Curry Hammock/Part 2

Sunday December 22...when I got up I was so close to finishing the binding on my quilt I just had to finish it up. I did. Didn't have any big plans so I decided to make a breakfast. When we first started this adventure I made breakfast a lot, decided I better quit that. Ran into Publix to get a few groceries. I think everyone else had the same idea. It was really busy. One thing about that store gotta love the BOGO. Jeff took his boat out and got another snapper plus his boat had no water in it. I think Jeff got his fixed. Yeah!!  We used our last package of Iowa beef for supper, that's one thing I miss.... Iowa beef. We finished the night with a movie.

Monday December 23rd... Happy Anniversary to us...36 years and counting. Decided to go back over across the road to snorkel. Jeff talked me into giving it a try. We rode our bikes over .  Both of us put on our diveskins and wet suits. We got in and the visibility wasn't good. As a matter of fact it was creepy. I followed Jeff out a ways trying to get used to it. That wasn't gonna happen. I told Jeff I was heading back. Jeff kept on looking for lobsters. When I got back I noticed what I thought were rocks were moving. When they came up for air I figured they weren't rocks but manatees. I went a bit spastic and got Jeff's attention. He swam toward them and just watched them. They were really big . There were 2 of them. He tried to get video but hasn't really used the camera to much. He came over to me and told me I had to go. I put everything back on and got in. I have to admit I was nervous but I sure didn't want to miss this opportunity. So away we went. I'm so glad I took that plunge.....it was awesome!!!! I got some pictures but better than that I got a special memory. That was a perfect anniversary gift.  Decided to keep the celebration going by dining out. James & Brenda told us about a new little restaurant called The Outpost,  we went for dinner. It's not fancy but really clean and friendly. The food was great too. We started with some onion straws and they were the thinnest, crispest ones ever sooo good. We ordered a pizza.. Double garlic it was really thin and crisp another yum. Jeff was feeling really festive so he even ordered dessert... Blueberry bread pudding. It was a great evening and the food was wonderful. When we got back home I walked up to the bedroom and noticed the air conditioner was running but it wasn't producing cold air, it was warm. Jeff turned it off and did some reading on some trouble shooting. It's a good thing to have 2 a.c. units. It's to late to really do to much.

Christmas Eve and I guess I needed to muster me up some Christmas spirit. I did some baking while listening to some Christmas music. Jeff did some things with the a.c., cleaning the vents and cleaning the coils also resetting the system. It came back on and worked. After lunch we took the kayaks out, I wanted to see if mine still leaks..... It does.  I was gonna head back but Jeff said let's fish awhile. I baited up and whamo...I got me a big snapper, it sure felt bigger. It was funny cause it started pulling me so I had to peddle while reeling...that was fun. We had a surprise at the campground, Santa came through in a fire truck, who doesn't like that? To finish this night we got to watch the kids open there Christmas pjs. We always get them pajamas for Christmas. It's a tradition.

Merry Christmas everyone!!! The one thing about this lifestyle I don't like. Missing this holiday with the kids and grand kids. On the plus side, we can focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We don't get caught up in all the hustle and bustle. Our phone rang at 6:30 am, Seth calls to let us be a part of there Christmas morning. We got to watch the kids open the presents we gave them and also the ones Santa brought. Technology it's a wonderful thing. After we got off the phone I made homemade cinnamon rolls. Again the a.c. is not working right. Jeff's gonna call a place that's comes to your campsite after the holidays. Decided to go visit Long Key State Park and see if we could fit in one of those spots. I think we might try that campground. When we got back made a few calls to family and friends. We had a nice dinner and called it a day.

Thursday...Jeff checked my boat again and it's still leaking so he worked on it. He also called a place about the a.c. and left a message. The unit works some after you reset but eventually it stops working. I started going thru stuff cleaning and one thing lead to another and before you know it all my drawers are cleaned out. Jeff went back out to fish and I anchored myself at the beach. He came back with a really nice sized snapper. We started putting some things away.

