Georgia Aquarium Atlanta GA

It was a fun day at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. We left the RV at 9:20 and drove to downtown Atlanta, arriving there just as it opened at 10. We were pretty surprised at the crowd that was there already, but we bought our tickets at the credit card kiosk (much faster than waiting in the cash line) and entered the Aquarium. It is laid out in a pretty convenient way in that one enters into a huge central area from which the various exhibits extended. We went first to the Coldwater Quest area. At the entry one could touch sea anemones, urchins, and starfish. They had an exhibit of Japanese Spider Crabs that was truly impressive. At most of the exhibits they had volunteers or staff members to explain and answer questions. We saw woody dragon seahorses, beluga whales and otters at feeding time.

The next exhibit was Ocean Voyager. This is the big aquarium, 280’ long. The first viewing area is an acrylic tube that one can walk through with the fish overhead and beside us. The big area was like an Imax theater with the whole front viewing glass. They have several whale sharks which are impressive along with hammerhead sharks, a leopard ray, huge groupers. It was mesmerizing. We stopped to have lunch at the aquarium food court. I had a decent mushroom and goat cheese pizza while Bill had a chicken Caesar salad. The Aquarium was beginning to fill up especially with lots of strollers. That was an obstacle course.

Then it was on to the Titanic exhibit. They had lots of relics retrieved from the ship plus many exhibits concerning the ship. We stopped to see the Georgia Explorer which was mainly a kids play area We did the River Scout exhibit which had mainly river fish (not so pretty or impressive) river otters, and some alligators. Finally we went to the Tropical Diver which had lots of coral and reef fish and was quite pretty. We finally gave up at 3 and headed back to the RV.

Bill watched a ballgame and a golf match while I chatted with Mandy and read. We had leftovers out of the refrigerator so that we will have less to haul into the house when we get home. About 10 we drove over to the main area of the park to see the carving lit up at night. There wasn’t any good way to view it, so I wonder why they even have it lit at night.

We leave tomorrow for home and will stop for one night at Concord NC arriving back in Raleigh on Tuesday.

Stone Mountain GA

It was a fun day. We left the RV at 9:30 to do the park. We drove over, got our tickets, and got on the 10:30 cable car up to the top of the mountain. That was kind of interesting. There were some neat exhibits in the building along with a snack shop. There was a fenced off area for some endangered plants, a great view of Atlanta in the distance, and a good view of our campsite. We came back down and went to the Stone Mountain Museum. This area has had a rather dark side with the expulsion of the Indians and Klan rallies. We had lunch at the museum café. I had a really neat BLT with apple smoked bacon and fried green tomatoes which was really yummy. Bill had a Graceland sandwich, a grilled peanut butter, chocolate, banana sandwich. That was good, too.

From there we went to the Granite Exhibit which was really well done, showing the years of granite mining on the mountain. But the best part was the Antebellum Plantation. This was an area of buildings brought here and reconstructed. The buildings were open with wonderful descriptions of the furnishings. Everything was labeled which I truly appreciated. The major exhibit was the Dickey House, a huge 6250 sq foot mansion. That was a lot of fun, and we spent a bit of time there.

Bill stopped to see what was being offered at the antique store that was closing after 40 years. I stayed in the car and snoozed. He came back with a catalog of pretty impressive items. Finally we took the train ride around the mountain which was a 5 mile ride and rather anti-climatic.

We got back to the RV about 5:30 which was a longer day than we had anticipated. Bill grilled steaks for dinner, and we relaxed a bit.

Stone Mountain GA

We have gone from a stark parking place in a huge, muddy field to a lovely wooded lakeside campsite with a view of the side of Stone Mountain. The site is a very narrow one with steep sides, but we can put our chairs where we have a lovely view. We packed up this morning and made the weighing appointment Bill had made for 9:30 at the convention. They weighed all four corners of the RV, and we are well within our acceptable weight even with the tanks all loaded. Bill felt really good about that.

We only had a two hour drive to Stone Mountain, so we stopped at a pretty rest area near Macon, and sat in a pretty picnic area taking a break. We got here at 1:30. Setting up in this site was a little tricky because of the steep sides of the site, but we got it done. One RV site in another loop near the laundry has a big motor home on it, but the site is so not level that the owner has put bricks under his front jacks which took the front wheels at least 2 feet off the ground. We have no idea how that can be safe at all!! We took a ride around the mountain, checking out some of the things we want to do tomorrow. It was a lovely sunny day, but in the low 60s. It is supposed to be in the 30s here tonight, so we might beat spring back to Raleigh.

Bill did some laundry. I did some unpacking chores around the RV. We have a weak WiFi connection, but our Verizon card is working well. The satellite isn’t getting a signal, but the antenna is bringing in the major networks, so we can at least watch the news and The Amazing Race on Sunday.

Perry GA FMC Convention

It was our last day at the Family Motor Coaching Convention. Bill left at 7:30 for a seminar on tips for RVing. I went over at 9 to meet him for the Canadian Maritime Province seminar. On the tram, some folks were talking about the convention and stated that the entertainment was worth the price of admission. Can we say Kazoos?!?! Te seminar was kind of a bust since their big screen had so much glare that we couldn’t see the beautiful photos. The first speaker started talking and people in the back (when there were lots of good seats up front) said they couldn’t hear. The speaker turned up her mic, and the lady said she still couldn’t hear, and the speaker told her to move closer to the front. Hee.

After that we went through the building of booths that I hadn’t seen. Bill bought a $5 kneeling pad which I liked since I put the wood under the jacks, and a pad will save my knees on gravel. We split a Philly cheese steak sandwich and wandered through some new motor homes. Some of them were really gaudy. We went back to the Camping World booth and Bill bought a water hose on a reel and a new lawn chair that finally is comfortable for him. We came on back to the RV. The guy next to us just had his 15 year old RV repainted and put new furniture in. The paint job looked great in shades of black, gray, and dark red. He invited us in to see the new leather furniture. I was stunned. He had his pilot/copilot chairs, sofa, and recliner done in a shade of avocado that I haven’t seen since the 1970s! And I know it wasn’t cheap.

We ate leftovers for dinner and then watched some guys working on the RV across from us. They were buffing the exterior, and it really was starting to shine. I talked to the guy who said they were taking off the corroded paint and then were going to wash and wax it. It really was making a difference. Tomorrow Bill signed up to get the RV weighed at 9:30, and then we head out to Stone Mountain.

Perry GA FMC Convention

It was another sunny day in Perry GA. We both got up early and caught the 7:30 tram over to the South Africa RV seminar. This was presented by a company who sponsors these trips, but it was a rather neat photo presentation of an RV trip in Africa. Bill and I want to go to Africa, but not this way. They are gone for 37 days, and it costs $15,000 per person plus gas. We are looking at a National Geographic tour that is also expensive but is a much more civilized trip.

After the presentation we shared a breakfast at one of the two restaurants. Bill went on to his three hour RVing seminar, and I came back to the RV. We lost power for about 15 minutes. This has been an iffy electrical setup. Our clocks are losing about 10 minutes every 24 hours. Bill went to the ice cream social that was supposed to start at 1pm. They were out of ice cream by the time he got there at 1:15, so he wandered around talking to some vendors before he came back to the RV. I took a nap before we headed into Perry at 5. We went to Walmart and then had dinner at a Chinese buffet. It wasn’t too bad. We did drive around the outskirts of the fairgrounds, and the number of RVs here is mind-boggling. Hopefully we can get an aerial photo of the convention. That would be impressive. Bill also picked up some info on Stone Mountain, our next destination.

Perry GA FMC Convention

It was a lovely sunny day finally. Bill took off for a seminar on batteries. I had breakfast and took the tram over to the main fairground buildings to meet Bill for lunch. I had an hour to kill so I went into one of the main exhibit buildings. It was typical fair booths with an RV emphasis – brakes, tow bars, campgrounds, cleaning products, and an assortment of jewelry, handbags, bed sheets, Tupperware (my, how it has changed since I bought it!). By the time I made it through this one building, it was time to meet Bill. He only had a half hour, so we went to a Beef Tips and Spuds tent. They had run out of ‘spuds’, so we got a dish of beef tips, onions, and mushrooms. Lord.

