We learn something new every day. Today’s thing is a Carolina bay which I have never heard of before now. A Carolina bay is an oval or sometimes circular shallow depression concentrated along the Atlantic seaboard and seen in several states around here, although each state seems to have its own name for them. In Maryland, they are called Maryland Basins. They can range anywhere from thirty feet across to three miles across and are elongated in a northwest-southwest direction. Many of these have filled with water, becoming ponds and lakes. There are tens of thousands of these across the Southeast. Our final destination for this trip, Lake Waccamaw, is a Carolina bay.
No one really knows how they were formed, although several theories exist, from meteor showers to prevalent wind patterns.
These lakes tend to shrink over time, as sediment accumulates and plants start to grow in the sediment. The Bay Trail follows the original perimeter of the lake which has now shrunk to less than half its size. We walked the Bay Trail around the lake but didn’t see the water hardly at all due to this shrinkage. Rather, it resembled more of a jungle, with thick, impenetrable undergrowth and several types of trees all growing together.
But the one thing that made us walk a little faster was the lowly mosquito. Or rather lots of them. Four miles of being chased by Kamikaze mosquitoes made for a less-than-optimal hike. We probably won’t be coming here again.
We drove through Elizabethtown on the way out of the state park. We parked the RV and walked around downtown for a little while. We happened to find a donut shop and bought a couple donuts. We’ve struck out for much of this trip in finding good donuts. There were four cop cars gathered around this shop so it looked promising.
The donut was OK, but loaded with too much icing. So we won’t be going there again. We also spotted a burger joint called Melvin’s which apparently has been around for many years and has quite a good reputation. Having just had a donut, it was not really time for a burger. Reading some reviews and descriptions online, we decided it was probably worth the half-hour trip at some point to try this out.
On into Whiteville where we had scheduled the Covid booster at a Walgreens. We’ve attempted a couple times on this trip but no one does walk-ins and this was the first appointment we could make where we knew where we would be.
We almost didn’t succeed here either. I knew we were in trouble when we drove in and I saw a long line of cars at the drive-up pharmacy window. It wasn’t any better inside. We were there at precisely 6:15pm for our 6:15 appointment and we waited in the line for a half hour just to be seen. It was another half hour before we were finally ushered into the little room where we could receive the vaccine.
Meanwhile, the agreement for boondocking on private property stipulates that you arrive before dark, and it was completely dark when we got out of the Walgreens. I messaged the host saying we were going to be a little late.
Then we couldn’t find the place. After driving by the address according to the GPS a few times, there was nothing resembling the building in the picture. I finally called the host and he talked me into the proper location, even driving out there to meet us to make sure we made it. So we probably broke every rule in the book for this stay, but we’re finally in place. The Boys and Girls Camp of Lake Waccamaw, where we will be spending the next three weeks, is just down the street.
The red line has reached its destination. It took us 2,290 miles and two and a half weeks to get here. Google Maps says this is 908 miles from home with a drive time of 14 hours, 23 minutes.
Not quite a straight line, but, hey, this is how we roll.
No comments:
Post a Comment