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Nomads On Adventures, 100 National Park Rd, Hopkins, SC (2026)

07/24/2024

On our visit to Congaree National Park, we spent an afternoon at the park and quickly fell in love. We started at the Harry Hampton Visitor Center, which is small-ish but very well curated. This one has some great hands-on exhibits and learning centers for littles, if you have them. (We actually came back to the exhibits after our hike to verify some of the tree and bird species we thought we identified. )

We set off on the 2.6-mile Boardwalk Loop Trail. This easy walk has a brochure with numbered stops, and we really enjoyed the Self-guided Boardwalk Tour. You can grab the brochure at the Visitor Center before beginning your walk to learn more about the natural and cultural history of Congaree. While exploring the old-growth bottomland hardwood forest, we observed a variety of different tree species, including bald cypress and loblolly pines, among many more. The cypress knees made this area look otherworldly.

When the trail forks, we didn't see an arrow or number indicating which way to go. We went left (clockwise), which is apparently backward. Though it meant some of our interpretive stops were out of order, we actually loved it. We passed many groups, but going the opposite direction meant no one was chasing us, and we weren't stuck behind them. We got to take as long as we wanted at the peaceful stops and keep moving past the congested areas. The boardwalk has benches along the way and is wheelchair and stroller accessible.

June 19, 2024

07/22/2024

June 15
4 parks in 1 day! They all have somewhat linked history due to proximity, so we enjoyed building on what we had learned at each new stop.

Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve - The Timucua were a group of indigenous peoples whose distinct tribes spoke dialects of the same Timucuan language. They ranged throughout what is now GA & FL, numbering up to 200,000. The French at Fort Caroline in the 1500's documented the culture with images and written accounts. These (sometimes inaccurate) depictions were the first widely distributed images of Native Americans across Europe. Within 300 years of colonizer arrival, their numbers were decimated by disease and displacement.

Fort Caroline National Memorial - This site, adjacent to Timucuan EHP, memorializes the brief French colonization in 16th Century Florida. The Spanish dominated the area at that time, and did not take kindly to competition for resources. After learning about the impact of the colonizers on the indigenous populations in the area, it was hard to feel bad for them.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - This structure is in the heart of St. Augustine, right on the water. After waiting around 30 min in the lot for a parking space to open up, we entered the Monument and overheard a volunteer telling other guests the cannon would go off in 7 minutes. Cannon? Go off? Up we climbed, to the ramparts! The architecture of the Castillo is so cool. The entire structure is built of Coquina, a rare type of limestone local to the area. It's made up of shell fragments and quartz sand from ancient mollusks. IT'S. A. SAND. CASTLE! It's a little crumbly, so we tried to keep our hands to ourselves. BACK TO THE CANNON - They sure did shoot it off, into the bay. Casey plugged my ears for me so I could get you these pictures. A pirate ship returned fire. It was awesome!

Fort Matanzas National Monument - Our last stop of the day and of our time in FL was a quiet one. We walked the trail and read the interpretive signs along our self-guided tour. We didn't take the ferry all the way to the fort because it was getting late in the afternoon, and we were fort-ed out by this time. It was peaceful and beautiful.

07/21/2024

June 17

One of the greatest joys of spending this summer on the road is getting to visit with so many friends and family! We have lived so many places that our loved ones are spread all over the states. While in Florida, we got to visit Coast Guard Station Sand Key and spend the day with our friend Sean and his family. Casey and Sean grew up together, and I've been Facebook friends with his wife for over 10 years, and watched the kids grow up online, but we FINALLY got to meet in person! (I blurred the kids' faces in the photo because the internet is weird.)

This was one of the coolest experiences of our summer, for sure! We got to go out on a Response Boat and cruise along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The weather was perfect. I loved looking at all the mansions from the water, and hearing stories of the *mischief* the celebrities get up to in Clearwater (to be clear, their *mischief* sometimes requires Coast Guard response...) 🙃

It was all fun and games until they gave Casey the helm. He was scared. I was scared. Everyone else seemed totally calm about giving this man a multi-million dollar boat and wishing him luck in 5-foot and shallower water. Good thing he has been playing games with joysticks for 3 decades and was able to finesse it. I elected to NOT show my lack of joystick skill. Anyway, it was a blast.

Here are some pictures! One more Florida post, and then we headed North. We saw and did a lot between Florida and Maine, so stay tuned!

07/19/2024

June 11 - 14

Our time in the Florida Keys was brief but certainly memorable!

We got a GREAT deal on a campsite on Key Largo because June is their off-season! We camped right on the water! Check out the gorgeous campsite and setup... because it is the last time you'll see that awning intact.