Friday our last full day here. It's really hot & humid today. Jeff still has lobster fever so back over we went. Right when we got there it started raining but it didn't last long. He was determined to get at least 2, and that's what he got. He kept telling me about this really big one that got away. Funny how those are always so big!!!  Decided to make a trip to Key Colony. There's a bar/restaurant there and for happy hour they have 25 cent wings or peel and eat shrimp. It's called Sparkys. We don't really go out too much but Jeff wanted to try this one. The place was hopping and the service was great. We had a drink and Jeff got some wings. We got back to our campsite and finished packing our outside stuff up. Again gonna be hard to leave this park...We never did hear back from the repair place we called. I think we will just watch it for now. Now on to John Pennecamp State Park, last time we were here we were in a tent. That was like 12 years ago. 

Curry Hammock/ Marathon Florida

Saturday December 14, we are moving north just about 25 miles to Curry Hammock State Park. We called before we left to make sure our spot was empty. We left Bahia Honda with a heavy heart and a stowaway rodent. Definitely didn't have a problem getting here it was easy, go on overseas highway 1, go straight til the park turn right and you're here. We stayed here last year and really liked it. When we arrived it was hot and no wind so the bugs were out. We set up fast and got inside to cool off. We had planned to make a trip into town to get some supplies and mousetraps. We picked up a passenger and both of us are extremely creeped out by mice. Other than that we didn't do much, we were tired from getting up so early to get Justin off. We did manage to get those traps set cause the sooner that thing is caught the better.

Sunday got up and went to watch the sun come up. It was a pretty sight indeed, and there wasn't a sole in sight to witness it but me. When I got back I checked the mousetraps....the one under the sink was gone, nowhere to be found. I took everything out to look but nope it's gone. There is a pretty big hole around the area where the pipes go so I thought I'd look there. Nope.. Jeff went down to the basement to look there, he had to take a lot of stuff out to figure out he couldn't get to that area. I decided it would be easier if I just removed a few staples and pulled up the floor in the cabinet. It took some doing but I got it done. We found the trap clear down at the end of the cabinet.... It was empty. Jeff had put a couple traps in the basement too. They had been cleaned off but no mouse. I had planned on relaxing on the beach today but that didn't happen. I decided to get a few Christmas cards made out, and packaged up some ornaments to send back home. We have had a few problems with the hinges on our pantry door so Jeff was working on them. I think today was pretty productive and I thought I was gonna relax and do nothing.....

Monday... The mouse is still at large, he's taken all the food off all 3 traps, but still not captured. He's like a ninja. Since it's really nice out we decided to take a bike ride into town. I needed to mail off those ornaments so we rode to the post office. It was about a 14 mile round trip. I was feeling in the Christmas mood so when I got home I made some caramels and melting moment cookies (a recipe from my aunt). We don't have any TV here either so we watched a movie.

Tuesday it was cloudy this morning and it cooled down some. Again the traps were cleaned and still no mouse. It was cloudy on and off today so I stayed in. Jeff went out in his kayak to fish. He caught a couple keepers. He told me he found a spot where even I could catch fish. I'll have to take him up on that. It was a pretty laid back day but that was about to change. After supper we had settled in to sit and watch a movie. Suddenly Belle jumps up and runs across the room. She has something she's tossing into the step in front of the door. I ask Jeff what's she got? We both say THAT MOUSE...Jeff gets up and there he is. Belle has him trapped so Jeff grabs a book and pins the beast down. He's got him pinned down by his neck, the thing is flopping around and it's tail is too. I am totally creeped out. He holds him there until he's still. Yikes!!! Then Jeff takes a knife to pick him up. That's no mouse, it looks like rat to me. It's sooo big. Oh my, that was so gross. All I could think about was I hope he was flying solo, I hope he doesn't have any family with him...I don't think Jeff or I slept that good, couldn't get that varmint out of our heads, but at least he's out if the camper.

