Category Archives: Southeast

Florida, Travel

Four Days in Universal Resort: Part II

Leave a comment

Day 3

On our third day we decided to go to the original Universal Studios park. We had been there once before in October of 2021, but there were several parts of the park that we had yet to visit.

Evan and I walked the mile long path from the Loew’s Portofino Resort while Shelley elected to ride the water shuttle. We arrived at nearly the same time. Riding the water shuttle means stopping for several minutes at the Hard Rock Hotel pier, so it isn’t necessarily faster.

Universal Studios

After entering we decided we should eat breakfast and stopped at the Today Cafe. I’m not a fan of the Today Show and while we were waiting in line the show was airing on televisions around the restaurant. I thought to myself “People actually watch this” as we slowly progressed through the line.

Well, despite the badness of the Today Show episode, the breakfast sandwich was pretty decent. We ordered cold brew coffees as well which was missing the vanilla flavor we requested. Not the best, but at least we ate something.

After breakfast we walked over to ride one of the few original rides from the park’s opening: E.T. Adventure. It was a ride we missed in 2021 and we decided to give it a try.

The ride opened in 1990 and it does show its age a bit. It broke down for about ten minutes near the end of our ride, but it was a little bit of nostalgia from back when I was young.

Next we decided to ride another rather old ride: Men in Black: Alien Attack. This ride opened in 2000. I have to admit, it wasn’t even as good a E.T. It was a lame shooting ride that is overdone, and better done elsewhere.

It was Mardi Gras time in the park and as we walked around we were collecting beads from the staff. Soon enough we were up to three bead necklaces and I was looking forward to enjoying some of the many food options that you can buy from food stands around the park during Mardi Gras season.

Diagon Alley

Entering Diagon Alley is like completely leaving Universal Studios and entering a totally different park. You are suddenly in a Harry Potter world.

If you buy a wand there are lots of spots in Diagon Alley where you can interact with hidden spell casting spots to reveal various secrets. Evan and Shelley found a number of these spots in the alley and in Nocturn Alley.

The coolest feature of Diagon Alley is the dragon perched at the top of Gringotts Bank. Every fifteen minutes or so it will breathe fire. And it is hot!

Escape from Gringotts

The biggest and best ride in the park is Escape from Gringotts. We got in line using our Express Lane passes and made our way about 2/3 of the way through before the ride broke down. We waited about 20 minutes (not wanting to have to return and wait in line again) before giving up. The ride ended up broken down for about two hours.

After giving up on Escape from Gringotts, we left Diagon Alley to go to the second most popular ride in the park: The Revenge of the Mummy.

Revenge of the Mummy

Fortunately, the Revenge of the Mummy was working just fine. And it really is a good ride that is debatably better than Escape from Gringotts. It’s a good roller coaster experience in an Egyptian Tomb with everything including pyrotechnic blaze on the ceiling.

Plus, I am a fan of Egyptology and I enjoyed talking about the various gods adorning the walls as we waited in line.

I’m also a fan of Harry Potter, so we were certainly going back there once Escape from Gringotts reopened.

Bourne Stuntacular

After the Mummy ride we went to the Bourne Stuntacular, which we missed in 2021 as well. I actually read the Bourne Identity but only partly watched the movie.

The stunt show is really good and intermingles live stunts on stage with action and scenes on screen. At times the interaction is so seemless it’s hard to tell what is live and what is film. There isn’t much dialogue other than the recorded narration by Julia Stiles (who was in the movie). I don’t see her often in movies.

Minion Cafe

Since the Escape from Gringotts was still closed we decided it was time for lunch. I really wanted to eat the Mardi Gras food from the booths, but Evan (being a huge fan of the Minions from Despicable Me) begged and pestered us to go to Minion Cafe. Fine.

This place has some of the most unspectacular food in the park. It’s a fast food restaurant with a minion theme.

Yeah, the trip was mostly for Evan. We could have just ordered him some food there and then Shelley and I could have gotten the Mardi Gras food I wanted.

After eating some bad Mac n’ Cheese with a few pieces of pork, we returned to Diagon Alley and were able to ride the Escape from Gringotts.

Escape from Gringotts

I rode this with Evan and his older brother in 2021 and for some reason it seemed more exciting back then.

I guess after the ride broke down and after riding many other theme park rides, it seems a little less impressive. Still good, especially with the animatronic goblins in the bank.

After the ride we spent more time using the wands to interact with various spell spots before deciding it was time to start our walk back to the exit. We were getting tired and hot.

We made one stop for beignets and some king cake from a Mardi Gras stand. That was it. We should have had much more.

Anyway, once we exited the park I again elected to walk back and Shelley and Evan decided to ride the boat. I think we tied again on our arrival back at the hotel.

Loew’s Portofino Bay Hotel

By the time we got back to the hotel we were pretty tired. Our room had been cleaned and our beds were made. I really wanted to take a nap. Really needed one too.

I think it’s wise to rest when you are tired. Otherwise you’ll get cranky and all the little aggravations of long lines and crowds and noise will start to get to you. The prior day we ended up taking a four hour nap and ended up waking up with only an hour to spare at Epic Universe.

We didn’t want that to happen again so we just stayed up and rested on the beds watching television, fighting the urge to sleep. Should have just set an alarm and dozed off. But we didn’t and we felt tired the rest of the night.

Epic Universe

Oak and Star Tavern

As on the prior days, each evening we went back to Epic Universe for the evening. We went to the Oak and Star Tavern for BBQ. The barbecue is decent, but not spectacular. I had the pulled pork sandwich.

We also had some beers. Note that using the Universal mobile app limits you to one alcoholic beverage per order, so if you want to order more you’ll need to either go to the bar or make separate orders on more than one phone.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Inside the Ministry of Magic

We were kind of tired and wanted some chill time. So we went into the WWOHP, which is a little like traveling to France for a while.

While our son Evan sought out spots to use his wand, Shelley and I bout some cocktails and found a table to relax. We went to Bar Moonshine and got Lobe Blasters. Really unique and interesting cocktails. And good too!

After Evan finished wizarding with his wand around the WWOHP, we got in line for La Cirque Arcanus. This was the first show we would see in the park.

La Cirque Arcanus

I thought La Cirque Arcanus was really cool. The tent was atmospheric and gave real vibes of a vintage Parisian circus. The show featured magical creatures and their human handlers. The show isn’t long, so don’t expect to spend hours, but rather thirty minutes.

Cafe La Sirene

After the show we stopped for dessert at Cafe La Sirene. We got the butterbeer crepe (called the bieraubeurre crepe in French). Really good! We decided to return the following morning for breakfast.

Isle of Berk

We made one more stop in the Isle of Berk before calling it a night. Shelley and Evan rode Dragon Racer’s Rally. They enjoyed it. I felt good just watching from below after a long day.

