Road Trip Radio Report - Overnight Road Trip to the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia; 26/27 July 2026

This past weekend, I went on an overnight road trip to the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, SC to see their Semi-quincentennial/American Revolution exhibit. As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent late June and early July on family leaving helping a relative after surgery, so it was a good opportunity to rest, relax, and enjoy myself. I left Savannah on Sunday morning, using US-321 for the trip up and returned on Monday morning, using I-26 and I-95. Sunday night, I stayed in Cayce, SC not far away from Columbia Municipal Airport (KCAE). Even though my travels were on a Sunday and early Monday, the trip still provided some good monitoring opportunities. As always, the Columbia area provided no shortage of public safety communications. There was steady traffic at Columbia Municipal Airport and although there was little military communications to be heard on Sunday I caught some F-5Ns out of MCAS Beaufort and some F-15Es from Savannah-Hilton Head IAP on Monday morning. There was usual VHF/UHF morning commute amateur radio traffic on Monday and I was surprised at the amount of VHF/UHF amateur radio traffic I heard around Orangeburg and Columbia on Sunday afternoon. There was some rain and thunderstorm activity on Sunday afternoon and evening and I think that played into less medevac helicopter activity than I usually hear in Columbia.

The South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, SC (the dome of their observatory is visible on the roof)

Macon and Warner Robins - Overnight Road Trip Radio Report; 9/10 June 2026

My summer vacation road trip this year was limited to an overnight road trip to Macon and Warner Robins. I left Savannah around lunchtime on Tuesday and went up to Macon to visit the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame before heading down to Warner Robins to spend the night. I spent Wednesday morning at the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB before getting lunch in Warner Robins and heading back to Savannah. I enjoyed the trip; the weather was good with just a few sprinkles of rain on Tuesday but you could definitely tell that Summer is upon us. The only disappointment was a lack of activity in the Bulldog MOA as I drove under it on the way to Macon and Warner Robins and back home to Savannah. 

The Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB in Warner Robins, GA

Colonial Dorchester, Drayton Hall, and Middleton Place - Colonial and Revolutionary War Road Trip Radio Report; 24-26 April 2026

Last Friday afternoon, I drove up to Charleston, SC to visit some Low Country Colonial and Revolutionary War historic sites. My first stop was Colonial Dorchester near Summerville before heading to the hotel in North Charleston. I spent Saturday morning at Drayton Hall and the afternoon at Middleton Place, both of which are on Ashley River Rd in Charleston. Some months back, I'd booked a behind-the-scenes tour of the work being done on Drayton Hall's Great Hall ceiling and that was the main reason for the road trip. While in the area, I learned that Middleton Place has a 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution exhibit, so I decided to drop in and see it since Middleton Place was right down the road. I thoroughly enjoyed both the behind-the-scenes tour at Drayton Hall and the 250th Exhibit at Middleton Place. The trip was productive radio-wise as well; there were changes to Charleston area communications on the Palmetto 800 system since my last visit and I was able to better ID some Joint Base Charleston traffic on the USAF 57 system. Saturday also provided the opportunity to listen to a sizeable industrial fire in Berkeley County. I tried a POTA attempt from Colonial Dorchester on Friday, but all didn't go according to plan. Food-wise, I had excellent meals on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Drayton Hall in Charleston, SC - built in the Late 1740s

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and the Robins Air Force Base Museum of Aviation - Middle Georgia Road Trip Radio Report; 21-23 February 2026

Over the weekend, I took a road trip to Middle Georgia, visiting Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB. These visits were supposed to be part of a road trip I took in October, but I was unable to visit them because of the government shutdown. Since I was in the area, I also visited the Griswoldville Battlefield (part of the Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site), doing an amateur radio Parks on the Air activation while there. It was rainy drive up on Saturday afternoon and while Sunday was windy, it was a beautiful day for wandering around Ocmulgee Mounds. The temperature dropped overnight and Monday morning was cold, but it was still good weather for wandering around the outside displays at Museum of Aviation. Radio-wise, it was a fun trip, both listening to the scanners and on amateur radio; it was another trip during which I combined my loves of radio and history.

The Lesser (left) and Great (center) Temple Mounds at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon, GA

Space, History, and Wildlife - Space Coast, Treasure Coast, and First Coast Road Trip Radio Report; 12-16 January 2026

This past week was my annual Space Coast Road trip; this year in addition to the Space Coast, I added stops in Fort Pierce and Vero Beach in the Treasure Coast (my first time in that area) and stops in St Augustine and Jacksonville in the First Coast. I left Savannah on Sunday afternoon and stayed overnight in Orange Park to beat the Monday morning rush hour traffic in Jacksonville. The road trip began in earnest on Monday morning; my first stop was Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park in Flagler Beach, where I also did a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation after which I continued south to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville. Tuesday was "Space Day," with visits to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the Sands Space History Center, and the American Space Museum & Hall of Fame. This year's Space Coast Road Trip took place just before the rollout of Artemis II from Kennedy Space Center's VAB to Launch Complex 39B ahead of next month's scheduled launch on a mission around the Moon. I may not have been there for the rollout, but I was able to hear some of the radio communications preparing for the rollout while in the Titusville area. It made for fascinating listening. After breakfast on Wednesday, I headed south to the Treasure Coast and visited the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce; after lunch in Vero Beach, I visited Mel Fisher's Treasures in Sebastian and the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville. On Thursday, I made another visit to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, then headed north to Fort Mose State Historic Park in St Augustine (where I did another POTA activation) after lunch. I stayed overnight in St Augustine so I wouldn't have to drive through Jacksonville rush hour traffic and headed back to Savannah on Friday after a visit to the Brumos Collection in Jacksonville. 

The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and Launch Control Center (LCC) at Kennedy Space Center. This year's Space Coast Road Trip took place just before Artemis II left the VAB for Launch Complex 39B; while I wasn't in the area for the rollout, the timing did give me the opportunity to listen to preparation and support of the rollout.

Road Trip Radio Report: Midland and Pee Dee South Carolina History - Columbia, Camden, and Darlington, SC; 10-13 June 2024

From Monday, 10 June through Thursday, 13 June, I took a road trip through Columbia, Camden, and Darlington, SC visiting some historic sites while staying in Cayce, just east of Columbia. In Columbia, I visited Historic Columbia and toured some of their historic homes and gardens. In Camden, I visited the Historic Camden living history park. In Darlington, I visited the museum at Darlington Raceway (maybe not everyone would consider Darlington a historic site, but a motor sport fan surely would). Along the way, I made stops in Sumter to visit Thomas Sumter's grave, in Eutawville to visit the Eutaw Springs battlefield, in Pineville to visit Francis Marion's grave, and in Walterboro to visit the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial. It was also an interesting trip radio-wise; there was a lot of activity from both Shaw AFB, McEntire JNGB, and Fort Jackson; the Palmetto 800 system was busy with public safety communications from the region; and railroads were quite busy, especially in and close around Columbia. I also discovered that the VHF TRS at Shaw AFB was no longer a stand alone system, but now part of the USAF 57C system. Unusual for me, I also had a few amateur radio QSOs along the way.

Historic Columbia's hub - the Robert Mills House in downtown Columbia, SC