Wednesday, Jeff wanted to show me the fishing spot he found. We loaded everything up and headed to the beach to launch the kayaks. It was a bit windy but we weren't going too far . We got to the spot and the wind kept blowing us into the mangroves so Jeff dropped an anchor. I caught some fish but only 1 was a keeper.  We tried moving around to another spot but no luck. I did see a snake and a shark swim by my boat. We went back to the spot were at least the fish were biting but I got a couple snags and I was a problem for Jeff so I decided to call it a day and headed back. When I got back to the beach as I was loading up my boat to take back I noticed that I had a whole lot of water in hull, more than usual. I rolled it back to the campsite and waited for Jeff. I kept the boat on the kayak cart cause you could see were the water was dripping out. Jeff had patched his once before so I was hoping he could fix mine. When he got back he took a look, he got all the water out and tried to get it dry so he could maybe patch  it tomorrow.

Thursday morning I made it to watch the sunrise this morning, that's always a great way to start the day. Jeff ran into town to get some stuff to patch the boats. He did a little research last night to see what people have used to fix theres. The guy at Ace Hardware told him what he used on his so Jeff went with that. He got some marine epoxy and some gorilla super glue and came back to get busy. I went to the beach. It got pretty windy and as soon as the wind picked up the kite surfers showed up. I think there was up to 6 of them out there. They are fun to watch.... They really go fast, they must be young.(no fear)

 

Friday the wind changed directions and is coming out of the east. Jeff decided to ride his bike over to the gulf side. There is a spot off the bike trail that we fished at last year and he was gonna check it out. It was really calm over there so we decided to load up the bikes to go over and try our luck at fishing and Jeff wanted to snorkel. We looked so funny. I told Jeff if we would have got hit by a car crossing the highway it would have looked like a garage sale...The fishing wasn't any good so Jeff decided to go in to see if he could find some lobsters. He found them all right but they were a bit tricky to catch. He got a couple that were just short. He got one that was a keeper, that's good enough cause I don't like lobster. While Jeff was out there a couple walked by and we got to talking, we invited them to join us back here tomorrow cause he kinda wanted to go lobstering but never had. Thought it would be better to try the first time with a partner. When we got back Jeff decided to write a letter to Hobie about our boats. We have had them 4 years and the warranty is only for 2 years but he always heard how good they are about standing behind there product. The cracks aren't on the bottom, from us hitting rocks or anything, they are in the drive well. Hopefully they can help us get them fixed.

Saturday.. December 21st,  The winds are still coming out of the east so it will be good to go lobstering on the gulf side. We had planned to meet James & Brenda there around noon. We left a bit early to try fishing before the snorkeling.  They showed up around noon and Jeff & James headed out to see what they could wrestle up. They got a couple that were just a bit short, so didn't bring any home this time but the had the thrill of the hunt. Boy oh boy another week has passed. Theses weeks just seem to fly by...

Bahia Honda/ Week 2

Sunday December 8th week 2, we both agree it's going to be tough leaving this spot. It rained pretty good last night but cleared up early. Jeff and Justin went out to fish with a neighbor who comes here quite often and knows the good fishing spots. I knew when Justin arrived my kayak would be his. He loves to fish, and has since he was little. I stayed back and put a roast in the crockpot for Italian beef sandwiches. When the guys came back I made breakfast. They went back out to fish I stayed back, sat outside enjoying the weather and the view. We had supper, played some Yahtzee and watched a movie. Bedtime came early again.

Monday was another pretty day. The guys tried fishing under the bridge from the shore. Justin got a big surprise... He heard a funny noise and looked around and it was a great big loggerhead turtle coming up for a breath. It's head was about the size of a football. Justin named him Timmy and we saw him a couple more times. The afternoon the guys tried snorkeling in front of our campsite. The visibility wasn't that good but Jeff did see some barracuda, a stingray, some snapper and grunts. We had a yummy supper and to bed early.

