Road Warriors

God, I love the South

 By the time we set off for home, we felt like pros. Hitching up, clearing off the tables and couch and dumping our tanks -- no biggie, at least anymore. Before we left, we also got one last visit in with Joey, this time on River Street in Savannah's tourist district (my fave!).

Right before we left

I wasn't super excited about the drive home, but at least I had South of the Border to look forward to. The last time we were there was in late 2006 on our last GA trip, so I was hoping things had cleaned up there somewhat. As a child, a SOB visit was the highlight of any I-95 trip -- everything just seemed brighter, happier and more exciting (kinda like Disney World) in that tiny stretch off the highway. I must've romanticized the crap out of it because when I returned five years ago, it was like an eerie pallor of gloom had settled over the place. The colors and decor were still as bright and in-your-face as I remembered, but they only made the contrast to the lack of visitors and activity that much more striking.

I took a pic of pretty much every sign on the way home...but I'm sparing you the rest!

I remember us sitting down to eat a quick meal of enchiladas or tostadas or something we ended up regretting later, browsing through the near-empty stores, hoping to find a cute knickknack or two to bring home but instead deciding the dust-covered items on the shelves were a little bit too sad, outdated or expensive even for my tastes. (This coming from someone who once had a spoon collection. Oh, and a sugar packet collection too- don't ask.)

So I was hoping there was a bit more spirit, life, vitality at South of the Border this time around.

Well, there's certainly a lot of statues to pose on!

 The verdict: Well, it's still a bit of a ghost town, and I still wasn't willing to fork over money for the selection of souvenirs that I swear haven't been updated since the last time. But we had a delicious meal at the Sombrero Restaurant, shockingly enough. If you read the reviews people write about SOB in general, you'd expect to see roaches crawling out of your chimichanga. That wasn't the case with us (and if there were roaches, they were safely hidden from view). So if you go there, I recommend the Sombrero Restaurant. You won't be putting your digestive system at risk!

The pilot gets a much-deserved break

I won't give up on this place no matter what, dammit!

Thoroughly sated, we took a few minutes to walk around and snap some photos.

On the overlook bridge

I'm imitating the growling bear if you can't tell

Should I regret not buying this?

We returned to our trailer, which we'd left parked in the convention center lot, seeing as there didn't seem to be any other designated trailer/truck parking. Pretty weird for a tourist destination. I guess they think that if you have a trailer, you'll be staying in their campground anyway. In any case, nobody got mad at us for leaving the car/trailer there (we were only gone for 45 minutes at the most).

In no man's land

We got back on the road pretty quickly and driver-of-the-year Steve got us into Virginia by a little after midnight. This time we boondocked at the Pilot Travel Center in Colonial Heights, VA. (From my research it appears Pilot and Flying J have merged, so we were expecting the same standard in quality.) Our stay was nice and very quiet, actually- considering we were parked right by the gas pumps, so you'd think we'd be disturbed by the constant in-and-out of travelers. But, nope. We settled in from some snacks from the travel center and went to sleep.

The view from our sleeping quarters

 The next morning came the hair-raising part. My dad had given us directions for an alternate route through 301 (the old 95, I think) so we wouldn't have to brave the Beltway again. Ah, the scenic route - now we'd finally get to see what exists BEYOND 95 (well, from what we saw of Richmond, it wasn't pretty). The only problem was that there were traffic lights pretty much every five feet. Speeding up only to have to downshift quickly for a red light equaled a jerky, unpleasant ride. So with much consternation, we decided to tough it out for the Beltway.

Ahh! Abort mission!

All was going well at first. Somehow we came upon a high-capacity commuter lane, which apparently nobody else knew about because we were sailing through there, not a care in the world. Well, there's a reason nobody else was on it. It ended up taking us through downtown D.C., which, lovely place but you couldn't pay me enough to drive in that. So THAT was fun. Beltway, you win again.

That sums up the trip, I think...aside from those few hours we had to battle the Beltway, it was a complete success. Especially 'cause we don't feel like such newbies anymore! I-95 turned us into a couple of road warriors.

Now for the ratings:
Pros: beautiful scenery, spacious and private campsite, gorgeous trails and plenty of areas to explore
Cons: no dumping station on our site (but let's be honest, that's a bit of a luxury), the 30-minute drive to Savannah was a little inconvenient

All in all, our best trip so far! And it's only gonna get better, and easier. Thanks for reading -- we appreciate it so much!

Georgia on my mind...

Ugh! This summer is going by way too fast. The past two weekends have been dominated by social commitments, so even though we had to travel, the trailer wasn't along for the ride. The good part is we've been able to spend time with friends we don't see very often, which means a lot of bragging about our new part-time RVing lifestyle. Suffice it to say, we have quite a few people requesting to join us on future vacations!

Awesome news: As of two days ago, we made reservations for our end-of-summer voyage. This will be our longest trip in terms of duration, but shorter than our stay at Holly Shores in Wildwood. We'll set out on Tuesday, August 30 and plan to drive 5-6 hours until we reach a Walmart suitable for boondocking. We'll wake up bright and early the next morning to finish the rest of the drive to...Savannah, GA!

Originally, we had planned to stay at a campground in Myrtle Beach, since that seemed like a reasonably long distance away, but something we could still manage in the span of a week. Then Steve's allotted vacation time was cruelly shortened, so we thought we might try looking for a place a bit closer, like in North Carolina. We spent a lot of time researching campgrounds in both NC and SC but couldn't find anything we liked. If the place was ah-mazing, like the one I mentioned before with the lazy river, it either cost beaucoup bucks or didn't allow dogs (or restricted the breeds it did allow). I did find a couple spots that looked promising, like on the Outer Banks. While that area seemed quieter and more serene than we're used to (certainly moreso than the Jersey Shore!), I was about to take the plunge and call in a reservation. Then Steve admitted, "You know where I really want to go? Savannah." Yes, that was approximately 226 miles further than Myrtle Beach, which at that point we were considering only as a secondary option. But who cares! It's Savannah. Only the most gorgeous/adorable/freakin' awesome town on the planet.

I've been scheming for a way to get back down to Savannah for years now, ever since the first (and up until now, only) time Steve took me there in October 2006. Steve used to live there for a few years before we met, so I guess this was a way of introducing me to a big part of his life (aka Waffle House, Krystal, Bojangles, the finer things in life). Unfortunately, I may have driven him so crazy during that two-day drive there and back that he swore he'd never again endure that long of a car ride with me. (Long story- I wasn't feeling well.) Apparently, it's been just long enough that he's completely forgotten that statement, and I'm going to take full advantage!

Ahh, young love...Savannah '06

If we were going to make this trip worthwhile, we damn well had better save some money along the way. Steve found a state park that allows camping called Skidaway Island State Park. For $28 a night. There was no way we were going to find anything cheaper, that's for sure. The great thing about this park is that it's pretty close to everything -- downtown Savannah, beaches of Tybee Island -- yet it's also secluded at the same time, if the reviews on TripAdvisor are anything to go by.

Now, not only am I excited about returning to Savannah, but also I can't wait to visit all our "spots" along the way. Finally, our trailer is going to get to see all the beautiful kitsch that I-95 has to offer. Like this!

Yep...you better believe it!