Destination, Key West

Late December, 2013

On to Key Largo.   Point of View RV Resort has a beautiful view of the water.  Nice to be out of the city again.

This is a manatee and her baby.  The manatees will come up to a hose and take a drink.  There is one that does this at the shoreline of the rv park we are on.  This is at a restaurant we stopped at.  This is a mamma and her baby down at her tail.

Sugarloaf Key is the next stop, just outside of Key West.  Southernmost point in the US.

We have found the end of the road.  Now it's time to turn around and head home.

Check these pants out.  Lowest crotch line that I have ever seen.  She must be an up and coming new clothing designer.

This is the bar Ernest Hemingway used to hang out in.  Big controversy over that in town but, whatever.

A little fun at the Tiki Hut/bar in our KOA.  Coconut bowling.  What a hoot!  Those things don't roll straight.  There is live music three nights a week at this outdoor tiki hut/bar and lots of activities.  These old people are looking for fun.

They have an endangered species down here in the keys.  The "Key" deer.  We saw this little guy out on Big Pine Key Deer Preserve.  The speed limit on this key at night is 35 mph.  They have signs all over to slow down so you don't hit a deer.  I understand this because we have already hit a deer on this trip.  It is almost impossible to stop if they dart out in front of you.

I just ran into this picture.  Shout out to Lindsey for sending us Christmas cookies.  It was our only taste of Christmas this year.

And here is the sign directing us north.

Funky Town.....Jensen Beach

December 15, 2013

We arrive in Jensen Beach to find we are in a small trailer/rv park.  Ninety nine percent of the residents are here forever or for the winter.  We are a little put out at first but after looking around we decide we are in a great location.  I can sit on the couch at night and look across the street at a little restaurant/bar that plays live music some nights and has Christmas lights all over it.  We are just across from the street where a sidewalk goes for miles along the water.  The small historical downtown area which is a quarter mile down the street had "A Taste of Jensen" on Tuesday night which we attended and on every Thursday night they have an outdoor artist showcase.

The highlight of Jensen was the Wednesday night Crab Races at "Conchy Joes", which was across the street about 40 yards down.  We walked down on Wednesday night.

This was the fish tank full of racing hermit crabs.

You had to pick a crab and give it a name.  I named my crab, "Carl".  He is the green butterfly crab on the right side.

This is my prize for Carl streaking to the finish line during the 5th heat.  He fell asleep during the final race but that is all right.  I did learn one important lesson.  When the  race "master" says "don't point at the crabs" he isn't joking around.  As I stood around the race table, I got excited and pointed at the crabs.  The race "master" squirted me with his water bottle, designed specifically for "pointers".  He sprays the crabs during the race to get them going but apparently if you stick your arm out to point at the crabs, it startles them and they stop.   He told the spectators that but I thought he was joking.  He wasn't.  What a fun night.

Mark is cleaning the windshield.  That is the small neighborhood bar/restaurant that is all lit up with Christmas lights every night.

December 23rd takes us to Homestead, Florida.  Not a very good choice of RV parks but who knew?  Experience is a good teacher.  Our park is mostly a trailer park with about a third of it filled with winter Canadians, all speaking French.  Our neighbors couldn't speak English.  They were good partiers, though.  This picture is me waiting for the Christmas parade that the Canadians put on every Christmas Eve.

The parade finally came by and Mark and I were able to sit on Santa's lap.  Great fun.

Merry Christmas!

We did make it to the Everglades while we were in Homestead.  In the parking lot of the visitors center there was a big tub of blue tarps that visitors could cover their car with.  Apparently the vultures (see above) will eat your windshield wipers or rubber around the windows!  Wow.  This guy was not afraid of people.  He asked me which car was mine so he could have a little snack.

Stopped at a local fruit stand.  Even I couldnt' bring myself to buy one of these dudes for a try.

The Best Spot of our Trip, Beverly Beach, Florida

Dec. 3, 2013

We tried this beach based on talking to a guy on our trip.  What a find!

We are parked right up against the seawall/sidewalk with a spectacular view of the beach.

Eighty degrees and shorts at last.

I finally put on the Florida State sticker.

Daytona next.  We took the tour and it was quite interesting.  We are now standing where all the champions have stood.  Somehow it wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be.  I guess that tram ride we took wasn't quite long enough.  We needed another 499 miles under our belt.

Cape Canaveral Beach.  We are staying at Jetty Park.  Right next to the port where all the cruise ships, freighters, shrimping boats, charter fishing boats and nuclear subs pass by.  We have seen them all.  It is great.

 Mark watching a cruise ship.

Me watching a nuclear sub enter the military port right across the channel.

Cruise ship leaving in the evening.  This one came by as we were eating dinner.