Tuesday December 10th...going on a party fishing boat, the Marathon Lady. We choose the morning trip. We were suppose to be there by 8:00am, we left early to stop and get some more sea sick pills. The boat set sail at 8:30 and the boat wasn't crowded at all. The water had settled and the winds have died down. The guys had spots on the back of the boat were the real fishermen fish. The people who bring there own poles. I had rented a pole and picked a spot on the side towards the back of the boat. The first spot we stopped I caught one fish. I thought to myself here we go again. I'm not a very good fisherman. We moved to another spot and I liked it. I was catching all kinds of fish. Nothing big or exciting but ones I like to eat. I caught grunts, yellowtail, and porgies. The guys caught some too. We moved to another spot and still I was a fishing fool. Next thing I know Jeff is moving next to me trying to get my lucky spot. He says there were too many fishing back there. We moved to one more spot and I was still catching. This was were Jeff found a good spot, he caught some yellowtail snappers.... Yum!!!  Before long it was time to head back. I was ready to get off the boat. The boys decided to pay another $25.00 to go back out for the afternoon trip. The guy we bought the tickets said the afternoon fishing has been good. We collected our fish...(38) and went to have them cleaned. I took them home while they headed back out. I came home to take care of the dogs. Then I made potato salad cause what goes with fish?.... Potato salad. Went back to get them at 5:30. That boat was so full. Jeff said he'd never seen so many people on a trip. We have been going out on this boat for years. They said the fishing was slower this afternoon. They got another 18 so we put lots of fish in the freezer.

Wednesday it rained last night and was cloudy when we got up. Jeff & I decided to take it easy today. Justin, I knew wouldn't be able to sit still for long. It sprinkled on and off. After lunch Justin decided to take dad's kayak out to fish. Right after he left it started raining, not a downpour but still rain. It looked like it was gonna stop but it would slow to a sprinkle then rain again. Justin was catching fish so he stayed out. Finally he came in and his fingers and feet were very pruny. We fixed for supper our catch from yesterday. It was extremely tasty. So fun to provide your own meal. 

Thursday it rained again last night. I decided to ride my bike down to the end of the island. There's another camping area there and a beach. Justin caught up with me and we walked a little on the beach. When we got back I went and got change for the shuttle. We decided to take it to Key West. We caught it right across the street from the park. We got on around 3:00 and it cost $4.00 per person. It was a long ride down, about 1 1/2 to go 40 miles, they made lots of stops. When we got off we made our way to Mallory Square. We watched the sunset at Sunset Pier restaurant. It was really nice and they had live music. Our sunset was kinda spoiled by a bunch of clouds that came out of nowhere. Still was a good time. We walked to Fogerty's to have some supper. It was outside and very nice. After eating we went to a few places to listen to music and get a drink. We didn't stay around too long, we had decided to catch the shuttle back at 8:45. No problem with that, Jeff & I sat down, Justin just happened to put his hand down before sitting and it was wet.... He smelled his hand and said it smelled like puke. Well I think maybe it was but had been cleaned up. The bus didn't stink but Justin's hand did. I gave him a bottle of sanitizer... Needless to say I think he used the whole bottle. We kinda giggled. The ride home didn't seem as long. By the time we walked back to our campsite I think it was 10:30. Late night for us.

Friday the 13th...Justin's last day. He wanted to fish some more go figure. This time they tried it up on the points, under the old  Bahia  Honda bridge. Didn't have much luck, pretty windy today.  I did happen to come across a big iguana. We came back to the campsite and start putting some stuff away. Justin was getting his stuff together cause he has to catch his shuttle at  3:15am. It was a very early night.

Saturday, started very early. I set my alarm for 2:15 am and Justin was up. We took him up to the front gate to catch his shuttle. They were a little late, I think he got on around 3:30. We headed back and went to bed for a bit. We got up and had coffee, sat outside and enjoyed our view. Justin called and said his driver about killed them more than a few times. He had used this shuttle before and was very pleased, not this time. Before we loaded up to move Justin called back to say his flight is delayed because of a repair. Guess what he's not gonna make his connecting flight. I think he finally made it home 5 hours later than he was suppose to. I don't think he'll be flying anytime soon. We called Curry Hammock before leaving to see if our spot was available yet, they said it would be ready at 11:30. We pulled out of Bahia Honda around 11:00.... Bye bye Bahia Honda, what a beautiful park.... Loved it!!