Day 4

On our fourth and last day we were going to spend the day in Epic Universe. We’d been there each of the prior days in the evening, but this was the first time e’d be in the park during the day.

Epic Universe

We entered the park after the bus ride and made our way back to the the Harry Potter portal, noticing that with our early access passes we could avoid being among the mass of humanity roped off from the park.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Cafe La Sirene

‘La Sirene’ means mermaid in French. And we noticed the decor in Cafe La Sirene does include mermaids, among other Parisian-themed artwork.

We order quiche lorraine for breakfast, which was a nice change of pace from our typical morning routine. The food was overall quite good but it isn’t terribly cheap either. Expect that when you are in Epic Universe.

The park is comprised of the four “worlds” (The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Dark Universe, Isle of Berk, and Super Nintendo World) you enter through portals (or tunnel-like entrances that separate the park from the themed attractions inside).

The fifth world is Celestial Park which is the central area of the park. The main ride attractions are Stardust Racers (which nearly killed me the first day), and the Constellation Carousel.

The carousel has multiple rotating sections that make it more than a typical carousel. This was also a nice chill ride after some of the more exciting features of the park.

Isle of Berk

Mead Hall

We had a couple of more stops to make in Isle of Berk before we were done for the trip. The first was to visit the Mead Hall. Evan wanted to re-ride Dragon Racer’s Ralley, so Shelley and I took the intervening half hour to enjoy some mead and beer. It’s also a restaurant, but we were just there to enjoy some cold, drinks.

We also took turns seated as the Viking chieftain.

When Evan was done racing we went over to see the second show of our trip.

The Untrainable Dragon

This was a good show as well with some good actors who sound just like the characters and dragon props. Make sure you get in line early because they do reach capacity and we were just barely able to make it in before they closed off the show.

If you are wondering, it is about an untrainable dragon that eats all the main characters like Hiccup and Astrid. Well, not exactly.

Pizza Moon

One restaurant we were pretty intent on visiting was Pizza Moon. Once we saw how the restaurant was themed we made it a priority stop on the trip for lunch. And we weren’t alone, this place gets a long line that runs out the door.

We already understood the meaning of the logo with the pizza in the eye of the moon, but just in case you don’t, here’s the explanation. In 1902 a French filmmaker (when filmmaking was in its infancy) named Georges Méliès made a short film called “A Trip to the Moon”.

In the movie a group board a rocket (without space suits) and they land on the moon. Of course the moon isn’t just a celestial body, but it is a living being with a face too. And the poor moon gets hit right in the eye.

Scene from “A Trip to the Moon”

The clever people at Universal decided to swap the rocket for a slice of pizza.

The interior is full of whimsical characters swinging back and forth as they make pizza sauce under a starlit night sky.

The pizza is also really good and not at all typical. We got the ‘Pizza Lunare’ (pictured above) and ‘a Trip to Vesuvio’.

This is one restaurant you’ll want to make sure to visit.

After lunch we decided to make our way back to the hotel. Evan was starting to feel ill and we were ready to get some rest after four days in the parks. Despite his condition he insisted on riding Stardust Racers one last time and came off looking like he he’d been through something traumatic.

Loew’s Portofino Bay

We returned to the hotel and Evan crawled into bed. He looked like he was feeling quite ill by now and he had a slight fever. Exhaustion coupled with crowds had gotten to him.

Shelley and I decided to let him rest and we went to one of the hotel pools, the one hardly anyone knows about. Tucked away on a hillside is the third pool in the resort.

When we got there only one other person was was there, but they left after a while leaving just Shelley and I at the pool. While in the pool Shelley noticed a small box turtle had fallen into the pool and was trapped.

We rescued it by taking it far away from the pool and human traffic and closer to the lakeshore where it is hopefully living contentedly right now.

After retrning to the room we saw that Evan was still feeling too sick for us to consider leaving the resort. We got takeout from a resort eatery called Sal’s. The chicken parmesan sandwiches were huge. Sal’s is a ittle pricey too though.

Final Thoughts

With that our trip was pretty much at an end, which was fine. Fortunately Evan felt better the next morning and our flight home was uneventful. He did seem to have chills though right as we landed back home in Denver.

This trip was close to two years in planning and despite some frustrations with traffic on arrival in Florida and crowds that were larger and a bit annoying at times, it went well. Evan got to ride everything he wanted, we visited all the parks and got to see pretty much all of Epic Universe.

We would have benefited from more down time though. When we went to Universal in Oct 2021 we took a whole week and it was nice to take a couple days to rest and decompress. It’s also nice to have some more pool time and to enjoy the resort as well.

Because we chose to go when Evan was not on spring or fall break, we were really time-limited. We didn’t want him to miss more than a couple days of school and thus we were never going beyond five days.

While it was fun to go to Universal, our next visit to Florida will almost certainly be to a new region along the Gulf Coast. We also have a future cruise in the planning stages that will probably depart from Florida. We do like Florida (especially the warm, humid weather) and it never seems too much time passes before we are back again.

Florida, Travel

Four Days At Universal Resort: Part I

Leave a comment

We made a trip back to Florida this February of 2026 to spend four days at the Universal Orlando Resort. The new Epic Universe park opened in May 2025 and we wanted to experience this newest theme park, as well as revisit Islands of Adventure and the original Universal Studios park, two theme parks we enjoyed on a visit in October of 2021.

We started planning this trip even before Epic Universe opened, with the time between our initial decision to go and our actual arrival being close to two years in total. We planned to wait until the year following the park opening before making the trip, when there would hopefully be a decrease in the crowds at the park’s inauguration, and to give the new rides and attractions some time to be seasoned enough to have the kinks worked out.

Since our youngest son is in middle school we had to figure out a time that would work with his school schedule. Obviously spring break in March was an option, as was the summer. But he also has a short break in February right before and including President’s Day weekend. And this seemed like a good time to travel to Florida when the tourist season wasn’t yet in full swing.

So we committed ourselves to this trip all the way back in 2024. And nine months after the opening of Epic Universe, we were there at last to see it for ourselves.

We initially booked a room in the new Helios Grand Hotel before the hotel was even open. Once the hotel was finished, and we saw the initial photos and videos of the hotel, we decided to cancel our reservation. We just weren’t wowed by what we saw, even if we had booked it at a rate that was significantly less than it wold be when the park finally opened. Instead we chose another Universal resort hotel: The Loews Portofino Bay.

We were able to book the Portofino at a discount as well, and it offered free Express Pass tickets, a perk not offered by the Helios Grand for some reason. Also, the Portofino Bay is in walking distance of two of the resorts (Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios), as well as the Universal City Walk. And finally, the Portofino actually seemed to have more amenities and it would be in a quieter location, giving us an evening respite from the parks.

We had five total days available for the trip, and decided to use the first day to visit Blue Spring State Park just north of Orlando (see the prior blog post). After enjoying the state park and manatees we drove back south to Orlando to the Universal resort.