Bill went on to his 3 hour RV Driving seminar. I hung around for a half hour because I had to see “Rick Hubbard and the Kazoobie Kazoo Show”. This was a one man, guitar/banjo/kazoo player show. We all got free kazoos. He put on a surprisingly interesting show. It was the audience participation I could have done without. The average age of the audience had to have been 75. He had them up there blowing bubbles for a bubble song he had written, shaking maracas, and playing household objects in an audience band. And through it all, he had the audience playing along with their kazoos. Mr. Hubbard also is owner of the only US manufacturer of plastic kazoos. After the show, I caught the tram back to the RV and sat outside in the shade reading.

Bill showed up at 4:45. He said the seminar wasn’t too bad, but lots of audience members had to insert their own stories into the seminar. He has another 3 hours tomorrow of the same thing. He grilled steaks for dinner, watched Judge Judy, and then we rode his bike back over to see Tony Kenny’s Irish show. He didn’t stay too long. I keep waiting for the chamber music which will never happen.

Perry GA FMC Convention

It was a cold, nasty, rainy day all day! I kept rolling over and going back to sleep as is fitting on a day like today. Bill was up early and over to the info pavilion to sign up for a safe driving seminar tomorrow. He hung around there and went to a seminar on RVing in Atlantic Canada and a towing roundtable. He didn’t learn anything new about towing, but he got some info about Canada. He ate lunch there, went to some exhibits. He spun the wheel at a booth sponsored by Minute Rice and won the ‘big’ prize. He even got his photo taken with his prize – a microwavable brown and wild rice product containing two individual servings. We got a laugh out of that.

I stayed here drinking coffee, chatting with Mandy, and watching the folks try to ford the huge Georgia red mud puddles next to us. They have to get to the road to catch the tram to the main exhibit/seminar buildings. The best thing I saw was a little old couple. The husband had on plastic grocery bags tied around his shoes. His wife had on Zip Loc baggies, and they walked gingerly through the mud. The RV in front of us gave up and left even though the rain should stop late tonight, and the sun should shine the rest of the week.

Perry GA FMC Convention

We got packed up, hooked up, and left Kings Bay by 9. The drive to Perry GA was fairly uneventful. It did start to sprinkle just before we arrived at the Georgia State Fairgrounds where this big rally is being held. We are parked in a huge field, but luckily we are at the end of the row next to an asphalt road which gives us a little more room. They have strung electric lines over our section of the field, and we share a box with the RV next to us and the one behind us. We get 30 amp power but no water or sewer. We hadn’t been in our spot very long when it started raining. And it rained, and it rained, and it rained. The area around us was pretty swampy. It has stopped for tonight, but we are supposed to get a bit tomorrow, too.

Bill took the tram over to the main exhibit buildings to look around. I didn’t want to traipse around in the rain, so I stayed here. The seminars and exhibits start tomorrow. There are only a couple of seminars that I want to attend, so I will stay home with my books. We do have what appear to be fire ants in the area, so we will have to be careful. I do have ant bait, so I am prepared if they try and invade the RV. Bill says there are fair food booths over in the exhibit area, but I can check those out after the rain stops.

Kings Bay GA

It was a cool, foggy morning. Everything outside under the awning was wet even though it hadn’t rained. After lunch, the sun finally came out, but it didn’t warm up too much. We went to the commissary to stock up on food for the coming week. Bill is really looking forward to the seminars at the Family Motor Coaching rally in Perry GA. Me, not so much. There is one seminar about RVing in southern Africa that sounds interesting even if it is at 8am on Wednesday morning. We will be there until Friday.

We got gas for the Tracker, some cigars and scotch for Bill, and came back to the RV. We put the food away, and I cleaned up the coffee pot and got it packed away. We did a few other items that needed to be done and then sat outside and read. Tomorrow we hope to be out of here by 9, so it will be an early wake-up to shower since we won’t have water hook-ups all week. We do have a water tank, but we will have to be frugal. It should be an interesting week.

Kings Bay GA

It was a much cooler day at Kings Bay. We slept in which is always nice on cool mornings. Last night there was a great blue heron out front. We hung around here in the morning. At 12:30 Bill drove down to Amelia Island for the Concours d’Elegance. This is a high end classic car show and sales. Bill wanted to look at the cars and meet David Hobbs, a Formula 1 race who now announces races on the Speed Channel. He called a couple of times and was having a pretty good time. He got back here about 4.

While Bill was gone, I chatted with Mandy while I worked on labeling photos. I got those all caught up. Mandy and Cynthia are going to Boston in the morning for the weekend. Saturday night they are going to see the musical Dirty Dancing. At 6 we left to drive back down to Amelia Island to meet Nancy Van Tyle and her friend Candy for dinner. They had found a place called Brett’s Waterway Restaurant and were waiting in the bar for us. It was a really nice restaurant. I had fried green tomatoes, shrimp bisque, and red pepper polenta, all of which were quite good. Nancy and Candy shared some fried green tomatoes and had salads. It was a fun evening chatting. Nancy and Candy met a lifetime ago when both were working in Alaska, so it was fun to hear their stories.

Kings Bay GA

It was a lovely down day! I slept in, had coffee outside looking at the lake, had breakfast. Bill went to get gas and a paper. It was almost too windy out to read outside, but he managed. I worked on cleaning up photos. I got all 150 of them done and posted the best ones online. We did a few chores around here and cleaned up some things. A nice relaxing day.

I did post photos from Okefenokee Swamp Park and the Jacksonville Zoo. The link can be found on the left.

Jacksonville FL Zoo

We had a lovely day at the Jacksonville Zoo, arriving at 11:15. It is not a large zoo, but it is well laid out and well-kept. The birds here were amazing. In the first aviary we saw magpies, storks, rollers, and flamingos. Then we took the train (an extra $4) around the park. Next came the big treat: an aviary full of lories. We bought a small cup of nectar for $1 and went in. There were at least 15 lories flying free. Most were rainbow lorikeets with one beautiful black-capped lory. I got one to rest on my hand and drink the nectar while Bill took some photos. Then Bill took the nectar. He got three lorikeets on his arm and the black-capped one on his head. I got some neat photos of that. These are amazingly beautiful birds.

We had a hamburger that wasn’t too bad and continued on our tour. We wandered though the new bamboo gardens and saw the two komodo dragons they have there. We saw red kangaroos, wallabies, spider monkeys, river otters, giant otters, poison dart frogs (I love these guys because they are so colorful), two-toed sloth, a beautiful ant-eater, capybaras.

Then we entered another aviary where we saw some really unique and very beautiful birds: white-headed piping guan, an awesome pair of Inca terns, a chestnut mandible toucan, a totally amazing black-throated magpie jay, scarlet ibis, and just a whole host of amazing birds. I got some really awesome photos which I will get posted soon. It truly was awesome.

We then saw gorillas and bonobos. They have a special platform to look at the giraffes. Bill bought some lettuce, and we got to feed one. The giraffe was very gentle and just curled her tongue around the lettuce to take it from us. Being above the giraffes was certainly a unique way to view them. We saw lions, tigers, elephants, cheetahs, cape buffalo, zebra before we wandered into a reptile building to cool off. We saw the neatest snake ever, a gaboon viper. It had beautiful gray and light blue markings plus rectangular markings on its back that looked like stubby pencils sharpened at both ends.

As we came to the last open viewing area, we could see lots of white birds in the trees. Turns out they are nesting wood stork (endangered and not part of the zoo collection). There were tons of them up close and personal. It was kind of funny that we searched high and low at Six Mile Slough and Corkscrew Swamp preserves to catch a glimpse of just one, and her there were at least 50. They were building nests in the trees next to the zoo boardwalk. And we also saw a new kind of heron for us, a goliath heron. There was a nesting pair down below the boardwalk, and they are also magnificent birds. I love the African crowned crane, but it paled in comparison to these other birds.

We saw kudu, bongos, warthogs, finally a red wolf, sandhill cranes. We took the train around the park one last time before the zoo closed. I took way too many photos, but many of them turned out quite well, and once I process them, I hope to get them uploaded.

We got back to the RV at 6. At 7 we went to the Irish Pub at the bowling alley (this was Bill’s idea) for a light dinner. There wasn’t much of a selection, so I got a Rueben, and Bill got fish and chips. It was a long, hot day, but a really fun one. We can recommend the Jacksonville zoo to anyone if they get in the area!

