at Windrock Park Campground.  We didn't get any pictures of the campground.  It was designed for people who are using the ATV/motorcycle trails and was quite noisy, but it was the closest campground to Oak Ridge, TN.

On Wednesday, October 23 we went to the American Museum of Science & Energy (AMSE) museum and also on the bus tour they offer.  The museum and bus tour was $5 (senior rate) and was the best deal in town. 

We looked around the museum and watched three videos to got a background on Oak Ridge and what happened there during WWII.  It was called the Secret City because it wasn't on any maps until after WWII.  It was built for the Manhattan Project, where the atomic bomb was developed.  The different plants (X-10, Y-12, & K-25) were built between ridges.

The Calutron Girls were a group of young women, mostly high school graduates who joined the World War II efforts in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1945.  Although they were not allowed to know at the time, they were monitoring dials and watching meters for a calutron, a mass spectrometer that separates uranium isotopes. The enriched uranium was used to make the first atomic bomb.

Calutron Girls were trained and employed at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Wartime labor shortages forced the Tennessee Eastman Corporation to hire women to work at the Y-12 plant.  According to Gladys Owens, one of the few Calutron Girls, a manager at the facility once told them: "We can train you how to do what is needed, but cannot tell you what you are doing. I can only tell you that if our enemies beat us to it, God have mercy on us!"

This was a Calutron machine.  The girls only knew to keep all the dials between certain parameters and adjust if needed.

This jeep was made from a 3-D printer.  If there wasn't a sign on it saying so you would never know it.  Amazing!

We boarded the bus and our first stop was the Y-12 plant.

This is what the plant looks like today.

Then we went to the Graphite Reactor.

This is a model of the reactor.

We then went back to the museum and saw the rest of the museum.  There was a lot more to see than I included pictures for.  I would highly recommend going if you are in the area.  You can get more history on the project at https://www.atomicheritage.org/location/oak-ridge-tn.  We've been to Hanford and Oak Ridge and only have Los Alamos left.  That's for another trip.

On Thursday, October 24 we drove to Pigeon Forge, TN and stayed at King's Holly Haven RV Park.

I guess a lot of people came for the fall colors because I had a hard time finding a place to stay.  As you can see, the sites are pretty well packed in (like most of the parks in the area) but the Lord provided a short but spacious site for us in the back of the park where it was quiet.

On Thursday afternoon we went to Dollywood.  They are having their Great Pumpkin LumiNights and there were pumpkins everywhere.  It was really nice.

Thursday night we stayed until after dark so we could see everything lit up.

All the month of October they also have the Southern Gospel Jubilee, which I didn't know until we got there.  We went to hear several of the groups and really enjoyed it (this one is the Triumphant Quartet).

If you like gospel singing then this is the time of year to go.  Also on Thursday and Friday there were virtually no lines.

We went back on Friday and Saturday (Saturday around 11:00 am it was getting pretty crowded).  John rode all the roller coasters and I held his wallet and keys (they would have to carry me off on a stretcher if I went on them).

I thought this was cute.

We bought season tickets that are good until January 4, 2021 so we'll be back.  I got the Gold Pass which gives us free parking and 20% off food and purchases.  We saved at least $60 with it (parking is $15 a day).

On Sunday, October 27 we drove to Mash Fork Campground in Camp Creek State Park, WV.  We've been here before and really like it (full hookups).  The colors are really changing between here and Wytheville, VA.

We are staying here until Friday, November 1 when we will head home.  The storage lot has a site for the 5th wheel starting then but we had to wait until it was available.

It's been an awesome trip and we are so thankful that we got to take it and see and do the things we did.  It's a little bittersweet in that the trip is ending but we will get to see our family and friends again (and have more than one bathroom!).  It's been fun!  Next year we'll be

Roving on...

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.  Psalm 19:1