This week was to have been a discovery of Georgia’s coastal islands, but alas fate turned us in another direction. We did get down to a lovely State Park on the Coast near King Bay Submarine Base where the Trident Missile Submarines are based. Whilst setting up the Fifth Wheel we noticed that the bedroom slideout wasn’t level and was tearing the seals protecting the inside against water. We tried adjusting it but to no avail, so we decided to take it to a service centre in Jacksonville, Florida in a couple of days time, which left one day for exploring.
So we decided to go gator hunting in the Okefenokee Swamp. The swamp is the largest freshwater swamp in North America and the source of the Suwannee River so beloved in the song by Stephen Foster – Way down the Swannee River. Except that he spelt it wrong because it wouldn’t parse properly.
We drove up to the Okefenokee National Park and went on a boat cruise through the swamp.
A bleak and uninviting place but filled with life especially alligators and turtles. We saw lots of them lying still in the water keeping cool in the very hot sun. One alligator had just hatched 18 youngsters and she was caring for them as we stopped to say hello.
Nest day we drove to Jacksonville and met with the RV dealer who was going to fix the problem. He diagnosed a broken bed roller which was quite complicated to fix, so we went off to the local mall in the air conditioning for the day and when we returned all was done. Then we headed south further into Florida and stopped near the oldest town in the US called St Augustine. Founded in the mid 1500s by the Spanish. It has a lovely very old fort looking out over the Intracoastal Waterway.
It also boasts the oldest school house in America.
And several lovely museums converted from turn of the century hotels built by a railway tycoon called Flagler.
St Augustine has a lovely old historic district, heavily restored but still with some charm, though the town itself is very touristy. It was Federal Lands Day on the day we visited and we had free admission to the fort.
Then today we headed further south to Silver Springs near Ocala where we will be until the end of the week. This is central North Florida – Horse Country as it is called.
I thought on this second last blog of this year that it would be good to record some observations on Americans as we have seen them over the last few months. We have been amazed at how patriotic most are. Very respectful of their flag and very respectful and grateful to the men and women in their armed services. In NZ and other British and European countries we treat servicemen and women as just another career with no special respect.
We have also noticed our there is a huge section of the populace that are very conservative. There is a right way and a wrong way and nothing in between. Some politicians pander to this offering simplistic solutions for very complex problems. Lots of churches have sprung up as well with all kinds of weird names. Religion is big business in the US and even the smallest of towns has so many churches that it is amazing. Most seem to be small independent churches where the pastor has decided to form his/her own church as a career option. In the local bookshop there was one aisle for travel books and three aisles for Bible Books.
Consequently there is a lot of polarisation between conservatives and liberals and the government is in paralysis at present. The system of checks and balances that has stood America well in the past is facing its greatest challenge. Compromise is a dirty word. The favourite expression is ‘My Way or the Highway’.
