Day 8 & 9 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

On Thursday May 14th, we departed Fayetteville RV Resort enroute to Petersburg Virginia. Fayetteville RV Resort is actually in Wade, North Carolina. Wade was settled around the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, it was named for businessman N.G. Wade and chartered in 1913. The town has its own Town Hall and the Wade Community Fire Department.

Smithfield was a "big" town we went through. Smithfield is home to the Ava Gardner Museum, Wild Bill's Western Town named Shadowhawk, and is situated along the Neuse River. If you are there at the right time of the year, you can enjoy the annual Ham & Yam Festival.

Ava Gardner was born in Smithfield and she became one of Hollywood's most iconic actresses during the Golden Age of film. Thomas Banks purchased the Brogden Teacherage building, the house where Ava lived from ages 2 to 13. Following Thomas Banks' death in 1989, Lorraine Banks donated the museum's collection to the town of Smithfield. In 1999, the museum purchased its current home, a renovated 6,400 square foot building in downtown Smithfield.

Following the occupation of Goldsboro, Sherman continued his march through North Carolina as he set his sights on Raleigh. While on the march from Goldsboro to Raleigh, Sherman and his men camped near Smithfield. Troops did only a little burning to the town but did ransack community buildings and the courthouse. While in camp on the evening of April 12, 1865, Sherman received word of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Sherman wired his congratulations to General Grant in Virginia and conveyed his belief that Lee’s terms of surrender were “magnanimous and liberal.”

Outside Smithfield you can stop and smell the poppies along 301 N. Too bad, they seem to be past their prime!

In Selma North Carolina there is the Stancil Oil Company Country Store. What a great representation of old time gas pumps! One of Selma's most famous residents was Lunsford Richardson, who was born in 1854 on a farm near Selma. He rose to fame as the inventor of Vicks Vapo-Rub. So, that means  Vicks Vapor-Rub was also invented here!

We crossed the North Carolina and Virginia State line. We are in the State "for lovers." All through Virginia, you can find all kinds of "LOVE" signs! 

We arrived at South 40 RV Resort, our home for the next four nights. 

We enjoyed dinner with old and new friends at Bob & Tammy's house. We have not seen Bob & Gretchen in a while! We did see Barbara before we left Florida. It was a great night of catching up with friends in a relaxing environment! 

On Friday May 15th, we had a quiet morning and met the folks from last night, with a few other friends added in for lunch at Nanny's BBQ. Talk about good "home cookin'" that is what this place offered! The place was whistle clean, staff very friendly, and the fried chicken was to die for. All the sides and fixing were delicious, too. My favorites were cabbage, yams and beans! But I did enjoy one small piece of fried chicken! This place is still a must stop here, when in Petersburg.

The wedding rehearsal & dinner were that evening too. The wedding is being held at the Country Club of Petersburg. The rehearsal dinner was at Roma Ristorante Italiano. We got to experience authentic Sicilian style cuisine, pizza and other Italian specialties. I think Bob knows everyone in this town! We enjoyed our meal in a private room and the owner came in to make sure everything was good. 

Tammy & Bob look great! 

We did get a picture of the four girls, plus one small photo-bombing flower girl!

 

The big and little girls tried to get ice cream, but the shop was closed already!

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!

Day 7 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

Wednesday May 13^th, we departed Santee State Park enroute to Fayetteville RV Resort in Wade North Carolina. We took I-95 over Lake Marion to get onto US 301.

Summerton was the first town we came to. I kept seeing signs and banners for Briggs vs Elliott. What is that all about? The Briggs vs. Elliott Festival is an annual community event that honors the landmark legal challenge to school segregation. Briggs was the first filed of the four court cases combined into Brown v. Board of Education, the famous case in which the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 officially overturned racial segregation in U.S. public schools. The weekend-long celebration commemorates the anniversary of the case. The festival features a lively parade through downtown Summerton, guided historical tours of local civil rights sites, jazz music and a scholarship gala.

We saw many farmers irrigating their fields. This farmer was watering their corn using overhead sprinklers on a center pivot. The point of irrigation is to ensure the crop receives 20–30 inches of water annually, peaking during the tasseling stage. Effective irrigation management prevents moisture stress, maximizing yields by maintaining soil hydration until the kernels reach maturity.

The Town of Turbeville is located at the intersection of Highways 301 and 378. In 1840 Michael Turbeville bought 125 acres of land and built a home on this property. Sometime between 1870 and 1875, William, son of Michael, purchased 200 acres and built the first house in what is now the Town of Turbeville. His brother, Clem, likewise bought land and built. Their land was substantially covered with large pine trees; the brothers built a turpentine still which they ran for about 20 years. 

