SSP departed our usual spot from Snapper Creek Service Plaza and headed North for what turned out to be an easy ride. We had lunch at the Swamp House in Debary, FL and then we were at the Autotrain station at 1:55, right on time. That’s where the problems started. The GTO and the ZL1 both were too low and were not allowed on the train. After some arguing, we were refunded our tickets. Melisa took Penny on the train and Scott, Yvonne, Albert and I took off heading North to DC to meet up with the group. Our goal was to make it 811 miles and meet up with the group the next morning at 8 am. It was now 2:30 pm….off we went at very high speeds…
Of course the train arrives a full hour early…so our goal to meet them at 9 was doomed from the start. We ended up meeting them near the station in a parking lot around 9 30 that morning. 811 miles, an impact to the ZL1, and a clutch that decided to fail in the GTO, combined with no sleep for some of us…but the day was nice. Lunch in Sharpsburg, visited Antietam, Washington Monument State Park, dinner in Gettysburg followed by a Ghost Walk.
Finally some sleep…woke and had a nice walk through Gettysburg Battlefield. Lunch was in Baltimore at Mamas on the Half Shell…was fantastic and had the entire upstairs room to ourselves. The afternoon we had a walk around the Harriet Tubman Historic Park followed by a spirited drive through some lowland farm areas of Maryland. The day ended at our hotel in Ocean City.
Ocean City started out with a windy cloudy walk on the beach, which was deserted due to it being off-season. We had a nice drive through back roads of Maryland and Virginia and ended at lunch in Cape Charles. The rest of the day saw us through Virginia, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, and onto our destination in Corolla.
We spent the day in Corolla and started with a wild horse excursion on the North end of the island. Even though it was windy and cloudy, we were able to see several groups of horses. Following the excursion we had lunch in Kitty Hawk and then visited the Wright Brothers Memorial. Dinner was back at the hotel with pizza, guitar playing, and an indoor pool.
We left Corolla and headed South along the Outer Banks. The original plan was to travel along the islands, hopping two ferries and ended up in Beaufort, but Hurricane Dorian destroyed many parts of the road including good portions of Ocrecoke Island, thus forcing us inland at Roanoke Island. We traveled through some backroads to Washington, NC, for lunch. Along the way we stopped at lake Mattamuskeet for some photos. After lunch more backroads, a quick car wash, and a ferry ride over to Beaufort for dinner and a stroll along the boardwalk.
We left Beaufort traveling South with a stop for lunch in Wilmington. Minor parking hiccup followed a good lunch and then a tour / walk through of the Battleship North Carolina. Afterwards we traveled on to Georgetown for dinner and another walk along a waterfront boardwalk.
Today led us from Georgetown South, through Charleston. We stopped at the Sheldon Church ruins for a brief walk and then lunch at FlethcersFinds. After lunch we hopped back on down I95 towards Florida. Dinner and the hotel was in Fernandina Beach at Gilberts Underground Kitchen.
Our last day together saw the group split up, with many wanting to high-tail it home. Our day started with a sunrise walk on the beach. Departing the hotel, we took a side road South of Jacksonville along Old Dixie Highway to see the Fairchild Oak near Ormond Beach, FL. Following our walk around the thousand year old tree, we had lunch at Playalinda Brix Project, outside with games for the kids and beer for the adults. After lunch the group split once again and headed home.