Along the way we stopped at Ford’s Garage restaurant in Sanford. That was a pretty cool experience (it looks like they are located all over Florida).

Day 1

Loew’s Portofino Bay

We made our way to the hotel in our Avis rental car, knowing that the hotel has an Avis rental car location right in the hotel. The weird thing, however, is there is absolutely no signage to tell you where to go. After pulling up the valet parking, they told us to enter the self-parking garage and drive all the way to the bottom.

After doing so we found some marked Avis spots and parked the car, then lugged our luggage up to the hotel. If you are using valet parking they provide assistance, but if you self-park or arrive in a rental car, you are on your own.

Anyway, we got to the front desk and checked in, and finally got some help with our luggage to our room. Most places will let you borrow a luggage cart, but at this hotel they are very particular about only allowing their staff to use the carts.

After getting to our room we unpacked and got ready to take the bus over to Epic Universe. We had park hopper tickets for four days, so we could come and go between the parks as we pleased. We also had reservations at the Blue Dragon restaurant at 5:30, so with it being 3:00 PM we would have a couple hours in the park before dinner time.

Epic Universe

After a quick bus trip from the hotel to Epic Universe (which is disconnected from the other parks) we arrived and made our way through the security and into the park.

I’m honestly not a thrill seeker and I am prone to motion sickness. But my youngest son pestered and prodded me into riding the Stardust Racers roller coaster right after we entered the park.

I have been on roller coasters before but this one made me feel really awful. Like my insides were shaken loose from their normal positions. When the coaster rolled to a stop I waddled out, vowing to never ride it again.

Following this traumatizing experience, feeling motion sick and dizzy, we made our way over to the Dark Universe world.

Dark Universe

We got in line for Monsters Unchained. I really wanted to enjoy this ride more but I was paranoid about getting motion sick and puking following the Stardust Racers and my last experience on a ride that had a similar apparatus at Islands of Adventure (Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey). But this ride didn’t have screens which helped a lot.

It was pretty cool even though about 2/3 of the way through it momentarily stopped.

After the ride there wasn’t enough time for a ride line so we went to the Burning Blade Tavern to have some mead, ale and a stake-shaped breadstick. Pretty cool seeing the windmill ignite too.

Windmill of the Burning Blade Tavern

After eating it was time to mosey over to the Blue Dragon for dinner.

Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant

It felt good to sit down in the Blue Dragon to fully recover from Stardust Racers and because the interior is impressively decorated with dragons wrapping around the walls and Asian artwork throughout.

The restaurant is expensive ($30 per plate dishes) and they don’t hide that fact. The overall meals was good, but not as good as we were really hoping for. We had to send back the Orange Chicken because it came out lukewarm (clearly had been sitting before being brought out).

The dishes are served family style so you’ll want to order a variety of entrees and share them. The beef and broccoli and passion fruit moon cake were our favorites.

Super Nintendo World

After dinner we went to Super Nintendo World and entered Bowser’s Challenge. It is a virtual reality ride where you shoot guns to score points.

Next we rode Yoshi’s Adventure which was pretty slow and chill. My son Evan found Yoshi’s Adventure to be a terrifying experience. I could barely fit in the car but it’s all good.

Evan and I bought power up bands which allowed us to play an interactive game by hitting punch blocks and doing game challenges in Super Nintendo World.

There is a phone app that keeps score as you go through Super Ninendo World and Evan and I did our best to collect all the points that we could from the punch blocks.

After a long day that extended all the way to 10:00 PM at night, we were ready to go to bed and rode the bus back to the Portofino Hotel.

Day 2

On our second day at the Universal parks we left the hotel before eating breakfast and walked the mile path from the hotel to Islands of Adventure. Since we had Express Pass and were staying in a resort hotel we had early access to the park.

Islands of Adventure

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We made our way over to Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure since this is one of the most popular rides in any of the parks and we knew the line would be much longer later in the day. With Express Pass at the park opening we were able to get onto the ride in about 45 minutes.

Waiting in line at Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure

Hagrid’s Motorbike is probably the most creative rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. You ride in motorcycle seats and the ride goes forward, backward, drops, and moves pretty fast without being ridiculous.

Since the line wasn’t too long, we went ahead and rode the Flight of the Hippogriff too. It was much more oriented toward the youngest visitors and I felt a bit cramped in my seat.

After the ride we made our way over to the Three Broomsticks for breakfast.

The Three Broomsticks

We were actually pretty cold despite being in Florida. The prior week Florida had experienced a severe cold snap that brought temperatures down to the 30s Fahrenheit. On our visit the temperature would eventually reach 70 F, but in the morning it was just above 5 and the interior of the restaurant was chilly.

So along with our breakfast platters (I got the English Breakfast) we all ordered hot butter beers and they hit the spot. Also, I really didn’t know what to expect from the English Breakfast (there was no blood pudding) but I quite liked it.

Jurassic Park

We are fans of Jurassic Park (well at least the first movie and the first Jurassic World). I read the book when I was a teenager before I saw the movie.

We first made our way to the Discovery Center which looks just like the central pavilion from the first movie. There’s a restaurant upstairs, but on the first level there’s some interactive features (such as one that shows what you would look like as a dinosaur). Evan tried it and it was frightening.

We stopped at the gift shop and since it was a bit chilly got some sweatshirts. We looked for some new ‘Mr. DNA’ shirts but couldn’t find any. The staff knew what we were talking about and said there weren’t any left.

After buying our sweatshirts we did the pictured raptor encounter. When we said we were from Colorado someone else in line cheered for us.

Mythos Restaurant

It may seem like it wasn’t very long from our breakfast to having lunch, but we had made reservations in advance for 12:30 and we did our best to not eat too much breakfast so as to be sufficiently ready to eat at lunchtime.

And Mythos was reputed to be the best theme park restaurant in the world. Who would skip that?

Mythos has a cool interior, but the food was really meh for the price. We had the ground lamb hummus and I ordered a lamb burger. Really meh. Even a couple cocktails weren’t enough to change my mind.

After eating Evan and I saw some turtles in the waterway outside the restaurant. These are Florida soft-shell turtles. We saw the same species of turtles at Merritt Island in 2023.

With our stomach’s full, Evan and Shelley decided it was time for the Velocicoaster. Because I was shaken up by Stardust Racers the prior day I elected to skip it. I really didn’t want to puke on this trip like I did in 2021.

I walked around the park in one full circuit while they waited in line to ride. By the time I returned to the Jurassic Park Discovery Center to chill out (it was now getting hot and I had to take off my sweatshirt), they were done.

We left the park to head back to the hotel. I walked the path while they rode the water taxi. I got back first.

We made a stop at the gelateria at the Portofino Hotel. Good stuff, gelato it.

After reentering the room we all dozed off for four hours. Not intentionally. It just happened that way. By the time we were all awake it was 7PM and Epic Universe would only be open until 9:00 PM. We also hadn’t eaten any dinner.

