Day Eight

Smoke, smoke, and more smoke!  We drove over to Jekyll Island, and the smoke was thick like fog!  There were ashes on our car, and as we walked along the trails, we saw ashes covering all the spider webs.

Our first stop was for lunch, so we went to a local place called Red Bug Pizza.  Their pizza was yummy, and there was a cool playground for Sam to play on while we were waiting.  Unfortunately, a stray mushroom found its way onto one of Sam's pizza slices, so there was a mini disaster when that was discovered!  Jim and I managed to salvage the rest of the pizza, though.  No dinner for us!  :)

Afterwards, we visitied the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and enjoyed an informative talk given by one of the staff members about the patients they currently have in-house.  They rescue sea turtles and help them rehabilitate, as well as monitor the sea turtle nests and hatchlings all along the the coastal area.  One of their patients, Caton, was released three times, but kept coming back, so they have decided that he will need to be relocated to a permanent facility at an aquarium somewhere.  He likes all the attention and personal service!

This facility also offers two nightly walks to tour the beach for sea turtle nesting activities - we would love to do that, but don't have the time on this trip.  Hopefully in the future!

Also located on the island is the Tidelands Nature Center.  We paid them a visit, and checked out a few species located in some small tanks inside, along with some educational displays about the creatures in the area and their habitats.  Sam most enjoyed the touch tank, where he played with the spiny crabs, hermit crabs, and conchs for a while.  There were a few different types of anemones as well, and he laughed every time he touched them because they would close up like a flower.

We took a short stroll along the nature trail outside, but didn't go far because of the heat (94 degrees) and smoke combination.  After a few minutes, we knew it was time for some ice cream and something cold to drink!

This is another facility we would like to visit in the future, as they offer nature walks with a guide each morning at 9 am in different areas of the island.  We always love to go on guided tours!

A stop at the Dairy Queen on the way out for some ICE CREAM and we were headed back to our rig for the night.  The smokey air was really taking its toll, so we stayed in the a/c for the rest of the night.

Day Seven

Day seven was a travel day – tear down, drive, set up, blah, blah, blah.  Only a short jog today of about 110 miles to camp in Brunswick, GA for three nights.  We started hitting a lot of smoke in the air as thick as fog when we got close to Jacksonville.  The wildfires in Georgia are really bad!  We called the campground to see if the smoke was in their area, and they said it was gone, so we pushed on. 

This campground has a swimming pool, so my guys are happy!  After setup, they went swimming, and that was the big activity for today.  Of course, Sam is bouncing off the walls, as usual.  Relax day!

Day Six

Day six took us to Fort Matanzas – a free excursion with a ferry ride out to the island to tour the fort.  The fort was small, but the guide was full of interesting stories about the soldiers and their lives and living conditions at the fort.  For instance, a man had to have at least four teeth to be an officer, and the British soldiers took a bath once a year, December third to celebrate King’s Day.  Unfortunately, the nature trail was closed (which was part of the reason I picked this excursion), but we still had a good time.  Who doesn’t like a free boat ride?!

The afternoon was spent relaxing, cleaning up, writing post cards, and getting ready for our departure tomorrow.  We are headed to Brunswick, GA for our next short leg of the trip.  Our first few stops will be short ones, as we are planning to spend the fourth of July in Concord, NH with family, so it is a long drive from here.

Day Five

Day five found us touring Castillo de San Marcos, a National Park Monument right on the edge of town and along the Matanzas River.  We decided to purchase an annual park pass here to use for our trip all year for free entry into all national parks the rest of the year.  While at the fort, we witnessed another cannon firing, and the “soldiers” gave some interesting information about the fort, as well.  They demonstrated their “small” cannon, which would accurately hit a target a mile-and-a-half away.  He said the larger cannons would hit targets up to three-and-a-half miles away – I was impressed!  The cannon firing was loud, and we all jumped, right on cue.  The fort fought 16 battles under six different flags and never lost a battle.

That afternoon we went to St. Augustine Beach for some sand and surf and sun.  We broke out our new beach umbrella and it was awesome!  We had just picked it up along with some light folding chairs before our trip for this sole purpose, and it was right on target!  No heavy lifting and toting.  Whew!  Sam and Jim swam and dug in the sand, Sam played in the surf with his boogie board, Sam dug, Sam swam…..I think you get the idea.  I read, and walked a little, and sat under the umbrella, and STILL got sunburned.  How does that happen?  Still, a great time and Sam didn’t want to leave.  It was Father’s Day, so I convinced Jim to let us take him out to eat.  J  We went to old St. Augustine and ate at a Mexican restaurant near Castillo de San Marcos – excellent!  We sat outside and watched the river traffic over the balcony.  Ahhh!!!

Day Four

Day four we toured the Whetstone Chocolate Factory – our trip is supposed to be oriented toward exploration, outdoor activities, hiking, and education.  Although use of the word “factory” seems to be stretching it a little, it was an interesting setup and facility.  We were allowed to test a few samples of chocolate during the tour (quite a hardship, as you can imagine). 