Bahia Honda State Park/ The Keys

Saturday December 30th and we are heading to the Keys. We wanted to get an early start because we had around 240 miles, and rain was heading our way. We wanted to be gone before it arrived. That didn't happen, we got hooked up but it started raining while we were dumping. On the road by about 8:15 and before long the rain had stopped. We were lucky enough to be blessed with a rainbow. Kinda concerned about traffic because of the holiday weekend but the traffic wasn't bad at all. Jeff decided to take the turnpike after researching, and almost everyone he emailed thought the same. Both of us were excited about getting to the Keys. We had never camped at the Bahia Honda campground but came down from Curry Hammock last year to check it out. We drove right to the park and right to our spot and backed in without any issues and set up on site 25. Its right on the water and the view is awesome. After setting  up we went for a walk to look around. I love this campground. When we got back from our walk we had new neighbors, Susan & Bruno from Switzerland.

Sunday we finished unloading... We got the kayaks down and even got the snorkeling stuff out. It had been awhile since we had unloaded so much. We took the kayaks and launched them right in front of our campsite. We headed off towards the old Bahia Honda bridge, then around to the other beach area. Jeff caught a good sized amberjack . The water started getting a little rough so we headed back. Jeff went back out after lunch. I stayed back and made supper and cupcakes because I found out it was Bruno's birthday. They came over to watch the sunset, eat a cupcake and visit a bit. The sunset was gorgeous and the conversation was great. So fun to meet new people and learn about there country and background.

Monday we woke up to another beautiful day, the water was flat so we kayaked over to the Atlantic side. When we kayak under the old bridge that water is really weird, the current is really strong there. It didn't really bother us but you can feel it. Jeff caught a blue runner so the trip over wasn't for nothing. When we got back Bruno stopped by to say they are taking the snorkeling trip tomorrow. We had talked about joining them, so Jeff went up and added us to the list. Jeff thought he would practice up a bit so he got in the water in front of the camper to take a look. Everyone said its good snorkeling out there and Jeff said he saw plenty of critters. After we ran to the Winn Dixie store to load up on supplies. Its only about only about 5 miles away. When we got back it was so pretty out on the water we put the boats back in. We finished off the day by watching a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday it was a little cloudy when we got up but that didn't last long and it was sunny again. Flat water again this morning so into our boats we went to peddle around. I knew there was a good reason for carrying them around all this time...Jeff caught one yellowtail snapper that was a keeper. The fishing has been kind of slow but then again it's always slow for me. After we headed up to the store to pay and board the boat for our snorkeling adventure.  It's been awhile since we've been out on a trip like this. I made sure to take my Dramamine  pill an hour before we boarded, I don't want sea sickness ruining the trip for me. It was a beautiful ride out, I had forgot how pretty that water can get. When we arrived we got our wetsuits on cause I always get cold and into the water we went. The captain had explained the boundaries and told us that the fish usually hang out around the boats. The spot is in Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary and it was really nice. Jeff and I both were surprised how pretty it was. Saw lots of fish, sponges and soft coral. The best part for us both was when we saw the giant grouper. They said that a couple of them live around here but we didn't know if we would see them. It was hanging right under a boat. Couldn't believe how big it was... Then we saw another one and it was bigger yet. They said his name was Goliath and he weighed around 250 pounds. He looked every bit of that to us. People on the boat said there was a shark too but we didn't see it. The ride home was chilly but it was a great trip and so glad we took it. The price wasn't bad either, I think it was $29. Well worth that.

December 4th and its another beautiful day so we went for a walk to the beach on the other side. We also walked up on the old Bahia Honda bridge to check out the view....amazing! On our way back Jeff wanted to stop in the nature museum. It was too hot in there for me. I told Jeff he  could check out the nature in there while I'd be outside checking it out here. Next we decided to go over  to see some Key deer. Our neighbor had told us about a road to take to see them.  Went south over 2 bridges to Big Pine Key, took the first left and down this dead end road. After driving a mile or so we  found two key deer. They are so cute, little and they really aren't scared of you either cause I got fairly close for pictures. When we returned we saw Susan & Bruno and Jeff invited them over to watch the sunset again .  They came over and brought Jeff some Yuengling beer and for me Swiss chocolate. Jeff told them that my birthdays tomorrow. I think I was more happy with my chocolate then Jeff could have been with his beer... For sure. We watched the sunset it was FANTASTIC!!

