http://willemcoetzee.blogspot.com/2013/11/fotos-9_26.html
After a somewhat leisurely start from Prince William Forest
Park on October 29, traffic was pretty good heading south on Interstate 95. The
idea was to stick to highways and to get to our camp site at First Landing
State Park in Virginia Beach well before sunset. All went well but somewhere on
the beltway around Richmond we missed a detour exit amidst construction work and
instead of Interstate 64, found ourselves ultimately on route 5, with the
distinguishing feature of being a scenic road -- according to our map. It
proved to be exactly that and although the going was slower than planned for,
we were not too upset about it. We haven’t had experience with hauling the RV
through tunnels which require actions to be taken with hazardous materials on
board, such as gas containers and propane gas using devices, for instance a
refrigerator, which remain on during travel. We didn’t want to do so then
either, so we navigated around Norfolk. This prolonged the trip but we ultimately
reached the First Landing campground where we had a reservation but not an
assigned site. We quickly reached consensus and had the trailer backed in
place. It was a fine camp site with water and electric hookups on the side of a
sand dune covered in brush. The beach was right behind the dune and accessible
via a boardwalk, about 100 yards away.
The general area is notable for its historic significance
and the name of the state park is indicative of the very spot where settlers
first landed in 1607 before establishing the ill-fated Jamestown settlement. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Landing_State_Park
) The latter, as well as for instance, historic Williamsburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Williamsburg
) and Yorktown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown
) are all in close proximity and can keep the historically inclined busy for
weeks. Not having that kind of time, we
merely paid our respects, and even so in a limited sense. Williamsburg is a
project similar to what we’ve seen in pioneer villages in Ontario and New
Brunswick, Canada, although on a much larger scale. Having had such detailed exposure
before – also at Mount Vernon – we simply opted for the free walk-by and
obviated what would have amounted to a rather stiff expense for the four of us.
The maritime importance of the region is huge and vast ship
yards and harbors of military significance abound, in addition to air force and
naval bases with ongoing exercises. These generated air traffic of various
stripes, colors and audio features -- fortunately with reduced decibels when it
counted. Dense sea traffic in the
Chesapeake Bay is in evidence day and night from the dune at the campground. Heavy
laden and evidently empty cargo ships heading for harbors all the way up to
Baltimore line up at all times to enter the bay. Also visible real close, is
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge-Tunnel
) which was once designated as one of the seven engineering wonders of the world
and at night the lights on the distant bridge part seems to vanish over the
horizon. It has been an ideal of Willem’s to see and experience this 23-mile
structure which was in the making and stirred curiosity during his college
days. We thus made the round trip one day and paused at the visitor center with
restaurant and fishing pier sections at the entrance to the first tunnel, some
3 miles offshore. Although other similar
structures followed elsewhere in the world and another presently under
construction in Hong Kong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong-Zhuhai-Macau_Bridge
) may rival this one in some respects, it remains a pioneer engineering
achievement of marvelous proportions.
The coastal town of Virginia Beach is adjacent to First
Landing and military beach areas and is clearly a great tourist attraction.
Much of it was deserted and scores of shops and stores were shuttered for the
winter but the seemingly endless boardwalk attracted some visitors on foot and
on bicycles. We thus saw more of the
promise than the reality of the place and figured that it may have been
somewhat for the better, imagining how rough the combination of extreme heat,
great crowds and hunting for a parking spot could be. But it is good to know that the expansive
deserted infrastructure of high profile hotels and resorts do spring to life
and support a season of the joy and cheer that humanity is capable of
expressing. But until then the town belongs to its citizens and for them life
seems to be business as usual, as judged by the good Sunday morning church
attendance.
