Cape Henry Lighthouses & Fort Story

We called American Home Base yesterday and told them to send our mail here to General Delivery. We drove up to Lowe's to get some sediment filters and stopped at a Post Office to mail a package. While we were out driving we saw two more decorated dolphins for A Dolphin's Promise.

From Around Virginia Beach

This afternoon we drove north to go to visit the Cape Henry Lighthouses at Fort Story. On the way there we passed by the Cavalier Hotel that was built in 1927.

From Around Virginia Beach

We arrived at the entrance to Fort Story a little after 1:00. There was a dolphin just outside the entrance to Fort Story and I took a couple of photos of it and a couple of the entrance to Fort Story. Well - I can't show them because the guard at the gate told us that photos weren't allowed and that we would have to delete them. Mike held the camera up so the guard could watch as Mike deleted the photos.

The guard told us that because Fort Story was a training base for Navy Seals that photos of the base were not allowed. We could take photos of the lighthouses and the other historic sites and markers on the base.

We drove on through the base and parked at the entrance to the old Cape Henry

Virginia Beach Boardwalk

We left the campground this morning at 11:30 to go to the Boardwalk on Virginia Beach. We saw this dolphin sculpture on Atlantic Avenue.

From Virginia Beach Boardwalk

We were looking for a parking place near the Cancun Fiesta Restaurant where we planned on eating lunch and found a parking lot in back of the restaurant. We paid the attendant $5 (all day parking) and parked the car. There was a coupon on the parking slip that was good for $5 off meals at Cancun Fiesta restaurant.

From Virginia Beach Boardwalk

We went to the restaurant to have lunch before we walked over to the Boardwalk. I ordered the lunch Chicken Quesadilla and Beef Taco and Mike ordered the Burrito El Primo with beef and we had sopapillas for dessert. We really liked the sour cream dip that came with the salsa and chips.

After lunch we walked over to the Boardwalk and walked north. Oh yes, the Virginia Beach Boardwalk is concrete and not boards.

From Virginia Beach Boardwalk

Today was a great day to be at the beach since the temperature this afternoon was in the mid-70's. The beach area is large and there were a lot of people enjoying the beach, but not

Shopping on base & another thunderstorm

This morning we drove over to the BX to do some shopping. The BX is only a mile from the campground. By the time we finished with our shopping it was lunch time and since going grocery shopping on an empty stomach isn't a good idea, we stopped at the Subway in the Food Court. We ordered a foot long Turkey & Bacon Avocado and split the sub. It was a much better sandwich than the one we had last night from Great Steak.

After lunch we drove over to the Commissary to get groceries. This is a large commissary and we were impressed with the great produce section and the whole store in general. I had been buying a few groceries at a time until we could get to the commissary where I could do some serious shopping.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing until around 4:30 when we noticed the dark clouds that were moving in. Mike went out and lowered the awning before it started to rain. But a few minutes after he had lowered the awning, the wind picked up and we had a big gust of wind that rocked the motor home.

We both went outside and put the awning up and put our folding chairs and tables in the back of the car. It started raining a little after 5:00 and we had heavy rain for about 2 hours. We ended up having over 3/4 inch of rain tonight. 

Moved to Ocean Pines RV Park

We got up this morning at our usual time and started breaking camp after breakfast. While Mike dumped the tanks, I got the inside ready so we could put the slides in. Because the sewer connection is positioned under our living room slide, Mike had to connect our sewer hose before we could put the living room slide out when we came here. So this morning we had to put the living room slide in before he could disconnect the sewer hose and pack it away.

We hitched up the car and stopped at the campground office to check out before leaving Indian Cove Resort a little after 10:00. We drove north to the Oceana Naval Air Station and

Visit to Military Aviation Museum

The rain is over and we woke up to sunny skies this morning.
After lunch we drove 7 miles south down to the Military Aviation Museum at the Virginia Beach Airport. The first things we saw were the dinosaurs at the entrance to the Aviation Museum. We parked the car on the side of the entrance road and walked over to take photos of the dinosaur statues. The life-size painted dinosaurs are made out of metal plates welded together.

From Military Aviation Museum, Virginia Beach

After taking photos of the dinosaurs, we continued on up the driveway to the Military Aviation Museum. Our first sight was this dolphin made to look like a WWII Corsair fighter plane. We found out it is part of a local project called "A Dolphin's Promise" where companies and individuals sponsor a dolphin to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation for Cancer Research.

From Military Aviation Museum, Virginia Beach

We entered the museum and paid the $9 a person fee for seniors and one of the volunteers gave us a quick rundown on each of the hangars and what aircraft they contained. Most of the airplanes here are flyable and on most days one of them is being flown here. However, today none of the planes were being flown.