They also built a large store where they carried on an extensive mercantile business for an even longer time. During those years the community was known as “Puddin’ Swamp”. After the turpentine business was no longer profitable, the brothers put in a sawmill to cut timber. During this time a railroad was built through the area and began buying much of the timber. In addition to the freight cars on this line, passenger service was also added to this line. In 1898 the Town of Turbeville was recognized by the US Government, since it established a Post Office. The Town was laid out in 1912, lots were sold and businesses began to spring up. With the exception of the Depression years, Turbeville has thrived in spite of two fires, on in 1938 and another in 1970. Today Turbeville’s population has increased to 720 people with 321 housing units. Over the years volunteerism has provided the town and community with fire and rescue departments. 21st Century Turbeville has been characterized as “small town with a big heart.”

Sellers, South Carolina, is a quiet, rural town known for its small-town charm. It offers a peaceful atmosphere with a focus on local community, close to regional tobacco history and the scenic Little Pee Dee State Park. It is home to the historic Sellers Depot, a reminder of its past ties to the railroad industry, and the Sellers Raccoon Festival. The Annual Sellers Raccoon Festival is a community event featuring a parade, live music, food vendors, and kids' activities like inflatables. Traditionally held in mid-October on Main Street and features a "raccoon cookoff" and community fun.

Coming north, you do not see a million billboards for it, but once you arrive you know it is there… South of the Border! It is a famous kitschy roadside attraction and rest area located in Hamer, South Carolina, immediately south of the border between North and South Carolina. It sits at the intersection of Interstate 95, US 301, and US 501, and is widely known for its pervasive billboard advertisements and its Mexican-inspired mascot, Pedro.

An effort to re-establish the 334-mile-long South Carolina-North Carolina boundary that began in 1995 and was completed in 2013. When issues arose regarding the state boundary between York County, SC and Gaston County, NC in the early 1990s, the SC Geodetic Survey and the NC Geodetic Survey signed a Memorandum of Agreement in April 1993 to cooperatively re-establish the South Carolina – North Carolina boundary. The intent was to avoid a litigious dispute, such as occurred between South Carolina and Georgia regarding their boundary in the Lower Savannah River area. This contentious dispute cost the state $10 million and 26 years of litigation and negotiation, that involved the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress, to resolve 25 miles of boundary.

We arrived at Fayetteville RV Resort and got settled in and relaxed a bit. Later we met friends from Texas at Dirtbag Ales Brewery & Taproom. Milt & Gaby are here in North Carolina working on her dad’s estate. It is a popular, multi-use craft brewery campus. It features an expansive indoor taproom, a huge outdoor patio, a dedicated dog park, a playground for children, a craft cocktail lounge, and its own resident restaurant.

We were so busy talking, I did not get many pictures. We all enjoyed craft beers or ciders and some awesome conversation. The resident restaurant is called Napkins. They also have a food trailer there called Schnitzelhouse. Which is right up Gaby & her brother’s alley, as both are very fluent in German! They enjoyed talking to the proprietor of the food trailer! Charlie enjoyed a brat from them. Gaby, Milt & her bother all ate traditional German fare from there. I went for the chicken wings from Napkins!

I will tell you more about the campground tomorrow. This is one of my favorite campgrounds to walk in! Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!

Days 5 & 6 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

Monday May 11^th, 2026, we traveled from Savannah Georgia to Santee State Park in South Carolina. We left Savannah on US 17 N. In Georgia US 17 is a 124-mile coastal route, often called the "Ocean Highway" or "Coastal Highway," running from the Florida border to the South Carolina line at the Savannah River. It is generally a two-lane road that is a scenic alternative to I-95. The Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge, named to honor the former politician, is a major cable-stayed bridge spanning the Savannah River, connecting downtown Savannah, Georgia, to Hutchinson Island and Jasper County, South Carolina, via US 17. Completed in 1991, it features a 185-foot vertical clearance, a vertical navigational clearance of roughly 185 feet, and a 1,100-foot main span.

The Savannah River begins at the confluence of the Tugaloo and Seneca rivers at Lake Hartwell in Northeast Georgia. It flows for over 300 miles, before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Savannah, Georgia. The Savannah River defines the border between Georgia and South Carolina.

