Hello Georgia!

Brunswick, GA  March 20 - 23, 2013

We made the short drive from Jacksonville to Brunswick, Georgia looking forward to seeing St Simon Island and seeing our old friends Greg and MaryKay Crouch and our new friends Bob and Elaine Sliwkowski.  We arrived at our new home the Golden Isles RV Park anxiously anticipating our next parking challenge.  The park entrance curved around a parking lot filled with cars for the people eating at the lunch buffet served in the on-site restaurant.  In an effort to get around the corner of the office/restaurant building, but not take up the entire entrance to the RV park I cut the corner a little close to a big yellow concrete post.  When I asked Peg to get out to make sure I wasn't going to hit the post she informs me that I have avoided the post but have managed to hit the flag that is sticking out from the building above the post.  UGH.  The flag pole was bent, but Peg managed to pull it out of its stand so that I could continue forward.  Luckily the owner of the park was very nice about it and said people have hit much worse things including the back of the building!

That evening we drove out to St Simons Island where Elaine and Bob spend their winters and Greg and MaryKay had flown in for a visit.  They stay in a beautiful condo overlooking the beach.  We even saw dolphins swimming by while sitting on their sofa.  We enjoyed a lovey happy hour watching the waves and then drove to a local crab restaurant for dinner.  The food, stories and company couldn't have been better.  Thanks Greg!

View from the condo!

Good Friends Good Food

We came back the next day with the dogs as Elaine and Bob are dog lovers and they graciously offered to dog sit while we took a bike ride around the island with the Crouches.  Did I mention how great they are?  We took the dogs for a long run on the beach.  They love the ocean more than Peg does which is really saying something.  Elaine made us a beautiful lunch and then we headed out on our bikes for an explore.  Greg was our faithful leader riding along with his phone GPS directing us around the island.  It is a great little island with lots of fancy homes and beautiful golf courses.  Luckily the kids were good for Elaine and Zoe manipulated her way onto the sofa.  Elaine and Bob then finished the perfect day with a delicious prime rib dinner.  A good time was had by all. 

                                                          Greg and MaryKay Crouch

                                                               Delicious dinner

                                                            Elaine and Zoe the princess

We decided to have everyone over to our place on our last evening.  We spent the day doing some much needed cleaning and shopping to prepare.  We had a really nice time entertaining in our little home.  It was a great time and we look forward to our next visit with Elaine and Bob when we get to New Jersey.

Coming soon.... Savannah, GA

Goodbye Florida

Jacksonville, FL March 15 - 20, 2013

We arrived at our Jacksonville RV park which is famous for its Pecan Park Flea Market next door.  It is a nice flat RV park with long concrete sites and a large open area next door, perfect for the dogs.  Instead of neighboring train tracks, this park was under the flight pattern of the Jacksonville airport.  The planes were so low we could tell what airline they were from!  Peg was very excited about the flea market so we headed over there on Saturday morning.  It turned out to be a very large yard sale with booth after booth of mostly junk.  We did purchase some new sheets which sounded too good to be true for the price and some new Stuart Woods books.  Of course the sheets turned out to be paper thin, but a lesson learned once again.

Zoom lens not required!

We used our next day to drive the area and scope out things to do.  We drove up to Amelia Island to see Fernandina Beach.  The beaches were beautiful and the towns really quaint.  We also visited Fort Clinch State Park on Amelia.  There was a beautiful boardwalk along the beach and a great bird watching exhibit.  There were some good hiking and biking trails, but dogs were not allowed on the beach.  We then drove down to Talbot Island to see Big and Little Talbot State Parks.  Both parks have great trails and beach areas so we decided to come back with the dogs and take the five mile hike on the Dune Ridge Trail. It was a loop with two miles of it being on the beach.  No dogs remember, so we turned around and went back the way we came. It was a great hike to the beach and back.