I only wanted to see 2 things in Florida, a gator in the wild and a manatee in the wild! If you saw the Everglades post, then you know we got our gator sighting. We were OVER THE MOON to learn that the bay we camped on was home to a family of manatees, including a calf and mama! We got to see them so often! It was the best. They would swim right next to us or below us on the dock. I could have spent hours doing nothing but sitting with them, but we had sights to see.

We all know it rains in Florida. What no one anticipated was hours of 2-4 inches of rain per hour overnight and an insane thunderstorm. The awning didn't make it out unscathed, but thankfully, we did. Our main tent and the car setup were fine, so we walked through knee-deep water in the streets to the store for refreshments and called it a night!

No time to cry over collapsed awnings. The next day, we ventured to Key West! We definitely saw the effects of the flooding throughout the Keys. We had a lovely day walking around and exploring. We did decide to forego the madhouse around the Southernmost Point buoy to get that iconic pic, but we loved the visit.

As we sat and ate our fresh-caught lunch in a shack on the water, we heard the reports of another band of heavy rain expected and decided TO HECK WITH THAT! We zoomed back to camp, broke down in record time (something we're getting pretty good at), and grabbed a hotel room up in Miami for the night. We showered off the sand and slept like babies! No regrets.

07/17/2024

Everglades National Park was an incredible experience and even unusual for visitors of the park. We spent about 5 hours there, but it was the exact perfect 5 hours between two bands of a tropical storm that would cause pretty severe flooding across south FL and the Keys. Long story short, our plan was just crazy enough that it worked perfectly! We had the park to ourselves, and the weather was comfy.

Once again, we did the self-guided driving tour from the NPS app. This tour starts at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center and travels 38 miles to the Flamingo Visitor Center at the north end of the park. Along the way, we got to stop and explore trails, boardwalks, and some incredible biodiversity.

We hiked and walked around 8 miles altogether, in mostly half-mile bursts. These trails are very accessible and great for even beginners to the outdoors. We loved them all, but our favorite hike was the Gumbo Limbo Trail @ Royal Palm; a great introductory trail to learn about these unique trees and their ties to thousands of years of human history. We got serenaded by a million frogs and felt transported to another planet! Also, this is where we saw our gator. Each trail was unique and very informative.

Everglades quickly shot to the top of our favorite national parks lists, now having the prestigious #1 ranking on each of our top 5's. We'll keep you updated. 😉 This may go without saying, but BRING WATER AND BUG SPRAY! We went through a lot of both!

07/11/2024

Whelp, we had our second critical gear failure in 6 weeks last night! Major setup change coming soon!

07/11/2024

We arrived in FL after a gorgeous drive through southern GA at the homestead-in-progress of our friends. They were full-time RVers like us, and we met workamping! We stayed in touch after they decided to put down roots and start the homestead life! In addition to 2 of our favorite small humans, they have goats, chickens, and pigs! It's so cool to see the future they're building for their family. We couldn't believe how comfortable, rural, and friendly northern FL felt! Whatever you think Florida is like, that's only the tourist parts.

There will be SEVERAL posts this week about all the crazy amazing things we saw and did with 10 days in Florida. First up: Itchetucknee Springs State Park was recommended by some folks in some of our travel groups, and then when we arrived, our friends also suggested a visit. No-brainer, we had to go! When I tell you this park, BLEW US AWAY!

The walk up to Headspring swimming hole had us oohing and aahhing! Glimpses of sparkling turquoise water through thick woods with hanging Spanish moss... perfection.

First of all, it was about 90° out the day we went, and the sun was HOT. This is perfect weather for a cool, refreshing dip, but YIKES! That water is crystal clear for a reason - it probably took me 20 minutes to get in. I have snorkeled in the carribbean a few times, and the color and clarity of the water here rivaled that! One neat thing about the spring is that it pumps out so many thousands of gallons of water every day that if you swim toward it, it pushes you back out. Casey tried a few times and came up in awe of the force.

We brought a packed lunch, so after a couple of hours floating around, we hopped out to eat. FYI, there is a delicious food truck with some great options! There are also tons of picnic tables, well spaced out, so a packed lunch like we did is still a great option.

After lunch, we hiked a boardwalk and wooded trail along the Itchetucknee River to the next swimming hole, Blue Hole. By this time, we were all just tired enough to pass on a second dip, so we hiked back out to the cars and headed back for home. It was a perfect way to spend a half-day, and we would absolutely visit again!

07/10/2024

We left Tennesee (the first time... *foreshadowing*) without our dogs. Eek! As we headed into the swamplands of the southeast, we decided we preferred them to not be 'gator snacks. They went on a grandma vacation, and we headed south!

We decided to split the drive from Nashville to Atlanta with a stop at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. We drove up a winding mountain road with a zillion switchbacks and a few gorgeous peeks through the private yards along the way up -- wow, they have some stunning views!

