The Rest of Florida to Georgia in Photos

 

After our visit to Harpal & Jeannie (no photos sorry), we spent 3 nights with my cousin Joanie and her husband Kent. Here we are out for dinner in downtown St. Petersburg. We really enjoyed the  Museum of American Arts & Crafts Movement nearby. It was so interesting and huge we need to return for a second visit next year.

On another day we went down to Sarasota to the
Ringling Museum. We've been there before but there
is so much to see, it was great to go again. The detail
of the Howard Brothers Circus Model is jaw
dropping. This is just one small piece. Every animal 
and person is unique!

From the second floor you can see down to the
Model - so you can get an idea of the size. We
spent the whole afternoon in the Circus Museum
alone. 

We spent a night in Punta Gorda with Breck Thomas, a fellow cruiser from Tortugal Marina and part of our reunion group. Also visiting were Don & Rosie, formerly of Chickcharne, and hosts of the second Tortugeezer Reunion at their home in Montana. 

Breck, Don and Scott preparing to dock at a 
waterside restaurant for dinner 

Rosie and I enjoyed the view from the bow.

We had dinner overlooking Jupitar Outlet and Lighthouse with our friends and neighbors from Vermont, "Weezie" and Stan Duda during our visit to them. 

We had a wonderful visit with Diane & Mitch Korbey. Diane has been a friend for over 50 years. They were an inspiration to us, as they cruised on their sailboat for 20 years before we bought our boat. They joined us for our first trip south of the Bahamas, all the way down to the Dominican Republic. Our first night we enjoyed Jesus Christ Superstar at the Vero Beach theater and later had a great day at the 
Under the Oaks Art Festival. We were so impressed with the area we made reservations for two weeks at the Road Runner Travel Resort for next March!

PBS had 3 episodes of Antique Roadshow at the 
Georgia State Railroad Museum in Savannah. 
It's a huge place, the most complete antebellum
railroad complex in the U.S. We rode the train
around the property and made friends with our
guide. 

On the train in Savannah

With our guide we got had a private tour of
The Survivor, built in 1926 for Jesse Donahue,
heiress to the Woolworth empire.

The lighthouse at Tybee Island is the fourth one
at this site. The first was in 1736. This one was
first part was built in 1773 and an addition
put on in 1866 bringing the height to 154 ft. It's 
long climb and very steep and narrow as you can
see. Many people expressed surprise that we old
people made it!

Debra Boileau, formerly of Tango, has been a 
friend since we met in Trinidad back in 2006. 
She lives in nearby Hilton Head and spent the
day with us on Tybee.

The view over to the beach from the top

There were 3 lighthouse keepers and their families
housed in 3 houses - all beautifully maintained. I 
loved this kitchen, looking like someone just 
stepped out! 

Our favorite restaurant is Vic's On the River in
Savannah. We come every year. Scott let me 
off so I could get our table and the couple next to 
me asked if I wanted to join them, thinking I
was alone. I explained and we had a nice long
chat until Scott arrived. They were from Georgia 
and also had a boat. They left while we were
eating and just said good-bye. At the end of our
dinner our waitress had surprise for us. They
HADE PAID FOR OUR MEAL.   They didn't
say anything and we can't thank them. Wow! It is
a very expensive place. Life is amazing and
people are mostly just wonderful. 

Florida to Fiji

 

We visited our first Bucky's in South Carolina
on our way north. You start seeing signs for the
next Bucky's hundreds of miles before you 
reach them!

We leapt from Florida to Fiji in just over a week! On the 22nd we left our Santa Rosa RV Resort and drove north - one night in Madison, GA and the next day we were with our old friends Walt & Honoree in Carthage, NC.  After two lovely nights with them, they drove us up to Raleigh for one night at the La Quinta Hotel. We got on the first shuttle in the morning at 4:30 AM! 

Dinner out one night at a fabulous restaurant with
Honoree & Walt. Baby is in their care until our
return in May. 

This was  the start of our challenging time changes and varying bedtime hours. The four nights with Zoë, George and Tommy gave us time to unwind and relax. We always enjoy a lot of easy walks around Palo Alto and one day enjoyed a Whale Watch out of Santa Cruz. We saw 3 whales, one strange Ocean Sunfish and an adorable sea otter - and of course, lots of birds. 

Scott and Zoë on our whale watch trip.

The very strange Ocean Sunfish!

Tommy, George and Zoë

A few days before our flight to Fiji on Fiji Airlines we received an offer to bid on an upgrade to Business Class. We bid the minimum - still a lot of money but the idea we might get some sleep on the 10 hour overnight flight was too tempting. And we got it. It was worth it. It was strange and kind of sad to not take advantage of all the free food and drink, but we knew it would affect our sleep so we abstained. It was particularly hard in the Air France lounge before our flight! We could have had a gourmet dinner with wine pairings but it was already late at night. The seats did recline to almost flat but it wasn't the separate cubicles that they sometimes have. No complaints though and we really enjoyed the breakfast the next morning!