The first hangar we went in contained WWII-era aircraft.

From Military Aviation Museum, Virginia Beach

Everyone was drawn to look at the 1944 de Havilland DH-89A Dragon Rapide probably

Hot with thunderstorms

We didn't go any where today for two reasons - it was supposed to be hot (mid-90's) and we were supposed to have thunderstorms. Well, both forecasts were correct. It was hot and the thunderstorms started moving in around 4:00. The sky got really dark and then we started getting a lot of wind. Our awning was out and staked down, but the wind gusts were so strong that we ended up putting the awning up.

We had planned on cooking sausages on the grill for dinner, but that was out. So we went to Plan B and I fixed them in a skilllet on the stove.

It is still raining and we've had a couple of really heavy downpours. We've had about a 1/2 inch of rain and the winds have been around 20 mph with gusts up to 30 - 40 mph. It's supposed to quit raining around midnight and lately all we've had is a light rain.

Shopping & Errands around Virginia Beach

We left the campground this morning around 10:00 and drove up to Oceana Naval Air Station to register the car on base. When we had the windshield replaced on the Vue back in April in Dothan, the military registration decals went stayed with the old windshield. Since the Army doesn't require decals on vehicles any more, we didn't need to get new ones.

However, the Navy still requires vehicle registration and decals, so we went to the base vehicle registration office and registered the Vue and Mike put the new decals on the windshield.

We stopped at the gas station on base and filled the tank in the car ($3.129 a gal). We also wanted to see if we could get the RV in and out of the gas station there when we we move up to the base campground this weekend.

Our next stop was at the Oceana Pines RV Park to check out the campground. It was a good thing we did, since the campground office is closed on Sundays and the gate into the

Wash Day - Laundry & RV

This morning after breakfast Mike drove up to the campground office to get $20 worth of quarters for the laundromat and to pay $5 so he can wash the motor home today. We had read in the campground brochure that RV washing was allowed on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The campground charges a $5 fee for the water and issues a permit for one day.

While Mike was up at the office, I stripped the bed and sorted the laundry and was ready to drive over the the campground laundromat when he got back home.

There are 5 washers and 5 dryers at the laundry here and each machine costs $1.50. It had been 10 days since the last time I had washed clothes, so I used all of the washers and dryers. I got back to the RV just before noon and Mike was still washing the RV. He stopped for lunch and took a little break afterwards before going back out to finish washing the RV.

Tomorrow we are going to check with the post office to see if our mail is there at General Delivery and we need to do some shopping and do a couple of other errands.

We're planning on going up to the Boardwalk at Virginia Beach on Friday and visit the shops and museums and check out a Mexican restaurant there.

Falls Lake State Park to Virginia Beach

We got up this morning at 7:30 and started breaking camp after our morning coffee and breakfast. We stopped at the campground dump station to empty our tanks and hitch up the car.

We left the campground a little before 10:00 and headed east on US-98 through the town of Bunn

From Traveling to Virginia Beach

through farm land and tobacco fields

From Traveling to Virginia Beach

to US-64 and then north on I-95. We stopped at 11:15 for an early lunch at a rest area near Dortches, NC. We crossed into Virginia at 12:15 and stopped at the Virginia Welcome Station for maps and brochures.

From Traveling to Virginia Beach

We exited I-95 at Emporia, VA and drove east on US-58. Just west of Suffolk, VA we saw

Another day of genealogy research

Yesterday was Father's Day and Fletcher called to wish Mike a happy Father's Day. We had planned to go sightseeing yesterday, but most of the places we wanted to visit were closed on Sundays. So, we just spent a quiet day here at the RV and relaxed. I called my brother Cyril last night and wished him a happy Father's Day.

This afternoon I drove the 28 miles back down to the Olivia Raney Library to do some final research on my Utley ancestors. I printed copies of my 5th great grandfather William Utley's will and estate sale and my 4th great grandparents Jacob and Phoebe Utley's wills and estate sales. I found out that I could have saved the $5.75 I paid for the printed copies ($.25 a page) if I had brought in a flash drive and just saved the copies to it.

Oh well - note to self - take a flash drive when I go to a library from now on out just in case the library lets patrons save copies to flash drives.

I did find a will abstract for my 5th great-granduncle Henry Youngblood. I had conflicting information that he died in Johnston, South Carolina, but I checked the Johnston County, NC records and there was Henry!

I left the library about 5:30 and drove back to the campground in the afternoon rush hour. Fortunately, the traffic wasn't as bad as I had imagined. I got back to the RV a little before 6:30.

