Our first day of driving ended in Pooler, Georgia, just outside Savannah. We spent the night in a hotel, and did a pizza takeout from the Mellow Mushroom, delish! On Sunday morning, we repacked the car, and continued our trek south. For the last leg of our drive, I decided I wanted the girls to see the Atlantic Ocean. South of Jacksonville, we exited 95, and wound our way through Bulow Creek State Park over to the coast. Bulow Creek parallels the road closely here, and the girls kept eying it nervously, asking if there were alligators in there. It had an otherworldly feel to it, with Spanish moss hanging from the trees over the roadway creating a canopy.
The girls were happy when we turned right onto Ocean Shore Blvd., and they could see the ocean for the first time. It wasn’t a warm day, but overcast and drizzling. The wind was making the waves froth up and pound against the shoreline. Near Lagerheads Bar and Grill, we turned left and parked in a pull-off. There are two entrances to the beach here, but, at this time, one was blocked off. Apparently, the recent hurricane had wreaked havoc on most of the beach access points along the coast here. We are just lucky we found an open stairway down to the sand. We all donned rain jackets, and I passed out plastic baggies for the kids and any nature finds they might make, i.e., pebbles, rocks, and shells.
We only spent a half hour or so at the beach, the wind and the rain making things a little too chilly. It didn’t help that Stormy and Rainbow got their feet wet… Chilled to the bone, we packed up, de-sanded the kids as best as we could, and headed south once more. We stopped briefly in Ormond Beach itself to grab lunch at Larry’s Giant Subs, which were delicious, and the owner was soooo friendly! Fortunately, the sub shop also had a restroom, which the beach didn’t have, and everyone restarted our trek refreshed. We spent less time in Ormond Beach than we did in Lumberton, but out of the two days of driving, Ormond Beach was the hands-down winner of our southbound road trip breaks. Happy trails!