I took this picture from the casino cruise ship.  Five hour cruise every afternoon and evening designed for us gamblers.  No, I did not win.  That is our motorhome on the right hand side.  Mark is in front waving goodbye.

Mark couldn't resist this prop outside the visitor's center.  Maybe it's time for surfing lessons.

 On one of our walks we ran into a feral cat colony along one of the trails between the palmettos.  There were two women feeding them.  There were about 10 cats and a raccoon in getting fed.  Ladies said they introduced the cats to get rid of the rodents.  They may have another problem sometime in the future.  They had feeding stations with no less than 15 bowls containing food and water.

That little red dot at the bottom is me looking up at the bottom of the Atlantis Shuttle.  We visited the Kennedy Space Center.

Me in front of Space Shuttle Atlantis.

South, South, South, Florida at Last!

Nov. 16, 2013, through December 3, 2013

We head south with stops at Hilton Head Island, where I put on our South Carolina sticker.

We finally got to some warm weather and we get to eat outside!

Our place in Hilton Head looked out on a small marina.  Nice.

Then on to Savannah, Georgia where we had dinner with Paula Deen and her sons.

Which is also where the movie Forest Gump was filmed.  We found the restaurant where Jenny worked.

The weather here has been pretty cool. so we continue to move rather quickly down the coast.  After a couple of days in Savannah we head to Jacksonville.  We stay in Hanna Park, owned by the city.  It is right on the beach but it is so overgrown with trees that you feel like you are in a jungle.  It was really depressing and cold.  Not even a picture from that place.  We also were victims of the "rain of acorns".  The oak trees were constantly dropping nuts on our motorhome.  All night long.  Every time one hit it sounded like someone threw a rock at us.  Gotta get outta here.  Yuck.

On to St. Augustine, Fl.  Yippee!  The park is much better and the weather is starting to get warmer.

We are still falling victim to the "rain of nuts", however.  The oak trees down here are dropping their acorns like crazy.  Mark swears the small dent on the hood of his jeep is from an acorn.

We have Thanksgiving in a restaurant right next to our park, called Aunt Kate's.

The meal was great.  I had the traditional turkey and Mark went for the meatloaf.  What?  Yes, that's right, meatloaf.  I guess the big advantage to eating at a restaurant is you can get whatever you want without hurting anyone's feelings.  We both left happy with a slice of pie in our "to go" bag.

Ponce de Leon landed here looking for the fountain of youth.  I tried every fountain I came to in order to add a few years to my timeline.

We ate in the old "Spanish Section".  The Colombia Restaurant was recommended by fellow travelers so we tried it.  Mark had the "Spanish Coffee".  Espresso and steamed milk.  The waitress was pretty cute to talk "Mark Johnson" into trying something other than "brewed coffee, one sugar".  He liked it well enough to drink it.  I did hear a comment regarding "no free refills".

While on one of our daily walks we came across this doggie tent.  The owners said their dog actually got into it and slept.  I think all you dog lovers out there should invest in one of these for your furry friends.  I think it would work for grandkitties also.

This is the walkway along the bay in front of the downtown area, looking out onto the Bridge of Lions.

St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US, is a great city.  One of my favorites.

Eating my way through Charleston, South Carolina

November 15, 2013

We picked the James Island County Park in Charleston.  What a score.  They are having their annual light show.  Best Christmas Light show I have ever seen. Two miles of continuous light displays.  Plus additional walking areas in "Christmas Village.  Probably over 500 individual light displays that were very impressive and animated.

 Twinkling stars with an American Bald Eagle.

 Fire breathing dragon with fire shooting out of his mouth.

Dinosaur.  There were about 15 different dinosaurs in this area.

This is Noah's Arc with all the animals walking in.

 Poor picture but these are all the planets!

 They even had typical Christmas scenes.

Old mother hubbard and her kids.

These pictures are about 2% of what was out there.  Truly entertaining and amazing.

This was Mark's favorite.  A ship with a fighter plane above it.  There were sparks coming out of the guns like they were shooting and the props were turning.

Charleston involved a carriage tour.

 This is me and my carriage driver.  Great tour.

 After the tour we went down to the Noisy Oyster.  This is a stack of crab cakes, fried green tomatoes with a gravy of she-crab soup.  Very yummy.  I bought a huge piece of coconut cake (local specialty) to take home for dessert tonight.  Also scored a homemade praline and a couple of caramel turtles.  Love Charleston!

We toured the historical US Customs house on the harbor.  They had a  basement which was used for a prison for a while.  For a while they held four signers of the Constitution.  This guy was called Gadsden.  He is the guy that designed the "Gadsden" flag which was the yellow one with the snake on it.  Mark has a special feeling for this flag so I had to take a picture of the designer.

On the way home from this great state we stopped at a great barbeque place for some takeout.  This should have been a Tuesday because I am getting fat..........