Charleston SC and Manteo NC via Myrtle Beach

 May 15 - 22 2026

Rooftop Bar

I guess we are starting the Colonial History portion of the trip. Charleston South Carolina is a coastal town similar to Savannah in that it has a lot of very old houses in similar styles. We went to a nice rooftop restaurant for dinner before wandering the little downtown area. Beautiful day with a great view of the waterfront and the town. 

The big guns

We went to the Fort Sumter and Moultrie National Park. I was aware of Fort Sumter's role as the first battle of the civil war but had no idea about Fort Moultrie during the Revolutionary War. Apparently, It was a big deal and held out against the British Naval and Marine forces giving the Revolutionary Army an early win in 1776, even though it would fall later in 1780. 

15 stars and stripes on this flag.

I learned that the original plan for the flag was to add a star and a stripe for each new state. Luckily this was abandoned in favor of just adding stars. Could you imagine 50 stripes on the flag. It would look like a pinstripe suit!

The Beach

A cool tour of the fort and my first walk on an Atlantic beach. Did not go to the water but there were a lot of people doing beachy stuff. 

Beautiful grounds a the winery!

We only were there for a few nights and I was working mostly so did not really explore the city too much. Seemed nice though. We decided to just do an overnight to break up the driving at a Harvest Hosts at the Silver Coast Winery near Myrtle Beach. It was a very nice location on the grounds. They had a small amount of vines, mostly for decoration as their wine grapes were from north west North Carolina.

Tasting

They had a very reasonable tasing. $10 for four wines, and the bottle prices were mostly around $20. I am by no means a wine dude, but these were very good drinking wines. Harvest Hosts offer free overnights with the expectation that you will patronize the business. Easy peasey! I even bought one of the wines that I had never heard of a Red Calabash. apparently a local wine, that was particularly yummy.

Woodworking Demo.

The next day we continues to Manteo (pronounced Man EE O) North Carolina, otherwise known as Roanoke Island. Mom's good friend Georgia lived here at some point and they came through here on a trip a few years ago. It is a quaint little village with a super cute downtown and docks. We toured Roanoke, the site of the first English colony in the Americas, often referred to as the Lost Colony because all the inhabitants disappeared at some point when supplies from England were delayed for a few years. The most likely explanation is that they basically moved in with the native tribes although there is no definitive answer.

Elizabeth II

They had a replica of a time appropriate ship and re-creation of the village as well as re-enactments of skills from the time period. Was a basic lathe and a spokeshave bench which was pretty cool.

No ailerons, they actually warped the entire wing!

Also in the area was Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers first achieved powered flight. Maybe the theme of the trip is Aviation and History. Anyway, as an aviation nerd, I was fascinated. We all know the basics of the story, bicycle makers blah blah, first flight blah blah... but the details were very interesting.

You can see the first three landing sites
clumped together and the last one way
off in the distance.

They realized that the equations for lift and drag that were accepted at the time were wrong. So they went about calculating the correct values and, through experimentation in a wind tunnel, which they built, calculated optimal wing shape. On the day they finally flew, they and hundreds of flights in a glider in which they mastered the art of controlled flight. The first flight was just 12 seconds but by the fourth, they were able to stay aloft and in control for almost a minute. Very inspiring.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

We also went to see an old lighthouse on the outer banks that was very lighthousey. A striped spire and a keepers house. The site was well maintained. I am always amazed at how structures like this were built without modern equipment. It did take them three tries, The first fell down, the second burned down, but this one, the third sayed up. The strongest lighthouse in the swamp. (Monty python ref)

I was finally able to dip my feet in the Atlantic for the first time. The water was cool but swimmable and very clear.

Yum!

Not much else to report from this little portion of the trip. Had some more shrimp. I really like the gulf shrimp, they are very mild compared to the pacific shrimp we get at home and they generally peel easier. Anyway, we make a lovely shrimp and goat cheese salad.

Next is Williamsburg and then off to DC, so more American History coming up.

Gulf Coast AL to Savannah GA via Tallahassee FL

 May 6 - May 15 2026

Sunset is not over the ocean here.

A relatively short hop from New Orleans got us through Mississippi to Gulf Shores Alabama. Gulf Shores is, as the name suggests, on the Gulf of America Mexico.The sand was so white and fine it was like being in the Caribbean. After setting up at the RV park, we went to a little place on the water for some peel and eat shrimp. My Uncle Dave introduced me to peel and eat shrimp at his place in La Porte Indiana. he used to bring up loads of Shrimp from The gulf and do a big shrimp boil that was life changing. I Have had the same dish many times on the west coast and have never re-created that feeling of perfection that i first had at Uncle Dave's. I think I finally found the secret. Gulf Shrimp. These seemed like they would have been overcooked and rubbery by the way the thin shell peeled off but they were perfectly cooked. Just a hint of Old Bay seasoning. 

Dipping my toes.

After dinner, I went down to put my feet in the Gulf. I expected a bit warmer since I saw some kids playing in the water a few minutes earlier. Still comfortable enough. I kinda forget that kids will go into water at almost any temperature. 

The next two days were rainy so we did not get to go back to the beach. Bummer!

Houston TX, Lafayette, and New Orleans LA

 April 23 - May 6, 2026

The Canoga Park krewe!

This is a big one! almost two weeks. In Houston, my high school crew either lived there or flew in for the weekend. We try to get together every so often and hang out for a bit. THe last was in Las Vegas where Andrea lives and since Tom lives in Houston and I was passing through, We decided to check out this city. I rented an AirBnB for the weekend in Montrose which is the groovy area of Houston. 

While we waited for Andrea to arrive, Tom took me an Jeffery to a banh mi place in the Vietnamese area where he lives. It was several miles long. I don't think I have seen a bigger area outside of Santa Ana. The banh mi was good. After picking up Andrea and going to the condo, we had a nice dinner and went to Tom's regular bar where we played pool and had a few drinks. Then back to the condo where we stayed up way too late catching up.

The next day, we went to Meow Wolf. This was my third one and I really dig it. The Santa Fe one is still my favorite but this one is pretty cool. If you haven't heard of Meow Wolf, it is an immersive art experience where there is a story or a mystery that you can try to figure out, or just enjoy the visuals. 

You are supposed to explore the entire environment; pull books off shelves, look at notes on refrigerators, touch stuff and see what happens. I started trying to investigate the mystery but soon just went for the expe rience.

Cowboy Heaven bar inside Meow Wolf.

Auditory room where all the
stuff made sounds when you touched