Walks on the Beach

It was mentioned that fossilized shark teeth can be found on the beaches at Fort Clinch. After spending a couple of hours walking the beach, I found some neat shells, but no teeth. We got into a discussion with one couple who lived nearby. I asked about finding shark teeth. They said it was a bad day and they had only found 8 teeth! They then showed us a container full of them. Once we were more knowledgeable about them, we ended up finding two. The best place seemed to be at the water’s edge where they would tumble in the waves.

Fort Clinch is right on the water front.

Of course, I always love to walk on the beach in the morning. Here are a couple of pictures.

Florida Plants and Animals

We stayed a few days at Fort Clinch State Park in Florida. The beaches have lots of empty horseshoe crab shells in the sand. Turns out the crabs molt at least once a year.  August and September are big months for molting. I also found online that they sell for ~$10 after they have been cleaned and coated with polyurethane. Sounds interesting but not something I want to do for an RV.

As we drove through South Carolina and Florida, we had bugs covering the windshields and front of the RV. When we got out, we saw lots of twosomes flying around or crawling on the vehicles. These are called “Love Bugs” (honeymoon fly, kissingbug, or double-headed bug) and seem to appear from nowhere in May and September merely to die on Florida windshields. The male and female pair up for 2-3 days. The female will detach, lay her eggs, and then die. The male may live a bit longer.

Last year we had this plant identified as a French Mulberry. This park identified it as American Beautyberry. I guess both are common names so they both work. I also found out the leaves are supposed to work great as a mosquito repellent. I’ll have to try that one out sometime.

This is the bottom of what might be a Golden Silk Orbweaver Spider. All I know for sure, it’s scary to see it right in the middle of the hiking trail. It was 3-4” long with the legs.

Wet Charleston

It has been raining for days in Charleston. The RV park where we’re staying is called Lake Aire. Well, the lake seems to be around the RV’s. The ducks are playing in the puddles around our RV.

We decided to stay out of Charleston on Labor Day to miss the crowds and went Tuesday instead. I had a list of 5 places I wanted to visit. Only one was open. I’m not sure if they would have been open on Labor Day, but it was disappointing. Instead, we walked around downtown and enjoyed the old buildings.

We visited a cemetery with 2 signers of the Declaration on Independence. It was interesting how the stones were everywhere including in the sidewalk, along the fence, and along the church walls.

One of the stops I planned turned out well. The Dock Street Theatre is open for people to walk around it. They had two people there just to welcome people and explain the history. We discussed the ghosts that were supposed to be there, but didn’t see anything!

The GPS got us lost a bit, but the good part was that it took us over this bridge.

Contest of the Live Oaks

I love seeing the “biggest”, “oldest”, or whatever, but I wonder how they really know. When we were in Texas, we saw the “The Big Tree” at Goose Island State Park. It is 44 feet high with a crown spread of 89 feet. It is believed to be 1000 years old though Wikipedia says it may be 2000 years old. The trunk is listed at over 35 feet in circumference. However, it is registered in the Live Oak Society to have only a 25.06 foot girth (trunk circumference).

Angel Oak is on Johns Island, South Carolina. They say it’s the oldest living thing east of the Rockies. The stated estimated age is 1500 years old while Wikepedia says it is only 500 years old. It is 65 feet tall and the trunk is 28 feet in circumference. Again, the Live Oak Registry differs in that it says it has only a 22.0 feet girth though it mentions that it was last formally measured 50 years ago. It’s all very confusing. Either way, Angel Oak is big and old!

While this is a popular stop for people, the road to the tree is a dirt road with branches hanging down into the road. When we got there, the park was locked up! So, there was a line of cars parked along with road with people peering through the fence. The people there were speaking all kinds of languages. Too bad they had to come all the way here to see the tree behind a chain link fence. 

Ninety Six

I list all the national parks and monument in this blog and mark the ones we’ve visited. I’ve heard of people who have seen all 436 of them, but it would be difficult and take a long time. For us, we’re keeping them in mind but don’t necessarily drive much out of our way if the park is fairly small. We’re now at 116 parks.

I’ve never heard of and didn’t have a clue what the Ninety Six National Historic Site was, but it was just a few miles from the campground. Turns out it was a siege and battle site from the Revolutionary War. The Ninety Six comes from the town name where the battle was fought. No one really knows there the name came from but it might be because the town was 96 miles from a big Cherokee village. However, it is actually only 78 miles to that village, so who knows. The town was at the crossroads of several early roads such as the one pictured here (Island Ford Road). This was like the Natchez Trace since the road had worn down over years of travelers walking the trail.

The park was an excellent visit. There is a short one mile hike where you see where the siege occurred along with the earth works built by the Patriots who were trying to overtake the Loyalist-built Star Fort. It was interesting hearing how this was a battle between American Patriots and American Loyalists. Basically, it was a battle between the Northern Patriots looking for independence and Southern Loyalists who believed that England should continue to lead us.

By the way, we had a thunderstorm and hail hit us last night. Made a very exciting time in the RV but it looks like no damage. 

Backyard Terrors and Dinosaur Park

We had fun today seeing a couple of bizarre stops. Many of the times the place is disappointing. You drive miles and then the stop is pretty silly. But we really enjoyed today’s visits. The first was “Backyard Terrors and Dinosaur Park” in Bluff City Tennessee. It’s free but they have a box for donations. This guy decided to build a few dinosaurs in his backyard. It grew since then. One of the dinosaurs was in the process of being constructed.

I don’t know how many dinosaurs are here, but it was the most I’ve seen in any museum (and I’ve seen a lot of dinosaur displays). The dinosaurs look pretty accurate for the materials plus the owner has added educational information about each dinosaur. The trails just keep going in this park with the dinosaurs in the middle of the trees and bushes. This was just an amazing park, especially since it was just in someone's back yard!

  

  

There was a young boy who was going through the park with his mom. He was petrified. One portion of the park had some sound effects and he was pretty freaked out by the whole thing.

The second place was a UFO with a couple of aliens in the front yard along with a rocket across the street. I guess this guy built the display several years ago. He died in 2011 but his family decided to keep up the display. Very cool lawn art!!