We went anyway.

Epic Universe

We got right into the park after the bus ride and went straight to the Isle of Berk for our dinner. We made a quick order at the Spit Fyre Grill. I got the salmon and Shelley and Evan got Mac n’ Cheese cones. Both were really good.

Shelley checked the ride times and the Battle of the Ministry in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter had a 15 minute wait. That ride is typically in the hours. We made a beeline over there.

The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

Entering this ‘world’ is like traveling to France. It’s shocking how realistic it is. We flew through what would have been a considerable queue space to the Battle of the Ministry and onto the ride.

I have to be honest. The architectural theming here is the show. The ride itself isn’t that great. You should ride it just because you won’t otherwise see just how much work went into recreating the Ministry of Magic. But would I wait hours to ride this ride?

I’m glad we only needed 15 minutes.

After this brief foray into the Hotter Potter world we returned to the Isle of Berk.

Isle of Berk

The Isle of Berk is really impressive at night. We also really enjoy How to Train Your Dragon.

The park will allow all riders in line after closing time to finish riding and thus even though the park closes at 9PM, you can stay until 10PM. We got int the line for Dragon Racers Rally at 8:55 PM and were able to get on this pretty cool roller coast about an hour later.

Another aspect of the parks is the gift shops will stay open past closing time, so we were able to get some much needed loot before leaving the park.

At close to 10:00 we dashed off to the bus (some others were running toward the bus and Evan and I just had to show how much faster we were).

Returning to the hotel we were ready to call it a night with another big day planned for tomorrow.

Florida, Travel, Wildlife

Blue Spring State Park

Leave a comment

No animal is more beloved in Florida than the manatee. These gentle giants inhabit coastal inlets across the state, but actually seeing them can be challenging.

There are places in Florida, however, where manatees can be seen with relative frequency. Florida’s inland freshwater springs are a favorite winter refuge for manatees, who travel upriver from the coast to escape cold seawater. Once within the narrow confines of these springs, the manatees are easy to view, often totaling into the hundreds over a short stretch of water.

One of the best and most famous locations to see wintering manatees is Blue Spring State Park. Just a short drive from Orlando, this is a great side trip while in central Florida.

Our Visit

Since we were traveling to Orlando in February we decided it would be a good opportunity to visit the state park, and booked a cabin to have a place to spend the night.  Staying in one of the cabins would allow us to enjoy the park before the crowds of manatee enthusiasts would arrive shortly after opening.

Cabin 1 at Blue Spring State Park

While the cabin looks unassuming from the outside, these cabins are quite spacious and offer a lot of amenities as you can see in the video I made. 

Booking a cabin in the park is not easy due to their popularity, but since we knew we would be coming over a year in advance, I was able to book one as soon as it became available online.

We were very happy with our decision to sleep in the park.

We ended up arriving after dark and thus experiencing the park would have to wait until the next day. After getting our beds made we called it a night. We had a busy day in store for tomorrow.

Exploring the Park

Early the following morning I was excited to get out and explore the park and visit the spring before the crowds would arrive.

I got my camera and GoPro and walked the short path to the spring. Along the way I encountered a group of white-tailed deer, largely unconcerned by my presence.

Once at the boardwalk that runs alongside the spring, I found a crystal clear waterway teeming with manatees, as well as numerous fish like longnose gar and tarpon, and even an alligator.

Interestingly, alligators avoid manatees and the one that was in the spring seemed eager to swim away from the manatees. Manatees have no real natural predators in Florida.

Florida Manatee at Blue Spring State Park

We were planning on kayaking in the neighboring St. John’s River where manatees can also be seen (as well as the rest of the Florida wildlife). The park offers canoe and kayak rentals.

Unfortunately, in my haste to make reservations I selected the wrong date and we were out of luck. There was a silver lining, however.

Rescued Manatees

At the time we were supposed to be on the river, a couple rescued manatees were to be released into the spring. The manatees were trucked in by Sea World and we watched as they were carefully unloaded from the trucks, were given a quick health check, had radio tracking devices attached, and were carried down to the spring.

The manatee release was a big local event with news stations and local politicians in attendance. It was a cool opportunity to see how these animals were given a new chance to survive in the wild.

When the manatee release ended we walked one more time up the boardwalk to visit the canteen for coffee and to stop by the souvenir shop. It was a cool, misty February morning in Florida.

Final Thoughts

Blue Spring is a terrific respite from the busy world just outside the park and a great place to see the natural side of Florida. While we couldn’t enter the water, in the summer months Blue Spring is a great place to swim and paddle as well.

It was a good visit for us and I look forward to visiting more of Florida’s many natural springs.

Georgia, South Carolina, Travel

The Low Country: Charleston to Savannah: Part 7

Leave a comment

Day 8: Hilton Head Island to Home

Shelley and I have been discussing opening a glamping resort for a while. We have much of the initial concept already defined. We just aren’t sure where we would most like to open the resort.

We have been considering the Carolinas or Georgia, and one of the reasons we prioritized on making this trip was to get an idea if this area of South Carolina or northern Georgia would be a place we would consider. Truthfully, I think we came away feeling more uncertain even if we enjoyed our visit to the area.

I don’t know if our concept will work particularly well in the coastal plain that runs between North Carolina and Florida. The marshland terrain is beautiful, but it may not be the ideal place for the camping resort we envision. That’s not to say that we have ruled it out. We just have more places to visit and to consider our options fully. Once we buy the land there is no turning back.

I did see some campgrounds in places like Tybee Island. And I know camping is popular in the area. Additionally, the camping season is longer in this region than in the mountain west. So there are many reasons to consider this region.

Last Day on Hilton Head Island

We were checking out and had a departure flight from the Savannah airport at 4PM in the afternoon. The Coral Sands Resort had an early checkout time of 10:00 AM, so we would have some time to kill between leaving the vacation rental and flying home.

As I had done the day before, I got up early and went out for a run on Coligny Beach. Like I mentioned in the prior post, I once spent nearly a year running each day on a beach and I enjoyed it. So I wasn’t going to miss out that day either.

I started a little earlier than the prior day and the tide was not quite as high. I ran a distance south this time on the sand, before returning back the way I had come. It wasn’t a long run. We had to get packed up and out so there wasn’t a lot of time to spare.

While I liked the rental townhouse overall, the rushed checkout (which included a maid thinking we were already out of the room at 8:30 in the morning!) and weird rule that the guests were supposed to take trash out by themselves made it a bit uncomfortable the last day. I’m not sure if we would stay there again or try another place.

For a quick breakfast we ate across the road at the Carolina Coffee & Crumbs. While at first it looks like just a coffee shop, they do have some good breakfast items. But they’re also a bit pricey comparatively.

We then had an hour to do some souvenir shopping and to add a shot glass to the collection and get some t-shirts.