Thursday December 5th.. Happy birthday to me!! Jeff told me we could do whatever I wanted... I like the beach so we got on the bikes to see which beach looked nicer. Then I decided why not just set up in front of the camper... Our own private beach with everything you could want. He brought down his chair with umbrella and for me a fan and music....so nice. He made waffles for breakfast...yummy. Got some wishes on the phone and lots of Happy Birthdays  on Facebook.We also went up to the store and got ice cream for a snack. The cones were huge and pretty inexpensive. I finished making my Christmas ornaments which is always a relief. Jeff made chicken stir fry for supper. And to end the day... FaceTime with the grand kids. It was a great day.

Friday morning we were excited cause our youngest son was flying down to Miami today. He called in the morning telling me Dallas had a huge ice storm... I say so.. He says I'm suppose to fly in there then to Miami. Well he called the airport and his flight was cancelled. Went to the airport and they sent him to Waterloo to catch a plane to Chicago then Miami. His brother was nice enough to drive him there. Then he calls a little later to say his 1st flight was delayed so he might not make his connecting flight. Well he did but I didn't hear from him until 10:45. He barely made the Miami flight, he had to run through the airport and got there as they were closing the gate but managed to get on...hurray!! Then when he got to Miami guess what didn't.. His suitcase so he waited an hour to get it. Just when you think things are good he goes to the hotel that he booked and already paid for to find out they gave his room away. Well they paid for another room at a different hotel. I don't think he got much sleep though. He caught the shuttle and made it here Saturday around 2:00 PM. Meanwhile at our campsite Jeff went out fishing again  today in the Bay Area and caught a couple grunts. I decided to give it a try and I caught a couple, they must have been dumb. I always say the only fish I can catch are the dumb ones.

 

Saturday December 7th.. Justin texted me when he got on the bus, he was waiting to see if maybe they went out of business. Nope he's on his way. It did rain a bit this morning but I was hoping it would be gone before Justin arrived. It did and was sunny when he pulled in. We fed him and he was ready to go get tackle and a fishing license. Went back to the store to get stuff he'd want. We ended the day by going for supper at the Sunset Grill in Marathon. It was a beautiful evening and the food was good. Came home and Justin was sleeping by 8:00. So went up and watched a movie in our bedroom. I can't believe we have been here a week already. Time flys.....

St. Lucie South Campground/ Stuart.FL

We were really watching the weather as it's calling for rain and storms. We left around  9:30 and after missing all that rain we had an easy trip to our new spot, St. Lucie South. We had an easy time finding our spot cause there's only 9 sites. We were set up by 11:30. Never been to this park before and it's really, really quiet. It's very clean and we are sitting on a cement pad. We had some lunch and decided to take the dogs for a walk. This campground is located on a canal, so you can walk over the locks to the other side of the canal. There are lots of boats that take advantage of this canal. They say it saves boats over 200 miles with this shortcut across South Florida. Jeff decided to try fishing but needed some tackle. We found a Walmart and he got what he needed.

Wednesday we woke up to rain but the storm missed us. It cleared up pretty quick and it turned out to be a nice day.

Thursday November 29th....Happy Thanksgiving.. Our day started kinds scary Belle woke up and went to the bathroom to spit up, both of us were really nervous cause last time she did that she had a seizure. Not this time... I was very thankful for that. We put our turkey in the crock pot and fixed the rest of our little Thanksgiving dinner. Everything was good but I burnt the corn. I had it heated up but turned it off cause we were waiting for the other stuff. Well when I turned it on , I never turned the gas down. I'm still not used to cooking with gas. That's OK we had plenty to eat. We watched the parade on TV, and even some old family videos. We walked the dogs and took the rest of the day off.

Friday the weather was weird, sunny and nice then it would rain and then it would get sunny again then rain. We couldn't get much done outside so we decided to hit the grocery store and load up before heading to the Keys. We both are excited about our upcoming Keys adventure. We researched our route to Bahia Honda and loaded up for the trip.

