Wet and wild in Santa Claus

Checking the forecast the day before we decide to change our schedual around yet again due to ANOTHER thunderstorm.

So instead of going to the water park on a 25 degree, rainy and overcast day, we are heading there today on a sunny 31 degree day.

We wake pretty early as the sun comes up at silly o'clock and get everything packed up, we head to the camp shop for a quick coffee before we leave, they weren't open for another half hour.. argh, so we make tracks not willing to wait that long for caffeine.

A short two and a half hour drive and we arrive in Rockport at about 10am having driven through 3 states already, pretty impressive morings work.

We change into our bathers and set the GPS for Holiday Park & Spashin Safari in a little town called, wait for it, Santa Claus.. No seriously, all their streets have names like Rudolph, blitzed and pranced, even their lake is called Lake Christmas, only I'm America!

We park our car in the legends car park cause let's face it, we are, and head into the park. We hire a locker and instead of an annoying key to put around your wrist, they give you an armband with a barcode, such a good idea!

So we swipe the band at the locker station and one pops open, we stash our stuff and then take on the park!

We hit up all the water rides, the best one was the mammoth which is meant to be the longest water ride in the USA, it was FUN!

Our third time on it was with a huge guy and one very plump girl, so we flew with the extra weight, coming down the last decline we were going so fast we nearly all fell on top of each other, it was epic.

They had a pretty cool wave pool, the waves were nearly twice the size of a person and if you jumped when the wave come past you literally flew up into the air, it was crazy, until we realised we had a weird stalker in the pool with us that kept staring.

Maybe it's the fact that we have about 87974 more freckles than everyone else.. Thanks for that Australian sun.

We kept at the rides for about 7 hours until we could no longer walk on the hot concrete any more. Our legs and arms super tired from having to hold on for dear life on most rides and climb countless flights of stairs we retire for the day. Putting on our shoes was like walking on clouds, it was the best feeling ever.

We head back into Rockport and try to find somewhere for dinner.. This place was quite tiny, about the same size as Ballan in comparison and only had about 3 food places.

Wanting to watch game 2 of the NBA playoffs we decide to just get a pizza and take it back to the room where we sit back, eat, drink, relax and get a well deserved nights rest.

Yes, this town is actually named Santa Claus!

The main hub of Rockport is pretty lively at night time...

A trip down memory lane

Today we took a step back in time for what was one of the most fascinating days of our trip so far. We hit the road and headed to a little town called Franklin about 40 minutes outside of Nashville.

After a quick breakfast of eggs, pancakes and coffee, we hit the road around 10am for Franklin, which as it turned out was the setting for one of the bloodiest days on the American Civil War battlefield.

We had organised three different tours to do starting with the Carter House. This was a huge mansion and plantation that was owned by the Carter family just on the outskirts of towns from the early 1830s onwards.

Our tour guide was Michael and he took us through the house and around the backyard where the battle happened. He explained that back in 1864 things changed forever for the Carter’s.

Union troops took over their property and fortified the area as they prepared to do battle with the Confederate army. Just after the sun went down the Confederates arrived and over 5hrs or so thousands upon thousands of soldiers battled to the death all in one small area.

The Carter’s hid in their basement along with a few other innocents nearby. There were 24 down in the basement that day, made up mostly of kids and women. So it was pretty eerie to stand down in the basement where they all stood when this battle took place.

Apparently after the battle when they exited the house, there were dead and wounded bodies piles up in every square inch of the area, including inside their house. There was also a stream of blood running down the street.

On our tour we could actually see old bloodstains on the floor as well as bullet holes still in the house to this day. We also got to see where the 30 or so slaves used to live and sleep.

Then it was on to the Lotz House which was located across the street. Lotz was a wood worker who built his house from scratch and it was absolutely incredible. This house too was destroyed during the battle, but you could see where he repaired the damage.

Next up we stopped next door for some lunch and watched a bit of the Champions League Final that was on, before heading off to our final tour.

The final tour was the Carnton Plantation that was owned by a rich family called the McGavock’s. They were a rich family with a heap of slaves and a big garden plantation on a massive property.

We had an overzealous tour guide called Austin who must have been a drama student or something, obsessed with the Civil War. He knew absolutely everything!

This was another fascinating tour. The place was converted into a hospital and it was where a heap of soldiers came to have surgery or came to die after the battle.

So many people died there that they had to make a special cemetery out in the back, which is the largest privately owned Confederate cemetery in the country.

After a pretty depressing, but fascinating day, we headed back the campsite to get ready for some tea. We decide to head back into downtown Nashville downtown to see what it was like at night.