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge

I’m sure if you live in the Southeast US, seeing an alligator is no big deal. Much like seeing a prairie dog in Colorado or a pronghorn in Wyoming. For myself and my family, seeing these animals is a lot of fun. Sure, they might be dangerous if you do something stupid, but for the most part they are relatively docile and just fascinating to see.

I had a good feeling that if we visited Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, we might get lucky and find some more to cap off our trip. But of course there is no guarantee. Regardless, getting some outdoor time on our feet before sitting on a flight would be nice.

The Wildlife of Pinckney Island NWR

As soon as we drove in we saw a group of white ibises and we were off to a good start. We parked and walked down a roadway that led to the first side trail. A tricolored heron was perched in a tree above and soon after that more birds appeared in the surrounding marshes.

Alligators are not salt water denizens, so we had to find fresh water ponds if we were going to find any at the refuge. We knew they did exist in the refuge, it was just a matter of finding where they were. Following the map I saw that there were some freshwater ponds about a mile up the gravel roadway. We headed there and were rewarded for our effort.

A couple alligators were laying on the shore of the pond and we were able to get several photos of these gators. Additionally we found a cardinal, more tricolored herons, a gallinule (in the algae-covered water), and several egrets. If you want to see birds and wildlife in general on Hilton Head Island, this is absolutely the place.

Since people needed to go to the bathroom (there is no place to go in the refuge so do that before coming), we left after an hour, feeling pretty happy to have seen so much in so little time.

After sitting in some traffic because a fall festival had closed a main street, we arrived at the airport, turned in our car, and got through security. There is a Leopold’s Ice Cream at the airport and we were happy to have some before departing.

Arriving home we knew would be for only a few days. Another trip awaited on Wednesday night :). This time it would be just Shelley and I. We weren’t used to traveling without the kids, but we’d be doing just that.

Georgia, South Carolina, Travel

The Low Country: Charleston to Savannah: Part 6

Leave a comment

Day 7: Hilton Head Island

We have been somewhat beach-deprived over the last couple years. When we took the Mediterranean Cruise to Europe over the summer we missed out on any beach days due to our prioritizing historical sites and museums over sand and surf.

So when we were planning the trip to South Carolina and Georgia I wanted at least two days in a beach-front location. After studying all of the many options available from Kaiwah Island, to Edisto Beach, to Tybee Island, to even further south in Georgia, I settled on Hilton Head Island.

We had never been to Hilton Head before, though I knew it was a popular beach vacation spot. I also knew that the majority of the lodging were vacation rentals, and after looking at maps and various lodging rates, I picked one that would put us in walking distance to the beach (1/2 mile) while not being exorbitantly expensive and breaking the budget.

The Coral Sands Resort wasn’t spectacular, but the townhome rental was roomy and comfortable and quiet. It was nice to have separate sleeping areas and not feel crowded.

When I was in my twenties, my then girlfriend (now wife) Shelley and I rented a townhome in Morro Bay, California and just about every day I went for a run on the beach. Since I now had that opportunity for a couple days at Hilton Head I made a quick morning run a priority.

When I arrived on the beach I found it at high tide, but I was far from the only morning jogger. It felt great to just be outside enjoying the fall weather from the beachfront.

Morning at Coligny Beach

After returning to the townhome I took a shower and we set about finding some morning breakfast.

We ate at a place called the Plantation Cafe. The service was a tad grumpy but the food was pretty good. In terms of the service, we were starting to wonder if time had changed ‘southern hospitality’ since the people we encountered just didn’t seem as friendly and welcoming as they had seemed in 2020. They seemed much more like people you’d encounter elsewhere in the country. Places that aren’t known for friendliness.

After eating we didn’t have anything definitively planned for the day other than to go to the beach as a family. But we really wanted to do something interesting and fun. After considering our options we found a segway tour for two hours in the afternoon at a nature reserve. We booked it and then got dressed to spend the intervening time at the beach.

Coligny Beach

There was zero chance of us not going to the beach. Shelley had some lingering knee pain from a long hike a couple weeks before, but neither she nor we were going to not make the walk to the beach from the hotel for some time on the sand.

The three hours between my morning run and our visit as a family was enough time for the tide to have withdrawn considerably and the beachfront was much more expansive. The water was also a bit warmer and the sun was warmer as well. The cold front that had moved into the area the prior few days had withdrawn and we were able to enjoy warm, comfortable weather.

Instead of making sand castles, my son Evan and I like to make sand drawings. We sketched out at least a dozen in the time we were there. While we were at the beach the Segway tour operator called and asked if we would be able to come in at 1:30 instead of 3 PM. We said we could and so we left after an hour to change our clothes quickly and drive to the Coastal Discovery Center at Honey Horn Plantation.

The Segway Tour at Honey Horn Plantation

The Coastal Discover Center is a natural area on the northern side of Hilton Head Island with a museum on the site of a former plantation called “Honey Horn”. The oddly named “Honey Horn” came from the Gullah Geechee who mispronounced the name of the plantation owner, John Hanahan.

We really enjoyed the off-roading segwey tour. The segweys were pretty rugged and the tour led through forest trails around the expansive property. We learned a number of interesting things from the tour guide and showed off a bit of our acquired knowledge as well.

When the tour guide asked if we knew the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard, Evan responded that a graveyard is attached to a church, while a graveyard is separate. Yeah, he’s paid attention and learned a few things over the course of the week.

The photo that appears to just be of muddy ground includes a small crab called a fiddler crab. We waited patiently by a marsh to finally capture a couple photos of these small, elusive crabs. They are very sensitive to motion and hide quickly in the mud, so patience is necessary.

The garden plot is an indigo plant. I didn’t know much about indigo as a crop before, but the original process of creating the dye includes soaking the plant in urine, which contains ammonia. Indigo is used for dying blue jeans, of course.

After the 90 minutes of Segway riding we were ready to eat a good dinner. We had skipped lunch and wanted a seafood boil. Nothing else was acceptable. We asked the tour guide if she had any recommendations and she suggested Hudson’s Seafood House.

Hudson’s Seafood House

This seafood restaurant was exactly what we were looking for to enjoy a seafood boil. A no frills restaurant with great food and plenty of drinks to go with it.

The shrimp was right out of the water, that very day. Yeah we had to devein the shrimp, but they never tasted better.

The restaurant is pretty simple in terms of atmosphere, but the boil here hit the mark completely. And the cocktails were excellent too. I’m glad the tour guide recommended it or we would have had a hard time finding something this good on our own.

The following day we’d be flying home in the afternoon. We would have some time following checkout to do with as we pleased.

Forts, Georgia, South Carolina, Travel

The Low Country: Charleston to Savannah: Part 5

Leave a comment

Day 6: Savannah to Hilton Head Island

After a second night in Savannah, it was the day to depart for Hilton Head Island, across the South Carolina border. But we weren’t quite ready to depart Georgia entirely. We still had a few places to visit outside the city.