Okefenokee Swamp GA

It was a lovely day today, sunny and in the 80s. We left the RV and headed for Okefenokee Swamp Park. This is the north entrance and is a contract, non-profit run park. At first glance, it seems to be showing its age, created in 1945. The entrance building is newer and more modern, but some of the buildings and boardwalks are not as well-kept as they might be. Our first disappointment was that the little café promised on the website was closed, so we went without lunch. We did buy some crackers and survived on that.

We wandered around and saw a river otter and some alligators. They had some exhibit buildings including one about Walt Kelly and his cartoon character Pogo. At noon we went to a nature show in an old amphitheater. The young woman who gave the talk was personable and mainly talked about local snakes. She had some non-venomous snakes and a couple of baby alligators. At one, we took a 30 minute boat ride through part of the swamp. That was lovely, and we saw some more alligators.

The train ride that comes with admission was not going to run for another hour, so we walked to the Pioneer Island and looked at some old settler buildings and then left. We got home about 4 after 120 mile round trip. We were glad we had gone, but I doubt we would go back. At 5:30 we went to the Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, Osaka, that we like so much. We had some sake and a great sushi called Dynamite. It was a salmon, tuna, crab, and cream cheese rolled in nori, battered with tempura batter and fried. It was quite tasty. Then we had the teppanyaki – two shrimp appetizers, soup, salad, grilled veggies, fried rice. I got a rib eye, and Bill got a filet, shrimp, and chicken. It was all delicious and inexpensive. We were quite full when we came on home. Bill did a load of towels, and then we settled in for the night.

Kings Bay GA

It is getting really warm now, so we went off doing chores. After lunch we went to the BX to get our hair cut. I went into the beauty shop, and Bill went next door to the barber shop. I got a decent hair cut, but Bill got the ‘active duty military’ cut, really short! He likes it, but it will take me time to get used to it.

We went off base, and right outside the gate are the ruins of an old tabby sugar mill built by a man named John McIntosh in 1825. The ruins are in pretty good shape considering they are almost 200 years old. Tabby must last a long time! Then we drove on down the road 3 mils to Crooked River State Park. It is a small but rather pretty park on the Crooked River. We just drove through the park and enjoyed it. Then we came on home to the RV. Bill worked a little on the Tracker, redoing some wiring on the battery. It had died again on us today, and we hope this was the short and it is fixed.

At 5:30 we went to dinner at Sonny’s Barbecue. We had eaten in one before and enjoyed it, but this one was crowded and the food rather sub-par but edible. We got home about 7:30, just in time to watch the coots come in to sleep. We weren’t out more than a couple of minutes talking to the neighbors when the biting midges descended upon us. I went in and got my face net which I got for Alaska and never used. It protected me, and Bill’s cigar smoke took care of him. Watching the coots come in adds new meaning to the phrase chickens coming home to roost.

Kings Bay GA

It was a gorgeous day today. Bill was up early and went out for a drive and a stop at Wal-Mart to get a new crock pot. I slept in since I had stayed up too late watching TV last night. We hung out around the RV this afternoon. Bill watched some race, and I worked on finishing the labels on the photos. I got that done, and some back-up CDs burned. We also spent some time outside reading. This is a lovely place to just relax.

Bill grilled steaks for dinner, and we watched another good episode of The Amazing Race.

After dinner, about dusk, we watched the coots come in to roost. It was awesome. There are many more than 200 coots, probably closer to 1000. It looked like an ant colony coming in. They split into two groups, a smaller one in front of us and a much larger group across the lake. They floated in a very orderly manner, mostly single file. I got a few photos, and I will see if they come out. Now we have something to look forward to every night.

Kings Bay GA

I have to tell about last night. We were outside about 11, just looking at the stars. There was really strange noises coming from the lake. It sounded like a small tidal wave. We walked to the edge of the lake, and there were some waves coming on shore. We finally figured out that it must have been the 150-200 coots flapping their wings in the grassy reeds at our end of the lake. This must be where they come to sleep at night. Tonight at dusk we saw them head in from the deeper parts of the lake coming in to the grassy area. And just a little bit ago, I went out, and they were just chattering out there. It was an interesting event.

Today was another beautiful day. We are both enjoying the time to rest and relax. We both sat outside and read. I also worked on labeling photos. I did about 400 and only have 150 left to do before I am caught up. I also got my hair colored which really needed it. I get it colored in the RV and then went down to the shower to rinse it out. We both need to get haircuts some time next week. And we are looking at going to another area of the Okefenokee Swamp next week.

Kings Bay GA

It was a beautiful day in Kings Bay. We didn’t do much at all today except sit outside and read. I finished one book and started another. It is really nice to just relax. This afternoon Bill started on his crock pot bread pudding. It smelled great all afternoon, but by 6:30, it wasn’t quite done, but we packed up to go to the rec center for the dessert pot luck at 7. We got down there to find that Bill had misread the calendar, and the pot luck is next Friday. So we came home and had bread pudding for dessert. And watched some TV. It should be much warmer next week, so maybe we will get out for some adventures then.

Kings Bay GA

It was another chilly day (but sunny) at Kings Bay. We were a little more productive today. I continued to work on photos. After lunch, we unhooked the RV and drove to the campground propane tank and filled up. We have gone through lots of propane since January because of the cold and our use of the furnace. But the propane was cheaper here on base. We came back, parked, and hooked back up. Bill went to the commissary, and I vacuumed.

We had BLTs for dinner, and the tomato I had bought at the produce store in Plant City was great. We watched some TV, and I uploaded photos finally for St Augustine, Ft Myers, and Tampa.

It continues to get warmer, so maybe we can start venturing out without freezing our okoles off!

I added links to the photos in the column on the left.

Kings Bay GA

It was a really cold day at Kings Bay. We both slept in, reveling in the warm covers. It stayed in the 40s, was quite windy, but the sun was shining. We are staying close to the RV while it is this cold. I alternated between working on labeling the photos (250 of them!), watching what birds ventured on the lake, and chatting with Mandy. Bill worked on taxes, went to the Carry Out for a few items, and watched a ballgame.

Some of the birds I saw were the coots, a red-winged black bird, and lots of birds skimming the surface of the lake which I later found out were tree swallows. Mandy made it in to work after a really cold commute. Like her, we all are waiting for warmer weather later this week. I got 100 photos labeled, but I still have 150 to go. I need to get them done before I forget what they are! I saved brochures to help me with the process, but it still can be time-consuming.

The campground had a “order a pizza” night. We ordered by 4 and picked up the pizza at 5:30 here at the campground rec center. We got a $15 pizza for only $10. Bill picked it up, and we ate in the RV. The furnace is working beautifully, and we are staying warm.

Kings Bay GA

It was cold packing up this morning, but it was sunny. We have gotten so we can unhook and get ready in half an hour. We said goodbye to our new friends and headed out at 10. We made good time going back roads instead of the interstates and arrived here before 3 at Kings Bay Sub Base. We got the site Bill had reserved facing the lake. We have satellite, cable, WiFi, a huge concrete pad, nice picnic table, and no sites next to us, just a lovely big old tree.

When Bill was checking in some lady said that the security police had stopped her and her husband at the commissary for not wearing helmets with their bikes. The SPs said they had to walk their bikes back here and followed them all the way back here. So it looks like we may have to get some helmets if we want to ride on base.

It is really cold here and supposed to get down to 30 tonight. But I can’t complain. Mandy got an email saying she could work from home today because of the nasty snow they got in NYC. She did stay home, but it is supposed to feel like 6 degrees when she heads off to work tomorrow.

Bill grilled some steaks for dinner and then he went down to the social center for an ice cream sundae. It was too cold for me. We will be here for two weeks, and it is supposed to warm up by Thursday. We are both pleased to be at a great site and have nothing to do. I am sure we will find some adventures.

Seffner FL Strawberry Festival

March sure came in like a lion here. We had some big storms, lots of rain and wind, come through here this morning. By 11 it was clearing, so we headed to the Strawberry Festival about 10 miles away. This was a strange conglomeration of many things: cheap fair rides, cows, bunnies, roosters, lots of crafts, a few bands, lots of cheap fair food, and all things strawberry. They were having a “dairy costume ball” when we arrived. That was pretty awesome, cows in a variety of costumes.