I had cooked spaghetti a couple of nights ago, so all I had to do tonight was heat up the spaghetti sauce and cook the noodles and heat up some bread.

Tomorrow we are leaving here and heading east to Virginia Beach where we will stay for about 3 weeks.

Genealogy Research

I left the campground this morning about 9:30 and drove the 28 miles down to the Olivia Raney Local History Library to do more genealogy research. Mike said he would stay home and do a few things around the RV while I was gone.

I arrived at the library at 10:15 (I had programmed the route into our Garmin gps) and found a place to park the car under some shade. I signed the library's guest book and set up my laptop on one of the large tables. I found a lot of information on Utley marriages and abstracts of Utley wills, probate papers and estate sales. The abstracts just list where the wills, probate papers and estate sales are recorded in county record books and all the names of people mentioned in each one. The actual wills and records are on microfilm at the library.

The library closes at 2:00 on Saturday and I ran out of time to look through all of the abstracts. I did start a list of records I want to look at on microfilm and Monday will go back to the library and look through the rest of the abstracts for more records to view.

I called Mike just before leaving the library and he had sent me a text message. I had the cell phone set on vibrate while in the library, but it didn't vibrate to alert me to the text. Anyway, Mike said we needed a few things at the grocery store before I went back home.

I stopped at Krogers and bought some things we needed before going home. Later on I fixed spaghetti for dinner and heated some Artisan garlic bread I had gotten at Krogers today.

After dinner I worked on catching up our blog since I didn't work on it while we were visiting with Jean and Joe in Wilmington. I preferred to visit with them and catch up on the blog later.

We do have a weak 4G signal here and then every so often my phone would switch to 3G. I decided to disable the 4G on my Droid Bionic and just use 3G and my internet connection is much faster and more reliable now. We should have a stronger 4G signal when we go to Virginia Beach next week and I will re-enable 4G then.

Trip to Camping World for repairs

We got up this morning at 6:00 and after a quick cup of coffee, we got the motor home ready to drive down to Camping World in Garner which is 36 miles south of the campground. We left our portable satellite dish out and I put our orange cones across our campsite driveway so people would know that the campsite was occupied. Then we hitched up the car to the RV and headed out of the campground.

The entrance gate to the campground was open when we got there at 7:20. We arrived at Camping World a little after 8:30 and unhitched the car. Mike checked in with the service department and one of the techs came out to look at our awning. We were told that they should have the new awning material and roller tube installed by noon. We put Tinker in a

Genealogy research & a little shopping

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that we are paying $114.00 (after our Senior Discount) for the 6 days we are here at Rolling View Campground. Our campsite has a 104' long driveway and we have a large gravel patio area with a fire pit set in a concrete base. The site is fairly level and as usual we had to raise the right side more than the left side of the RV and we put out the folding extra step so I can reach the screen door latch.

Tomorrow we are taking the motor home down to the Camping World in Garner to have the new awning fabric and roller tube installed. We have been debating whether to drive the shorter route through Raleigh or to go on I-440 around Raleigh to Camping World.

This afternoon after lunch we took a trial run down through Raleigh to Garner and decided

Wilmington to Falls Lake State Park

Joe had already left for his appointment when we got up this morning. We did get to see Jean for a few minutes before she left to go to her appointment. We packed up our clothes and stuff and loaded them into the car and went over to the RV. After unloading the car, we went back to Jean and Joe's for Tinker's crate and went back to the RV again. We took Tinker this time and he was happy to be back in his own home.

Mike and I went back to Jean and Joe's to wait for Jean to get back home at 10:00. Once again we told Jean how much we appreciated her and Joe's hospitality and how much we had enjoyed visiting with them. After saying goodbye to Jean, we drove back over to the RV and hitched up the car and were on the road by 10:30.

From Wilmington to Falls Lake State Park

We drove north on US-74 to I-40 North. We stopped for lunch at 11:45 at a rest area near Warsaw, NC where we saw this cannon on display.

From Wilmington to Falls Lake State Park

We stopped to make coffee at 1:00 at a rest area near Benson, NC - we didn't think about

Rain, rain & more rain - no sightseeing

Jean and Joe both had appointments this morning, so Mike and I were going to visit the battleship USS North Carolina on own this morning. It started raining before we left the house to go sightseeing, so we decided to do some shopping first.

We stopped at Costco to do a little shopping and got gas in the Vue ($3.279 a gal).