                                                    The beach we couldn't walk on

Drive into Fort Clinch State Park

Cool tree that wanted to steal some sun (phototropism) on our Dune Ridge hike

We decided to use our last day to explore Jacksonville's downtown and visit the Cummer museum and gardens.  Jacksonville is a great city that straddles St Johns river.  The Cummer Gallery of Art was a fabulous collection of art spanning 4000 years and a beautiful collection of 18th Century Meissen porcelain.  It is also famous for the gardens!  Mrs. Cummer was responsible for starting the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs.  It is a beautiful spot overlooking the river and impeccably maintained.  

                                          Jim Draper a local artist with a show at the Gallery

                          Italian Fountain shipped by boat to the States in 1930 just for this garden

Coming soon.  Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia

Fun in the Sun

Fort Pierce, FL  March 10 - 15, 2013

We left Homestead and headed up to Fort Pierce which is on the mainland with Vero Beach, Orchid Beach and Hutchinson Island across the intercoastal waterway.  This is a fun stop because one of our new favorite book series takes place in Orchid Beach.  We arrived at the Road Runner RV resort to find that the entire campground had been taken over by Quebecians.  There was so much French being spoken we thought we were in France.  It was a beautiful campground with lots of trees and green space, but this made the campsites a little tight.  We were able to pull-in without incident between the trees and our neighbors awning tiedowns.  I guess it was closer than I realized as we had several neighbors comment on my skills!

Indian River on a beautiful day.

Beautiful tomato stack salad and chicken cordon bleu stuffed with pancetta made by Peg.
 No wonder we haven't lost any weight!  Delicious.

We spent the next few days driving through the beach towns and hanging out on the beach.  It was very nice and relaxing.  The barrier islands are really beautiful with the open Atlantic on one side and the Indian River (intercoastal waterway) on the other.  There was one beach designated as the dog beach which was great, but Calcite had a little too much fun and ended up very sick after ingesting her body weight in sand and saltwater.   We met some very nice people in this campground; Don and Sue our very close neighbors from Ontario, Joan from New Hampshire who pushed her cat around in a stroller and Maryann from Maryann, Indiana who helped us trim the dogs nails.  We enjoyed talking with all of them and look forward to seeing Don and Sue in Niagara Falls.

A friendly passerby!  Walked right thru our campsite.

Coming soon... Jacksonville, FL and St. Simons Island, GA to meet the Crouch's Woo Hoo!

We love Florida!

Homestead, FL  March 1 - 10, 2013

We headed down to Homestead, Florida which is a central location relatively close to the Keys and the Everglades and planned to stay nine days so that we would have plenty of time to enjoy all of the sights.  We arrived at the Boardwalk Mobile Home park to find that it really is a mobile home park.  They have a few spots for travelers, but we were surrounded by permanent residents in single and double wide mobile homes.  Everyone has taken really good care of their homes so we were surrounded by trees and flowers.   They also seem to own two cats for every person - cats were everywhere!  A few tried to make friends with Midnight and Miciou, but Calcite and Zoe would have none of it.

On our first day we had arranged to meet my niece Melissa and her husband Jerad down in Key West.  They were taking a long weekend away from the snow and kids in Kansas City and we were excited to see them.  We didn't realize that it was a two hour drive down to the last key, but we were planning on making the drive anyway.  It is a really nice drive through all of the keys, over beautiful water and across the famous seven-mile bridge.  Their weekend hadn't really been going as planned as the Keys were having a very unusual cold and rainy snap so many of their water excursions were cancelled.  It ended up taking us three hours to get there because there was an accident on the two lane bridge / highway and a life-flight helicopter was called in.  We met them for a late lunch at the Southern Most Cafe which was a great spot right on the water only 90 miles from Cuba!  We walked around Key West which is really just a tourist village with very little beach.  We learned that the definition of a key is an ancient coral reef that has been uplifted and exposed so there is no natural sand as there has not been enough time for erosion to do it's thing.  Key West actually imports their sand from the Bahamas.  We had a great visit and even got a beautiful beach shot without our jackets!

                                                         We are coming Melissa!

                                                          Southern Most Beach Cafe

With Melissa and Jerad on Key West
 

                                     Osprey Condo - note the flip-flop at the top in the center

The next day was supposed to be rainy all day so we planned to catch up on our grocery shopping and housekeeping.  We did go to a very famous fruit stand called Robert is Here where they had amazing fruits and vegetables mostly grown in the area.  They are also famous for their fresh fruit milkshakes.  We bought a delicious sampling of grapefuit, oranges, papaya and mangos and were not disappointed.  They were all delicious!  We didn't try the milkshakes because the line was out the door and around the building.