Bill got a gyro for lunch. I held out for a breaded tenderloin just like we had back when I was a kid in Indiana. There were several booths to make your own strawberry shortcake. The bowl of ‘whipped cream’ was enormous and looked like Crisco. The strawberries were not just strawberry halves (which would have been great) but a slightly pureed version. The biscuit it was served on was not too great. Bill ate most of it. We also got a strawberry dipped in chocolate for $1, and I bought a sweatshirt and t-shirt. How could one resist a strawberry festival sweatshirt? I did resist the strawberry rings, necklaces, duffle bags, hats, jam, cookies, bread. We wandered around the grounds and heard a neat group called Runa Pacha, a group playing folk music from the Andes mountains. They had an male Indian dancer to go with the music.

I did see a couple of neat crafters One man had made dulcimers which were gorgeous. The other was a woman who made dried flower jewelry. On the way out, I saw the grossest thing at the fair: chocolate dipped bacon. I couldn’t believe the sign. A girl walked by, and I asked her to see. It was bacon in a box with a little side container of what looked like chocolate pudding. My brain just wouldn’t go there!

We got home at 3:30. The ham and beans that we had put in the crock pot this morning were not quite done, so we boiled them some more on the stove. I called Tommy, and then it was time to go to the Coachmen Caravan pot luck at the Rally Center here. We ate with the same two couples that we did at our welcoming dinner. One is from NY state, and the other from Georgia. Pleasant dinner companions. The food was excellent and made me wonder why at all pot lucks, the food seems to balance out with enough salads, veggies, entrees. Strange. The hosts provided strawberry shortcake for dessert which was excellent. They had only sliced the strawberries, provided real cake, ice cream and chocolate syrup. They we gathered for a group photo. They took one with my camera.

It was really windy today, and when we got back to our campsite, the row behind us had lost electricity. Poor folks. All of the electricians on standby were out at the Strawberry Festival, so those folks may have to do without for tonight. The Class A’s should be okay, but those without generators are up the creek.

Tomorrow we head off for the Navy Sub base at Kings Bay, St Mary’s GA for two weeks.

Seffner FL

It was another lovely day in Seffner FL. We had a down day and just hung out around the RV. I worked on my photos. I was so far behind, but I managed to process 125 of them through Photoshop. Now I have to start labeling them. We will have lots of time, hopefully, when we head up to St Mary’s GA next week. I did get out for a long walk around this massive RV park and sales. While wandering around, I saw some Girl Scouts selling cookies at the Flying J, so I went over and got some Thin Mints. I haven’t had any of those in years.

Our neighbors behind us brought over some eggplant parmigiana that we had for dinner. It may rain in the morning which might put a damper on our plans to hit the Strawberry Festival, but we plan to play it by ear. We do have the Coachmen group pot luck dinner tomorrow night.

Busch Gardens FL

It was a beautiful day at Busch Gardens. We got there at 10:30. It wasn’t that crowded which was nice. We took the 40 minute train ride around the safari park seeing giraffes, zebras, eland, storks, rhinos, ankole cattle, and many other animals. We had lunch at the Dessert Café. I had a sandwich and Bill had spaghetti with meatballs. During our lunch there was a dance performance that was rather interesting. Lots of young people doing ballroom dancing with a modern twist to modern music.

We wandered around the park the rest of the afternoon seeing tigers, orangutans, elephants, birds, chimps, and gorillas. I lucked out when we went by the gorilla exhibit to see the trainer interaction with a 3 year old gorilla. She had him chasing a green laser dot in front of the glass enclosure. He ran from one side to the other, doing summersaults all the way. I definitely got my animal fix today.

The traffic coming home was a nightmare. We had to come down I75 onto I4, and traffic just crawled. I had heard that traffic was bad around here, but it is really bad. We finally made it home. After relaxing for a bit, Bill went down to Wal-Mart to pick up some water and few items. We had a light dinner, watched some TV, chatted with our neighbor who loves to come out and chat with us. Tomorrow we plan on just hanging out around here.

Ybor City FL

It was a beautiful, sunny, shorts and t-shirt day in Tampa. We moved slowly this morning, finally heading out at 11:30 for Tampa and the Thompson Cigar Store. This is a cigar retail outlet. They don’t make their own cigars, but they carry many good cigars at a good price. The store was well-stocked, and the guys in there were like children in a candy store. Bill made his purchases, and we headed to Ybor City.

First we went to the Columbia restaurant for lunch. We had the special appetizer, lobster croquettes, which were quite tasty, especially with the mojitos we had. I had boliche (Cuban pot roast) with plantains, and black beans and rice. Bill had paella which took a while to fix but was fresh and had lots of good seafood in it. We were too full for dessert. The restaurant is the original Columbia restaurant, and the building is quite beautiful. It was started in 1905, and the building has been added to. Five generations of the family have run the restaurant. It is great food at a really good price.

After lunch we went next door to the Columbia store where an old man was rolling cigars by hand. I had never seen that, so it was very interesting to watch. We wanted on down the main street of historic Ybor City. The history here is very interesting. A man named Ybor brought his cigar making factory to Tampa, was given land, and Ybor became a huge center for cigars. After the depression, Ybor went downhill and is only now coming back. In parts, it still looks rather seedy, but the architecture is very interesting. We went to the Visitor’s Center and saw a very interesting 7 minute movie on the history of Ybor and the cigar factories. What I found really fascinating was that the rollers hired a man to be lector to read to them all day. He read newspapers, novels, etc. These rollers became quite educated after years of listening to the lector while they worked.

The other interesting item was the social clubs that sprung up in the early 1900s. Many ethnic groups, Italian, German, Spanish, built large beautiful buildings where each group gathered to socialize with their own countrymen, speaking their own languages.

We got home about 4:30 and hung out at the RV. The older man next to us stopped by to tell us about his foray to the Strawberry Festival. He went to the George Jones concert but they didn’t buy any strawberries. He is from Missouri and chatted about various things including the weather. He said this global warming was a bunch of bunk. He has been around forever, and he can’t see that the weather has changed that much. I bit my tongue and smiled nicely and changed the subject.

We ate lightly tonight. We are heading to Busch Gardens tomorrow. I want to see the animals! I hope they cooperate. I know that I probably won’t see anything as cute as the 1 month old rhino we saw there 4 years ago, but one never knows.

Sarasota and Seffner FL

It was a gorgeous day in south Florida. We managed to pack up and get on the road by 9:30. We arrived at Sam’s parking lot at 11:30. Joy (Bill’s step-mother) arrived with her friends Aggie and Hubie soon after. Aggie brought us some oranges, grapefruit, and some banana nut bread she had made. They took a quick tour of the RV, and then we headed off to Bella Cucina, an Italian restaurant that Joy likes. Bill has been there, but the rest of us had not. I was a little skeptical since it was an all you can eat buffet for $7.99. I was pleasantly surprised that the food really wasn’t bad. They had some good salads, and then excellent pizza, eggplant parmigiana, stuffed tomatoes, mushroom risotto, and a ton of other items. We ate well and had a pleasant lunch.

They took us back to the RV, and we headed on to Seffner FL (east of Tampa) to the Rally Park campground. We checked in and got our campsite which wasn’t a bad site. We have 3 small trees on our site. We got set up and were relaxing when Bob, the leader, brought our packets by. Happy hour was at 5 with a catered dinner at 6. We wandered down to the Rally Center which is just down the road from us. We sat with the people who are camped behind us, George and Donna, and some lovely people from near Atlanta, Jerry and Anna. Dinner was a buffet of slaw, potato salad, beans, lasagna, barbequed chicken, ribs, and cake. Our dinner companions were pleasant, and the food was decent.

This rally is five days here. Breakfast and lunch are provided by the campground which offers it to all the campers. The campground is part of a huge operation that sells RVs. Bob has put together suggestions of things to see and do while we are here. There are no organized activities, but the Plant City strawberry festival seems to be a big draw to many of the folks. We are having a pot luck dinner on Sunday night. This is a much larger group than the one in St Augustine, probably 66 people, all part of Coachmen Caravan. I have figured out that a ‘rally’ is just meeting at an interesting place, having a few meals together, meeting new people, and enjoying the surrounding area. Not a bad concept.