We found a Petsmart and bought Tinker's K-9 Advantix for fleas and ticks. Then we went to Kohl's to look for some new walking shoes for me since my old ones are worn out. I found a comfortable pair of shoes and Mike also found a pair for himself.

It was still raining when we left Kohl's, so we decided to have lunch and stopped at an Olive Garden. Mike and I both ordered the unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks. Mike had the Zuppa Toscana (spicy sausage) soup and I had the Chicken & Gnocchi (chicken & dumplings) soup.

We decided to go back to Jean and Joe's house after lunch since it was still raining and looked like it would continue for most of the day.

After Jean and Joe came home this afternoon, they took us out to dinner at their favorite hamburger restaurant P.T.'s Old Fashioned Grille. We all ordered the 4 oz. hamburger with french fries. Everything was very good and the hamburger buns were especially fresh and flavorful.

We are leaving tomorrow and heading over to Raleigh. Since Joe will be gone early tomorrow morning, we said our goodbyes to him and how much we appreciated their hospitality and what a good time we had had visiting with them. Jean has an appointment in the morning, but we won't leave until she comes back home.

From Wilmington

Visit to Southport, NC

We had rain off and on this morning and some of it was pretty heavy. So we all took our umbrellas with us to visit Southport which is about 20 miles south of Wilmington. When we got down to Southport, Jean had to drive around for a bit to find an available parking place. The rain had quit by now, but we all still carried our umbrellas in case the rain started up again. 

We walked along Moore Street looking at the various shops there.

From Southport, NC

From Southport, NC

We walked over to The Pharmacy Restaurant where Jean and Joe wanted to have lunch, but it is closed on Mondays. We walked around some more and settled on the Moore Street

Mt. Lebanon Chapel & Sunday Brunch

We went to church with Jean and Joe this morning at Mount Lebanon Chapel. St. James Parish Episcopal Church has summer morning services at the historic Mount Lebanon Chapel that was built in 1835.

From Wilmington

There is no air conditioning at the chapel, but there are 3 large ceiling fans that help circulate the air. We sat in a pew by one of the large windows and it was comfortable. Since there is no air conditioning, most people wore comfortable clothing and a few even wore shorts.

Since Mike and I are both interested in history and genealogy, we really enjoyed attending a church that would be similar to one our ancestors would have attended.

From Wilmington

After church Jean drove us around Landfall to show us some of the huge houses there.

From Wilmington

We then went to one of the Country Clubs (there are 2 country clubs) in Landfall for Sunday Brunch. Once a month Jean and Joe get together with

Traveling to Wilmington, NC

We left The Oaks at Point South at 8:45 and drove north on I-95. We stopped for lunch at a rest area near Shiloh, SC a little before 11:00 We pulled into a Flying J at Latta, SC and got gas in the motor home ($3.079 a gal).

We kept seeing billboards every few miles advertising "South of the Border"

From Beaufort to Wilmington

and then at Dillon, SC we saw what all the billboards were about. South of the Border is a major roadside attraction - motel, restaurant, shops, and rides.

From Beaufort to Wilmington

We crossed into North Carolina and really enjoyed seeing the day lilies planted in the median and at exits on I-95.

From Beaufort to Wilmington

We left I-95 at exit 14 and headed east on US-74 to Wilmington. We called Mike's cousin Jean at 3:30 to let her know that we were about 10 minutes away from her house. Jean and her husband Joe live in a gated community called Landfall and Joe met us at the entrance gate. He led us over to the parking lot by the playground where we are going to park the motor home while we stay with Jean and Joe.

After parking the RV, we followed Joe to their condo here in Landfall. It's been 5 years since we've seen Jean and Joe and they moved into a two-story condo a couple of years ago.

Jean and Joe's daughter, Ellen, and her family arrived at 4:00 to join us for dinner. We hadn't seen Ellen since she was a little girl about 8 or 9 years old. Ellen is now married to Mike, a Colonel in the Marines, and has 2 teenage boys, Houston and Jackson.

From Wilmington

Jean had cooked Beef Bourguignon and we had a salad and rolls for dinner. We had a great time visiting over dinner. Ellen and her family live at Camp Lejeune which is about 40 miles north of Wilmington. They will be moving to Maryland in a couple of weeks because Mike will be stationed in Washington, D.C.

Ellen and her family stayed until 8:00 and then left to head back up to Camp Lejeune. We stayed up visiting with Jean and Joe for a while before heading up to our bedroom.

Sightseeing in Beaufort, SC

We had rain off and on during last night and then some really heavy rain this morning around 8:00. The rain had slacked off some by the time we left the campground at 9:00 and headed east to Beaufort. We got to Beaufort Dog at 9:30 where Tinker is going to be bathed and groomed. After giving instructions on how we wanted Tinker cut and leaving a copy of his shot records, we headed into town.