Fickie was intrigued by the presence of a light house, which
turned out to be on a military base but nevertheless accessible. We drove there
and were subjected to full scrutiny of ourselves and the truck, while we had to
stand aside for the latter to be completed. It seemed that we were really
presenting check point trainees with their main excitement for the day, given
how few tourists were in the area. Fick and Stella scaled the steps of the old
light house to the top for a better view of the new one and the surrounding
area, while Willem and Susan strayed to the nearby base post office to get a
package off.
By Tuesday morning November 12, it was chilly with the early
rise for the long haul to Emerald Island in North Carolina. We worked a
considerable detour in to pass through Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks, where the
Wright brothers made their pioneering airplane flights in 1903. This was a very
interesting experience and the National Memorial to them is an outstanding
piece of work (http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm
). A most knowledgeable and entertaining presenter gave a thorough
exposition of the events and work leading up to their successful experiment and
it is really amazing to think how rapidly human flying advanced
thereafter. We should have allowed more
time for the visit but had to push on in order to reach our camp destination
before dark.
Cedar Point Campground in the Croatan National Forest is a
beautiful place. The sites are asphalted and level with electric hookups.
Although water spigots at each site provide clean water it is not permissible
to fill the tank of one’s RV, which is a negative. We had to haul our water
barrel by tuck to a water supply line on site and then fill the RV tank from it. Also, the dump station is closed due to
contamination fears, so we had to dump 8 miles away at another RV park.
Inconveniences, but not prohibitive. The location and cost more than
compensated -- some 3 miles from the town and beaches of Emerald Island at the
southern end of the Crystal Beach stretch of the Southern Outer Banks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Isle,_North_Carolina
).
In the early hours of the first morning Willem sensed that
the heating furnace was running and remembering that he hadn’t set the
thermostat high, it meant that it was getting unexpectedly cold. He set the
thermostat and also invoked the catalytic propane heater. So, by about 6:30
when he woke up, the RV was toasty and outside snow had accumulated on the
truck and picnic table but it didn’t last on the generally warmer road and lawn
areas. For Fickie and Stella even the slightest indication of snow was an
unusual experience worth reaching for cameras.
It was below freezing, though, which was a real stunner for this
area! We Pennsylvanians were blamed for
what we had brought in! But it improved during the day, although we didn’t
venture out much. The next night hit below freezing again but thereafter the
days improved and we thawed somewhat – enough to get laundry done and to follow
up on a suggestion by a fellow camper to pick up fresh fish from a local
fishing shack. We did so and prepared it outside on the open fire on Fridaynight
– delicious! We also explored some of
the lovely walking trails in the shore area of Croatan Forest and met an
elderly fellow, Clayton Andrews, who grew up in the area and had much to share
on the benefits of living there.
Saturday was a very warm day, which drew us to the beach at
the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier. The pier was absolutely cluttered with anglers,
who were landing mostly small fish of various kinds. It seemed like a lot of
work retrieving the edible portions but we were assured it was worth it. Very
good meat and no bones, explained the enthusiasm. Although the water was really
cold, there were some brave guys in wet suits surfboarding in waves that could
have been larger. But this area seems not known for such. The prime attraction,
though, is the beautiful beach, which extends as far as the eye can see. This
is seemingly a hallmark of the east coast and continued the scene from First
Landing via Kitty Hawk and the Outer Banks.
The indigenous population of Emerald Island reportedly is about
3,000. In summer 50,000 tourists get added on any given day and for the entire
region, some 3 million over the season! Beaches appear generally accessible although
parking would be a headache for those not residing in the vast array of rental
accommodations offered. We discerned two public parking areas with spots for
perhaps 400-500 vehicles combined. Life for the locals seems to continue
unaffected through the winter and once again, a church service was well
attended by old and young alike.
We were once again drawn to the beach by the great weather
on Sunday after lunch and this time there was evidence of more sizable fish
having been caught, while simply lingering on the sand took up an hour or two
of the afternoon. We dropped Fickie off on the bridge at Swansboro for
photography and continued to the RV Park where a dump station was supposedly
available for our use on Tuesday, en route to Myrtle Beach. This was correct
and although a little hidden and far from the road, we decided that we would
make it through with our ‘high rise’ en tow.