We came back to the RV and watched some TV. Bill was sitting outside about 10 having a cigar when sprinklers went on for about 10 minutes which sent him inside. He was warned about it, so it wasn’t awful.

Pine Island FL

It was another pretty day on Pine Island. We hung out at the RV enjoying the warmth and sunshine. Laundry was done, and clean sheets are on the bed. We also did some chores to get ready to head to Tampa tomorrow. At 5 we headed back down to Saint James City to The Waterfront Restaurant. For the third time I got a broiled mahi sandwich. Bill got broiled seafood. We also got the ABC cobbler – apple, blueberry, and cherry – with a huge slab of vanilla ice cream. Everything is made fresh, and it tastes like it. We ate outside and watched the sun set. It was a lovely last meal on Pine Island.

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve Ft Myers FL

It was another beautiful day in sunny Florida. We had a nice relaxing morning before heading off for Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. It took us about 45 minutes to get there from Pine Island. Along the way we stopped at Chik-fil-a to get sandwiches which we ate at the picnic area at the Slough. Four years ago we had taken the 1.2 mile boardwalk and really enjoyed it. This time we thought we would take the volunteer guided tour. There were 11 of us in the group which took off at 1:30. The guide pointed out lots of vegetation, a hawk nest, but mostly concentrated on the flora. We saw some folks ahead looking carefully off the boardwalk. I got up there in time to see an otter swimming away.

After the tour was finished, Bill and I went back to see the part of the boardwalk we had missed. We ended up seeing a black-crowned night heron, lots of white ibis (some of whom were splashing and bathing), an alligator with what looked to be a fresh wound on its tail, giant egrets. It is such a pretty walk. We finished up about 4 and headed back to Pine Island.

We stopped at Home Depot and finally found some floor registers to replace a couple of broken ones in the RV. We really have looked all over for them and were thrilled to find these. We also stopped at the grocery to pick up a few items.

Pine Island KOA

It was a beautiful day in Pine Island. We spent the day here at the RV doing chores. We tend to stay at home on the weekends to avoid the crowds. We also got a lot done. I did some cleaning in the RV: cleaned the stove top, dusted, and wiped down the one set of blinds that we have over the kitchen sink. Bill worked on the steps and watched the birds in the pond behind us.

Bill grilled steaks, and I made my first risotto. It was easier than I thought it would be, and now we may do it more often since it turned out pretty good. We had purchased the risotto in Italy at Epcot, a mushroom risotto. And I looked up cooking instructions online, so all went well.

We watched the second episode of Amazing Race, and it was again quite good. I just wish all the episodes were on DVD. Tomorrow we will head out to do the Six Mile Slough nature walk which we so enjoyed four years ago.

Pine Island KOA

It was a nice quiet, down day. I slept in, but Bill had gone to bed really early last night, so he was up early. We goofed off around the RV this morning. I worked on the new photos, running them through Photoshop. After lunch Bill took off to refill our water jugs. There was a campground notice saying we needed to boil our water. We aren’t sure what the problem is, but we go through a lot of water anyway. So off he went in search of water. I got caught up with processing my photos, but I still have to label a bunch of them. Bill came back with water and a few other items. He sat outside smoking his cigar and reading the paper. It is kind of nice just playing “normal folks” for a day instead of tourist.

I posted the last of the Disney photos that can be found by clicking on the Disney link to the left.

Corkscrew Sanctuary and Koreshan Unity

It was a beautiful day in Ft Myers. We got up early, showered, had breakfast, and headed to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. It took us an hour and a half to get there. This is an Audubon sponsored refuge and a two and a quarter mile boardwalk through 4 separate environments. There were lots of people there, but it wasn’t terribly crowded. We saw lots of neat birds like a barred owl, endangered wood storks, a red-shouldered hawk, anhinga, ibis, a black-crowned night heron, and a great blue heron. The walk was a pretty one, and we spent a couple of hours doing the walk.

We had our picnic lunch at a picnic table there at the Sanctuary and then headed to Koreshan State Historical Site. This was on our way home and recommended by cousin Nancy. Here are the buildings of a utopian society founded by Cyrus Teed. He had a bizarre belief that we live inside the earth. Some of the buildings were beautiful, and we watched an informative and entertaining movie about Teed and his settlement.

Finally we headed home, both of us pretty tired. We were out exploring for 9 hours, but we managed to fix dinner and watch some TV. It is supposed to get down into the 30s here tonight, but it should warm up tomorrow.

Pine Island FL

It was a lovely day on Pine Island. We had our coffee outside overlooking the pond behind us. We watched a big turtle and an anhinga fishing for breakfast. We had some lunch and then went down to the little Museum of the Islands a few miles down the road. It is a small museum with some interesting items. It was only a $2 entrance fee, but they provided a tape recorder to follow some of the exhibits. I found the beaded tapestry portrait of George Washington to be the most interesting item. It had over 300,000 glass beads in it.

Bill bought a lottery ticket, and then we stopped at the local Dairy Queen to get a peanut buster parfait to share. On the way home we stopped at the Winn Dixie and CVS to pick up a few items. After Judge Judy we drove down to the little town of Saint James City for dinner again at The Waterfront restaurant. We sat out back on the porch overlooking a canal. I had the mahi sandwich again which was just as good as before. They marinate the fish in lime juice and sprinkle it was fresh basil before broiling it. Bill had an oyster poor boy. The food really is excellent for the price.

We drove around the little town which sits on many canals before heading back to the RV. Bill went down to play bingo in the clubhouse while I relaxed and worked on some photos. It is going to be cooler tomorrow, so we may take the Corkscrew Swamp Trail.

Sanibel/Captive Islands FL

It was a Sanibel Island day. We left the RV at 10:30, but it took us 45 minutes to get off Pine Island. They were doing construction on the bridge and only had one lane open, so we had to take turns with the cars coming on the island. We also were in a line to get on to Sanibel, but once there we stopped at the visitor’s center to pick up some maps. We went right to Ding Darling Nature Preserve and went to that visitor’s center. We got a map, some brochures, and borrowed a set of binoculars before heading out on the 4 mile drive. The tide was rather high, so we didn’t see lots of birds. However, there was one sand bar that had lots of pelicans, some cormorants, and a ton of willets. We also saw our first tri-colored heron right by the road down on some rocks checking out the fish. A cormorant was playing in the water, swimming around, flapping his wings on the water. The volunteer who was there said he was just playing.

We didn’t see too much more in the preserve, but it was a pretty drive. We stopped to walk around a shell mound left by Calusa Indians a long time ago. Because the shell mounds are higher than the surrounding area, they support some varied trees and bushes like the gumbo limbo tree we saw. We returned the binoculars to the visitors center and drove up to Captiva Island. We passed The Bubble Room where we intended to have an early dinner, and at 4pm there was already a line forming outside for the 4:30 opening. We went to the end of the road at Captiva, and Bill went to stick his toes in the water. I sat at a picnic table and got homesick for Hawaii. I miss the easy access to the beaches of Hawaii and the free beach parking.

We drove back to The Bubble Room at 4:30 and barely found a place to park. We waited in line and once inside were taken to a nice quiet table. This is an old-time Sanibel restaurant started in 1979. The interior is filled with old celebrity photos, Christmas lights (including old-time bubble lights), a small area with all kinds of Christmas mannequins and toys, small aquariums. The tables are made of shadow boxes with all kinds of old-time toys, clothing items, music, etc. It is rather an interesting place. We were brought some bubble bread (hot slices of French bread with melted cheese) and sticky buns. Both were excellent, but we were a little confused about the sticky buns before a dinner. We got two appetizers to share: she crab soup and ksseri cheese flamed with brandy and served with bread. The soup was good, and the cheese was excellent. Our dinners came with salads. Bill had a house salad, and I had a Greek salad that was quite tasty. Bill got a filet and I got grilled grouper. His steak was great. I have decided that I am not particularly fond of grouper. My dinner was served with a twice-baked potato, fresh green beans, candied carrot coins, and baked apples. Bill had the same, but he got black beans on rice instead of the potato. Our server was a guy our age dressed in a boy scout uniform who said he would be our ‘bubble scout’ for the evening.

