January 25 - St Augustine

St Augustine

St Augustine is an easy day trip when you are parked in north central Florida. From near Silver Springs, where we are staying for a month in the Ocala National Forest, it is only about 75 miles to either coast of Florida. One of the oldest cities in America, St Augustine is rich in both sights and history. Of course, one day is not nearly enough time to see everything in this beautiful city, but when you are "at home" in your RV and parked for a month or so, you can go back.

We started with the St Augustine light house. One of the taller lighthouses in America, this often photographed lighthouse is amazing to behold. You can still climb the 219 steps to an incredible view of the city, the harbor, and the channel opening up to the Atlantic.

 

 

 

Portion of a chain that was across the inlet of St Augustine.  It was left slack during the day so boats could pass, then raised at night to water level so boat hulls would hit and make noise.

 

 

 

 

From there it is only a short drive to the beaches,  then another short drive back into the city. We visited in January, which is considered the off season, so traffic was less of a problem.



 

We opted to take one of the trolley tours (fee $24.00 each) for an overview before setting off on our own walking tour. We then spent most of our time around Flagler College, the nearby churches in that neighborhood, the St Augustine Fort, and the walk along the harbor.

 

The popular St George Street pedestrian walk with it's great restaurants and shops is also nearby. In fact, most of the things we were interested in seeing were within a short distance from each other.

 

 

 

 

 

  Flagler College

 

We were able to park in the nearby parking deck, so in retrospect, we could have saved ourselves the trolley fee. Be aware that in the busy seasons you may not be able to park that close in, so the trolleys could save you a lot of walking.

 

 Rest a spell

 Lightner Museum

 Both of us really loved St Augustine. It is a beautiful city with lots of great sea food, lots of interesting architecture, and warm southern hospitality.


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Bear Question

January 24, 2014

There may actually be an answer to the age old rhetorical question, "Does a wild bear **** in the woods?" Here in the Ocala National Forest the answer would seem to be no. They like to go in the very center of the road. We still have not seen a bear, however the "bear sign" is abundant in these wide, sandy forest roads. Once we came across one that was still steaming. There are large piles and smaller piles, depending of course, on the size of the bear. Bears also seem to have an innate ability to find the very center of the road. I have not attempted to measure but visual estimates are that there couldn't be more than an inch or two difference from the center of the "heap" to each side of the road. This evidence has presented itself over and over.

I have chosen not to share a photo of the evidence........ I have a feeling that when we do actually sight a bear, the experience may very well remind us of a "Charmin commercial".

just a thought..........

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January 21, 2014 - Ocala Basecamp

January 21, 2014

Today we spent our first day in Ocala National Forest, driving a few Jeep trails and hiking to a couple of springs. This forest is so big it's a little intimidating trying to decide where to go. We just started out close to home with a dirt road off of the main highway then a connecting 4wd road to another 4wd road and back to the highway. The route was about 12 miles total and was a little tame for us, the only obstacles being deep sand and narrow trails with close in brush. We added a few brush marks to our new Jeep which will probably rub out. It's only a matter of time though until some are permanent. Since we have no winch yet, and no "wheeling companions" we are being a little conservative about which trails we choose.   Here is a short video of one of the trails.  It is not very good quality.  I need to find a better mount for the GoPro camera, and also a better method of posting videos.  I will work on it.
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjcHXKIBIbA  

The forest is pretty amazing. As with most of Florida, the top layer is sand, the trees are thick at times, and wild life is plentiful. We haven't spotted any large wildlife yet but have been assured "they are there", including a very healthy bear population, deer everywhere, and the Florida panther population is on the rise again.

 

 

We also drove to 2 national forest recreation sites, Juniper springs and Silver Glen springs, and walked some of the trails to the springs, Juiper springs features an old mill house beside the spring with a water wheel, and several nice board walk trails along a nice clear stream through the forest. Jo "lost me" for about 45 minutes after I wandered down one of the board walk trails. I just kept going thinking that the trail curved back around to the entrance, only to eventually come upon a sign that read "End of trail, return by retracing your steps". There were a lot of steps.

Jo was locked out of the Jeep having forgotten to take her keys. She also had forgotten her cell phone. She was starting to panic since I don't usually wander off that far, nor stay out of sight for that long. She was starting to wonder if I had died in the forest, an idea that also crossed my mind during the long walk back.

 

Canoes are available to rent for a nice paddle along the stream. I spotted a blue heron but was not in a position for a great picture. I also spotted a small alligator but "once you've seen one gator........"

Silver Glen Springs is a large spring fed lake with a swimming area (constant 72 degree water),

lots of fish, easily seen in the clear water, and lots of birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way home, while taking a little side trip to get our first view of the very large Lake George, (and keep in mind we were never more than 20 miles from our basecamp) we spotted what appeared to be a large forest fire.