I like to take morning runs, and I decided to take a few photos along my route (which went from the Marshall House hotel to the edge of Forsythe Park and back). Along the way I saw the Mercer Williams House (made famous by the book and movie ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’), Monterey Square (which is across the street from the Mercer House), and the Sorrel-Weed House which was built in the early 1800s and was the home of a Confederate General named Francis Sorrell.

The Sorrell-Weed house is among the many supposedly haunted houses of Savannah owing to its history. Supposedly the house is haunted by Sorrell’s second wife Matilda who jumped to her death from the second floor of neighboring house, or the slave girl Molly with whom Sorrell may have been having an affair, and who may have hung herself in the carriage house.

After returning to the hotel we packed up and reclaimed the car from valet parking. The valet attendant was much more helpful than our experience on arrival and we tipped him according.

At this point I was enjoying Savannah much more and I do think we will be back again in the future, and we certainly have a lot more to see and do in Georgia in the coming years.

Bonaventure Cemetery

The first planned stop was the actual ‘Garden of Good and Evil’: Bonaventure Cemetery. Truthfully, it is a bit odd to go on vacation and spend time visiting cemeteries. Its not as if we knew any of the deceased personally.

But Bonaventure is a tourist attraction owing to the historic statues at many of the grave sites, the moss-covered oaks that often drip with rain water, and the aforementioned book. Unfortunately the Bird Girl statue from the book cover is no longer in the cemetery. It was moved to the Telfair Museum in Savannah.

We did see a number of interesting statues, however, after realizing that we were in the wrong section and not in the ‘old’ cemetery. The Corinne Lawton grave and the Gracie Watson grave are among the statues pictured below. I’ve linked to their tragic stories.

While I don’t know how much of this is myth and how much is reality, grave sites like Gracie’s have to be protected from people attempting to chip away from them and some of it is part of voodoo practices. This was one reason the Bird Girl statue was removed from the cemetery. At any rate, it’s a rather mysterious place but one that must be respected.

Tybee Island Light Station

After spending some time at the cemetery it was time for something a little less somber. We drove onward to Tybee Island to visit the Light Station.

As I mentioned in the prior post, it was a rather cold day for Georgia in October, with a brisk wind and temperatures in the high 50s on Tybee Island. Normally I would have included a stop at Tybee Island Beach, but the weather and surf conditions were not conducive to doing so.

We ascended to the top of the lighthouse (as you can see if the photos and videos), and Shelley and Evan (and I as well) took some time learning to tie some mariner’s knots.

We learned from watching a movie in the visitor’s center that the lighthouse dates back to the early 1700s, but originally it wasn’t a lighthouse at all. It was a ‘daymark’, which provided a visual marker for a location. The first lighthouse at the current location was built in 1790. Just before the Civil War the first fresnel lens was mounted on the lighthouse, but this structure was destroyed by the Confederates who viewed it as an aid to the Union navy.

After the Civil War the current structure was built along with the accompanying head keepers cottages. The head keeper’s cottage is actually a pretty nice house, in our opinion. Plenty of room, and let’s face it, there are worse places to be a head keeper than Tybee Island, Georgia.

Fort Pulaski

Just a short drive from Tybee Island is the Civil War-era Fort Pulaski. It was our next stop of the day.

We’ve been to a lot of forts over the years. I don’t know if I could even enumerate them all. But I think Fort Pulaski is one of the most interesting of them all.

Fort Pulaski was an American fort that was captured by the Confederate Army at the outset of the Civil War. The fortress was believed to be essentially impregnable, to the point that Robert E. Lee told the commanding officer at the fort that the Union guns on Tybee Island could not penetrate the walls.

However, Lee was wrong. The Union army had begun to use new rifled artillery. Using these rifled canons they managed to breach the outer wall, forcing the Confederate commander Olmstead to surrender or risk having the entire fort explode if a shell hit the powder magazine, killing everyone within.

A couple other interesting facts: there is a brick in the floor of the fort with a paw print from when the brick was made, close to 200 years ago. You can see that paw print in the photo above. And the first baseball game ever photographed took place in the central courtyard in 1862 (when the fort was under Union control).

Hilton Head Island

After Fort Pulaski it was time to drive an hour around the marshlands (as the crow flies the distance is only a few miles, but by road its around 40 miles) to Hilton Head Island where we would spend the next two nights before heading home.

We had a townhome rental with separate rooms and a kitchen which was a nice change from hotel rooms. We were staying at the Coral Sands Resort. With only a half mile walk to the beach it was in a great location and the price was very reasonable as well. There was a curious site of a tree growing in a gutter which I couldn’t help but photograph.

The weather was finally warming up enough that the following day would be beach weather. We stopped off for a pizza dinner and called it a night.

Georgia, South Carolina, Travel

The Low Country: Charleston to Savannah: Part 4

Leave a comment

Day 5: Savannah

After the prior day’s late night ghost tour and a night sleeping in the arguably haunted Marshall House hotel, we had a full day to explore the city of Savannah. We had a good breakfast at the hotel and then set off on foot for a tour of the Owens-Thomas House, before continuing on to the Georgia Railroad Museum.

The Owens-Thomas House

The Owens-Thomas House is one of the historic antebellum mansions that you can tour in the city. The house was built by an English architect William Jay and was first owned by the Richardson family. The Richardsons were planters and unfortunately they only lived there three years after enduring the tragic deaths of the wife Francis and two young daughters.

George Owens was a politician and he bought the house in 1830. He was a US Representative and also the mayor of Savannah. He invited the Marquis de Lafayette to stay in the house and the Marquis delivered a speech from the house.

Unfortunately, you won’t hear much about these families and the sad events that marked their lives, and certainly nothing positive will be said of them on the tour. The families were also slaveholders and the tour guide focused all of her time talking about the slaves and providing a provably distorted history of life in Savannah and the history of the people that built and lived in the house to make it appear as though the slaves were the only intelligent and capable people living in the home.

Yes, I think it is great that the Telfair Museum (who owns the house and runs the tours) puts time into telling the storing of the domestic slaves. That story needs to be told. But that story is now overly embellished and completely dominates the tour narrative.

For instance, the tour guide claimed that tabby was an African invention, and implied it was brought to the Americas by the slaves. While it is true that tabby construction appears to have come originally from North Africa (Morocco), tabby was not brought to America by the slaves.

Tabby is a form of concrete made by burning shells to create lime when added to water. The walls of the house are composed of tabby. Tabby was actually brought to the United States by the Spanish in the 1500s, who inherited the knowledge from the Moors. You can look it up if you want. Even the signage above the tabby display at the house says this.

That is just one of many false assertions made by the tour guide for political correctness. As visitors on the tour we had to go out of our way to ask about the portraits of the daughters in the upstairs bedroom to be told that they had died in a yellow fever epidemic and one of the portraits was made after her death. Sad. But the tour guide didn’t even want to discuss it. Their lives were made to seem completely unimportant beyond their existence as slaveholders.