The food wasn’t bad, but it certainly was way too much and rather pricey. Our ‘bubble scout’ brought over a tray of huge slices of cake to tempt us with dessert. They certainly were tempting, so much so that Bill got a chocolate cake thing with amazing whipped cream filling with strawberries to bring home.

We got in the car at 6 to leave. Lola (the GPS) at first said it was only six miles to our campsite (apparently as the crow flies). Lola quickly calculated and said it was 49 miles home. It took us an hour and a half to get home. It was a pleasant day, but I don’t think we will plan a return trip to Sanibel. We are definitely going to return to Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve while we are here. It is a wonderful elevated 1.2 mile boardwalk where we saw all kinds of birds and alligators when we were here two years ago. We may put that off until Friday and just stay here tomorrow.

Ft Myers FL

We arrived at the Pine Island KOA yesterday. It is a very large campground on a very rural island. We got one of the more spacious sites that backs up to a pond. Next to us is an unoccupied cabin, so we are pleased that we are not in some of the very boxed in sites! Today we toured the Ford Edison Winter Homes in Ft Myers. This site has Edison’s home, a guest house, Ford’s home, swimming pool, Edison’s office, and beautiful grounds. We took a self-guiding tour with audio spots. We spent about 2 hours there. It was a little crowded but not too bad, and the weather was beautiful. We are spending 8 days here which is nice since there seems to be a lot to do!

St Augustine FL

We spent 5 nights here at the KOA while Bill went to races at Daytona on the 12th, 14th, 15th. I stayed at the RV doing RV and photo chores. On Friday the 13th we went into old St Augustine and toured around. The best thing was having lunch again at the Columbia Restaurant. We have really enjoyed everything we have eaten there from the Mojitos to the Churros tres amigos dessert. We walked a bit and took the Old Town Trolley. It was a lovely day. We were there as part of the Coachmen Caravan, an owners group that do different tours around the country. This time the group had about 25 people there, all of whom were very nice and quite friendly. We ate dinner a couple of nights with the group.

Ft Wilderness

It was a lovely day at Ft Wilderness. We sat outside with our coffee and watched the birds. Bill worked on cutting down the sewer hose so it would fit in the pipe. I worked on some photos and enjoyed having a relaxing morning. After lunch we headed out for Costco. We got a small, sturdy table to use when we don’t have a picnic table or as a table between our lawn chairs. Bill got some wine, and I got some shorts and a book. We stopped at a grocery on the way home and picked up some fruit.

We made it home in time to see an armadillo looking for bugs next to our site. He was a large one and totally ignored us as I got my camera and took some photos. We also started packing up for the trip to St Augustine tomorrow. It was just nice to move at a slower pace today after two park-filled days.

Animal Kingdom and Epcot

It was a big parks day. I rolled out of bed at 7, had some oatmeal, and threw on some clothes. We left the house at 7:45 to go to Animal Kingdom for the early opening. We got right on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. It was still cool, so there didn’t seem to be as many animals roaming as usual. However we still saw bongos, rhinos, ostriches, wildebeests, wart hog, a beautiful male lion, an elephant, some cattle and antelope, and a few others.

Then we went on the Pangani Trail. We saw the usual wonderful animals. Two okapi were up close to the fence browsing on food. I love those animals. We saw a gerenuk (a very long-necked antelope) on its hind legs grazing on a tree. In the aviary a hammerkop was gathering sticks to build one of its huge nests. The gorillas were quite active this morning. Several were playing with large plastic canteens that the keepers must have put some treats in. We could see them shaking the canteens and sticking their fingers in the canteens to get the goodies out. And there were two large silver-backed gorillas prowling about. We love this trail.

We then left the park as hoards of people were coming in. We stopped by the RV to change clothes and then headed over to Epcot to meet Don and Marta. We spent the day there. Bill and Don got fast passes for Test Track and then went on Mission Space. We met them back at the Land and took the Land ride. We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons where I had a great chicken/chili/noodle soup. Then the guys went back to ride Test Track. Marta and I wandered through Innoventions West which is a variety of interactive areas sponsored by major companies. We found a great show called What is the Problem sponsored by Velcro. It was really cute and interesting. At the end we got a Velcro frog that we got to dress with Velcro clothing items and mouse ears.

We went on Spaceship Earth, and then Don and rode Soarin’. Then we wandered around the World Showcase. Bill got a Grand Marnier slushy which was wonderful. We went on around the World stopping to see the great acrobat show at China. Marta and Don were pooped by then and went on back to their hotel. Bill and I went to Morocco for dinner. It has been years since we went there, and it was quite enjoyable. We had an appetizer of mixture of cheese and kalamata olives served with tobouleh, red pepper sauce, and balsamic vinegar reduction with lavosh. I had Harira Soup - Traditional hearty soup flavored with tomatoes, lentils and lamb. For my entrée I had Couscous Royale - couscous with beef, chicken, and merguez (lamb sausage). We also had hot mint tea which was great. A belly dancer performed with a Moroccan band.

By then, we were tired, so we came on back to the RV to crash.

SeaWorld

It was a beautiful day today. We went to Don and Marta’s hotel at 10:30 and went to SeaWorld. We hadn’t been there before, and it was a delightful day. First we went to the Shamu show with orca whales. They were trying something new with 7 whales, but they really screwed up. Two of the females were in heat, and the one male in the show was more interested in them than the show. We had several start-overs, and ended up with a 5 minute one whale show. Apparently the other two shows today were equally bad.

From there we went to the Clydesdale barn and looked at the horses. Then we had a lunch break at the Spice Mill Café which was pleasant. Next was the sea lion show which I thought was really cute. After that we wandered through the penguin encounter. In the puffin/murre enclosure, we saw a murre go nuts. He was literally flying across the water, diving, flying up out of the water, and then skimming back across the water. He looked like a duck on crack. Don and Marta went to the Pets Ahoy show while Bill and I went on the Journey to Atlantis log ride/roller coaster ride. That was fun, and we didn’t get too wet.

We met back up with Don and Marta and went to the dolphin show. That certainly wasn’t what I expected. It was more like a production of Cirque du Soleil O with dolphins. We then wandered through the manatee rescue exhibit and saw lots of manatee. They were all chowing down on lettuce. The stingray lagoon was cool. We could pet the stingray as they floated by. Bill bought some little fish that we all used to feed the ray. I put the fish between my fingers and my palm flat on the bottom of the pool. The ray would float over and suck the fish up. That felt really weird!!! Finally we stopped at the turtle/pelican point which was just okay. And last we had some ice cream before we headed out.

We drove to Cracker Barrel which is near Don and Marta’s hotel for dinner. I had breakfast which was good. Now we are at home, tired, and ready to rest!

Epcot

It was a little warmer last night, but still cool. It tuned out to be a lovely day. We sat outside watching all of our birds: cardinals, tufted titmice, doves, blue jays, warblers, hawks, grackles, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers. We put out a little bit of bird seed in the morning which keeps they coming back, but not in horrendous droves.

We left the RV at noon to head over to Epcot for a 2pm lunch at the German Biergarten. There were lots of people in Epcot but it wasn’t overly crowded. We wandered through some shops in Italy until it was time to check in at Germany. We sat at a table for 8 with two other groups of people. They were quite pleasant, so we had a lovely lunch. They serve a buffet with Americanized German food, but it was a fairly decent. The show is also good with a Bavarian band that also plays the cowbells, a wood xylophone, and my favorite, the Alpenhorns. We were there for an hour and a half, which was fun.

Then we went to France. I wanted to see if anyone there knew what song they played in the “Impressions of France” movie in a couple of parts The harpist at Victoria and Albert’s played a similar tune, and when I asked him, he told me he thought I was referring to Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals”. So without expecting too much, I went to the entrance to the movie, asked, and lo and behold, the cast member actually had a print-out of all the songs in the movie. And it was Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals. I couldn’t believe this search ended so easily. I will have to download the song for my IPod.

Hollywood Studios and Ft Wilderness

It was a really cold night and morning. It didn’t get out of the 40s today, but at least it was sunny. We did some laundry this morning and stayed toasty and warm in the RV. At 2 we bundled up and drove to Hollywood Studios. We got some coffee and watched the new parade called Block Party. It was rather cute. Then it was time to head on over for our preview to the new attraction at Hollywood Studios called “The American Idol Experience”. We were able to get tickets online because we are annual pass holders. The official opening of this show is February 14.

