Yachts of Land & Sea; and The Power of Pink

 Again, thanks to the Internet, we found this wonderful little campground at a marina. Right off the bat, the owner invited us to a barbecue the next evening!
From here we headed to Lake Okeechobee, because there is a National Scenic Trail around it. Well, it seems they built a levee around the lake, and you can't see it from the road. But it appears that there is a moat around the lake! Had a nice shrimp dinner in town.
At the barbecue, we met a lot of nice folks, mostly from Canada, who dock here for the winter, and boat as far as Cuba. I tried to get a photo of the local armadillo, but he scuttled into the bushes before I could focus.

On Sat morning we saw something about the Breast Cancer Walk on the news, so we drove to West Palm to check it out. Here's where the money is on the Atlantic coast!! Some of the yachts in the harbor were almost as big as cruise ships!
But the City Park on the waterfront was booming with the Pink event! These folks sure know how to do a fund raiser!!

Time for some R&R

Sometimes Mother Nature forces us to slow down, take time to rest and relax. We've been on the road since 1/15, always going here and there, see more, do more. But Bernie picked up a bad tummy bug, so we're staying put to do just that for a couple of days.

Fortunately, thanks to the internet, we found a wonderful County Park with just a few RV spaces, ponds, recreation areas, equestrian and senior center adjacent. While Bernie slept, I took a long, leisurely walk thru the park. It's warm, about 60 degrees, not windy or humid, and a pure joy to be outdoors. Camera in hand, I watched recruits training by running up and down a hill, saw boys playing J'ai A'lai (we call it Lacrosse), observed middle-age men playing competitive frisbee rather like a golf game, with carts and such, spoke with an elderly couple who used to bring their children here to play and swim. No swimming now, even if it was warm enough, though there is a small beach area near the far end of the park.

The ponds are surrounded by tall, scruffy pines with long, thin needles in a fan-like pattern with huge pine cones, as well as the usual palms and some other unusual berry bushes. I saw ducks, an egret and woodpeckers. Blue jays and cardinals are plentiful here also. So I got some great, what I call "calendar" photos. Because some year, I'm really going to find the time to make calendars as holiday gifts!

To the Moon and beyond......

Today we visited the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral. The visitor center has grown over the year's, to include displays on the earliest rockets thru the Space station and shuttle programs. There are just 3 more shuttle flights scheduled, then the program ends and a new one has already begun.

Do you remember where you were when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon and said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."? Or were you watching when the Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after take off 25 years ago? Well, we remembered and we got to relive those moments today, as well as some others.
And along the way, I stopped to visit an old friend :)

Driving Daytona

Viewing the Start/Finish Line from the "Sprint Tower"

Now you may be wondering, "why is Grandma Su visiting NASCAR race tracks??"

Truth is, I'm a motor-head from way back. Daddy helped build stock cars (he was the "trannie" expert) when I was a girl, but I wasn't allowed or encouraged because he wanted to keep me away from the boys....good luck!!

Got a '57 Chevy, classic turquoise and white, when I graduated from high school in '66. A simple 6 cylinder, 3 on the tree, not a race type car, but it sure looked cool!

Over 30 years, I attended and watched all kinds of drag races, idolized folks like Cha-Cha Shirley Muldowney and John Force, attended Daytona Race Day parties, drove the Camaro on a parade lap at Watkins Glenn, rode the GM test track, and ran the Corvette down the Lewiston escarpment at 100 mph! One of my dreams was to learn to drive and race the track at the Glenn. But, alas, it was not to be. I still admire a fast, sleek, good looking car, but those days are past.

But miss a chance to say I was on the track (if even only n a tour bus) at Daytona? Never!

And to add to the excitement of the day, as we settled into the Walmart lot for the night, we braced ourselves for a thunderstorm/possible tornado! Relieved to report, lots of wind and rain, but we're still here!

Romantic St Augustine

The Spanish flair of St Augustine captured our hearts! This is the oldest city in the USA, founded by Spaniards in 1565. The city cherishes it heritage and uses it to it's best advantage. Like turning the Ponce de Leon Hotel into a college,

 the other old hotel into city hall and a museum.

 The historical, narrowly-streeted portion of the city has been made into a lovely downtown "village" of shops & restaurants void of traffic, train-like trolleys provide tours, preserved castle/fort, and charming waterfront. Across the intercoastal are sandy beaches you can drive on (by permit only), a pier beside a "water-pad park" and a working lighthouse.

What could be more romantic than a carriage ride at dusk? At night, the city dazzles with millions of lights, even after the holiday displays were over.

 All in all, very charming!

So Much for Savannah

We left our Campground on Edisto Island a day early to travel to Savannah. I got my first chance to drive the rig, and it went well....meaning I didn't drift off the road or scrape anything! It's exhausting though....physically and mentally...not natural like driving the car.
But it was so damn cold this AM! Once again our toes were frozen an hour down the road, and as we pulled into our camp for the night...Walmart/Sam's Club...I even saw a few tiny white flakes!!! So we had a nice bowl of soup and took a nap.
Two hours later we drove into Savannah to get our first look. We started at the waterfront, known as Factor's Row. Here they converted old dockside storage areas into bi-level shops, hotels and condos, along River Rd and Bay St, connected by wrought iron stairwells and bridges, and surrounded by cobblestone road, with a trolley running through. Nice concept, but since we're not shoppers....well, it seemed a bit "tourist-y" to us. So we drove through the city, laid out around small square parks, lovely row houses, nice downtown shopping district. And best of all...Leopold's Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor. Yummy!!
But since we weren't even inspired to take photos, nor to take another trip in tomorrow morning, tell us we didn't love Savannah as we expected to. So tonight a movie from the Red Box at Walmart, and tomorrow on southward.

Beautiful Beaufort

The sun came out after we did some chores, and we just couldn't resist checking out Beaufort, about an hour down the road. And so glad we did!

This is a beautiful, charming, and laid back Southern hospitality kind of place we could easily settle in. Just miles down the road from the USMC Air Base (yes, we did see some jets fly about), across the intercoastal from Paris Island USMC training base,  the gracious homes, charming "downtown" shopping district and the positively lovely Waterfront Park all made us delighted to linger and stroll.

Along the waterfront on Bay St, we noted a lovely home for sale. An app on B's iPhone allowed us to check it out. Four bedrooms, each with a bath, 4000 square feet, beautifully landscaped by some famous horticulturist, and previously the home of a Confederate General. Sales price............2.5 MILLION!!!

Well, seems we won't be retiring there!