2016-14
Vidalia Georgia
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Sweet Onion Rv Park |
Campground: Sweet Onion Rv Park. This is a city park. $18 full hookup, w/50 amp service. Close to a Walmart Super center. 12 campsites, large sites with tall pine
trees for some shade. All pull-thru
sites. Should have no problem getting a
site, as there is little to no advertising for this campground.
Campground: Pineacres Campground. $15 PPA discount rate. Full hookups, 50 amp, cable tv 15 local
channels. Older park, next to noisy
highway, good for a few nights stay.
Distance Traveled: 247 miles
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Florida thru Georgia into South Carolina |
I headed out early morning from
Crescent City Florida heading into Georgia.
From Palatka, I took hwy 100 going through farmlands and many tree farms
in Northern Florida before getting onto hwy 301 which is a great road to take
in and out of Florida, avoiding those horrid Interstate highways with all that
heavy traffic and constant accidents along the way. Traffic along hwy 100 and 301 was
non-existent and just the type of roads we Rv-ers enjoy driving. Speed limits were in the 55 to 60 mph range
and perfect for towing a camper helping to save a few dollars in fuel at those
speeds.
My destination today was a bit
further than I normally like to drive, but with getting an early start, I was
still able to get to my campsite in Vidalia Georgia by 12:30, just in time to
set up and go out for lunch.
Vidalia is home to the Vidalia sweet
onion which is only grown in this 20 county area. A small museum on the sweet onion is at their
visitor center and from what I could tell, that’s just about all the area is
noted for. This is still considered Georgia low country and with it being the 1st of June, it’s hot and steamy, so I
won’t be in the area but a few days before heading for the hills and hopefully
cooler weather.
Computers: Yuck, don’t you just hate to get a new
computer and then have to get used to a whole new operating system, key board
and mousepad or touch pad. It all
started when my older computer had problems with the power cord. Sometimes it would charge, sometimes
not. Of course I was in the middle of
working on this article and the computer ran out of steam. The problems continued. I could write a couple chapters on the
problems encountered just trying to transfer files over to the new
computer. By the way, I’ve owned the new
laptop for over a year and a half and have not used it mainly because I didn’t
like the size of the keyboard.
A couple days later, I’ve got my
files transferred to the new computer, actually I think they’re in the cloud,
somehow they are now all PDF files not word files. How did that happen? I bought a wireless keyboard with a nice
touch pad on the side, not in front where I would keep touching it when I
didn’t plan too. And I’m back in
business.
So, I’m sort of back on track to
writing my stories and getting used to this new folding laptop/tablet/touch
screen device.
Distance traveled: 126 miles
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downtown Aiken South Carolina |
126 miles doesn’t sound like much of
a drive, but with a few stops along the way, including one to pick up some
prescription eye drops, it seemed like a much longer drive. Or maybe it was the narrow two lane road traveling
through a mix of farm and forest country in Georgia. Not much else, as I only drove through a
couple of very small cross road towns.
I’ve arrived in Aiken SouthCarolina. My Passport America club got
me a campsite for $15 a night, full hookups and 15 local cable tv
stations. I drove into town and was
instantly surprised by a beautiful vibrant downtown scene. Even for a Friday, the downtown was jam
packed with cars, shoppers, and the restaurants were full as well. Traveling by myself actually makes it easier
sometimes, as I can just take a seat at the counter for lunch. Not having to wait in line for a table or
booth.
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a B&B in downtown Aiken SC |
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local art |
|
local 85 yr old artist |
Aiken is one of those towns that was born after the railroad was built here.
The owner of a large plantation told a young engineer that he would let
him marry his daughter, whom he had quite a hankering for, if the engineer
would build the railroad through the plantation owners land. So, in a sense the town was built out of
love. And of course gave the plantation
owner a cheaper way to move his cotton and other crops to market. Later, after the civil war, and having a
railroad built here, the town would thrive, especially after many wealthy
northerners discovered it. You know the
Vanderbilt’s, Aster’s, Whitney’s, Hitchcock, Fred Astaire, and
even the Duke and Duchess of Winsor. Many
would arrive in their private Pullman cars from New York costing a thousand
dollars to have their private car delivered.
Bringing their whole family, servants and luggage for the winter. How wealthy were they you ask? Well, the owner of the Hope diamond brought
it with her each winter and wore it around town often. She would hide it in her lingerie drawer when
not wearing it.
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visitor center and Train Station |
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rebuilt from original blue prints |
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a new Catholic church, this is the back end |
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dioramas of the small towns serviced by the railroad |
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one of the towns had no nearby lakes, so
they used the train water tower to swim in |
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diorama of small towns that were serviced by the train |
The town is built on a grid pattern
with wide boulevards and parkways. The
parkways being wide swaths of park like medians dividing opposing one way
streets on either side. Talk about
gorgeous landscaping everywhere. The
main street along with the parkway landscaping even has water fountains on some
intersections. Lots of shopping,
restaurants and businesses are downtown including plenty of free parking.
I took the 2 hour trolley tour which
usually only runs on Saturday and also visited their historical museum in one
of those winter “cottages”. By the way,
they didn’t call it a cottage unless it had at least 22 rooms. The museum was ok and was free, though I
probably enjoyed the trolley tour a bit more especially for all the great
stories and history provided along the route.
Over one hundred homes are listed on their self-guided driving tour
around town.
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one of many wide boulevards or parkways in town |
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a few really small homes as well |
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lots of free downtown parking |
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downtown parkway |
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a cottage |
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most of the large houses are hidden
behind brick walls and heavy vegetation |
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wearing the Hope Diamond |
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the original post office that Fred Astaire would dance down the steps |
Horse racing and polo are popular
here with many horse ranches both inside the city limits and skirting the
town. Needless to say, I will come back
to this area again someday. Might even
stay in their Aiken State Park. A final
note, folks around here are very proud of their town, history and lifestyle and
will bend your ear telling you all about it.
Now that’s southern hospitality.
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a single layer brick wall, the curves make it strong |
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bamboo is often seen throughout the south |
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horse racing and polo are popular in this region |
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with many horse race winners |
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all that remains of this once grand property are the gardens |
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locals enjoy the gardens of a former "winter cottage" |
Vidalia Georgia and Aiken SC photos
Aiken SC photos
1 comment:
Your blogs are amazing. How do you find these places?
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