Entry into Fiji was quick and our hotel, Crowne Plaza Nadi wasn't far away. We were checked in and shown to our beautiful room at 5 AM! We crossed the international date line on the flight so it was a full day later. It was great to catch a few more hours of sleep. And the huge buffet breakfast that morning welcomed us. Actually before we went down I heard this beautiful singing outside. The wait staff at the restaurant sing for any special occasion and they are very good. It sounds like a trained chorus. They sounded like hymns to me, all in Fijian, But more on our time in Fiji in my next post.

The view from our balcony.

Our first breakfast - it was hot and humid with clear skies for our stay until the last morning
when it rained. 

We enjoyed our first cocktails on the beach at sunset.

At 6:30 each evening there is a torch lighting along the beach.

The sunsets were beautiful.

Finally Out of the Cold...(for now)

 

Deborah and Heather on our hike at Skidmore
Island State Park

Our last two days in Savannah we had lovely weather - high of 70+ during the day and sunshine. Our cruiser friend Deborah, formerly of "Tango", drove down from Hilton Head to hike with us and have lunch. There is a very nice trail along the ICW in Skidmore Island State Park with great views of the marshes. Then we enjoyed a lunch in our RV.  The night before we had dinner at our favorite restaurant in Savannah, Vic's on the River. As always, we got a table by the window overlooking the river. 

Riverside table at Vic's on the River.

Our next stop was to visit George and Doris, our friends and neighbors in Shrewsbury who spend their winters in Palm Coast. On the way we met up for lunch with Linda and Ed formerly of "Dreamtime" that we hadn't seen since 2010 in St. Martin. They were part of a group that sailed down from the Bahamas to Trinidad in 2006. It was a fun reunion and we look forward to seeing them again next year. It was a brief but fun stay with George and Doris for one night with a great pizza dinner before we were off again to Winter Park.

Linda, Ed, Heather & Scott

On the way to Winter Park we stopped again at the Gemini Springs Park for lunch and a hike This is a large well appointed park with the historic twin springs, playgrounds etc. 

We stay with Harpal & Jeannie every year and they keep Baby for us while we tool around the rest of Florida. I've known Harpal since 1968! He was part of the original Ski House in Hancock, VT.  We had 4 days to catch up on our lives since last January. Their son Sunjay is living with them now and we all had a very fun night out one of the evenings. This is the warmest weather we've had so far! We put away the down comforter and have had the windows open and the screen door utilized! Yesterday we had a nice walk around the lake in the center of Winter Park, but the second day it' was stormy so we went to Harpal's gym (indoor pool, Yeh). Today we're off in the truck alone to visit Diane & Mitch in Ft. Pierce. More on that later.

The trail at Gemini Springs Park

Harpal's little community by night (21 houses
in all)

Scott took the selfie so he looks bigger than usual! Jeannie
Harpal and Heather to his left.

Moving South

There are some beautiful marshes on their property with a variety of birds.

The view from the top floor of the Kelley's home in Litchfield by the Sea

 Our three nights with Steve and Kate Kelley went all to quickly. We enjoyed some great meals both in their home and at a lovely restaurant, the Chive Blossom (our second time there and still excellent). We had a chance to visit Steve's mother, Reves, and have dinner with his sister, Jennifer. The weather cooperated, allowing us some good walks along the marsh and beach. We even got in one session of Bone Builders. Scott graciously joined us in 2 sessions of Rummikub! He's doesn't generally enjoy games, except for bridge, but had fun this time. One day we spent seeing Georgetown just south of them. This was a favorite anchoring spot for us on our trips down the ICW with Scott Free. The County Historical Museum was very interesting and we had a great lunch at the River Room overlooking the harbor. 

Scott, Kate and Steve at the County Museum
in Georgetown

A selfie on the boardwalk at Georgetown.

From there we drove down to Savannah, But it wasn't an easy trip! On Route 95 the trailer started to sway back and forth and then the trailer brakes slammed on. Well this is scary on that highway! We reduced the speed to 40 miles and hour and put on our emergency lights and slowly continued on. That solved the immediate problem but we needed servicing help fast. The trailer brake warning light had gone on several times earlier in the trip but Scott's tightening the wires seemed to solve it. Now it was on all the time.

Rex Trailer after a day and a half work - Baby
ready to hit the road. 