Sebastian Inlet State Park/ Sebastian,FL

Sunday November 24th. We wanted to get an early start because we have about 240 miles to drive today.  We got on the road around 8:30 and  the drive seemed really long. It sprinkled some but that wasn't the real problem, the wind that kicked up now that was something and the gusts were wicked. You could really feel them when we were going over the causeways. Then it started raining more. We pulled into the State Park and found out the Campground was over the bridge, so they redirected us out over the bridge and right to the camping area. At least it was an easy turn around. We drove right to our site  #37, it was a little difficult to get in but we got it done. It was still windy and raining so that didn't help either. Our site wasn't very level because  we were on a downhill slope. We do have a self leveling system on our rig and we also put plastic blocks under the legs. When we went to level her up we couldn't get it to self level so Jeff had to level it himself this time by running it in manual mode. We finished setting up and after the rain stopped we ventured out to see what this  campground  has to offer. The water looked really gray and not pretty at all, the bright side....we saw dolphins. I love watching dolphins. What really concerned us was the weather forecast for tomorrow wasn't that good either.

Monday it was cloudy like they said so Jeff decided to go fill up the truck and visit the McLarty Treasure Museum. It was just 2 miles down the road and onlycost $2.00 to get in so the price was right. The museum was about the Spanish fleet of ships that sank off the coast of Florida in 1715. They sank right off the coast were the museum is located and they are still finding treasure off the coast today.

Me, I decided to stay back and do the laundry and clean our screens, but before noon the sun decided to make an appearance and the clouds moved out and the blue sky showed up. We decided to walk around and ended up by the water, now with the sun out it went from a dirty gray to a pretty aqua. To make it even better it was alive with people fishing from the shore, boats dotting the water and dolphins swimming around them. It was so nice we decided to get the bikes down to see more. I couldn't believe how many people were out fishing. I think that's one of the draws here...fishing. We rode our bikes down to the pier and the jetties. It's really pretty here, the bad thing is we are only here for 2 days we haven't even began to see all it's beauty. Would love to come back here someday.

We really watched the radar trying to plan our departure. It's calling for rain and possible thunderstorms on Tuesday our moving day, the good news we don't have very far to travel.

Crooked River State Park/Cumberland Island

Thursday November 21st, time to move on down the road. It was cloudy and cool this morning when we took off. After dumping and checking our route we hit the road around 9:30. It wasn't a bad drive after we got out of Savannah.

We arrived at Crooked River around  12:30 and the office was out to lunch. We made reservations so we knew we had a spot but when reserving a spot you can't pick the one you want. Jeff decided to drive and find a site with no tag. He had printed a map out and also had talked to a couple people who told him which sites would work best for big rigs.

We choose site #49 and backed her in. Didn't have any problems but before setting up Jeff rode his bike up to check in. Good news the site is ours. We got busy unhooking and setting up. We both liked the park as soon as we rolled in. So many tall pine trees and the sites are large and private. Only gonna be here for 3 nights so after setting up we took a walk to check it out further.

Friday looked to be the pick day so we decided to pack up some things and drive into St. Mary's, from there we purchased tickets on the ferry to Cumberland Island. The weather was great...the sky was blue, the sun was shining and the temperature was in the high 70's. On the way over we spotted some dolphins which is always a good thing. Who doesn't love watching them? We met some nice people while waiting to get on the boat and visited with them on the way over. We unloaded and first looked in the ice house museum. Jeff did most of the looking in there as I was checking out this huge live oak outside . We had a map and they had kind of given us an idea of were to go so we took off towards the ruins that is called Dungeness. It is a ruined mansion that is part of a historic district that was the home of several families significant in American history. We also saw the remains of a recreation area that included an indoor pool and slave quarters. There was a walking tour but I didn't really want to do it. They also had a cell phone tour that you could call at each stop and listen to a bit of history about that stop. We got most excited about maybe seeing the wild horses and we did see some, but from a distance.  I wish we could have seen them a little closer although we did see close up the proof that they were here. We also saw 6 or 7 wild turkeys. The path we took lead us through some huge live oaks  with the Spanish moss. I never get tired of looking at them. Next we went over some sand dunes to the beach. We walked up the beach to a marked spot. This is were we saw the coolest trees ever... They reminded us of the trees in the Wizard of Oz minus the flying monkeys. The branches were long and twisted. Some of the branches were low enough to sit on. We stopped here and had a snack while enjoying the views. We met up at the pick up spot. They even had some rocking chairs to sit in while waiting for the ride home. A nice bonus was the beautiful sunset we watched on the way back. What a nice end of the day.

