2018 Oct 11 Myrtle Beach

Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.  Contains the country's largest and most extensive sculpture collection of American Figurative Sculpture.  Originally owned by plantation owners who made their money growing rice.  Several became very rich in the early to mid 1800's.  Descendants of the original owners turned it into these beautiful gardens in the early 1900's.

I loved these strange looking gourds.

Old slave cemetery from the early 1800's when they were growing rice.  These slaves came from Africa where they were expert in growing rice.  They made their owners very rich.

Site where the original plantation home was built.  The foundation was the only thing left.

This oven was built by slaves to take the bran off of the rice.  Not sure how this worked.  It was very tall.

I rode the Ferris Wheel in Myrtle.  Nice view of the pier below.

Looking south from the Ferris Wheel.  Myrtle Beach has a very nice boardwalk area with shops and restaurants galore.

This was our campground in Myrtle Beach, Ocean Lakes Family Campground.  Can't see how big it is, but it stretched all the way to the high rise on the right.  Over 2,000 campsites.
It is Halloweek-end at the campground.  It is full of kids and very noisy.

There must be hundreds of golf carts roaming around this campground.

2018 Oct 9 Williamsburg

AVV

Views from Jamestown, Virginia.  Settled in 1607.  Above a replica of one of the three ships that first landed here.

Below a statute of John Smith.  He was a British soldier who was a founder of Jamestown.  After being saved from death by Pocahontas, he established trading agreements with native tribes.

Below the Courthouse at Colonial Williamsburg.

This silversmith was making some kind of tool.  He was very intent in teaching me about what exactly he was doing.  These people who play the roles of the early colonist really take their jobs seriously.

Below is James Madison (4th US President from 1809 - 1817).  He was sitting at a table with several children, and they were asking him all sorts of intelligent questions.  I was impressed with these kids.

Below the front of the Capitol.

This musket weighs 8 lbs which doesn't sound like much, but it was too heavy for me.  They actually make these guns is this blacksmith shop.

Forging a barrel of a gun.

This tavern served us the most wonderful chocolate drink.

Another view of the Capitol building.

Below is the Governor's Palace.  We had a very interesting tour.  Before the Revolutionary War a British Governor Dunmore ruled over the area, but left abruptly with his wife when the end of the war was leaning in favor of the Colonists winning. 

Below the foyer was covered with swords and guns.

The Governor's and Governor's wife's wigs.

This was our tour guide.  He was amazing in all he knew about Colonial Williamsburg.

2018 Oct 10 Outer Banks

Above the historic Cape Hatteras Light House.  It's got to be the best known and most beautiful in the US.

Below the marina at Hatteras, North Carolina at the south end of the Outer Banks.  It must be pretty good fishing with as many fishing boats as we saw.

Above these very large homes with beautiful views on the Outer Banks coast.  Below is the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.

The Civil War ship USS Monitor and the WWII merchant ship Mirlo both sank along the coast near Hatteras.  These are two of many ships that have gone down in this area.  The Monitor due to a storm and the Mirlo by a German submarine that torpedoed it.  The Mirlo sank near Nags Head and is a popular diving spot.

The predecessor of the US Coast Guard was the US Life Saving Service founded around 1874 .  

Below the first US Life Saving Service in Chicamacomico, North Carolina, not far from our campground about 30 miles south of Nags Head.

Above the cook house in the Life Saving Service Station.  They quickly out grew the station above so moved to the building below in just a few years.

Their proudest history of the Life Saving Service is the many sailors they saved when the Mirlo was torpedoed by the German submarine.

Below the sunset from our campground in the Outer Banks.