                                                                Look at those onions!

                                                    Yummy fresh produce everywhere

We had been looking forward to an airboat tour for a long time since neither one of us had ever been on one.  There are so many companies it was hard to decide which one to choose.  We settled on Coopertown which is the oldest one and seemingly the closest to us and the Everglade National Forest.  We feasted on a lunch of gator tail, frog legs and catfish before heading on a giant "car" airboat which we learned from JT is a wanna be airboat that runs using a car engine instead of an airplane engine.  Our guide drove us out into the everglades pretty fast for about nine miles and then slowly worked his way back stopping to show us lots of alligators, birds and turtles.  We learned that the Everglades is not a swamp, but actually a very shallow and wide river covered with grass.  The Indians called the Everglades "river of grass."  There are hammocks located throughout the Everglades which is where dirt has accumulated and trees and shrubs grow giving the appearance of a island.  Our favorite new bird is a Purple Guillenote a very pretty duck like bird.  The airboat captain stopped in the middle of the glades, made a weird sound and a male Purple Guillenote appeared, landed on the boat and climbed up his arm.  When we got back to the starting point we all got to hold a three year old baby alligator!  It was very cold and soft - not what we expected - but then again they are cold blooded reptiles.  A very fun day.

                                                                  Purple Guillenote

                                                           Born in captivity 3 years ago

                                                                   Baby Daddy

Our next day we drove back down to Key Largo which is the largest key in the chain and the first one you come to driving south on US 1.  We visited the John Pennekamp State Park which had a couple of nature trails and a little beach swimming area.  Their visitor center boasted an aquarium, but it wasn't much of one and a little disappointing.  We walked the dogs on a trail which was actually very nice and ended in an orchard that was planted many years ago and had avocado and mango trees.  They had to blast the limestone/coral to make the holes to plant the trees.  Since most of the state park is technically under water they offered glass bottom boat and snorkling tours so we thought we might come back for some snorkling.  We then went looking for the maritime museum that had been written up in our 2001 Florida traveling guide, but it was no longer open - very sad.  So we went to the Wild Bird Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.  It was so fun.  They had all kinds of raptors in cages that they had been taking care of after cat attacks and insecticide poisoning... falcons, screech owl, barred owl, great horned owls, kestrel, hawks and tons of pelicans, cormorants and herons.  The pelicans were walking all around throughout the sanctuary right along side us, it was a little creepy.  We were there at feeding time so I watched in slight horror at the raptors eating little baby chicks and mice.  Like a train wreck I couldn't look away.  Really cool place, don't miss it if you head down this way.

Our next adventure was planned for Biscayne National Park which is another park that is mostly underwater.  They do have a fabulous visitor center with great displays of all of the plant and animal life found on the massive coral reef off the coast which is the third largest in the world.  We rented a canoe and paddled all around the bay in search of said wildlife, but alas the only thing we saw were diving pelicans and osprey.  It was a really windy day and the water was so choppy we couldn't see any fish until they were swooped up by a hungry pelican.  It was still really fun to be out on the water and I was very thankful for Peg's great canoeing skills as I am a poor canoe-mate.  I did learn how to forward and reverse sweep as she "J" stroked in the stern attempting to keep us in a straight line as we paddled into the wind!  I also heard "don't forget to feather as you return stroke".  I never did quite get the hang of that.  They also offered snorkling trips and they were much smaller, more personal and the portion of the reef within Biscayne is in shallower water so we booked a snorkel trip for Friday.  So excited.

Canoe Queen.  I took this shot over my head, not turned around. 

Who can move on that tiny little seat!

