Philip and I spent four wonderful sunny days touring Charleston and Beaufort SC, the Parris Island Marine Museum and taking long walks on the deserted beach.

Charleston was beautiful with its picturesque streets filled with perfectly maintained Colonial houses. Amid this beauty, the order was given to fire the first shot of the Civil War. Beaufort was founded in 1711 and was the site of the second landing in North America by European settlers. The Antebellum architecture has been beautifully preserved. The Parris Island Marine Museum is one of the most extensive accounts of all the wars America has been involved in starting with the Revolution. It’s a very impressive account of our military history.

We had wonderful weather for all these explorations. But on Thursday, the forecast was for rain to start in the middle of the night and continue until Sunday. With a large tarp, poles and guidelines, we covered our tent to add extra protection. This 10 year old tent had gotten us through rain and wind before and with the tarp, we were sure it would make it through this round of rain.

Friday we woke up to a gentle rain, so we decided to go to Savannah and do the covered trolley tour. It was a perfect way to see the historic sights of Savannah since we could get on and off at various spots. The numerous squares filled with live oak and Spanish moss were just as we expected as was the architecture. On our way back to the campsite, we stopped at a restaurant down the road from our park that had fresh locally caught shrimp and grouper. Luckily we had made a reservation, because the line and wait was over a half hour or longer.

It was raining harder when we got back to the campsite. Philip made sure the tarp was securely in place and we crawled into bed. During the night, the rain turned from heavy and steady to torrential and the winds picked up. In the morning, a couple of the poles holding the tarp were down and there was some water on the tent floor. Philip put the poles back up while I put towels on the floor around the edge of the tent. Then we headed back to Savannah so Philip could catch his flight home.

Near the airport, I stopped at a Walmart to buy more towels and some sealant to try and patch the floor where water was leaking in. When I arrived back at the campsite, the tarp and poles were completely blown off. There was driving rain and very strong wind gusts. As soon as I would get the poles up, another one would blow down. Finally I gave up and threw the tarp under the picnic table. When I went in the tent, more water was gathering on the floor. Thank goodness I had bought more towels. I put towels all along the edge of the tent where the floor seam met the wall. Anything that was on the floor went up on tables, chairs and cots. The sides of the tent were soaked and water was running down the tent door. As I busied myself trying to cover things to keep them dry, a mist started coming through the rain fly on top of the tent. The torrential rain and gale force winds was too much for this old tent. I gave up and retreat to the safety of a hotel.

When I returned to the tent early the next morning, I wasn’t sure what I would find. To my amazement, the tent was still standing! Some of the stakes and guidelines had been pulled out of the ground, but it was standing. Inside, everything was wet. The floor had standing water and the towels and rugs were saturated. I was scheduled to spend one more night at that site, but I needed to pack up and get out of the rain. As I was packing up, a park ranger came by to see how I had fared during storm. In a campsite not far from ours, a palm tree had fallen onto the air conditioner of a trailer and pushed it right through the ceiling!! The poor couple had just picked the trailer up the week before. Considering that damage, my wet tent wasn’t that bad.

Considering the age and condition of the tent, we decided it was time to get a new one. After all, will be my home for the next couple of months. I bid the old tent a fond farewell as it hit the dumpster, ordered a new one to be delivered to my brother’s house in Fort Myers and headed towards the sunshine state of Florida.