hpr-knowledge-base/hpr_transcripts/hpr4060.txt

Episode: 4060
Title: HPR4060: Florida to Georgia
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr4060/hpr4060.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-25 19:07:29

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This is Hacker Public Radio Episode 4,060 for Friday the 23rd of February 2024.
Today's show is entitled Florida to Georgia.
It is part of the series travel.
It is hosted by Avokon and is about 12 minutes long.
It carries a clean flag.
The summary is.
We wrap up our Florida adventure and move up to Georgia.
Hello, this is Ahuka, welcoming you to Hacker Public Radio and another exciting episode
in our ongoing series about our RV travels and we are going to pick up with having finished
our, we get to finish our Kennedy stay and start moving north in this trip.
So on January 26th, we got up at 4.15am hoping to see a launch of a SpaceX rocket.
But we couldn't see it from where we were, we were just a little too far away.
We did watch it on the SpaceX website, but you know, you can do that anywhere.
After that, we went back to bed and I decided I needed a rest day after being busy for
many days in a row.
So I slept in a little, had a leisurely breakfast, just kind of hung out all day.
On the 27th, our last full day here, we went back to the Kennedy Space Center.
We had a couple of errands to do on the way, like filling up on diesel fuel, so we were
a little late getting there, or at least later than originally planned.
But we got to the universe theater for a presentation by a NASA astronaut.
They do that every day there.
And this time it was Barbara Morgan from STS-118.
She went through the entire mission and described in detail what she and her crewmates did.
Now, if you're not familiar with NASA nomenclature, STS means the shuttle.
So it was the 118th shuttle mission.
So it was interesting to see what they were doing on that, who was an outstanding presentation.
We then checked out the journey to Mars exhibits.
We had seen the presentation there a few days ago, but now we went back to look at the rest
of the building.
Then we checked out a concept vehicle for a Mars rover when there is a manned mission there.
From there we poked our heads into planet play just to see what it was.
It was a play area for kids.
Finally, we went to the heroes and legends building.
It had a couple of films presentations to start, then exhibits relating to the astronauts
with many videos, a mock-up of the Mercury control room, and the astronaut hall of fame.
We left feeling like we had seen just about everything we could see of any great significance
at Kennedy, and it was a great experience for a space nerd.
Recommended highly.
Next day, the 28th, travel day.
So we refilled our empty propane bottle and got a good start.
It was a short trip, stayed up, straight up I-95, to the four lakes RV park outside of St.
Augustine, where we had a four-night stay booked.
The trip was pretty straightforward, but when we arrived, we found that the people on duty
here were from our part of Michigan.
I really couldn't believe all of that.
That's been happening to us so much.
Park is very nice.
After setting up, we went out for a walk to stretch the legs a little.
Okay, next day, January 29th.
Cheryl didn't sleep well, so we took today as a rest day.
I spent most of it reading a book.
You need periodic rest days on these trips.
One slung RV trip is not like a week-long vacation.
You have those days that are like a vacation.
But you also have to buy groceries, make dinner, do the laundry, and so on.
It's more of a mobile lifestyle.
Now, next day, the 30th, January 30th, we went into St. Augustine and boarded the tram.
It is a hop-on hop-off way to get around the town and see all of the attractions.
We hopped off when we got to Castilla San Marcos, which is a national monument, so I got
another stamp in my National Park's passport.
St. Augustine is the oldest European settlement in America, predating both Jamestown and
Plymouth.
It was established in 1565, though explorers had visited the area previously.
They called it Florida because of all the flowers they saw.
The Spanish discovered the Gulf Stream, which runs right up the coast of Florida, and it
made for more rapid transit from the New World back to Spain for the many treasure fleets
that they had.
To protect those fleets from pirates and from other European powers, not a whole lot
of difference between the two, really, they needed fortified outposts, which is why St.
Augustine was settled.
The Castilla San Marcos took a few decades to build, but once completed, it proved to
be impregnable.
We listened to a couple of historical presentations from a docent there about the fort.
The first was about the Spanish monarchy and the Spain colonization of the Americas.
The second was about the use of the fort later on as an American institution.
Now this area did change in several times.
The British got it in the Seven Years War, then lost it in the American Revolution when
it went back to Spain and ally of America.