Now it was finally time to head to the actual Everglades National Park!  We started at the visitor center which was a wealth of information on the wildlife, trails and history of the Everglades.  Of course one of the primary focal points is the alligators because who is not enthralled with these prehistoric and dangerous looking reptiles.  We took the drive from the main entrance down 38 miles to the Flamingo center which is on the southern most coast of the mainland on Florida bay.  We stopped at every kiosk and took most of the off-shoots leading to trails through the mangroves, sawgrass and hardwood hammocks.  We saw a few alligators meandering around and tons of birds, but the one bird we had been most excited to see, the roseated spoonbill, eluded us once again.  On the trail thru the mahogany trees we heard an owl right in front of us and the roar of an alligator - so spooky!  We saved the Anhinga trail for last and boy was it the best.  We were treated to a barred owl sitting on a branch staring at us to start, then several nests of baby anhinga's and finally alligators everywhere.  It felt more like a zoo, but there were no cages or barriers of any kind and signs everywhere reminding us that these were free wild animals.  We nervously watched a large alligator and black vulture interact within a foot of each other for the longest time sure the vulture was lunch, but it was not to be.  Darn it, Peg was pretty excited to watch that meal take place.  We also watched an anhinga dive underwater, come up with a fish and turn it over in its beak and swallow it down whole right in front of us.  The mile long trail follows a boardwalk above the water and is a natural congregation spot especially during the dry season for alligators as it always has water.  In one spot there were at least twenty alligators taking a sun bath in the gooey warm mud.  It was really fun watching them swim every other time we have seen them they have just been loafing around.  Honestly, at times you even wonder if they are not statues strategically placed by the park!  I was very glad the dogs were in the car.

                                                            Alligator right next to the road.

                                                                Hardwood hammock

                                          The maximum elevation change in the Everglades.

Now it was time for snorkeling!  Yippee!  This was a great tour with knowledgeable, friendly staff, and great equipment.  We boarded the boat for the 45 minute boat-ride out to Boca Chita Key where we dropped off some of the passengers for an island tour.  It was a great little island with a beautiful lighthouse and overnight primitive camping.  We then headed out to the reef.  Luckily we had rented wetsuits as the water was a chilly 70 degrees!  It was so worth it.  We snorkeled for an hour all around one of the most beautiful reefs I have seen.  The coral and sea life was phenomonal.  We saw huge puffer fish, trunk fish, angel fish, trumpet fish, large schools of blue tang fish not to mention the colors and diversity of coral - 40 of the 52 species of coral found in the Altantic are found on this reef.  They had to drag Peg and I out of the water at the end of our hour snorkel.  It was fantastic.

                                               Snorkling tour with Boca Chita lighthouse.

As you can tell by the longest blog ever, we really enjoyed our time in South Florida.

Coming soon... Fort Pierce and Jacksonville, FL working our way north!

It's all relative

Sarasota and Fort Myers, FL   February 25 - March 1, 2013

With tears in our eyes we left Inverness and drove down the Florida coast to Sarasota.  The sole purpose of this visit was to connect with Peg's Uncle Bill and Aunt Ursie.  They have recently relocated to Florida from New York City.  We stayed in the Arbor Terrace RV park which was crammed full of snow-birds.  It was the most lively place we have seen... shuffle board, pentaque, bike riding and walking.  Everyone was very friendly and they had a great dog area.  The rv sites were very tight, but we fit with a few inches on either side to spare.

We had arranged to meet Uncle Bill (Peg's dad's brother) at his rental apartment overlooking Sarasota Marina so that he could take us over to their new penthouse apartment which is almost done being renovated.  The weather was not great with high winds and lots of rain, there was even a tornado warning for the area!  We kept a close eye on weatherbug and forged ahead.  Their new place is magnificent with 360 degree views of the marina and city.  He then drove us all around the city and took us to a lovely lunch on the water.  We then parted ways with the plan to come back to their place for dinner.  It was a great evening catching up and eating a delicious meal cooked by their personal chef Mikah - stone crab claws, lamb chops and a chocolate souffle for dessert.  Yummy!  We had a great time listening to old stories about Peg's dad as only a big brother can tell them. Unfortunately, I was having such a good time I forgot to get out the camera and have no pictures of the evening!  Shame on me! 