I am not an American Idol fan, but this was a really good show/attraction. They have a pre-show where the warm-up guy and a cameraman pump up the audience. Then everyone files into a theater that is really tricked out like the setting for the TV show with lots of neon lights and bling. I was really impressed. They have Ryan Seacrest (the TV host) on film welcoming everyone. They also have other people I don’t know making guest appearances that are tied in to the show. There are 3 judges patterned after the judges on the TV show. And they had 3 contestants that auditioned today for a producer. They all had pretty good voices, and it really was a good show. Voting took place by punching numbers on the arm rest of our seats. I think this will be a really popular attraction once it opens to everyone.

We got a spicy cheese-filled pretzel and sat in the sun. On the way out, we stopped into a shop at the entrance that I had never been in before. It has autographed photos of actors, race car drivers, and other celebrities for sale along with original costumes from movies and TV shows. The most expensive was a $65,000 striped jacket that Dick Van Dyke wore in Mary Poppins. Rather interesting.

We had a nice quiet evening in the RV. We have one more night of freezing weather before it starts to warm up. I feel rather sorry for the few folks that are sleeping in tents here!

The Villages

We drove an hour and a half to The Villages to see my high school friends Don and Marta and Nancy and Bob. Marta and Don are staying at Nancy and Bob's home there. We had a nice visit and some good food. Now we are warm and toasty in the RV waiting for the big freeze that is to come tonight. Central Florida is bracing for one of the coldest February nights ever! Hopefully it will warm up by the weekend!

Universal and Victoria and Albert's

Today was the day of good eats! We left the RV at 8:30 to return to Universal Studios to do the Islands of Adventure park. The grounds were well done, but the rides left a bit to be desired. Bill went on the Hulk Roller Coaster by himself. Then we went on the Spider-Man ride which was a combination car ride and various screens and effects. Not a bad ride. Bill went on the Ripsaw Falls log ride and got soaked. It was too cold to get wet for me, so I passed. We wandered through the Jurassic Park section which was pretty but lacking in rides. We went through Poseidon’s Fury which was a walk through with various scenes. Loud but not too exciting.

Lunch was a real treat. We stopped in at a full-service restaurant called Mythos. The décor was tan rock, pillars, and a wall sculpture of Poseidon. I had a wonderful spinach, asparagus risotto with a tiny crab cake and tiny piece of steak. It was really good. Bill had a bowl of onion soup with 3 pork sliders on ciabatta bread. The dessert was really interesting. They had an array of ‘shots’, various desserts in tall, thin shot glasses for only $1.75 each. I got a caramel cream brulee and a chocolate sabayon. Bill got a carrot cake. They were not only cute, but delicious and just the right amount.

Finally we went through the Seuss area. That was the cutest thing I saw at Universal. The whole area was Dr. Seuss themed. We went on the elevated Seuss Trolley Train ride. That was fun as was The Cat in the Hat ride. Finally we went to an area called If I Ran the Zoo. It had lots of cute fiberglass Seuss characters and things to do.

We got home about 2:30 and I took a nap. I have had the sniffles, and I wanted to be in good shape for our dinner at Victoria and Albert’s at the Grand Floridian Hotel. We got dressed up and arrived for our 8pm reservation. The service was quite pleasant if a bit overdone. Our two servers were Ann and John. Ann tried to get a hook to hold my purse, but my purse was too big, so I got a cassock next to the table to put my purse on. We were given fancy menus with our names printed on them. It is a fixed prix dinner with choices. The Amuse Bouche was a tray of 4 items including a lobster bisque, lobster in a vanilla butter sauce, a tiny scallop, and some teeny tiny rollup. For my first course I had tuna with Tat Soi salad and a cappuccino foam. Bill had smoked buffalo with an apple radish salad. The portions were very small but very good.

The second course I had grouper with artichokes, fennel, leeks, and iberico. Bill had scallops. The third course I went to the vegetarian menu and had mushroom tortellini with black truffles and assorted other mushrooms. Bill had duck 3 ways. For my entrée I had angus beef with kabocha squash and Italian chestnut sauce. Bill had veal tenderloin with hedgehog mushrooms and English peas. Next came a cheese course with stilton, piave vecchio and coach farm’s goat cheese. For dessert I had chocolate 3 ways: Peruvian chocolate ice cream and chocolate puff pastry, Kona chocolate soufflé, and Tanzanian chocolate mousse in the shape of a pyramid with a gold leaf star on top.

Coffee was brewed at the table in two glass bowls acting like a percolator. A harpist played throughout dinner. We knew we were escorted to restrooms, so we went before we arrived. Valet parking was free. It was a delightful meal, but the portions were all small enough that we truly didn’t feel stuffed when we finished! This was Bill’s Christmas present from me, and I think he was happy.

Universal Studios

It was a cool but lovely day today. We were up early and out of the RV at 8 headed for Universal Studios for our first visit there. Universal has two parks right next to each other: the Studios and Islands of Adventure. The Studios are more like Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Islands is more of an amusement park. We went to the Studios today. We are so used to the huge parking lots that Disney has. Universal has several huge parking structures. We have read that when the park is crowded, getting out at closing time can be a real pain.

We bought an Express Pass, but with the crowds so small today, we really didn’t need it. It is not a bad park, but it certainly isn’t Disney. First we went to the Simpsons ride which was probably the best ride in the park. It is similar to Soarin’ at Disney in that one is in a car in front of an IMAX, but this takes you through a cartoon adventure. It really was fun. After we came out, Marge and Homer Simpson were in character costumes outside, so Bill took my photo with them.

We went through most of the rides at the park except for one heavy duty roller coaster. We had lunch at a food court, and I had some decent orange chicken, fried rice, and some excellent stir-fried veggies. We also liked the Horror Makeup Show. In the lobby was a display of The Creature of the Black Lagoon that actually mentioned my friend Ben Chapman who played the creature. The show itself had a makeup artist and his sidekick doing a comical presentation of different kinds of makeup. We were especially intrigued with a knife that appeared to cut an audience member’s arm, but it actually had a hole in the knife blade. There was a small Lucille Ball museum that was rather interesting. We left about 4:30.

I posted some more photos which can be see by clicking on the Disney 2009 link to the left.

Ft Wilderness and Wal-Mart

It was still raining lightly this morning and a bit colder. Bill took his coffee outside and soon came in to get me to see two more hawks out by our RV. I only saw one that was on a branch quite close to the RV. Poor thing was pretty wet. We didn’t see him snag any breakfast, but it was fun just being that close to such a beautiful bird. About noon we went to Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping. We came on back to the RV finally. It was sunny by then but much colder. Tonight it is supposed to get down to 30. It is still warmer than it is up north!

Ft Wilderness and Epcot

It was a cloudy morning that turned into a really rainy day, so we stayed close to the RV for most of the day. I worked on photos, and Bill took a nap. It was a nice, quiet day. At 5:30 we headed out in the rain for Epcot and our dinner reservation at Tokyo Dining. That is always a lovely experience. Bill had a sushi platter for an appetizer, and I had some chicken/shrimp/veggie tempura. Bill had shrimp and scallop tempura for dinner, and I had a NY strip steak with a ponzu sauce (soy sauce and citrus). We were both happy with our meals. For dessert we split a green tea pudding. It was really quite excellent, rather like a flan but much creamier with a sweet tea sauce on the plate. After dinner we wandered around the Japan store which is my favorite in Epcot. They have so many neat items from Japan. We ended up in the food section where Bill got some sauce for a pork roast he has in the freezer. We also got some candy and snacks that we miss from Hawaii, and Bill from his stops at airport gift shops in Tokyo. It was still raining when we left, but we had raincoats and umbrellas. The park was almost deserted. The rain should stop sometime before noon tomorrow, and then we will have cooler weather.

Fantasia Fairways

We were all up about 8:30. We got our coffee and went out to watch the hawk hunting for a new meal. It was a lovely morning for sitting outside with coffee, my best friend, and wildlife. Later Nancy went for a run along the nature trail. When she got back. We left for lunch and miniature golf. We ended up at the Swan hotel’s coffee shop. Nancy and I shared a Rueben and a bowl of mushroom soup.