Saturday was another warm one. We decided to get the dogs out for a walk since they spent most of the day inside. And since it's another nice day decided to get a few things done. Haircuts for Jeff & Belle and a run to the store to get some supplies, so we'll be set for the next week. Tomorrow we arrive in Florida and our reserved spots. We really liked this park and would definitely like to come back.

Skidaway State Park/Savannah GA

Sunday November 17th we got up and was packing up and so were our neighbors. We visited with them for awhile cause we weren't in a big hurry to leave. She told me about a recipe she uses in there holding tanks. It's pine sol and Calgon water softener... I never heard of that, but I'll keep it in mind, might just give it a try.

Jeff had researched Skidaway park and had heard a few comments from people about how tight it is. Then he went on the computer to see if he could come up with another park. After debating we decided to go ahead and go for it. The drive was fairly easy and finding the park was easy too. We pulled over and Jeff got on his bike to find a site. He came back and had one picked out. We drove into it and figured out we had pulled in the wrong way... Well if you are in a car no big deal but if you're pulling 40 foot of train....big deal. So we decided to get out of there and go to a new site. The pull through had so many trees and curved so much it was hard to get it in there. We have more problems with those pulls thrus. Driving through the park was confusing on which way to go. Finally we got into a nice site, the good news we  met a nice couple Mike & Barbara, who stopped to ask if they could help. After setting up we walked around the campground and both decided we loved the park, now that we have it figured out. Next time we will know which direction to drive and which sites to choose. 

The park is really pretty, trees are everywhere. They are tall and loaded with Spanish moss. It's very quiet as well.

Monday we thought we would head into Savannah to explore the sights. The weather was calling for rain so we decided to make the trip in on Tuesday instead. We did go to get a few groceries. When we got back walked around the park again. I also downloaded my pictures and worked on the blog. 



Tuesday we got up and got ready to go to town. It was cool to start but it ended up being a perfect day to explore. We drove to the visitors center and parked in there lot. It wasn't free but it was great for us, plenty of room. We caught a trolley there and toured the city. It only cost us $15.00 each. We chose to stay on the  trolley for the whole tour, marking the map on what we wanted to go back and see. After the tour was done we walked to a restaurant (Clarey's) and had lunch. Jeff had a Reuben and I had French toast. A friend of mine recommended it. This restaurant had been here for a long time, and offered a bit of everything. Both of us liked it. We mapped out our path and went to explore. This is a beautiful city, it's full of history and big live oaks draped with moss. The trolley tour really filled you in on lots of the history. We walked around the city looking at lots of squares, a very old cemetery, and lots of beautiful homes and buildings. We left the city around 3 and when we pulled out of the parking lot our fee was only $4.00. We didn't think that was bad. We headed back to the campground and I made some red velvet cupcakes and invited our new friends over to help us eat them. They are leaving tomorrow, we decided to stay another day.





Time Period Actress on Trolley



Another Actor on Trolley Tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, we headed back into town. It was cloudy and really cool today and stayed like that. We went to the city market and checked it out. We got there a bit early and a lot of stuff was closed. Then we headed down to the riverfront. The old cobblestone streets are so neat you can't believe they've been there so long. Went thru the shops at the riverfront and I think our favorite was the candy store. They gave free samples and we got to watch them cut and wrap saltwater taffy. The machine was 99 years old. While down by the river we watched a cargo container ship go by. It was so close and so huge. Stopped for lunch at Outback, we had a gift certificate the kids had gotten us for Christmas.  When we got home we started putting some stuff away because tomorrow's a travel day again. Another new spot to locate.



One of the Beautiful Squares



Cathedral of St. John the Baptist



Old Cobblestone Building on Riverfront