Slavery was undeniably terrible but let’s also keep some perspective. Slavery existed worldwide in every culture and it was only because of the Enlightenment in Europe in the 1700s and the ensuing abolitionist movements that swept the Americas in the 1800s that it was brought to an end.

What you see in the Owens-Thomas house is a window into a past when slavery was a typical part of life. Just as Mount Vernon was also the plantation home of George Washington who was a slaveholder. But no one is attempting to say that the first president was nothing more than a slaveholder who relied entirely on their skills and expertise and survive. We know better than that.

Again, it’s great to see the names of the slaves that have been documented in the carriage house and to see their living and working quarters. However, the narration of the tour (which evidently changed in 2018 to focus on slavery) needs to be rebalanced to be more historically accurate and to discuss life in the house and in 1800s Savannah more accurately.

We were really quite disappointed with this tour and while I wouldn’t say I don’t recommend visiting (because it is a very interesting house and that includes the slave quarters), the tour is a huge disservice to the visitors who just want to learn honest history.

The Georgia State Railroad Museum

I told my 11-year-old that we would be spending the day walking all over the city and to expect to be tired by the end of the day. The walk from the Owens-House to the Georgia State Railroad Museum is a mile and we made our way there next.

Along the way we enjoyed the many park squares, churches, and moss-laden trees lining the boulevards. Even a lizard made an appearance on a brick facade.

It was unseasonably cold (low 60s) and we were dressed a bit lighter than we thought we would need to be, but we arrived there just fine, hopeful that the museum would be fun and interesting for our railroad enthusiast son.

Our first impression was a little dismal. The visitor center ran an introductory film for guests to view before exiting outside to the museum grounds. We quickly realized, however, that the film was of minimal value. It had little to do with the history of the railroads in Georgia and instead it was an overview of general American history.

We stepped outside and went to the roundhouse where there were several trains arrayed in a semi-circle. We quickly realized the only information about the locomotives was on the paper guide map that they gave us in the gift shop and that there was no signage in any of the various buildings or on the trains.

Unlike many railroad museums, the entire 1800s rail complex is part of the museum and following the map you can learn quite a lot about the service and operation of railroads in the mid 1800s.

I actually found the blacksmith shop with the steam-powered hammer and saws to be the most interesting site in the museum. A huge steam powered engine powered every tool in the building through a shaft that ran from an adjacent building. This was the era before electric power tools completely changed the way that we work.

Overall we found the museum to be interesting, but it still felt as though it could have been presented better. Without the paper guide map you had no way of understanding the museum and it simply looks a bit neglected despite the admission price.

Forsythe Park

After the museum we started back toward the hotel with the intention of getting lunch along the way. Truthfully, we weren’t feeling that enthusiastic about Savannah at this point. Both museums were somewhat of a let down and the overall vibe around the city from people we encountered seemed to be lacking in “Southern Hospitality”.

At this point it was also occurring to me that Savannah wasn’t quite like Charleston or really anywhere else. It felt like a mixture of New Orleans (a city that I visited twice the prior decade) and Charleston or Beaufort. New Orleans is a rougher place with historic charm mixed with tawdriness for those looking to let loose. Charleston is a more stately place with well-kept historic homes and parks. Savannah is the mixture of these two places, with a character all its own.

We found the Savannah Smokehouse BBQ and it was exactly what we needed to get ourselves mentally and physically back on track. Great BBQ pulled pork and I loved the friend green tomatoes. I think I ate the majority of them. Savannah has some great BBQ.

Revitalized after lunch we decided to walk the mile south to Forsythe Park. Forsythe Park is one of the largest parks among the dozens of squares in the city and is famous for the fountain in the middle of the park.

We decided to take the free trolley back to the hotel from the park and after about 10 minutes we caught the trolley as it pulled up on the street beside the park. We rode it to near the hotel then made a detour to Byrd’s Famous Cookies across the street.

We filled a couple boxes with Byrd’s little cookies and then returned to our hotel room to take a little break before finding dinner.

The Olde Pink House Speakeasy

We went out for a nice dinner and drinks in the evening. During the ghost tour the previous day I recalled hearing the tour guide mention the speakeasy hidden under the Olde Pink House and decided to see if we could get in.

Sure enough, there was a 30 minute wait, but we could be seated. When we were called to return they had a really cozy spot for us right in front of the fireplace.

Since my birthday was only a couple days away and I wanted to celebrate with some terrific southern food we imbibed on some cocktails, enjoyed a couple appetizers and had some great main courses. The food and service were terrific, but the atmosphere was really the best part.

I really enjoyed our evening dining at the Pink House speakeasy. It was a bit pricy, but you sometimes have to splurge to have a good time.

This was the Savannah I was looking for and found. When the day comes to go back, we’ll look for more of these atmospheric hideaways.

Georgia, South Carolina, Travel

The Low Country: Charleston to Savannah: Part 3

Leave a comment

Day 4: Charleston to Savannah

After two full days in Charleston it was time to make the drive south to Savannah, Georgia. The weather was unusually mild with temperatures in the mid 60s F, but the skies were sunny for a day on the road.

The journey down Highway 17 through the marshlands and countryside of South Carolina is rather pleasant. We stopped along the way for coffee, cider, and cookies at a roadside stand.

As we came to what would have been the intersection the I-95 for the quick jaunt into Savannah, we decided it was time to take a detour to another plantation that was on the map. Or so we thought.

Frampton Plantation

Frampton Plantation was right off Highway 17 and as you approach the house it looks quite nice. Unfortunately the house is nothing but an souvenir store and there is nothing to actually see and do at the house. Calling itself a plantation is only a way to get roadtrip visitors to stop at the house.

So in other words it’s a lame tourist trap.

Beaufort

We had some time to spare and I had read that Beaufort was really nice seaside city with historic houses and a plenty of good restaurants. We decided to visit Beaufort for a couple hours before finishing the drive in Savannah.

We parked in the Waterfront Park area and took a quick stroll along the bayshore before turning into the town to visit a souvenir shop. after buying a shot glass for my collection we asked the cashier if she had a recommendation for a place to have lunch. She suggested Plums across the street.

I had a shrimp Po’Boy sandwich and Southern Pecan Ale. The food and beer were both relatively good, but the service was pretty slow. I don’t think it would be our first choice if we returned to Beaufort.

We were kind of anxious after the long lunch to get to Savannah (one reason I have no photos to share other than a photo of my beer), so we set off to finish the drive across the Savannah River. We avoided the interstate highway, which was a win as well.

Savannah, Georgia

Crossing the Savannah River meant entering Georgia for the first time for Shelley and Evan, and only my second time in my life. Savannah and Charleston are often compared to one another but the two cities are actually quite different.