After settling in at Skidaway Island State Park, we looked up all the nearby trailer servicing people. Since it was Sunday we could only leave messages On Monday, 0ne fellow called back and we made an appt for Tuesday at Noon. But then Rex Trailer called back. Talking to Scott they said they were very busy but he could drop the trailer off and they'd do it later. I took the phone and gave the sob story - we live in the trailer and need to continue south. Is there anything they could do (emotion laded voice). Well, in that case, we could come over at 11 AM when the technician came in and they'd see what they could do. 

It wasn't that easy. The technician had problems and was at the VA that morning. He didn't answer his phone and finally came in at 4 PM! It was a long day sitting around the service yard. But the Manager, Barry, and the secretary, Shelby, were SO nice. We hung out in their office and got to know them. At 4 PM Daniel got right to work and continued, lit by the truck headlights, until 7 PM. But wasn't finished then. Barry refused to leave us until we had to give up. And Shelby volunteered to put us up in her house! We couldn't stay in their yard so had to get a hotel room. We didn't feel we could impose on Shelby, Such nice folks!

That's the Fort seen from the Visitor's Center. You can only see the part of the structure where the
workers and "village" existed while it was being built. The fort itself is beyond where you see
the land side wall.

Scott on the drawbridge over the moat. In
 the distance you can see the parade grounds.
The distance between them shows the 
thickness of the walls. 

The Commander's office and location of the 
famous surrender. 

The huge fort was mostly built by enslaved people.
After the capture of the Fort, Union General David
 Hunter issued a declaration freeing all enslaved people
 -in April which was well before Lincoln's in January.

The next day Barry told us to enjoy ourselves and he'd call when the work was done. So we went to Fort Pulaski National Monument out near Tybee Island for the morning. What a lovely place and so interesting. This fort was surrendered to Union Forces after heavy bombardment during the Civil War. It is an amazing structure and totally restored now. The day was beautiful as you can see from the photos. And the work was completed successfully by 2 PM, We were able to return to Skidaway Island State Park.

Way Down South

Scott and I enjoy a celebratory dinner at Vic's on the River restaurant on our last night in Savannah. 

Right now Scott and I are enjoying 75 degree sunshine in Bonita Springs, FL We feel guilty seeing the sub freezing cold over much of the U.S, But it was quite a bit cooler up in Savannah as you can see from our sweaters and jackets in the photo above. But we had plenty of time to do a lot of walking around that lovely city before continuing south to Florida. Besides our amazing dinner at Vic's we had a wonderful brunch at Collins Quarter which our son Sean had recommended.  

Our charming waiter Eli poses with
Scott at Collins Quarter in Forsythe
Park.

Scott's amazing Bloody Mary with shrimp and
bacon (plus a few other things)!

Our last day we had a tour of Wormsloe State Historic Site near Skidaway Island State Park.  One of the first group of Europeans that came to settle in Savannah, Noble Jones obtained a grant for 500 acres of land on the Isle of Hope in 1736 and built a fortified house at the tip. It was part of a series of defensive fortifications against an invasion by the Spanish. He later built a plantation there and his descendants finally gave a portion of it to the State in 1978. A charming guide walked us over the park explaining the history of the site and the environment. 

Over 400 live oak trees line the beautiful mile long avenue into Wormsloe Historic Site. They were planted in 1893 and are draped by Spanish moss. 

At the tip of the property a fortified building housed a small band of soldiers that were protecting the England settlement of Savannah from the Spanish.

Our guide on the left gave us a vivid picture of life
for the residents of this plantation 

From Savannah we drove down to Winter Park, FL to stay with my old friend Harpal, his wife Jeannie and their son Sunjay. Harpal went to B.U. with my sister Paula and we've been friends since 1969. The last few years we've left Baby in their yard while we continue further south. Harpal made a delicious Indian dinner to welcome us and the next night took us out for a fun Asian Street Food restaurant. During the day we walked around the lake in the center of Winter Park, which has a very charming low rise historic center. 

Next we continued south to visit our Shrewsbury, Vermont neighbors and friends Weezie and Stan in their beautiful condo in Jupiter, FL. Weezie impressed us by making homemade fettuccini which she served with shrimp, sun dried tomatoes and artichokes. Yummy! We took pictures of the pasta machine box because this has convinced me to start making my own pasta from now on. Scott's giving me the same pasta machine for my birthday! The next morning we walked over part of their golf course for a delicious breakfast overlooking the links. 

All too soon we were off again, next to Bonita Springs on the west coast. 

Harpal, Jeannie and Sunjay

Enjoying a fun dinner together

Scott is going to give me an Imperia
Pasta maker for my birthday. That's
Stan in the background

Weezie and Stan, friends from Shrewsbury who spend part of 
the winter at their home in Jupiter, FL