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HIKED SYCAMORE TRAILS PARK Miamisburg, Ohio

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: December 26, 2025

On this warm, post-Christmas day we decided to hike this new, beautifully expanded 75-acre park. On the park’s North side, we hiked the .7-mile paved Navy Trail which was more open to the wind and paralleled a few disc golf holes. We connected with the 2.3-mile Blue Trail had hiked part of it past new playground equipment, wood sculptures, a creek and wound uphill to the South section of the park which has basketball, pickleball and tennis courts, new playground equipment, restrooms, and shelter houses. The paved Blue Trail also winds around the new aquatic center which is still under construction. Since we like nature trails we hiked on some of the enhanced, long disc golf course. This popular new course was very busy, so we only hiked a little of the trail through the woods. We may return some day with our bicycles as it would be a good workout to bike the hilly Blue Trail four or five laps.

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BOATED ST. JOHNS RIVER Blue Springs State Park Orange City, Florida

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Nick, Jacque, Elizabeth & John Kelly

Date: November 19, 2025

At this popular state park, the attraction are over 700 manatees that gather here in the warmer waters from December through March. We wanted to kayak the river but with the young grandkids with us, the best option was a boat ride.  

We began at Blue Spring Landing where, in the 1870’s and 1880’s, five steamboats a day stopped here for freight and tourists as they traveled up and down Florida. Our boat passed Blue Spring Run where later we saw nine manatees as we hiked the Boardwalk Trail. As we slowly boated upriver, we occasionally encountered a few kayakers. During our trip we saw one manatee just below the surface chewing on vegetation. Mostly we saw alligators and many blue herons, egrets, buzzards and other large birds.   

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HIKED BLUE SPRINGS STATE PARK BOARDWALK TRAIL Orange City, Florida

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Nick, Jacque, Elizabeth & John Kelly

Date: November 19, 2025

At this popular state park, the attraction are over 700 manatees that gather here in the warmer waters from December through March. Connecting the St. Johns River was Blue Springs Run. The trail was parallel to Blue Springs Run and we saw many blue herons, gars, bluegill, and at least nine manatees. We hiked about 1.5 miles up and back.

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GNOME TREE Holly Hill, Florida

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Nick, Jacque, Elizabeth & John Kelly

Date: November 21, 2025

Just off Riverside Drive on the Hallifax River, locals have been placing gnomes here at this Roadside Attraction since 2003. Our grandkids loved this place as there were over 300 different gnomes displayed on the ground or hanging in the huge tree. We will bring our own personalized gnomes to add to this display our next trip back to Florida.

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HOUSE MADE FROM BOAT Ormond Beach, Florida

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Nick, Jacque, Elizabeth & John Kelly

Date: November 21, 2025

On the beach in front of our condo every year there was a sign about the 1896 wreck of the Nathan F. Cobb which ran aground there (Photo#1). This American schooner built in 1890 (Photo #2), was 167 feet long and was sailing for New York with a cargo of lumber when a storm stripped away her three masts disabling the boat. I had heard rumors that locals took the lumber and the wooden planks of the boat and made a house. It is true.

A man named Billy Fagen salvaged wood from the boat and built a cottage in 1897 (Photo#3) on Orchard Lane in Ormond Beach which is still used today (Photo#4).

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CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST Charleston, South Carolina

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: November 23, 2025

This majestic Catholic Cathedral was opened in 1907.It is located on Broad Street in the heart of the town surrounded by hundreds of old historic houses. The Cathedral was built on the foundation of the original church built in 1854 which sadly burned down. We attended 9am mass and it was good to see lots of young adults dressed up and attending. The pews are made from carved Flemish oak, and the three altars are made from white Vermont marble. The cathedral has many beautiful stained-glass windows, statues and paintings. It is the only cathedral in the state of South Carolina.

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GIANT TORPEDO St. Marys, Georgia

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: November 22, 2025

This fully restored naval torpedo is just outside of the Georgia Welcome Center as you go north on I-95. It is probably there due to nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in nearby St. Marys.

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FORT SUMTER NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK Charleston, South Carolina

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: November 23, 2025

We departed on a ferry boat from Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, next to the USS Yorktown WWII aircraft carrier. We boated across Charleston Harbor past Castle Pinckney (formally Fort Pinckney) to Fort Sumter, the famous island fort. The boat rides each way were 35 minutes in length.

The historical fort was the site of the opening shots of the Civil War fired on April 12, 1861. Originally, the fort was built in 1829, one of a series of coastal fortifications built by the US after the War of 1812. A mortar shell fired from Fort Johnson in Charleston burst over Fort Sumter igniting the conflict. After a 34-hour fight with no fatalities, the Union troops agreed to terms of evacuation. The troops marched out of the fort and boarded a ship for transport to New York. The Civil War had begun. Fort Sumter was now in Confederate hands. During Union bombardment of the fort in 1864 & 1865, a total of 52 Confederate soldiers were killed in the fort.

Photos below show what the original fort looked like before the bombardment and destruction.

We toured the casements (gun rooms) on the first and second floor levels, the small museum and the parade ground. There were lots of cannons, mortars and war memorabilia. I talked to both park rangers about the Confederate submarine Hunley, the USS Ironclad Patapsco, and if they had any paranormal experiences to relate.

On the way back three dolphins swam parallel to our boat.

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JACK’S COSMIC DOGS Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: November 23, 2025

A rocket themed, hotdog related roadside attraction restaurant. Rockets all over the outside, space themed displays (including old Tom Swift Space Pilot books) on the inside giving a nostalgic vibe to the place. The restaurant has been here since the 1990’s. I don’t usually eat meat, but I went off the grid and got a loaded clow dog with French fries. Delicious!

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HIKED NATURE TRAIL Greensboro, Georgia

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: November 15, 2025

At The Lake Oconee KOA Campground, we hiked the short .75-mile nature trail which took us through woods past a small nature center with goats. The trail opened out to Lake Oconee, a reservoir created large lake. We stopped briefly to sit and enjoy the water view before hiking on past five railroad cabooses which were turned into cabins. We stayed in one of them which was warm, spacious with its own shower, bathroom and small kitchen.