I may be all over the place with this post. Helen and I are safely back in Knoxville, very grateful for a relaxing time in Florida and along the east coast. We enjoyed a break from COVID concerns by remaining pretty close to our vacation home on wheels and for the precautions taken by some conscientious campground managers. To be sure, we stayed cautious, but we never felt at risk.
Once we returned home, I had every intention of sharing the final stops on our journey. Still, we had a large bag of mail to sort, family matters to attend to, a couple of medical appointments and a trailer to clean out and prepare for the next trip starting in April. Then, Spring Fever hit, and I’ve never felt so lazy and energy-sapped in my life. I expected this to last for only a couple of days, but it continued for over a week, and I pushed last week’s post forward. Nevertheless, the spring flowers are blooming now; the spring rains have moved out, and I’m ready to share a few details about our time in Beaufort, SC, while camped at the Marine Recruiting Base at Parris Island.


Our stay there was limited to three nights, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to explore. Our last visit to Parris Island in the late summer of 2017 and a previous trip in pre-RV days afforded more time on the ground, and we gained an appreciation for the charm of Beaufort, a small southern town filled with both history and beauty. I have posted a few pictures to illustrate that grace and charm.
Port Royal, a small fishing village adjacent to the Marine Base, was the site of our only excursion away from the campground. We both love good seafood, and our friend, Mary, a long-time Beaufort resident, recommended Fishcamp, a seafood restaurant alongside the fishing docks in Port Royal. We decided to leave camp early and see what Port Royal had to offer. Our first stop, Maggie Mae’s Now and Then Shop kept us occupied until dinner. Readers know that we love antique and consignment stores and browse through them at every opportunity. Maggie Mae’s, filled to the ceiling, gave us a lot to look through.


Fishcamp on 11th Street had very few patrons when we arrived, which gave me pause, but, as it turned out, we beat the crowd by only a few minutes. Diners soon filled the place and gave us plenty of company. My meal, a seafood platter, was delicious. Helen ordered a Grouper dish that turned out not to her liking. Dining experiences like this happen occasionally. I tend to stick to the tried and true, while she is a bit more adventuresome when it comes to menu items. She wins more often than not, but not this time.



Parris Island is where young men and women are rigorously trained and ultimately wear United States Marine uniforms. Although I spent a career in the Army, I never met a Marine that I didn’t look upon with pride and respect. There is something about a Marine and their makeup that sets them apart as something special. Life as a Marine isn’t for everyone, but, thankfully, it is for the few and the proud. Helen and I passed several groups of young recruits within days of their arrival at Parris Island. Drill Instructors were offering “fatherly advice and counseling” to one formation standing at rigid attention. We wish them nothing but the best and thank them for their service to our country. I’m grateful they’re on our side.



Well, I managed to hold everything together for this post and didn’t get off the rails too far. Maybe my Spring Fever is behind me. I do have one exciting bit of news that perhaps led to a cure. We found a new tow vehicle for Dora. I began looking several months ago only to learn that the specifications I wanted for a truck are exceedingly hard to find right now with all of the interest in RVs. Ultimately, I found just what I was looking for in Clearwater, FL. I completed a purchase agreement over the phone with some exceptionally nice people at Walker Ford in Clearwater and drove down last weekend to pick it up.

Meet Ruby. She’s just itching to go Easin’ Along with us on the road less traveled. Have a great week, everyone.