It’s a pretty incredible place. The main street was a hive of activity with live music and neon lights everywhere. We stopped in to a few places, had some tea and head back to the campsite around 10ish or so, pretty tired from a long day.

The McGavock Family Cemetery

Confederate Army Cemetery

Country music Capitol of the world!

Once again the tent was a bit wet from some overnight rain, giving Tina good shake and a quick wipe down from a.. borrowed.. Roll of toilet paper, we pack up and pop into the campgrounds shop for a coffee and hot chocolate.

The lady in there was so excited to see Aussies, she even pulled out the campground directory and fiddled through the pages until she found an for Big 4 campsites in Australia and we gave her a lesson on just how big kangaroos actually are and taught her all about caravans which they call mobile trailers.

Our chat over we make tracks for Nashville, a 4 1/2 hour drive which seems so be the going drive time lately. After a few wrong turns on the highway we make it to the Nashville KOA campsite, once again we were the only ones camping and were surrounded by huge RV's.

Starving from no breakfast we find a roadhouse right near our camp, walking in there are peanut casings literally covering the floor.

We are seated and immediately find the culprit, a big bucket full of peanuts still in their shells. Doing what locals do we tuck into them while we wait for our lunch, we just couldn't throw the shells on the ground, it just wasn't in us.

With a list of things to see we head to the city centre not knowing what to expect. The Main Street is country music, from Elvis statues, shops that sell just hats, countless taverns and bars playing live music and the most epic cowboy boot shops that we just couldn't resist going in to and trying on the very over the top boots.

We spend the day exploring the rest of the city, we see the state Capitol with the most amazing front lawn that I have ever seen. We clamber up a few flights of stairs to a bridge that overlooks one side of the city and the river and even stop in for some famous red velvet ice cream, deeeeelicoius!

Completely exhausted from the long drive and exploring we head back to the campsite and go for a quick relaxing dip in the pool while our laundry is being done nearby. Next to the pool is an oversized chess board, we set it up and the battle is on.

Turns out Adam is a mastermind at chess and wins quiet easily, he is a force to be reckoned with on this trip!

Losing track of the time it was now 9:30 and we were bloody hungry, driving around nowhere is open or they have converted to a bar with dinner service over.

Ready to head back we find an amazing restaurant out of the blue, once again the ground littered with peanut shells we Hoover down our food, head back and pass out for the night, totally exhausted.

Checking out some genuine cowboy boots

A nice view of the Nashville city line

Downtown Nashville right behind us

Enjoying a late evening swim

Relaxation in Asheville

Up bright and early we pack up our thing like a well rehearsed ritual and take the elevator down to our very ordinary breakfast and then jump in the car and head for Asheville.

Another 4 hours trip went by in a snap and we had arrived at our West Asheville KOA camp site and set up our tent. Surprise surprise it had been raining and more was forecast but we persevere with the tent and get it all set up to take yet another storm.

We drive to the city centre and find it to be a really nice 'hippy' type town with buskers and groups of people sitting around jamming together. This really set the mood for the little cafe and boutique shops that made up the Main Streets.

Tired and sore with Adam waking up with a very stiff back and a bit of a cold, we decide to spend our afternoon at a day spa which was amazing, especially the 10 minute face massage that would put goosebumps on anyone.

After an hour of pampering we grab a bite for lunch and then the heavens, once again, opened and put a stop to our exploring. What else can you do when it's raining outside? Go to the movies!

So we head about 20 minutes down the road and watch Entourage, we had been waiting for this movie to be out for a long time and it didn't disappoint, it was great to catch up with all the characters again.

With game 1 of the NBA final series starting we drop into a sports tavern and have a delicious dinner while we watched the really close game with heaps of other fans.

We head back to the tent, it had held up well against what Forrest would call 'big old fat rain', with no leaks, and kept us warm and safe yet again.

Lovely day in the hills on the road to Asheville

Oh how quickly the weather can change...

You cant beat the American sports bars

Lemurs, more rain and a short drive

Sleeping in until about 10am we emerge out of the tent to find the campgrounds in full swing, time to hit the road again.

It was only a 2:30 hour drive to Charleston, South Carolina and it went pretty quick, infact most of our long drives seem to go fast, the unfamiliar territory distracting us, making the hours tick by unnoticed.

We take the turnoff to our campgrounds and there are puddles everywhere, we shall call these mini lake puddles as they were huge. Apparently it hadn't stopped pouring with rain all night and had left the campgrounds a tad damp.

With more rain coming we decide to hotel this one, we've put up with too many storms to have to weather another one.

So we head into Charleston and set the GPS for jimmy johns for another amazing lunch which was twice as nice as we forgot to have dinner the night before. We meander around the city dropping into a few boutique shops until we get a msg from Elliott inviting us to the aquarium.

