Cayo Costa Park– Miami – Charleston – Asheville – Great Smoky Mountains Park

February 3 – February 26

On the way to our first destination, we visited with friends Fabian and Mary Linden In Nashville who were kind enough to take the risk during the pandemic and put us up for a couple of nights.

After being cooped up in the house for so long, we were itching to stretch out on a beach and relax for a couple of days. Most people would probably opt for lounge chairs in front of a beach resort. That is not how Sandra and I do our vacations. Instead, we journeyed to the most isolated public beach in Florida we could find to set up a tent. Our campsite was in Cayo Costa State Park, which is on an Island just west of Fort Meyers.

Getting to our campsite was a bit of an endeavor. The only cars allowed in the park are ranger vehicles. So, we had to haul all our gear from the car to the ferry, from the ferry to the tram, and from the tram stop to our campsite. It was not a conventional car camping experience, so we needed to minimize our glamping gear as much as possible. Thanks to our friends Meredith and Lynn for lending us some lightweight gear for the trip.

The park was just what we needed to recharge our batteries. Though we did not sleep on the beach, we could hear the waves breaking in the distance. The park is lined by miles of beautiful untouched beaches loaded with seashells, wind-shaped trees, dunes, and home to various species of birds. The inland trails were also very interesting, passing through different ecosystems of lush hardwood hammock, pine, and mangrove swamps. Along the trails, Sandra had fun foraging for seagrapes and yellow dates.

Unfortunately, we were not alone on the island. During the day Sandra was bombarded by tiny no-see-ums insects that feasted on her. And at night we heard cotton rats scouring around the campsite looking for food. Some of the nasty buggers even ate through one of our heavy canvas bags. Even with these little inconveniences of wilderness camping, we still had a great time.

We picked the right time to start our vacation. Soon after we left, Madison experienced a ten-day cold snap with temperatures ranging between minus 14 and a whopping 11 degrees. I almost felt guilty basking in the Florida sunshine. I must thank my nephew Jared from New York for keeping an eye on the house while we were gone. He just recently acquired a job at Epic, and now lives just five minutes away from us.

After hauling all the gear back to our car, it was time to visit my mother in Deerfield Beach. My 94-year-old mom who is normally a very social person has been finding life under COVID to be very difficult. She no longer drives and although she now has a social life on Zoom, she is feeling very isolated from lack of direct human contact. We rented a wheelchair and took her for long walks along the beach, through tropical parks, and around shopping districts. On most of these outings we would picnic. This is one of my mom’s favorite pastimes. She had loads of fun.

Sandra used to live in Southern Florida, and still has friends in the area. This was where Sandra was living when we first met. Also, her only family in North America is in Miami, and I have a Peace Corps buddy in Stuart. So, every time we stay in the area, we have loads of people to visit. Pictures for my Peace Corps LDA brothers, and for for our families are at the end of the blog.

Our next planned stop was to camp a night near St Augustine. However, Sandra was still feeling the effects of her extensive bug bites from our previous campout, so we opted to stay with my mom for another night. The next day we headed out to Charleston. The old town of Charleston is probably, the most beautiful city in America. In fact, during the 17th century, it was the countries wealthiest city. And it shows in its lovely architecture, streets and gardens.

Considering that the city fell victim to three fires, two wars, an earthquake, and a hurricane, surprisingly, much of Charleston’s originally rich and varied architecture has been preserved. Over 1,400 significantly historical buildings have been registered and their exteriors kept to 18th century standards. If you did not know that people were living in these buildings, at times you would think that you were walking through an outdoor museum.

We spent our time in Charleston visiting historical homes and taking long strolls along tree-draped, coble stone streets. The houses we visited were interesting for two reasons. One, the extreme opulence the homeowners surrounded themselves with, and two, the stark, harsh accommodations for the slaves who lived minutes away, but existed in a totally different reality. A typical well-to-do Charleston family would have six slaves. A wealthy family would own many more.

On the way to Asheville, we stopped to see a friend of Sandra’s in Greenville, and enjoyed a beautiful hike with her husband through an impressive greenway that stretched for two miles along the Reedy River . The highlight of the walk was a large waterfall that sits adjacent to the downtown.

While in Asheville, we spent most of our time checking out neighborhoods, and talking to realtors. We were lucky enough to have Alan, a friend of a friend of my mom's, take us around town and give us his thoughts on living and working as an artist in Asheville. He also introduced us to Pat, a recently transplanted Wisconsin artist. To check out Alan's work go to www.alanonealstudio.com. The only tourist thing we did while in the area was to go for a hike at Chimney Rock State Park.

Chimney Rock is very popular destination for hiking. It’s claim to fame is a mammoth rock outcropping that can be reached by either taking an elevator dug through the rock formation, or by hiking up the 494 step staircase bolted to the side of the formation. Both are very impressive engineering feats. Of course, we opted to take the staircase. Along the way, we found a cave, a grotto, and a lower rock outcropping to explore. After reaching the top of the formation, we continued our ascent to Exclamation Point for more amazing views.

In this and the future blogs, I will provide you with a short blurb, for those who might interested, in reading up on the cities we are considering moving to.

Asheville

Nature – Asheville sits in the Blue Ridge Mountain range which extends for 550 miles from Georgia to Pennsylvania. This region gets its name from the combination of dust particles and water vapors that when viewed from a distance give off a blue haze. The highest peak in the area, and the highest east of the Rockies, is Mount Mitchell at 6,684 ft. According to alltrails.com, there are over 300 trails to explore within a 40-minute drive from town, and Asheville is only one-and-a-half hours from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Weather – Because it sits at the high altitude, of 2,100 feet, Asheville is cooler than the rest of North Carolina. The area’s winters are on average 19 degrees warmer than Madison’s, but the summers are only 2 degrees warmer. Not too bad. When we were visiting in February, we found it very surreal exploring the outdoors in such comfort. Asheville also averages 25 more sunny days a year than Madison. Even better.

Demographics – Asheville has a similar eclectic, counterculture feeling to Madison, but resembles more the Madison of twenty years ago. If you look at an electoral map, Asheville is a small Island of blue surrounded by a sea of red. Stores in the city sell shirts that say, “Keep Asheville Weird”. I guess that says it all.

Arts and Culture – After Santa Fe, Asheville is considered to be the second-best small town in America, for the arts. The region around Asheville also probably has the highest concentration of ceramic artist in the country. Being that Sandra is a ceramic artist, Asheville is at the top of her list. The best place to get in touch with Asheville’s art scene, is the River Arts District, a formally abandoned industrial zone that is now home to hundreds of working studios, where you can purchase paintings or sculptures directly from the artist.

After Asheville, it was time to go home. Along the way, we drove through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and stopped to do a few short hikes. We trekked to two waterfalls and did a short stretch along the Appalachian Trail. I just wanted to be able to say that I did the Appalachian Trail. Well, we did maybe all of ½ mile of its 2,200-mile span.

And, that is all for now. I hope that our health will continue, and that you all will be able to hear from us again this summer.

Laurel Falls Trail

For My Peace Corps LDA Brothers

Robert is in a relation with someone who is planning on purchasing a second home in the Asheville region. It is a long shot, but if she buys that house, and If they continue together, and if we also move to the area, then for a portion of the year, Robert and I could be less than an hour away from each other. That’s a scary thought. If that happens, count on the reunion seven years from now being in Asheville. Regarding the reunion coming up in two years. If no one steps up to the bat, Robert and I might take on that job.

For Our Families

This was such an amazing treat. We are waiting for the day when we can all be together again.