Colemans and home

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When we left Josh's, we made arrangements to meet him after work for lunch. He had a short day with FedEx on Wednesday and hoped to be done by noon. We ended up meeting north of Jacksonville at a spot he and Trish wanted to go for a mushroom pesto pizza. We arrive a bit before him and then had one last chance to chat and be with him before actually heading north. We drove about less than 30 minutes and reached the Kings Bay Naval Station exit and followed the state road to the subdivision where Darrell and Robbie Coleman live. We met them in Iwakuni Japan when John was working there from 2000-2004. I hired Darrell into a management analyst position from the Family Service Center where he had been the head of Alcohol and Drug Abuse counseling. He was a terrific asset to the team we had and I gained a great deal of respect for his judgment and ability to handle both issues and people. When I left in 2004, I recommended to the Commanding Officer that he have Darrell be the acting Business Manager until my replacement arrived. We have stayed in touch and when Darrell returned to the states to a position at Kings Bay, we knew our spring trip south had to include a stop with them.

Darrell was at work when we arrive so Robbie gave us a tour of the beautiful home they are renting. It is very open and inviting and Robbie has done a fantastic job decorating. They have as many wonderful Japanese mementos as we do so we had fun looking and marveling at their treasures. Darrell came home and after relaxing and chatting a bit, we headed out for dinner. Following dinner, Darrell gave us a tour of St. Mary’s and Kings Bay. The sub base is highly secure, so we could not get to the waterfront and see the boats. They have a large sub rising out of the ground at the entrance to the base, much as air bases have a static display of planes. After driving around and seeing the area, we were bushed so came back and went to bed.

Next day, Robbie fixed a breakfast and laid it out like a 4-Star hotel, or B&B. It was wonderful. Then we headed to the community pool where we got into a huge pool and did water aerobics for about 45 minutes. We showed Robbie some exercises she was not familiar with and helped her learn new techniques. Then a woman came over and spoke with Trish, wanting to know if she was an instructor. Trish assured her she was not. Turns out this woman is a water instructor at the community pool and wanted Trish to take on some teaching for her. However, since it would be a heck of a commute, Trish politely declined the offer.

Lunch was at a little marina in St. Marys and was wonderful. Then we wandered the town, window shopping and admiring the old homes and B&Bs that dotted the community. Darrell got of early and we picked him up at work then went to the house. The ladies went shopping for dinner (seafood and veggies) and Darrell and I caught up on events from Japan and his job. It was a great visit and we finally headed out to bed. But there was one more task waiting at the RV. We have a map of the outline of US. Every time we camp in a state in our RV, we put the colored map on the board. In all our trips up and down the coast to Florida, we had never spent the night in Georgia. Finally we had stayed in GA and could add that state to our board. (We determined we did NOT have to be in a campground. Even staying in a Wal-Mart qualified. We just had to be in the RV for the night in that state.)

The next morning we were up and had another delightful breakfast with Robbie. Then it was on the road heading home. We had debated taking back roads, but had already done US-17 up the coast and US-301 a bit further inland. With no specific places we wanted to see, we opted for I-95 and headed out.

After 6 hours of easy driving, we reached South of the Border in SC. This kitschy spot has been around a long time. I’m not sure I’d make it a destination, but as a stop over, it’s funky enough to be interesting. We stayed at the hotel several years ago and they are like old motor inns of the 1950s. They are clean, neat, and more than adequate. There is lots of neon lights and plenty for kids to see and do. The campground is excellent for a stop over, with large sites, sewer hookups, and shade. We set up, had dinner, then headed to the motel pool to swim and then relax in the hot tub. Unfortunately, patrons had abused and broken the hot tub, so we did not have the opportunity to soak and relax.

Saturday morning we cleaned up and headed out. We figured to be home in 5 hours. Unfortunately, the roads in North Carolina and then I-295 around Richmond were so bad, full of potholes poorly patched, joints not properly completed between bridges and road, and seams between concrete segments either missing or improperly patched, that we had to slow down. Even then, the outside mirror popped off from the vibrations and the motor scooter on the back started to slip and was in danger of bouncing off the carrier. We had ratcheted it on well and thought it was tight, but the roads really were in bad shape. So we got off I-295 and found a spot to totally redo the motorcycle before proceeding on city streets in NE Richmond and finally hooking up with I-95 for the continuation to home.

We got in Saturday about 3:30 and unloaded the RV of clothes, food and gifts. We took the scooter off and cleaned things up. It had been a wonderful 2 ½ weeks visiting family, friends, and the Florida coast. Now it was back to reality with grass to mow, porch to sweep and clean, laundry and prepping to go back to work Monday. I’ll go over the books later and tally up the coast later and see how we did on gas, food, etc. for the trip.

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Photos

Old home in St Marys
This is a GA coastal community that has beautiful old homes, and new homes mixed. It is a lovely place to visit and from here you can get to Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Robbie and Trish
The ladies had a great time catching up and sharing stories of friends and places in Japan.

Darrell
Is this the face of a distinguished management analyst? Actually, it is. Darrell brings a real sense of enjoyment to the workplace and it was a pleasure having him on my staff.

Adding GA
This is the map hanging in the RV. After spending the night as Coleman's, we could finally add GA to our list of official places we had camped in the coach.

S.O.B.
South Of the Border, or Pedroland, looks much like it did 50 years ago. You see the signs along the highway for at least 100 miles in either direction urging you to stop and sleep, buy, eat, shop, play.

SC, NC or VA?
Here is an example of how badly the roads have deteriorated. If someone is looking for a "shovel ready" stimulus project, surely this would be a place to start. The I-95 corridor carries so much traffic, states and the Federal Govt. really need to put some money into upgrading the road.