Then we walked over to the mini golf courses. There are three of them, and we chose to play the course with bunkers rather than props. It was really a tough (but fun) 18 holes, but it was a lot of fun. We got back to the RV at 5, and Nancy had to take off to get the rental car back to Sarasota. We were still full tonight, so we had a light dinner. It is supposed to rain the next two days, so we shall see what we want to do.

Friends and Boma

It was a pretty day at Disney. We slept in and had a rather uneventful day. Bill woke me up to come outside to see a hawk not far from our RV devouring a snake it had jus killed. It was a pretty awesome sight. Finally the hawk flew away with most of the snake. After breakfast we did some cleaning on the RV and tidying up.

My friend Nancy arrived at 5. We sat outside and chatted until it was time to head to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma. Both Nancy and I love this restaurant and ate ourselves silly. We started off with our favorite, butternut squash soup. We also tried the curried coconut seafood stew which was also good. We also had our usual favorites: Pap and Sheeba – roasted tomatoes and white cornbread; Boboti – a spiced ground beef and lamb with onions and raisins, with a baked egg mixture on top; Geelrys – yellow rice with raisins, turmeric, gloves, ginger. There was a new dish called corn and spinach pudding that was really quite tasty! And finally there were the desserts: zebra dome (a chocolate kahlua mousse covered in a white chocolate ganache), a chocolate crunchy mousse, bread pudding with rum sauce, and a pineapple upside down cheesecake.

Then we rolled back out to the car and back to the RV. Nancy fell asleep soon after we got home since she had been doing seminars for two days.

Epcot and Ft Wilderness

It was another beautiful day at Disney. We headed out at 10:15 for Epcot. The crowds weren’t too bad, and we stopped to get a Fast Pass to Soarin’. Then it was on to Canada for lunch at Le Cellier. This is a really difficult place to get reservations for, but we did get a lunch reservation. For appetizers we shared a cheddar cheese soup and a salad called a tomato stack that was a huge slice of fresh, good tomato with caramelized onions, cucumbers, crumbled blue cheese, and Yuzu vinaigrette. Bill had a filet and I had a prime rib sandwich with a side of wild mushroom risotto. The risotto was wonderful. After lunch we went back to Soarin’. We had to wait through one ride in order to try sitting in the front row of this Imax movie with elevated moving seats. The front row didn’t make that much difference, but now we know. On our way out, we rode Spaceship Earth which is always fun.

Epcot and Ft Wilderness

It was a lovely day at Disney. We slept in, had breakfast, and then Bill got the hose on the sewer changed. He had really been dreading that since it took him hours the first time he did it. This time it was much easier, and he is so happy to have it done.

We left the RV at 12:45 to head to Epcot to have lunch at Tutto Italia in Italy in the World Showcase. It used to be Alfredo’s, but when Alfredo’s contract ran out, they didn’t renew. We used to love the fettuccine Alfredo. I wasn’t anticipating much more than Olive Garden food at a steeper price, but I was pleasantly surprised. I had the lasagna, and it was the best lasagna I have ever had. Bill had bowtie pasta with ham and peas in a cream sauce, and he enjoyed that a lot, too. We had a very expensive dessert called Copetta Sottobosco that had blueberries, strawberries, red raspberries, and black berries with zabaglione ice cream, whipped cream, and a bit of chocolate sauce. The zabaglione ice cream was to die for! After lunch we came on back to the RV to enjoy the lovely weather in our lawn chairs! We were stuffed, so we ate a light dinner and watched some TV.

Hollywood Studios

It was a cold morning, but it warmed up nicely this afternoon. We were up at 6 and left the RV at 7:15 for Hollywood Studios for the 8am early opening. We figured this was the only way to get into Toy Story Mania. There was a crowd already lined up at 7:30 even though only Disney resort guests get to use the early opening.

At 8 everyone headed for Toy Story, but we still got in without much fuss. The line inside is filled with all sorts of giant old-time toys: a Candyland board on the wall, checker board on the ceiling in one section and a Scrabble board on the ceiling of another section. There are large dominos, cards, crayons, a huge Tinker Toy can, a talking Mr. Potato Head, a Lincoln Log cabin, a wall with a paint by numbers picture and a Chinese Checkers board, and lots of other huge toys. The ride itself consists of sitting in a car with toy canons shooting at various targets. I found the props lots more fun than the shooting. We came out, got a fast pass for an hour later, and went right back in again. After 3 trips I think I finally saw most of the ride. Before the last ride, we got some breakfast at the ABC Commissary. When we finished at 10:30, the entry for the current Fast Pass was for 5:45pm, and the line for the ride was an hour. We also went through the newly revamped Nardia ride, but that was a real disappointment.

We came back to the RV and had some lunch. Bill took a nap, and I worked on the photos I had taken this morning. Then we took off for Camping World to get a new sewer hose, some camping toilet paper, and an electrical extension for the rally he has planned in March. After we got back, I took my nap. While I slept, Bill went to the Trails End and got take-out dinners.

Photos for this trip can be seen by clicking on the link Disney 2009 Jan/Feb on the left.

Ft Wilderness

It was a warmer, sunny day. We spent the whole day hanging out at the RV just relaxing and doing some chores. We watched some TV, read, and enjoyed just being here. I worked on some photos and actually finished a book! Bill hooked up the sewer and put a new bolt on the Tracker battery. I did some research on Universal Studios so we will have a clue when we make our first visit sometime during our stay. Bill grilled some kosher hot dogs for lunch and a veggie and sausage stir-fry for dinner. It was a lovely day.

Ft Wilderness

It was finally a little warmer today. We slept in and had a lazy morning. After lunch we went to Shades of Green, the military hotel here at Disney World, to get our new annual passes and to buy tickets to Universal Studios which we will use sometime during the next 3 weeks. From there we went to Hollywood Studios to activate our passes. We figured we would go see how long the line was for Toy Story Mania. This park was really crowded today, and we have no idea why. The line for Toy Story was huge, so we left and went back to Wal-Mart to pick up a few more items. Bill wanted some boxes to store some of us ‘stuff’ in.
We also got a scale for the RV.

We came back to the RV for an hour before we took the boat over to the Contemporary Hotel. Bill had read about a new restaurant there that might be cheaper than our Trail’s End buffet, plus it sounded interesting. It is a fast food restaurant, but one goes first to a touch-screen computer and selects food items. You get a receipt and pay at the cashier. We had hot items, so we got a pager that would tell us when our food was ready. It wasn’t too crowded, and it wasn’t too bad. I got a barbeque sandwich. Bill got chicken alfredo. We also got a veggie bake which we shared. It was a step above fast food, but a cheaper alternative to fixing our own or the Trail’s End buffet. I went back and got a Dos Leches cupcake to share with Bill. It was really good!

Ft Wilderness

Today we got up, unhooked the RV, and headed out to get more propane so we wouldn’t freeze. That took a bit of time, but we are set for a while. We brought the RV back and hooked everything up this time. Then we took the tracker and drove back to Winter Garden to get the spare RV keys at the storage place. Then we had lunch and went to Wal-mart to get food and staples. We finally got back to the RV at 4:30 and finished setting up. Everything works fine except for the satellite TV – we can’t get a signal, but we do have the Disney cable. No Animal Planet or Crime for me! Another long day.

Raleigh to Disney World

It was an adventure in traveling today. We were up at 3:15 to lots of snow falling in Raleigh – the first snow in years. The cab came at 4, and we slip-slided to the airport. Check in was fine, and we boarded the plane at 5:30. At 6 we backed away from the gate and got de-iced which took a half hour. But then the runway wasn’t cleared yet, so we waited and waited. We de-iced for a second time and finally took off at 10, four hours late. Luckily I had 3 empty seats and slept for 3 of those hours.

We landed in Houston and waited for an hour and a half for the next flight to Orlando (which was full, but we got on). We got our luggage and boarded the shuttle at 5 to go get the car out of hock at the long-term parking. Then it was another half hour to the RV storage area. It was closed, but we had the code for the gate, and luckily the RV started. Bill drove the RV, and I drove the Tracker to Ft Wilderness. We managed to park in the dark at 8:15 and do a minimal hook-up. It was 27 degrees, so we turned on the heat, went to the Trail’s End for dinner, and soon went to bed. It was still freezing when we went to bed, but we were so tired we would have slept in an igloo.