We located the Beaufort Visitor Center which is housed in the Beaufort Arsenal which was constructed in 1798. Unfortunately the museum there is closed on Wednesdays, but we did pick up some brochures and got recommendations for places to eat.

From Beaufort, SC

After driving around for a while, we parked near the Waterfront Park. We had a problem with the parking ticket kiosk when I tried to buy a parking permit - it took some of my money and didn't give me a parking permit. Long story short - Mike called the city and some employees came out to work on the kiosk and said we were OK to park there without the permit -since they were the ones who issued tickets.

By now it was almost 11:00 and we walked along the Waterfront Park looking for a place to have coffee. We had hoped to be able to sit outside where we could view the Beaufort River, but it was still raining. The coffee houses were full and we finally decided to have an early lunch. We settled on Hemingway's Bistro which is located in the

A Little Shopping & a Few Phone Calls

We spent a quiet day here at the campground yesterday. I went up to the laundry which is behind the campground office and did a few loads of laundry. Mike called the parts department at the Camping World in Raleigh, NC to check on the order of the replacement roller tube and awning material for the motor home. They are to e-mail a copy of the work order, so we can e-mail it to our insurance company.

We also called the Beaufort Dog in Beaufort and made an appointment to have Tinker bathed and groomed on Wednesday while we go sightseeing.

Mike also took a couple of photos of our campsite yesterday.

From Driving to Yemassee, SC

There are a lot of trees here and we tried to get satellite TV, but our dish is pointing towards several trees. Thank goodness for basic cable!

From Driving to Yemassee, SC

This morning we drove down to the Piggly Wiggly in Ridgeland which is about 15 miles south of here. We needed just a few things and it is the closest grocery store to the campground.

Tomorrow we are going into Beaufort to do some sightseeing and shopping while Tinker is being groomed.

We had some rain yesterday afternoon, but none today. But we do have more rain moving in tonight.

Traveling to Yemassee, SC

We left Pointes West Army Resort at 10:20 this morning and drove down to the Costco in Augusta to get gas in the motor home. We paid $3.049 a gallon this morning at Costco. After leaving Costco, we drove south through downtown Augusta and through Olde Town again.

From Driving to Yemassee, SC

We continued south on SR-125 and crossed the Savannah River about 11:30 and entered South Carolina.

From Driving to Yemassee, SC

State Road 125 was four lane for a good portion of our drive until we got to the Savannah

Olde Town in Augusta & Laurel & Hardy Museum

Last night I set our alarm clock for 7:00 so we could get an early start this morning. Well ----- I didn't notice that the time on the clock was wrong and we actually got up this morning at 6:00! I guess that when the electricity went off the other night that it messed up time on the clock and we didn't notice it. So we got to see the sunrise this morning over the lake.

From Augusta, GA

We left the RV around 8:45 and stopped to look at a historical marker and rock foundation that is just inside the entrance to the RV Resort. It turns out that the rocks surround the Hardin Cemetery. The Hardins were one of the founding families of Columbia County, Georgia and 4 members of the family are buried there. And no, they are no relation to either Mike or I.

From Augusta, GA

We then drove down to the Augusta Genealogical Society in downtown Augusta. We passed by some beautiful churches and houses and drove around taking some photos before going on to the Genealogical Society.

From Augusta, GA

The Augusta Genealogical Society's Library is house in the old Georgia Railroad Bank and we found a parking place right in front. I rang the doorbell and one of the volunteers let us in. After signing the guest book and storing my purse in one of the lockers, I told them I was

Awning damage in last night's thunderstorm

I mentioned in last night's post that we were supposed to have some thunderstorms. Boy, did we ever!! It started raining around 9:00 with thunder and lightning. We had been having really heavy rain for a while when I looked out of the window at 10:00 and realized that our awning was sagging. Oh yes, that is also the time when the electricity went off.

Even though we had the awning tilted to allow the rain water to run off and it had been, the rain was coming down so hard and fast that the rain water wasn't draining off fast enough to keep up with the downpour.

Mike went out and tried to dump the water from the awning by lifting it up with the broom, but it wasn't working. Mike finally climbed up on the ladder and pushed against the awning using his head and shoulders to lift the awning and dump the water. It worked and after about 15 minutes or so, Mike had managed to dump the water that had accumulated in the awning.

I went outside and helped Mike lower the awning and put it up, but the release lever to allow the awning to roll up was jammed and Mike had to take a hammer to loosen it. Then we