Savannah had a noticeably less sophisticated feel, geared more toward entertainment and more geared toward adults. The antebellum architecture and the city blocks full of statues and trees with dangling moss make the city unique and picturesque.

Arriving at the Marshall House hotel we were truthfully rather disappointed. Since it was Halloween season I thought it would be a fun choice since it’s regularly listed among the most haunted hotels in the country. During the Civil War it acted as a hospital and many soldiers inevitably died there.

The hotel’s historic charm is obvious, but the service from the staff on arrival was lacking. No one was attending the valet parking (really the only option) and the front desk staff seemed uninterested in checking us in. Usually the higher-end hotels offer assistance with luggage and help you to your room. They left all that to us until we exited the elevator.

The room was also not exactly as well maintained as we would have liked either. There was peeling paint and stains on a serving dish in the room. It should be a matter of pride to keep the hotel in as excellent a condition as possible, no matter how old the structure may be.

Despite these issues, we found out that on Tuesday nights there is trivia in the lobby and of course Shelley and I were willing participants. They offered wine to the players and we imbibed to our contentment. The trivia was entirely pop-culture so our performance in the game wasn’t up to our standard.

Ghost Tour

I had reserved a ghost tour for the night of our arrival in Savannah, and at 8:30 PM we made our way to the starting place at Chippewa Square. The tour was a much slower paced experience and had many stops at various houses along the way.

We did our best to try to photograph ghosts at the locations where they were purported to be found. One abandoned house in particular piqued the interest of my son and I and we tried various ways to capture the supernatural entities existing within.

Many plagues, wars, and bizarre murders have happened in Savannah over the centuries and these events have left a rather interesting legacy on the city. Trees that were planted in a town square brought forth the bones from people that were buried there a century before. And, according to the tour guide, nearly every square foot of the city sits atop a cemetery or graveyard.

Whatever the truth is, between the Marshall Hotel and the cemeteries of Savannah we had a few days to live amongst the ghosts. And in fact, we did hear some pretty weird things in the Marshall hotel overnight.

The following day we’d get a better feel for Savannah.

South Carolina, Travel

The Low Country: Charleston to Savannah: Part 2

Leave a comment

Day 3: Charleston

Our second full day in Charleston was a Monday and the town was a bit more relaxed since the residents were back at work. We drove over to get breakfast as priority number one, since we missed out the day before.

We went to a place called the Flying Biscuit Cafe. We had some large southern breakfasts at a fairly reasonable price with good service. Since it was Monday it wasn’t crowded, either. The food was great too.

After eating, my first planned stop was at Patriot Point for the Naval & Maritime Museum. We drove over and arrived right before 9AM to see the parking lot practically empty.

Hmmmm…. the website showed the museum hours as 9AM – 5PM. Perhaps on a Monday it’s just not very busy. Well, not quite. The only part of the museum that is open at 9AM is the gift shop. The actual museum ships aren’t open until 10AM.

We had just paid to enter the parking lot, but our time was precious. We didn’t want to stand around for an hour when we had more to see in Charleston. So we crossed the bridge to make it to the new first stop of the day: The South Carolina Aquarium.

The South Carolina Aquarium

I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a visit to an aquarium as much as I enjoyed the couple hours we spent at the South Carolina Aquarium. Coming on a Monday morning and not on a weekend probably helped because the staff weren’t inundated with hoards of people.

I’m actually surprised we don’t have more photos, but we were really able to spend a lot of time talking to the caretakers of the bald eagle, we went backstage to see the operations including the top of the deepest ocean tank in the world, and fed stingrays.

We are animal enthusiasts (as you might have noticed) and enjoy learning as much as we can when we visit zoos and aquariums. While the SC aquarium isn’t the biggest aquarium we’ve ever been to, the visit was much more personal and interactive.

I’ve attached a video from the backstage tour showing the top of huge ocean tank.

Backstage View of the Ocean Tank

The staff was really nice and wanted to share their knowledge with the guests. The only staff we didn’t like were the pushy people trying to get you to buy overpriced visitor photos. We obviously declined. But we did buy some souvenir water bottles for $10 and placed souvenir stickers on them for $5 more. Buying souvenirs does help aquariums and zoos to continue their mission.

After the aquarium we wanted to visit the historic center of Charleston and have lunch. We still did need to go back to Patriot’s Point since I had already purchased tickets online, but we had a few hours to spare.

Historic Charleston

If you were to ask me what the most architecturally beautiful city in America is, I’d have to put Charleston in the top five, if not number one. The historic architecture looks uniquely a mixture of Colonial and Caribbean and the city center is situated on a narrow peninsula which makes it very walkable and free of congestion.

The houses and churches typically date back as far as the early 1700s and are in great condition throughout the city. I enjoy seeing the soaring church steeples, the graveyards, and walking down the narrow passageways that have been in use for centuries.

I wanted to visit at least one of the historic houses, but after wandering through Washington Square and seeking out a place to eat we were beginning to realize there wouldn’t be much time.

We put our names in at a restaurant called Millers All Day and they gave us a wait time of about 45 minutes. Usually that means that well get seated within 20 minutes. I took a quick walk around while Shelley and Evan waited outside the restaurant.

Instead it literally took all 45 minutes to get seated. The restaurant was full even on a Monday afternoon so that was not really surprising. The food was good but the atmosphere was a bit uninspiring. Not really fitting for a historic city. The prices were fairly reasonable for downtown Charleston though.

After eating lunch we went back to the parking garage to retrieve our rental car and drove back over the Ravenel Bridge to Patriot’s Point. Now it was time to see the ships before the museum closed for the day.

Patriot’s Point Naval and Maritime Museum

We’ve been to a few naval museums over the years and this one was good as well. It really features the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier which was in service from World War II through Vietnam. The Yorktown was built in an amazing 18 months during World War II, which is astounding considering the size of the ship. The Yorktown also recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts.

The second ship on display is the destroyer USS Laffey. The Laffey was damaged by kamikaze bombers in WWII but managed to remain in service with a storied history of success.

We enjoyed walking through the ships, particularly my 11-year-old son Evan. We were still in the lower deck of the Yorktown when the museum closed, but were able to find our way out before they kicked us out.

After leaving the museum we made a stop at Wendy’s (lots of stops at Wendy’s on this trip) and went back to the hotel for a couple hours.

Haunted Carriage Ride

I’m not really sure why we have so few photos from the Haunted Carriage Ride through Charleston, but unfortunately I only have one. We did learn a few interesting things, however.

St Phillips Episcopal Church

First, graveyards are attached to churches, whereas cemeteries are separate burial grounds. And there were people buried alive frequently enough that they came up with a bell and string to attach to the deceased person so they could ring it and be rescued before dying in ground. It is not true that the term “graveyard shift” originated from these bells.

It was quick tour via horse-drawn carriage, but since it’s Halloween season and we wanted some evening entertainment, it was a fun thing to do.