Tropical Palms & our RV....We Are Back!

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Cory did a great job getting us here! Yesterday, we arrived @ 2:45 pm at our winter respite resort: Tropical Palms Carefree RV Resort. The first wonderful face we saw was Art’s. He had turned on our refrigerator and turned down our a/c. They just don’t come any better than Art! He’s the best! We decided we would not unpack our car...just do a few basics with the RV and sleep in it. Work can start tomorrow. Cory was going to drive out RV around the park to get all its juices flowing. Engine on.....whoa, whoa, whoa.....what Cory? Whaaaat? Engine off. He says the dash panel reads “low coolant”. We’ve seen that warning in times past. Cory opens up the coolant tank and we pour some in. He wonders where the coolant went over the summer......I know, I know.....look - it’s on the ground! Rats! Yup....as he pours the coolant in, it runs right out....Rats, again. So much for driving the RV around. Tomorrow or the next day, he’ll crawl under the RV and see what the problem is...hopefully just a hose. Pray for us! Fortunately, we are able to get the slides out (except for the one bedroom one that we knew was an issue when we left). We leveled the RV best we could....engine has to run and it would only do so for a brief time because of the coolant problem. Anyway, here we are.....resting and loving being back in our old RV again. We have missed it! We took a quick ride around the park in our car....remember my knees can only go about 9 yards! Saw Ray & Sara...they looked good and we are so happy to see them again. Saw where the 11 Sandcastles were removed from the park. Their empty lots don’t look as atrocious as we thought they would. The park has a lot of units in it.....many more than when we left in June. Stopped to see Melba. We have missed her! It was heartwarming to see her again. Cory saw Darlene briefly. Marianne & Bruce said “hi” when we were at Ray & Sara’s. A nice couple has moved from the site next to Sam & Sandy’s to the one next to us where Melba used to live. They are very sweet and are permanent in their site...goody.

Lots to do tomorrow so I’ll close for now. Our Cruise ship mattress is seeming so welcoming right now. Time for you to get some rest, too. It’s been quite a journey. But before you get too relaxed, you have to read about our pilgrimage as we traveled along before arriving here at TP. May as well get yourself a cup of coffee to get through all this.

Here we go. Wanting to continue our journey together in a fun and festive manner, Driver Cory elected to take us to the beach: Myrtle Beach, that is. Only problem, it was early evening when we arrived and the sea was angry, my friends. I wore my sweater and long pants to The Wicked Tuna restaurant where we ate supper before unloading our stuff into the hotel. We were starved. Lulu was so weak. She moaned from her carry bag. We ate before unloading the car....priorities! The view of the pier below the restaurant was pretty. Had to pay $$ to walk on it. We didn’t cause of my knees. Lulu is lucky she doesn’t have painful knees...and you know why!

Tricky picking out a hotel so Cory took one with the easiest driveway to get in. He requested an oceanfront room. That we got. The Bar Harbor hotel was adequate....not your top star though. Cory got me in the room and went down with the luggage cart to get out stuff. With excitement, I went out on the balcony to see the dark & black Atlantic Ocean. People were walking with flashlights on the beach looking for shells. As I went back into the room, a ginormous bug flew in through the door with me. It appeared to be the size of a small eagle. I screamed at the top of my lungs and flung myself around the room as it dive-bombed me....forget my painful knees. My life was in jeopardy. I ran out the front door. Cory was below unpacking the car. I screeched to him for help. I got a Helen Keller response. HELP ME! He cups his distant ear. Nothing! Eventually he came to the room with the cart. I had taken refuge in the bathroom. Now he could hear and understand our frightening plight. The Pterosaurs was hiding somewhere in the room. “What do you want me to do” Bushwanna Cory asks. GET US ANOTHER ROOM...I sweetly request. The receptionist said the gigundo flying insect was a palmetto bug...aka: disgusting cockroach! God help us! We moved 2 rooms down. Forget going out on the balcony for our ocean view....we can peer through the smudged sliding glass doors this time. Lulu never left her carry bag. Morning came and we were out of there...FAST! So much for Myrtle Beach. Cory drove Route 17 south. Lots of stuff to look at. Those of you with a window seat have the best view. Move your head now and then so those behind you can see, too. We are going to Charleston.

Years ago, we had visited Charleston. That’s when I started my sweet grass basket collection...among many other collections. Along the highway, the Gullah women crafted and sold these baskets from their rickety lean-to’s. Now, most of the lean-to’s are really decrypted and stand empty. I did see just a couple working sheds as we came closer to the city. My heart beat faster. On our first visit here, I bought my first basket directly from the hands of a Gullah woman selling out of the original slave market. Many black ladies had booths set up there doing the same. When we left, I desired a basket from a Gullah woman working out of her lean-to along the highway....even better than the market booth. Speedster Cory passed one right after another.....STOP I kept calling out. He said there were more up head. WRONG! We ran out of shacks! Bwaaaaa. Snivel. Sniff. Sniff. #$&@%#. Now he stops at a gift shop thinking I can get a basket here. Not the same...I have to have it from a Gullah lady in her shack and made by her own hands....doesn’t he understand? No!! Yes, they have baskets....look factory made to me. To satisfy me, Cory gets a black lady to hand a sweet grass basket to me! Are you kidding! This is not the real thing...it’s fake! She didn’t make it and she’s not in a shed on the highway. We leave empty handed. Overtime, I collected many sweet grass baskets....some originals direct from Gullah women....others at yard sales, thrift store, etc. I became less fussy as time went on. It’s called aging gracefully.

Now, Cory followed our GPS right into downtown Charleston. We ended up parking close to the old slave market.....now called the Public Market. More long, low buildings extend way on beyond it. I don’t recall all of these. You can shop at them from the outside sidewalk. This time, the booths of sweet grass baskets are run by a black man. He is just poking and snipping at a few strands on the baskets. FAKE! He didn’t make any of them! FAKE! FAKE! They are probably all factory made, too. I strut past.

You all must know by now my sad dislike for horse drawn carriages for tourists. I feel so bad for the horses. After limping along the market place, Cory wants to know what we should do next. The only form of transportation (other than our car) is a horse drawn cart. Oh, no! I can’t but we have to. Cory buys the tickets with the request that we sit in the furthest back seat so I can’t see the horses. They oblige. Of course, a chunky 400 lb. man plops himself down in the same carriage we are in along with several other people. I groan along with the 2 poor horses that have to haul this carriage. These horses are a cross between a horse and a mule. Does that make it any better? No! Lulu is excited....she has never been in a carriage like this before. If she could, she would have ridden horse/mule bare back. Definitely bare! And we were off. Our guide was very good. Very informative. Kept reassuring us that the horse/mules were well cared for. I still feel bad for them. We saw and learned so much about the city of Charleston. It was really good minus the poor steeds that lugged us around this beautiful city.

There was still time in the day so Cory left this beautiful city of Charleston and took us to our next rendezvous: Savannah, Georgia.....but that’s for another blog. I can hears your yawns and groans so I’ll let you go to bed now. But, after your rest, stay alert for another blog. It is coming up right after this one. You are being bombarded by blogs!!

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Photos

Factory made baskets...sold by men! Fake!
Long building where items are sold out of in Charleston

Our horse carriage and another
Where the horses are cooled down and get a drink ....still sad

Comments

[Linda Carcieri]

Great pictures
Enjoyed as always

[Linda Carcieri]

Great pictures
Welcome back and glad you guys made it safe