Friends, Fulltime RVing, South Carolina, State Parks

Serendipity Along the Grand Strand

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Have you ever been put somewhere by what seems like sheer luck?  Maybe it’s that, or maybe it’s meant to be.  We had that situation last May when we were put in a campsite next to a guy who I had a Facebook friend request into for ages, as we had 11 friends in common.  Turns out our now great friend Rick wasn’t big on checking his Facebook account.  🙂  Neither of us had any connectivity at the campground we were at on the Oregon coast, and our mutual friend Tracy (who figured out we were both there) was frantically trying to get in touch with us.  By the time she did, Rick had met us…even though we hadn’t made the mutual friends connection yet.  Thinking back, it was as if we were supposed to be there.

Such was the case on April 16th at Myrtle Beach State Park in South Carolina.  We really didn’t have any plans for what we were going to do once we got there, only that we wanted to see what the place known as the Grand Strand looked like.  We pulled in and got ourselves set up and prepared to settle in for the evening.  As I kicked back in my recliner, I could see a Bighorn fifth wheel passing by.  A few minutes later, I saw the back of it peeking out from behind the motorhome next door.  The woman that was helping direct the rig back looked really familiar to me.  I thought ‘Hmmmm….that looks like Sharon’, a fellow RV-Dreamer who we had yet to meet.  Before I could totally grasp that thought, her husband David popped into view.  Neither of us had any idea the other was going to be coming to Myrtle Beach. Here were two people that we had long wanted to get to know, placed just two campsites away from us.  We had been following their blog Two Lanes of Freedom for years, as they had with ours.  Dumb luck?  We choose to think it was more than that.  We were out of the rig and headed over to meet them in a flash!

They recognized us right away.  🙂  We talked for a bit and then called it a night, as we were all tuckered out from traveling. The next day, they invited us to go to Brookgreen Gardens with them, as they were meeting longtime RV-Dreamers, Bill and Nancy there.  Oh my goodness…two more people we had wanted to meet!

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Here we are gettin’ cozy on a park bench.  We slowly wound our way through Brookgreen’s trails, admiring the sculptures, landscaping, and animals.  All the while, we were learning more about each other.  🙂

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Here’s David admiring the gardens from the shade of a huge Live Oak tree.  Nancy and Sharon are in the background.

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This red fox had other plans for the lazy afternoon.

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Diana, Nancy, and Sharon are headed towards a sculpture of…

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Diana of the Chase.  This amazing work was created by Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1922.  She and her husband, Archer Huntington, founded Brookgreen in 1931 on four former rice plantations.  Close to 1500 works are displayed throughout the gardens.

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Their former winter home, Atalaya Castle, is located across US-17 in what is now known as Huntington Beach State Park.  Anna had an indoor and outdoor studio in the home.  She kept live animals in the courtyard, so she could study their muscle structure as they moved about.  What an amazing day with Bill, Nancy, David, and Sharon!

The next day was a beach day for Diana and I.  The temperature climbed above 80, which was perfect for putting our toes in the sand….except when the wind would shift and the cooler ocean air would roll in. David and Sharon stopped over for a bit, and we made plans for a campfire that evening.

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They were wondering who the couple was all bundled up on the beach, when they realized it was US!  Hey, our Michigan blood has thinned to a Florida viscosity.  🙂  That night we enjoyed a nice campfire and some excellent company, complete with several songs from David and his guitar.

The next morning was our travel day, but not before a sunrise meetup on the beach.

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I spotted them taking photos, so I took a few of my own.  We all headed back to camp, and Diana and I packed to leave. As we stopped by to say our farewells, David greeted us with his guitar.

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He sang us one of his ballads to see us on our way.  What a fitting and perfect ending to our time together.  Travel safely friends, we will see you down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32 thoughts on “Serendipity Along the Grand Strand”

  1. Some things are meant to be and you were all supposed to be there a the same time! Glad you were able to meet in person and have a good visit! Sorry I missed you when you were in Savannah. I didn’t know you were going to be in the area until it was too late. Glad you enjoyed your visit here.

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  2. It’s sometimes amazing to me how we meet people we know on the road. When we were at Myrtle Beach State Park in the fall, I was at the dump station when a friend of ours pulled up and called out my name. The next month we ran into them again at a park in Florida. While staying at a park in Georgia I posted my results from “Map My Run” on Facebook and got a reply from another couple we know, “We’re here too!” It looks like you guys hit the jackpot at Myrtle Beach!

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  4. How fun to meet up after conversing online. Always great to put a face to a name. And get along as as well! Can’t wait to see the next adventure!

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  7. It was so cool that the six of you got together.
    I got to meet the four of them an 2014 at the spring educational rally & again in 2015 reunion rally. They are great and fun to be with 😊

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  10. It was indeed kismet to find our campsites so close and without any previous planning. Your words summed up our time together perfectly and we feel the same kindred connection. We are so glad to have finally met you both and we’re looking forward to many more trail crossings in our future. See you down the road!!!!

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  12. Lucky dogs! You have to wonder what the odds are that you would run into each other on that day at that campground. We had a similar encounter in Alaska on a hike when we ran into one of Barb’s former co-workers.

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  13. Looks like a wonderful meet up with fun people! We’ve had several of those serendipity moments (like when friends join us in Nashville) that are great times. What a beautiful red fox!!!

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  14. Hey – just realized I needed to catch up with you guys! What a great post about how small a world we truly live in! It’s great you got to “officially” meet and spend time with fellow RV Deamers! ❤️

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