Feeling around for the keys to the car they are nowhere.. Hmm.. We get to the car and find that they were left in the car... In the ignition of all places, luckily Charleston is a friendly city and our car, along with all our worldly possessions is still where we left it.

Arriving at the aquarium we meet up with Jack and Elliott and cruise around the 2 storeys of fishy exhibits, strangely enough there were a lot of birds, a skunk and even a Madagascar exhibit with a lemur enclosure that you could duck underneath and put your head right where they were all hanging out.. A bit weird for an aquarium.

We bid farewell to our new friends and set out to find a hotel, which we did near the airport, just our luck there was a festival on in the city and the hotel prices there were insane.

After checking in we drive over to the local cinema and, with no popcorn due to the horrible greasy butter that you have to pour all over it, we watch San Andreas in some very comfy seats while having a hot dog for dinner as there was no other foodie places nearby.

Before we head to bed we pop into the servo opposite our hotel and find some yogurt and granola for a nightcap, it went down a treat!

Checking out some lemurs

More lemurs

This wetness is why we bailed on camping today

Savannah is like a box of chocolates

Another glorious morning on Tybee Island and with the temperature already rising we can feel the beach and the warm water calling to us.

We decide to go to the quieter beach today to see if it was any better than yesterday's, it wasn't, the ocean was more like a lake and the sand was just a mixture of jagged shells and gritty hard sand.

So we make our return to the bigger beach and prop up our umbrella, have a nap, read a book and go for a dip which was cut short with Adam near on picking up a jelly fish within the murky waters and, totally freaking out, we both get out and hit the town.

Walking around Savannah we didn't realise just how much history it had, the whole town was purposely built in a gird like pattern with a park square in nearly ever 2 block radius, it was quite a picturesque city.

To get a better idea of the town we stop into a tour shop where we purchase tickets to a hop on hop off trolley tour, the guy that served us had a wealth of knowledge not only about Savannah tours but of most of the USA, he even gave us some great ideas for the rest of our trip.

So we jump on the first trolley that comes past and take in the city. Along the way we see all the different districts, old buildings and a very old house that was built way back in 1733, they just don't make them like they used to!

We also saw where the Forest Gump 'life if like a box of chocolates' scene was shot and where the feather drifted from the top of a church pillar down to where Forest was sitting, it was quite cool.

After our lovely and quite informative driver Denise had come to the last stop we were filled with so much info that we needed a coffee break at Starbucks, refuelled on caffeine and sugar we make out way back to the tour shop down by the river and decide to do the pub crawl ghost tour.

As it turns out, our host for the tour was a complete loon, we don't know if she was drunk before she even showed up or if that's just how she is.

She took us to 3 different pubs and told us, in a very sketchy way, the history and what ghosts were haunting which building. She was so hard to follow, often swearing and muttering to herself about how her head had stopped working, if she wasn't so entertaining in herself I would have been pretty annoyed at the lack of 'tour'.

I can't say we learnt too much about the ghostly history of Savannah but we met some pretty cool people in our group, a couple from Athens, Georgia kept buying us shots and wanting us to try things like moonshine, and then there was Jack and Elliott, two of the nicest guys around who we ended up staying out with until all hours of the night.

It turns out they were heading in the same directions as is the next day and we planned to meet up there as well.

We had our car parked nearby in a multi story parking lot which closed at 1am, U.S. Being forgetful, especially while in such good company, Elliott pointed out to us that it was 5 to 1... Bugger!

So we call the car garage up and they say that if we don't get there in half hour the car will be locked in til morning. So we say a quick goodbye to our new friends and power walk to the lot.

We arrive and drive the car to the exit, the muppet of a worker gave us a parking fine of $5 and said that we had to mail it to the company... No online payments, no paying them there and then and there was no charge for the parking? Strange... Safe to say they won't be getting their $5..

We arrive back at our tent and tuck ourselves, or more like sprawl out as it was still quite warm, and nod off, it had been a very busy day.

The spot where Forest Gump sat on the park bench

The church steeple where the feather was on Forest Gump

Some of the local horsies

Tybee Island adventures

We awoke from a nice peaceful and rejuvenating sleep in the middle of the quiet state park in St.Augustine. We had the tent packed up in record time with the exception of having to wipe quite a bit of dirt off from the bottom.

Heading back out over the island bridge we stop in at a nice little breakfast diner for some oatmeal and eggs served by our new friend Mary-Lou, a very friendly nana type lady who tried to talk us into the most calorie laden foods I've ever seen on a breakfast menu.

Three and a half hours later we drive into Rivers End campgrounds which looks to be our favourite campground so far with the beach only a 10 minute stroll down the road.

