Hilton Head Island, Once Again

We first visited Hilton Head Island in 1980. We were awed by what the HHI had to offer: 12 miles of beach that you can ride a bicycle on the entire length; great gathering places like Harbor Towne, Coligny Plaza, Shelter Cove, South Beach, Main Street, and many others; amazing restaurants, night life; dozens of miles of bicycle paths; upscale or laid back housing. It's a terrific place. We bought a time share 25 years ago, then sold it and bought a condo. Sold it to buy another condo. Sold it and bought a house. Finally sold that house and bought a mountain place near Asheville NC. But we still love HHI. This is our second visit this year. See this blog, and this one. We have also commented on how much we love the Hilton Head Harbor Rv Resort & Marina. We couldn't get a waterfront spot this time but no matter it was still great.

If any of you are planning to visit Hilton Head, give a call. We will probably meet you there!

Hilton Head Harbor RV Park & Marina. A view from one of the waterfront spots.

Our daughter, Stacey, and her beau, Scott an the Marina

Oooohhh!

Hilton Head Harbor RV Park & Marina. From the pool area.

The Lighthouse at Harbor Towne. It was almost dark.

We expected to see Greg Russell, who has been singing under this Live Oak tree for35 years.
Turns out he sings every night except Saturday when we were there.
But what a treat it was to hear Stepping Stones. the lead singers are brother & sister. She is 16 and they have been singing together for 5 years! Incredible music, classic rock, most of which was before their birth.

An old cemetery near the campground

Stacey, Scott, Annabelle

We had dinner at The Crazy Crab, overlooking the marsh. This was the view from our table.
iPhone panoramic shot.

Debbie at our table

Sunset at Hilton Head Harbor RV Park & Marina.

Diva sits pretty at our spot. Our flamingoes enjoyed the grass.

Next stop Myrtle Beach, another of South Carolina's fabulous beach resorts. We haven't been there in 30 years since we love Hilton Head so much and Myrtle beach was 5 hours from us.

Ciao, Frank

Alumapalooza 4

The biggest damper on having fun at the Alumapalooza 4 Rally in Jackson Center Ohio, May 28 to June 2, 2013 was the weather. Rain the sun, then rain again then sun, the gusts of wind. We were sitting at our table in Diva one evening and it was beautiful looking out the window. I noticed a few drops of rain and within 30 seconds it was pouring and winds threatened to blow out our awning. We had to rush outside and furl up the Zip Dee quickly but it was raining so hard there was no way not to get soaked. By the time we were done the sun came out. At least we were cooled off and did not need a shower! The rally was in a grass field that had not been mowed recently. It was difficult to get from Diva to the main tent without walking through mud and water.

That said, we had a grand time meeting new friends and seeing some old ones. The seminars and entertainment were outstanding. Got to meet Andy Thompson from CanAm RV. He helped adjust my new Hensley hitch. This is a great hitch but the instructions on proper adjustment are sketchy at best. The Expedition pulled Diva so much better after it was properly adjusted.

I love the pageantry of an Airstream Rally

Gloria is a 1952 Airstream

Another view of Gloria

slADE ges a kite flying lesson from Joe

There was a 10 mile bike ride on day 3

Jackson Center area is pretty rural

Most of the barns around here had the year of construction on the roofs.

Josh Rogan wowed us all with his Friday night concert,
Josh and his wife, Eliza, are from Redstone, Colorado,
and travel in their 1962 Airstream with Harley, their dog.

Ciao, Frank

South Bend, Indiana / Notre Dame

South Bend, Indiana, the home of the University of Notre Dame, has always been a place we wanted to visit. We blitzed through here 20 years ago but not even long enough to have a meal. So we had two nights from when we left Wisconsin until Alumapalooza and we decided to spend them here.

The University has a beautiful, if somewhat sterile, campus. By that I mean that the campus is somewhat isolated and not really interactive with the city. We didn't see any real gathering places on the campus. The streets around the outside of Notre Dame had shops and restaurants that were nice, if not easy to get to from the center of campus.

South Bend has a wonderful historic district and a lovely Museum of History. Back in the 1870s farming plows were made of cast iron, cheap but easily broken, or of forged steel, very durable but beyond the reach of most farmers. Joseph Oliver solved that issue by inventing a method of cooling cast iron that rendered it as strong as forged steel. It revolutionized farming world wide and made the Olivers very wealthy. The house that he built in 1896 is now part of the historic district museum (The Center for History) and open to tour.

The Oliver Mansion. Made from local stone brought here in large pieces and cut on premises by Italian stone masons.
The home was occupied by the family until the 1970s when it was turned over to the city.

The kitchen in the servants quarters reminded me of my grandmother's kitchen.
She had a curtain under the sink, and ice box and a small stove.
What great meals she made with such a humble kitchen!

The Center for History houses several permanent displays including the Studebaker collection. Studebaker was a South Bend institution until it went under in the 1960s.

The first Studebaker! Yes, this is how the Studebaker Brothers started, by making wooden wagons.

The First Airstream??

The original Studebaker brothers were against getting into that new-fangled unproven technology, the automobile.
It took new blood, in the form of grandchildren, to get them into the modern world.

This half-ton pick up could have pulled Diva, no problem!
(see below)

This Woody had actual wood on the panels!

The Center for History also houses a small history of Notre Dame. The University was founded in 1842 by priests of the Holy Cross Catholic seminary. It was an all male institution until 1972. 

Father Hesburgh became President of Notre Dame in1952 at the age of 35. He resigned in 1987.
He is credited with transforming the University into a world class institution.
He was also a gifted fisherman.

When Father Hesburgh retired in 1987 he went RVing with his best friend, Ned.
Wow! We have something in common!
Father "Ted" is alive at 96 and still lives at Notre Dame
and, except for some problems with his eyesight, is vibrant and active.

Ciao, Frank