We then drove further down the coast to Fort Myers which seemed like a good homebase spot to see Sanibel island - the namesake of our traveling home.  We arrived at Shady Acres another lively snow-bird campground.  They put us in an end spot that backed up to the edge of the park covered with a little bayou and trees etc.  We packed up the dogs in the morning and drove to Sanibel and Captiva Islands.  They were not as impressive as we had hoped.  Lots of shopping, restaurants, traffic and the few public beaches didn't allow dogs.  We did finally find one spot where we could walk on the beach, but it was covered with dead fish from the red tide condition affecting the area.  We also drove over to Pine Island which wasn't as crowded, but again no public beach access.  Two short stops on our way down to the Everglades where we will be for 10 days.

                                                                    Sanibel Island

                                                               Dead fish on the beach

                                                      Miciou at our campsite - she loved it.

Coming soon.... Homestead, Florida.

We love Mom and Dad!

Inverness, FL    February 15 - 25, 2013

We made the drive from Mexico Beach to Inverness to stay with Peg’s mom Leslie and step-dad JT.  We were a little nervous about the space at their house for our huge traveling home.  We couldn’t fit within their fenced yard, but luckily there is a vacant lot right next door.  With much help from JT, I was able to back Suni into the lot.  He also ran a power cord for us, so we could have power!  Thanks Dad!  Their Inverness house is wonderful!  It sits on ½ acre right on a canal with tons of wildlife flying and scurrying about.  The large yard is all fenced in so all of the animals (including us) had a leash vacation – it was fabulous.

The new deck on the back of the house.

 

The canal behind their house.

Suni next door

During the first couple days of our visit we were treated with an additional guest.  Peg’s aunt Patti Gibney flew in for a two day visit.  We all toured the Inverness area visiting Leslie and JT’s favorite haunts; a great fruit stand, a beautiful beach, a manatee harbor and a great tiki bar on the water.  After many years of trying to see a manatee we finally did it.  The big guy swam right up to us where we could follow him around while he munched on the bottom grass.  Patti treated us to a round of drinks on the water as we watched the osprey feeding their babies - so cute.  We then celebrated being together with a traditional Vineyard dinner… JT’s famous clam chowder, smoked blue fish, stuffed clam points, and delicious scallop scampi!  What a feast.  It was great catching up with Patti sharing old family photos and trying to figure out the last time they all saw each other which we think was over a decade ago. 

Peg, Mom and Patti

 

Manatee!!!!

Peg loves dad's chowder.

We spent the rest of our time with mom and JT relaxing, eating, drinking and laughing!  We were able to go out in their boat twice.  The first day on Rainbow River a crystal clear spring fed river that was truly beautiful.  We saw tons of birds and turtles and even an alligator.  The second trip out we launched in Hernando Lake and trolled around the canal system that runs behind their house.  We even found a great beach to have a delicious lunch.  Navigation is quite interesting in and around the canals as they all look alike.  For a while we felt like Kathryn Hepburn on the African Queen, but JT was in complete control and got us home safe and sound. 

Gator aaaah

Turtle turtle tutle

Peg, JT and Mom in the boat

Of course mom cooked all of Peg’s favorite things and then some!  We gained all of the weight we had managed to lose before we got here, but what a way to go.  She also mended all of Peggy’s knitted sweaters and upgraded our new dish pad with a loop for hanging!  What are mom’s for - we love you!

Mom and JT’s dear friends Kathy and Larry treated us to a delicious dinner at their house one night.  It was great to meet them after hearing so much about them from mom.  Mom and JT also treated us to a couple of fabulous meals out – which is always such a special treat for us.  On one of our final nights we made them a special thank you dinner which we served in Suni; our first real dinner party!  Great fun.

JT let us go through all of his extra books so we were able to stock up on some new favorites!  We are hooked on Stuart Woods thanks to Dave Berg and JT had a great supply – saved us a ton of money.  We were all so sad to leave, but none sadder than the grand-pets as they will desperately miss the freedom they enjoyed in the yard.  They loved going to see grammy in the morning and it wasn’t just because of the treats in her pocket even Miciou loved it there.  We can’t wait to see them again in the North.

Coming soon… Sarasota and Fort Myers, FL