When we arrived at the top (the end of the road), there was a very small NPS Visitor's Center and museum. We walked through it and had a sort of "this is it?" moment. I pulled up the NPS app to check out the "What to See" and "Self-Guided Tours" sections, and we started to explore the area outside.

We realized that what had looked like a castle gate with guided tour times posted, was the first stop on the self-guided Point Park Walking Tour. There was a small entry fee, but we have that America The Beautiful annual pass, so it was FREEEEEE for us. I ABSOLUTELY recommend that if you visit the site, you can not skip this park!!!

The first 2 stops on the tour were overlooks that simply blew us away! Check out the pics of us with cannons and the steep drop to the valley below! They do not do it justice! Some of the most incredible views we've EVER seen, tied with incredible history of how armies used the landscape tactically - what a combination! We got to enjoy a great 30-45 min hike through the park to stretch our legs (and our brains), then the driving continued!

P.S. We passed Ruby Falls on the way up the mountain. Parking ALONE looked like a nightmare. I've seen the pictures and videos, and it looks amazing, but not worth the tourist trap madhouse. There was extremely affordable, very close parking at the NPS site, tons of empty space in the park, and NO WAIT for the very affordable entry.

07/09/2024

Our last full day in middle TN, the National Battlefield at Stones River was calling our name! We opted to do the self-guided driving tour on the NPS app. It was phenomenal!

Stones River National Battlefield features the Hazen Brigade Monument, which marks the furthest advance of Union troops during the battle, and the National Cemetery where thousands of soldiers from both sides are buried in both marked and unmarked graves. The site also includes preserved earthworks and monuments.

One of our favorite surprises was that we got to visit the Hazen Brigade Monument in the Stones River National Cemetery near the oldest Civil War monument still in its original location! It's in great shape and has a phenomenal history.

The Visitor's Center was great! Park Rangers are always pretty friendly, but we got to chatting with those here and really enjoyed sharing adventure stories and favorite spots. We learned some Civil War history, and coincidentally, there was a massive article on the wall from the New York Tribune, which told of the "Loss of Springfield, MO." I grew up one hill over from Wilson's Creek National Battlefield and thought I had read and heard all there was on the battles that took place in and around my hometown. I even made a documentary on it in a semester-long project for school! I had never read the perspectives shared in this article, and I was shocked. It's amazing how history is "smoothed out," so all the accounts align. If you travel enough, the blurs become clear enough to see that there is no one true history, just a mish-mash of various accounts. Often, only the most palatable remains to be retold for generations. I think this is why we really believe exploring, learning, seeing, and experiencing for ourselves is so important.

07/09/2024

We love spending time exploring with Steph's mom, Donna! Her gorgeous new home near Nashville was the perfect excuse to head to middle TN next. We spent our first exploration day at Mammoth Cave National Park in KY (that post is already up), the second around Murfreesboro and Cannonburgh Village, and the third at Stones River National Battlefield.

Murfreesboro, TN is a cute, historic town just a short drive from Nashville. We started with breakfast at City Cafe just off the square. It was recommended to us by several people in online forums, and they did not lead us astray! We had a great parking spot with 2 hours free, so we decided to stroll through downtown after the delicious breakfast. We found a few beautiful creative and green spaces, and gorgeous architectural touches. We enjoyed the stroll in perfect weather before heading to Cannonburgh Village. Though it is a walkable distance from the square, we decided to return to the car and drive over, rather than jaywalking across 7 lanes of fairly busy traffic. 😁

Cannonburgh is a pioneer village featuring preserved buildings from throughout the county. Only one building on the site is in its original position, but they have done a great job of fitting a lot of history into a small urban space. It feels completely authentic due to the rigorous attention to detail by the restoration specialists! We loved learning about the pioneer history of the area, checking out old farming and blacksmith equipment, and even the World's Largest Cedar Bucket!

06/22/2024

Springfield, MO! This is the town that originally gave me (Steph) the wanderlust to roam "anywhere but here." I grew up here, and set off on my first few years of roadtrips from this ideally situated town on Route 66. Located in the middle of everywhere, it's easy to get out of town! Our hometown visit was brief, but packed with special moments with family and friends.

We even got to play tourist for a few hours, and enjoy a gorgeous stroll through Springfield Botanical Gardens at Nathanael Greene Park. This park has absolutely flourished in the 12 years since I moved away from home. What was once a small strolling garden, adjacent to a hidden gem historical site, is now a massive, dynamic park.

The park features themed gardens, the Gray/Campbell Homestead historic site, a history walk, a play trail, interactibe artwork, memorials and monuments, a Greenway trail, and more! If you're passing through Springfield (and statistically speaking, you will) add this to the list of stops between the original Bass Pro Shops, Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, and Fantastic Caverns!

Nomads On Adventures

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