The only time I thought we were going to have a meltdown was when we were all handed hairnets and told we had to wear them inside the actual production facility.  Sam NEVER wore hats and NEVER liked them.  We managed to push through it, though.  Whew!  At the end of the tour, of course, is the candy store.  Who can resist?  Not us!  J

That afternoon we drove up the coast a few mile to Ponte Vedra Beach and visited Bird Island Park – a small park next to the public library that has a couple of boardwalks along a lake and a small island that serves as a bird rookery.  Bird Island Park was a cute, relaxing visit, but the bird rookery would probably be more interesting during nesting season, as there was no activity during our visit.  We enjoyed the drive up A1A, though.  Good exercise for us all, and we definitely burned some calories in the heat!

That night we went on a Ghost Tour (walking tour) of old St. Augustine, and it was a blast!  Our guide, Nicolette, was awesome and very informative.  Sam was all eyes and ears, and diligently watched for ghosts and ghost lights at each location!  We snapped several photos at both cemetery stops for later analysis of any ghostly images that we may spot.  We’ll update you here if we find anything interesting to report!  J  A cold beer at the haunted Irish Pub rounded off the night for us.  Sam watched the beer steins behind the bar to see if they moved while we were there.

Day Three

I’ve been living in Florida for 15 years, and this is my first visit to St. Augustine.  Day three and we started off, where else, The Fountain of Youth!  I wanted to bring a big straw, but couldn’t find one long enough – I would have probably drank that thing dry!  J  Located on a beautiful oak lined street (named Magnolia St.

although it should have been Oak St.), the old archway announce Fountain of Youth.  I could tell by the surroundings as we drove in that it was very laid back and relaxing. 

We strolled the grounds of the park, enjoying the beautiful trees and the breeze from the salt marsh.  We checked out the well from which the fountain sprung, and drank some of the mineral water still springing forth from the earth almost 500 years after Ponce de Leon first tasted it - a little sulphurous, but surprisingly clear and somewhat cool.  After watching a short presentation in the Discovery Globe theater, a two-and-a-half story tall lighted globe of the earth that is one-of-a-kind and over 50 years old, we meandered about enjoying the grounds and the ambience. 

We witnessed a live cannon firing, during which time Sam’s eyes bugged out and Buster decided it was time to leave.  J 

Some time was then devoted to following around the male peacocks, as they were in full swing with their mating calls and large tail displays.  There was even a male and female pair of albino peacocks, but the male never displayed his tail feathers for us.  He did, however, perch above our heads on some overhead branches and pose prettily for photos.  A mirror placed about a foot above the ground was strategically placed along on the fences for the peacocks to admire themselves, and they did. 

Sam also spied a green anole walking along the fence, and cajoled me into capturing it for him to hold.  I let him hold it, gently, for a couple of minutes and then he released it.  He then told me that this was the best day of his life so far, because he got to do one thing he had never done before, and to see one thing he had never seen before.  I asked what those things were, and he said, “I got to hold a green anole, and I got to see the peacock with his tail up!”  Eight years old – gotta love it!

After some lunch and cool refreshment at the snack shack, we walked over to the Old Jail for a tour.  It was pretty cool, and the tour guide was very informative and cute.  Interesting tidbit - this was the first jailhouse built by the same company that built Alcatraz.  Some of the most interesting facts were details about the prisoner’s diets – grits for breakfast, beans for lunch and dinner.  The only meat was whatever the chain gang managed to catch during the day so the female prisoners could prepare it and put it in the beans.  And don’t even ask what “hard tack” consists of, or how it is eaten.  Yuck!

         

Day Two

Day two we spent the morning back in the lobby area waiting while we had the front-end aligned on the coach.  At least we had the car, so we could drive around a little, and the coach was ready by lunchtime.  By 2:00 pm, we sent out our texts that we were “officially” on the road!!  First stop – St. Augustine, FL.  We arrived at the campground later that afternoon, and got set up.  It is a small campground next to a flea market, but it accepts CCUSA, has hot showers, laundry, and free wi-fi at the sites for only $15 per night, so I thought it was pretty good!  The only thing I forgot to check beforehand and now always look for is a swimming pool – none here.  There is a nice fishing pond, and Sam and Jim caught a large mouth bass!  That’s gotta count for something!

Day One

We are on day six, and this is the first time I have had to sit down and write.  I guess that means it is a successful trip so far!  On the first two days, we actually started out at the campground of Lazy Days RV where we bought our coach last year.  Day one was spent sitting in their office lobby/waiting area while we had a braking system and lights installed on the coach and our Ford Edge which is our toad.  A nice long eight-and-a-half hours sitting around with nowhere to go!  Yawn!  Luckily, we had our computers and our xoom, along with my book so the time passed. 

We actually had our bicycles since we needed to take them off the bumper in back, and I kept out the swimsuits and towels, so we rode over to the campground so the guys could swim for a while.  It was in the mid 90’s outside, so we didn’t spend much time outdoors, especially since we had Buster, our toy Aussie, with us.  Most of the time, we occupied the lobby area along with other folks waiting for service (most of them with pets, too!)  The added bonus was free breakfast and lunch in their café while we waited!