Fun fact about that border. On June 29, 1977, an altercation between Georgia law enforcement officers and a South Carolina shrimp boat captain attracted national press and rekindled a controversy that would not be resolved until 1990. South Carolina and Georgia disagreed over the exact location of the boundary in the lower Savannah River, as well as ownership of several islands in that region. At stake in this border dispute was not only tax dollars but also potentially millions of dollars in federal aid. On June 25, 1990, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Carolina and awarded ownership of most of the islands in the Savannah River. Adding three thousand acres of land and seven thousand acres of water to the Palmetto State.

South Carolina features over 344,500 acres of salt marsh, the most of any state on the Atlantic coast. These marshes serve as a vital ecosystem that acts as a natural buffer against coastal storms and a nursery for marine life. These tidal wetlands are characterized by vast expanses of green smooth cordgrass, tidal creeks, and mud, defining the scenic landscape of the Lowcountry.

We turned off US 17 in Hardeeville Georgia onto 321. Just after Tarboro, we turned onto US 601. We followed 601 all the way into Orangeburg, SC. One of my favorite parts of traveling these two-lane roads is the sights we see. I love diving through the “tree tunnels.” In the south, the Oak canopies create stunning "tree tunnels," particularly where massive live oaks and Spanish moss drape over roads to form shaded, magical corridors.

Hampton County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at Hampton, South Carolina. It was built in 1878 and was originally a two-story structure constructed of brick laid in the common bond pattern in the Italianate style. In 1925, the courthouse was renovated and additional wings were added to the front and rear facades. Also located on the property are two small modern annexes situated directly to the rear of the courthouse, and a two-story brick annex.

Hampton is also the home of the world's original Watermelon Festival. Since 1939, Hampton County's most colorful crop has been celebrated with a Watermelon Festival, headquartered each June on the Hampton County Courthouse Square. It is South Carolina's oldest continuing festival. Cordele, Georgia, may be widely recognized as the "Watermelon Capital of the World," a title it has held since the early 1990s due to its high-volume production. The city serves as a major hub for growing, packing, and shipping over 200 million pounds of watermelons annually.

In Orangeburg, we saw the Veterans Memorial Park, which is part of the Edisto Memorial Gardens. It is a 175-acre site honoring South Carolina military members, dedicated on November 11, 2009. It features a 25-foot obelisk, granite, and water features, located on a historic 1865 Civil War conflict site.

We arrived at Santee State Park, our home, for the next two nights. Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures.

On Tuesday May 12^th, 2026 we enjoyed a relaxing day at Santee State Park.

Santee State Park is in the Sandhills of South Carolina on the western edge Lake Marion. Santee State Park is 2,500 acres in the heart of Santee Cooper Country. It has two campgrounds, 158 water & electric sites for RV or tent camping, 48 of them have 50-amp service. Two boat ramps that provide access to 110,000-acre Lake Marion, the largest lake in South Carolina. Ten plus miles of trails for hiking and biking. There are thirty modern cabins, ten are uniquely located on a pier over Lake Marion and 20 on the lakeshore.

On my morning walk, I found my favorite place at Santee State Park. It is by the lake when the lake catches first light. No motors. No voices. Just calm water and soft color through the leaves of the trees. It is earned by showing up early. It’s a view does not impress, it invites you stop and look. It reminds me that the most sacred places ask nothing from you.

This place was not built for checklists. It’s a place to relax, let your shoulders drop. Walk a trail without rushing. Sit by the lake and do nothing. When the wind died down, we enjoyed sitting out and talking to anyone who walked by. We even met a man from Buffalo New York.

Lake Marion is the largest lake in South Carolina and is centrally located within the coastal plain where it is bordered by five counties. There is over 500 miles of shoreline. Lake Marion is the uppermost of the two beautiful water bodies that comprise Santee Cooper Reservoir. Its head waters extend upstream nearly to the confluence of the Wateree and Congaree Rivers, where seasonally flooded, forested wetlands form the wildlife rich Sparkleberry Swamp.

The reservoir was constructed to provide hydroelectric power to rural South Carolina and to provide needed jobs for a depression ravaged state. Because of World War II, the completion of the project was moved ahead and Lake Marion Dam was closed before the clearing of Lake Marion was completed in November 1941. As a result, fishermen will find there are thousands upon thousands of stumps, dead tree trunks and live cypress trees. 