We take advantage of this and head there as soon as the tent was put up, it was a very very warm day so we were keen to get in the ocean.

After a good 4 hours of relaxing and swimming in the warm bath like water we wander on back and take a quick dip in the pool which was also warm and inviting.

We have a surprisingly good shower and opting to stay in our small island town we go to the local hot spot for dinner called 'Sundae Cafe' which sounds crappy, it looked like a run down motel from the front, but man the food was delicious!

We got given bread with an olive oil, parmesan and garlic dip, it was so nice, we got 2 serves. The waiter "Breen" was probably the best waiter we've had yet. He was a legend!

Then onto our mains, a pecan encrusted chicken breast with a side of mash and bean medley that was scrumptious and a filet mignon steak with mash, onion rings and a spinach and cheese mix, sounds strange but it was so good.

Completely stuffed and ready to burst we head back to the tent and settle in for the night, we try to watch a movie called 'Cruise of the Gods', yet another classic from the great minds of Coogan and Brydon and even co starred a very young James Cordon, I say try as there were 3 helicopters flying overhead that were about as loud as a truck and didn't bugger off for a good half hour!

We finally watch the movie and then drift off to sleep in the sauna like conditions of the tent, hard for some (Adam) but easy for others (Linnie) who can sleep like a baby in pretty much any situation.

Time to catch up on a bit of work on our new desk

A damn fine beach here on Tybee Island

Peace and quiet in Historic St.Augustine

Checking the clock overnight, what seemed like hours had gone by, it was only 1:24am. Not being able to go back to sleep after the tirade of snoring, (which sounded like a chainsaw) lights and screams from the nearby amusement rides we get up for a toilet break only to find a line up for showers.

Seriously, who is showering at this time of night? There were 6yr old kids waiting there with their parents, talk about backward hicksville southerners...

Trying to get some sleep we wake up at 6am and decide that enough was enough, we pack the car and head for the greener pastures of St.Augustine and we weren't disappointed when we got there.

The pasture was not only lush and green but we were smack bang in the middle of the state park, this is what real camping is all about.

After setting the tent up, we smother ourselves in sunscreen and head straight for the beach. Arriving the beach wasn't half as white and soft as Panama beach, the sand was full of shells and there wasn't much of it with the tide all the way in. We try and fail to put the umbrella up until a nice lady lets us borrow her umbrella digging contraption and it worked perfectly.

With the shade up we huddle under as we got pretty burnt in Panama and didn't want to make things any worse.

After a lot of relaxing, swimming and napping, we find a little hole in the wall food spot and get us a chicken burger and a hot dog, we chow down whilst watching a young couple struggle to hold 4 ice creams that they had just bought while holding onto a very young golden retriever puppy, and struggle they did as 2 scoops of vanilla went tumbling to the ground.

After a shower we change into our hiking shoes and take to the state park walking trails, fully shaded the whole way it was a nice, cool and peaceful walk that got our legs moving up and down the narrow tracks careful not to veer off as spiders seemed to have set up shop in every nook and cranny.

Refreshed we drive into the centre of St.Augustine and find a very rich history laden town with a main street of quaint old world shops and restaurants. We order up 2 smoothies and struggle with the waitress as both smoothies had bananas in them, next time we will just put on the American accent for banana and save a lot of confusion.

With a ghost tour booked for late that night we check out a very old fortress castle, while it was closed we walk along the perimeter where a moat would have been back in the day. The castle looked to be built with a mixture of cement and seashells and was huge, it even had its own drawbridge.

Struggling to find somewhere for dinner that wasn't a grill serving burgers and fried chicken we settle for a nice thin crust pizza while watching the world go by from a window booth and it wasn't long before we are on our way back up the road to the meeting point for the ghostly tour.

Pitch black our tour starts, we board a very well decorated trolley car and get driven all around the island to well documented haunted sites. First stop was a park where people have seen swings moving and then come to a compete and abrupt stop.

We see the old lighthouse where people have seen a man several times looking out from the top. Next was the old jail where hundreds of inmates had died in overly cramped quarters, some had even been strung up and hung of the gallows.

While there we're very spooky trees and settings, no ghosts were spotted yet..

Back in the trolley we are driven past a few cemetery's and given a history's lesson on the big old castle that we had been to earlier and then it was back to the meeting point where the tour was over... A little short and sweet and no ghost sightings as yet, but we will keep hunting in towns and cities to come.

Off back to the campgrounds for bed, all be it not the best idea to be spooked out right before heading into a dark and lonesome state park, but we were brave and persevered even if we did huddle together to brush our teeth in the dim lights of the restrooms.