Day 1: The Farm to Columbia, SC
Day 2: Columbia, SC to St. Augustine

Both days were sunny and breezy yet cool. Even as I crossed into Florida and stopped at the Welcome Center for some brochures and a taste of fresh-squeezed orange juice, the temp had just barely crossed 60. Still 60 and sunny beats 29 and snowing any day of the week.

The highlight on Saturday was the Shot Tower located on the banks of the New River. On first glance, I assumed this structure had something to do with the Civil War…watching for troops or guarding a fort, perhaps. Closer inspection shows an entirely different purpose for this tower, and an ingenious one at that.

According to the historical marker, by 1770, captain William Herbert has established a ferry at this point that crossed the New River. This ferry became know as Jackson’s Ferry. In the early 1800’s, Thomas Jackson erected this tower to manufacture lead shot for weapons. There was a deep well-like structure dug down into the ground with a tunnel crossing out to the river. Molten lead was dropped through a sieve at the top of the structure and it dripped down through the tower, cooling and forming round pellets. It splashed into the water below and was transported down the tunnel to waiting barges to be shipped to munitions makers. Interesting!

I stayed the first night at a Day’s Inn just off the interstate. I asked for a quiet, safe room and, while the room was decidedly tired and could have used a serious updating, it was clean and bug free and inexpensive at $55 plus taxes and fees. The continental breast was, as you can imagine, nothing to write home about so I had a yoghurt and headed for Starbucks and Panerra. Being gluten free isn’t a problem in a bakery like Panerra. I just ask for my favorite breakfast sandwich to be served in a bowl, sans bread, and add lots of fresh spinach. Yummmm. Starbuck’s new Cascarra Latte was definitely the splurge of the morning and it was worth every penny. With hints of chocolate and cherry…I was a happy girl as I headed South for Sunny Florida.

Sunny was the key word yesterday. A little breezy, the 61 degrees didn’t allow for the picnic in the rest area I was hoping for, but it sure made driving fun. I chose to head down the Atlantic Coast first and try to catch a friend before going to my final destination. Unfortunately, my friend had a dental emergency and I couldn’t see her this trip. I’ll give you a great travel tip. Stop at the welcome centers when you come into a new state. I picked up one of those brochures with all the hotel discount coupons and headed to my next stop. (I’ll share that story tomorrow!)

A bubble bath, a bag of popcorn, and the SAG Awards made for a quiet, peaceful evening. Today, I cross the state to the Gulf Coast…one of my favorite places in the whole world! ❤️

“You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭28:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