The 6.5-mile-long Diversion Canal connects lower Lake Marion to Lake Moultrie and provides a productive and weather protected area for anglers. The closure of Lake Marion Dam trapped a founding population of striped bass and a thriving population developed in the reservoir. Blue catfish and flathead catfish were introduced into the system in the mid-1960s. They have readily adapted to the Santee Cooper lakes system and today provide many anglers with the opportunity to catch the largest freshwater fish they will ever encounter. Largemouth bass and shellcracker fisheries also draw anglers each spring, providing unique opportunities to catch large fish.

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures as we head further north, before we head south again. 

Days 3 & 4 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

We are spending three nights at Creekfire RV Resort, a low-country Cove Community in Savannah, GA. Our friends make it a point to stay here every chance they get. We were scheduled to stay here in 2022, but our travel plans changed and we have not gotten back here until now.

But, I need to back up. Years ago, Charlie and I worked for Carefree, a mobile home and RV community owner. They owned over 100 communities in the US and Canada. I always described Carefree as a company that was owned by five friends, three of those friends were Terry Harrell, Colleen Edwards, and Dave Napp. Carefree sold all its holdings to Sun Communities. The former owners had to “stay out of the RV park business” for a period of time. When that time was over, Cove Communities was founded. 

It was 2017 and the manufactured housing industry veterans Colleen Edwards and David Napp, with backing from Montgomery Street Partners created Cove. CO – Colleen and VE - Dave. Edwards and Napp, who previously founded Encore Communities and Carefree Communities, established the venture to acquire high-quality RV and manufactured home communities. Colleen and David founded the firm and served as active leaders, retiring in 2024, at which point Montgomery Street Partners recapitalized their equity interests. The pair brought over 23 years of experience in the industry, having previously acquired over 185 communities. Under their tenure, the company acquired over 250 RV and manufactured home sites across the US, Canada, and the UK. As of May 2026, the leadership of Cove Communities is James R. Goldman, who was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in late 2024 following the retirement of founders Colleen Edwards and David Napp.

Okay, back to current times… Friday night, we enjoyed a few drinks and dinner at the Lakehouse, the on-site restaurant. Even though it was overcast, the setting was perfect and the night was too! 

I enjoyed the happy hour margaritas and Charlie had rum and Pepsi. We shared chicken fingers with fries. 

The only wildlife we saw was this beautiful Monarch butterfly!

Our first full day here was Saturday May 9^th; it was an overcast day. But, we were determined to get into the lazy river! 

We waited until later in the afternoon, hoping it would warm up! It did not! We got in and acclimated to the water temperature and enjoyed floating around. It was very full of kids and adults. The adults were floating around, just like us, but the kids were in and out of the water, jumping in the river, swimming against the flow and generally being unruly. We decided that we had enough and headed back to the RV. We cleaned up and went back to the Lakehouse. 

On Saturday night they have entertainment, tonight it was a piano man, Joe Jarka. A piano player, a singer and a human jukebox! He began his musical career in Syracuse, NY. In the early '90s when a desire for a move to a warmer climate brought him to Savannah, Georgia, the party band "Double Down" was born featuring Joe on keyboards and lead vocals. This band was a mainstay in the Savannah music scene for years. In 2000, Joe was hired to play at a brand new establishment as one of their featured "Dueling Piano Players". This was a fantastic opportunity and Joe has been honing his craft alongside some of the most talented and creative people in show business ever since! It was a great evening of music, Creekfire Shrimp, and liquid libations.

Sunday, Mother’s Day, started out overcast and drizzling. But as the day dawned, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared and the blue sky and the sunshine came out! 

During my walk, I enjoyed the lake and the marshy areas in the resort. After my walk, we enjoyed a quite morning at the RV.

We enjoyed watching the neighbors! Yes, they are escape artists! 

These cute little goats live next door to the resort! These two little ones found a spot to get under the fence! 

One of their friends tried, but he was too big! The goats acted like they did this all the time! We left to go to the lazy river, before they decided to go home!

It turned out to be a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon at the lazy river. We went between 11am and 3pm. We picked this time, because check out is 11am and check in is 2pm. We figured that it might not too busy. We were right! Today was a much better day at the lazy river! It was still cool, when you first got in… but your body adjusted! We enjoyed floating around the river. We got out a few times to cool down, because the sun was hot! 

We enjoyed a few beers during our afternoon of relaxing in the lazy river. Charlie had a blonde ale from St Petersburg FL and I had a Peanut Butter & Jelly Cream Ale from No BS in Livonia NY. Delicious!

We are waiting for the sunset… we might actually be able to see one tonight! Nope, the clouds came in again!

Tomorrow we head to Santee State Park for two nights!

Stay tuned for more Two Lane Adventures!