Monday was another warm day although the forecast was for
sharp deterioration overnight, which would have us not only traveling at
perhaps 20 degrees lower, but not looking forward to much better at our new
destination for the next few days either! This is rather disappointing to folks
trying to move away from cold weather! Fickie and Stella took advantage of what
was still at hand and further explored Croatan Forest.
Tuesday morning started out early and cold. After dumping we
headed for South Carolina It was a 165 mile drive which went almost all the way
without stopping. The first accessible rest area came after entering South
Carolina at the State Welcome Center where it had warmed up enough for having
our sandwiches by a sunny picnic table at the pretty Center. Back on the road
we took route 17 Business to explore the area close to the beach and were
amazed at how this holiday resort area had uninterrupted touristy dining,
living and amusement features for mile upon mile. Halfway through Route 17 Business, the Myrtle
Beach State Campground was on the left and presented the most stunning entry
we’ve encountered yet, (http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/myrtlebeach/introduction.aspx )
The attractive
winding roadway led to the beach area and RV campground. We checked into our
reserved site amongst humongous trees and before dark fitted in a chilly
boardwalk stroll to the fishing pier, 500 yards away. The venue was enormously
promising but the climate less so for the next 2 days, as another arctic blast
worked its way through. Wednesday had us dig in, restocking for the week,
surveying the general area, acquiring a view items for fishing, and toward the evening
we received a phone call from dear South African friends, now residing in North
Carolina. They had just arrived in Myrtle Beach for a brief vacation to
coincide with our being there.
We had lunch with James and Maureen Marais at their hotel on
Thursday and because of the favorable weather outlook for Friday, decided to
meet again at our campsite. James was equally enthusiastic about trying out the
fishing pier, rod in hand, while the girls said they could use a bright morning
on the beach very well. Fishing turned out to be very unproductive, not only
for us but also for a couple of other anglers on the pier. The ladies showed up
later in the morning to render support and encouragement before venturing off.
By 2:00 p.m. we were back in camp for a snack and at 3 started the fire for
barbequing. Dinner was delicious and included terrific potato salad and
cranberry bread brought by Maureen, salad and putupap (a South African corn
meal favorite) with lightly curried tomato and onion sauce by Stella and a key
lime pie which Susan insisted on. James and Maureen left by about 5:45 to get back to their abode before
dark, while Willem and Fickie took a stroll on the well lit pier, where a
couple of die hard fishermen were still trying to break the dry spell of the
day. We figured tomorrow is another day and would give the fish some time to
have their appetite respond to the second and last warm day, before another
blast from the north struck on Sunday.
Saturday wasn’t more kindly to pier fisherman in general,
although we hooked three non-keepers, including a flounder. We found other
things to do when the tide moved out and the temperature began to drop. The
latter prevailed and Sunday morning the real cold was aggravated by a nasty
northern wind. Church was cozy, though, after which we wandered in a mall and
headed back to prepare dinner, and use some newly acquired kitchen appliances,
to replaced defective ones. Generally satisfied, we retired for the night with
no hope for better weather on Monday. We were a lot better off than most of the
country though, and what was expected to reach us in the form of rain, had
wreaked havoc in the form of heavy snow and bitter cold to the west. The
temperature on Monday was 36F by 11:00 a.m. with a wind chill of 27F, although
it was a clear and otherwise beautiful day. Willem dropped Fickie at the Myrtle
Beach Boardwalk to do photography, the girls at a shopping mall and after an
hour in the BassPro store, rounded the others up and returned to camp to get
ready for Tuesday’s trip to our next camp site 7 miles south of McClellanville,
South Carolina. Unfortunately the cold blast from the north is expected to
continue, mixed in with rain, which would sabotage our high hopes for this
particularly beautiful little campground.
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