So the Seven Years War was 1763, Treaty of Paris, 1783 that ended the American Revolution.
Then America decided it wanted Florida and purchased it from Spain in 1819.
Florida became a state in 1845.
The Castilla San Marcos became Fort Marion, named after Francis Marion, the swamp fox,
and they purchased, and during the Civil War, it was occupied by both Union and Confederate
forces at different times.
After the Civil War, it was used to imprison Native American leaders, who surrendered
at the end of the Red River War.
The commander of the fort, Captain Pratt, decided he didn't want to just watch them die.
So he embarked on a program of education, but it was also about stamping out their culture.
They had a saying that, you know, till the Indian saved the man.
So that's kind of what they were about doing there.
Now, the commander of the fort, then that was Captain Pratt.
He went on to found the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania after leaving the fort.
And Carlisle Indian School is famous as the place where Jim Thorpe went to school.
And he recently was restored his Olympic medals.
So we spent a few hours at the Castilla, then hopped back on the tram.
Now many of the attractions were just tourist traps that we had no interest in, but the
fountain of youth looked promising.
We finished the tour, did some shopping, and then headed back to the RV.
Now, on January 31st, our last full day here, we headed back to St. Augustine to visit
the fountain of youth sight.
Now, Ponce de Leon did visit this area, and there is a spring.
I took a drink, but I can't say that I feel any younger yet.
But the sight was worth the visit for other things.
It is an active archaeological site exploring the first European settlement in what is now
the US, as well as the native inhabitants.
They had demonstrations of period weapons, blacksmithing, a planetary in presentation on
the celestial navigation practiced by Spanish mariners, the original mission church, native
houses, and so on.
We thought it was well worth the three hours we spent there.
Now, after leaving, we filled the truck with diesel fuel and went back to the RV.
The next day, February 1st, another travel day, it was about a three hour trip from the
St. Augustine area up to Savannah, Georgia, and that wasn't too bad.
I think we really did a better job this trip of keeping our driving down to a more manageable
level.
We were in the Savannah Oaks campground, which is nice, has lots of shade, and we relaxed
after getting the RV set up.
Next day, February 2nd, after breakfast, we headed into Savannah to take a look around.
We went to the visitor center first to get a map and some information.
There seemed to be several hop-on hop-off tours available, one of which appeared to be
the same company as the one in St. Augustine.
And since we were not entirely satisfied with that one, and the other company was local,
we went with the local company.
We really lucked out with a very knowledgeable guide.
We did a complete tour that took about 90 minutes, then got on another one, and hopped
off at Forsyth Park.
From there, we walked through some of the neighborhoods on our way back to the visitor
center where we were parked.
Now, Savannah was the first planned city in the U.S., and the streets are laid out in
a rectangular grid, so there are no diagonals here.
There's a lot of history here from the conflict with Spain to the American Revolution, and
of course the Civil War.
More recently, a lot of movies were shot here, such as Forest Gump.
Now, when we were at the Castillo San Marcos in St. Augustine, they told us with some pride
how General Oglethorpe brought an army into Florida to try and take the fort and was defeated
and sent back in failure.
In Savannah, the story is about how he was unguarded to protect the colony from the Spanish.
Well, every situation has two sides.
In the American Revolution, Kazimiro Pulaski, from Poland, came here to create a cavalry
for Washington's army, and he ended up dying in Savannah and his buried here.
And, of course, General William Takumsis Sherman ended his famous march to the sea here and
prevented Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas present.
Now, Savannah is a beautiful city.
In the grid, our park squares every couple of blocks, with lovely trees and Spanish moss
everywhere, and the architecture is lovely.
The old houses all have a flight of stairs outside that lead to the entrance.
That's because the kitchens were all placed at ground level and were operated by enslaved
people, so the actual family living began one flight up.
There's a lot of very nice decorative iron work, and the works that created the iron
work also supplied a lot to New Orleans, so they look similar to what we saw in the
French Quarter.
Now, the next day, February 3rd, it was rainy, so we stayed in.
We did a few chores, and then went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.
But mostly a day of rest.
We've been on the road for most of two months now, and a bit of tiredness is creeping
in.
So, this is Ahuka for Hacker Public Radio, signing off, and inviting you as always to
support FreeSoftware.
Bye-bye.
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