Thanking God For The Ability To Press On In Our Travels

After hearing news in the ER about the necessary intestinal surgery, we quickly realized that our travel plans may have to be halted. That was not easy to digest (no pun intended) considering our son's upcoming wedding was scheduled two weeks from that day. The recovery process proved to be pretty tough in those first few days. But, as time went on, we had much more hope that we'd indeed be able to make it. What a tremendous blessing!!! We are so grateful that we were able to share this incredible event with Destiny and Eric! Here's a sampling of a few of the first pictures forwarded. 💕

The time to make our way up to Elijah Clark State Park was drawing near, but, at that moment, our eyes were fixed on the coast.

Our first stop along the trek was Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area in Pensacola with emphasis on touring Pensacola Lighthouse and National Naval Aviation Museum.

The following images cannot fully capture just how vast and amazing this museum is! Packed with history, adventure, education, and more, it is a must see for anyone passing through the Pensacola area.

Without deliberately trying to bolster America's travel and tourism industry😉, we moved on to explore quite a bit of Georgia's coastline. We day tripped to a few areas from our quaint and very pretty campsite at Country Oaks RV Park in Kingsland, GA.

Below you'll find some of the beautiful and historic offerings in and around St. Marys and Kings Bay.

Can't let a little rain stop us from seeing the Atlantic Ocean, right?

Upon arrival in the Charleston area, we were excited to learn that we were assigned to a very special and different campsite (K1). Although the other sites are arranged in a usual row by row setup, this one is set apart a little and has a much more private feel. That was an exciting discovery considering we'd be staying a total of eight nights. The park is very nice which is, obviously, a fact many others have discovered causing a need for expansion. There are close to twenty sites currently under construction, and they appear to be very close to completion.

Now we had to pop back into the sunshine state for a tour of the oldest city in America. Here we'll share what we found in St. Augustine. This place is hopping! It had us literally hopping ---on and off of a trolley to see as much of its character and excitement as one day would allow.

Staying at Lake Aire Campground put many areas of interest within driving distance. It was a great place to call home while exploring. We saw lots of Charleston and Savannah beauty on foot, by ferry, trolley, bus, and carriage.

We discovered much of this beauty at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens.

We were able to get close to and pet a deer who seemed to love the company.

We saw many animals who had been rescued and are now safe and definitely appear healthy and well.

What an amazing treat it was to see one of the most visited places in Charleston's historic district! Rainbow Row, on East Bay Street, consists of 13 brightly painted houses that were, nearly 300 years ago, shops and businesses with living quarters on the upper levels. Today, because of some much-needed restoration and the gorgeous pastels they now boast, their beauty attracts visitors from all over the world.

St. Michael's Church, gracing the corner of Broad and Meeting Streets, stands on the site of the first Anglican Church built south of Virginia. It is known as the oldest church building in Charleston and has changed very little since it opened for services in 1761. Its steeple stretches to an impressive 186 feet high.

Although there is real beauty in the rows of trees above, they lack the mystique of this featured oak. Angel Oak on Johns Island is estimated to be over 400 years old, but many believe it is much older than that. This live oak is over 65 feet tall and 25 feet in circumference with the longest branch coming in at 187 feet long. It's no wonder it receives about 400,000 visitors a year.

On to Sullivan's Island for a visit to Fort Moultrie!

Sunset over Fort Sumter as seen from Fort Moultrie

We "viewed" Fort Sumter from across Charleston Harbor, but to actually get to it, we had to book a ferry ride with Fort Sumter Tours. This is the only way to access the fort. The ride was pleasant, and the ranger was very informative and thorough.

Fort Sumter Tours ferry ready to depart from downtown Charleston with the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge ("pictured to the left") over the Cooper River
This bridge connects downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant.

We visited yet another fort along the way. Fort Pulaski is a Savannah, GA must-see. This incredible national monument is located 20 minutes east of Georgia's oldest city.

While in the area, we had to get our toes (much more than toes if from Cannon's perspective) in the sands of top-rated Tybee Island.

The following were snapped as we rolled through the streets of Savannah on a carriage tour with our guide by the same name as the city and beautiful Jasper doing the work of pulling us around.

And then, while walking, we captured just a few more.

While on our walk, we strolled right into Olympia Cafe where we were immediately seated and devoured a delicious meal. This place just happens to be next door to Peaches and Creme Ice Cream Shop. It was much too convenient! 😋😋

On a more serious note, we were able to go to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center for an awe-inspiring view of the first successful combat submarine. H.L. Hunley was lost at sea during the Civil War after sinking the USS Housatonic, discovered over a century later in 1995, and raised in 2000.

With museums, forts, trolleys and the like behind us for now, it was time to move inland. But, considering the fact that the Folly Beach Sea and Sand Festival was taking place this weekend, we headed, once more, to the ocean and enjoyed the extra benefits of a sand sculpting competition and a super tasty seafood lunch.