 

 

 

After stopping to ask if this was a bad fire, thinking we might be in the way if we went to Lake George, we learned that the US Forest Service was doing a prescribed burn to clear thick underbrush, and were told it was fine for us to go on through. The 2 – 3 mile trip along the burn made for some interesting photos.

 

 

 

 

 

This was a very nice day and we barely scratched a corner of the Ocala National Forest. What a discovery this forest is.

 

 

 

 

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January 19, 2014

Sunday Jan 19, 2014

We are parked just a few miles from the Silver Springs attractions that have been popular for generations.  With dwindling popularity of the springs because of pollution and lack of upkeep, it is our understanding that the state of Florida has purchased the Silver Springs park.  It is now Silver Springs State Park, and the state has been busy renovating and upgrading everything. This includes removing the exotic wildlife, taking measures to prevent further pollution of the springs, cleaning up what can be cleaned up, and doing a makeover of the famous glass bottom boats. We will check it out in the next few days and let you know how well the $4.5 million has been spent.

We chose this area for it's location and proximity to both coasts. This is the most narrow point along the central Florida penninsula, making for easy day trips in both directions to either the Atlantic coast or the gulf coast. It also is convenient to Orlando and central Florida attractions, not to mention the Ocalla national forest with its hundreds of miles of Jeep trails (woo hoo).

We also wanted to visit Jo's cousins Pam and Tom. We are meeting them for lunch later today.

 

January 19, 2014 - 5:00 pm

 

We had a truly great visit with Pam and Tom over lunch.  Then we visited their home and all their "critters". 

They regularly have bears, deer, foxes, coyotes, and even an occasional wolf wandering through their property.

Today was a really special day with Jo and Pam being reunited after 40 years.  Tom and I also hit it off and we all had a fantastic visit.  We are also looking forward to spending more time with them.


Today has been a good illustration of another nice feature of being full time RVers.  You can visit family or friends, then go home to your own place without being a burden to each other.  It's just as if you have moved into the same area as your friends.  You can simply set up your own housekeeping, visit each other when you have the time, and still go about your own lifestyles.  You don't have to worry about overstaying your welcome because you are not visiting.  You just simply live nearby. 

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Lighthouse Day Trip

On the first sunny day of our stay on St George Island we made a lighthouse tour of the area.

The Cape St George lighthouse holds a dominate place in the center of the Island and we passed by it every time we drove on or off the island. Later, on our last day on the island, we were able to climb to the top for a special event that only occurs rarely, the moonrise and sunset are only minutes apart in opposite directions.

The area lighthouses included Cape St George Lighthouse, Crooked River Lighthouse, and St Mark Lighthouse.

The loop we drove was about 150 miles, round trip. We took the very scenic coast road drive along the bay, taking a few side roads and just meandering around the area. A couple of the side roads led to Bald Point and Alligator Point. We also visited (along with what appeared to be about 100 bikers) the town of St Mark which is separate from the lighthouse area, and the quaint harbor town of Carabelle.

The Crooked River Lighthouse is on the "wrong" side of the road and easy to miss, so of course, we missed it going out. Fortunately we managed to spot it coming back. Arguably the least impressive visually of the three lighthouses we visited, it was still a fine discovery, with a lot of history behind it.

The St Mark lighthouse was a little disappointing at first. Not that the lighthouse itself was not impressive, but it seemed almost impossible to get a good view of it. Everywhere we looked there was a tree in the way or signs or some other obstruction. After striking up a conversation with one of the refuge volunteers that was on the grounds, I learned of a little known trail along the beach to the back of the structure. After a short walk I was able to get the following shot.

We also enjoyed the drive through the salt marshes leading to the St Mark lighthouse. We spotted alligators sunning themselves, and hundreds of birds, of every color shape and size. We also learned that the area is winter home to the Whooping Crane. We were not lucky enough to see or hear those.

 

 

 

 

 

Even with the weather being a little uncooperative, we truly enjoyed our visit to this coastal area of northern Florida.  We will definitely return if so blessed.    Here are a few more pics from atop the Cape St George lighthouse.

 

 



 

Tomorrow we head for Silver Springs where we might stay awhile.  Jo has a cousin who lives in that area, and we are hoping for a nice visit or two. 

 

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January 16, 2014

Just arrived at Perry, Florida.  Just an overnight stop to do some grocery shopping and catching up on our posts.  We have been out of touch for a few days due to lack of wifi availability and have some catching up to do.  We have a hot spot, but it is just about used up for the month, and I am too cheap to go with a larger data plan.  I will try to post pictures of a lighthouse day trip that we took after we get groceries.  I have some pics for the 365 challenge to catch up on too. 


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Sunday January 12 – Sunrise

Glory! St George Island is awakening to something besides fog. Here are a few samples of the pictures I snapped at sunrise on this beautiful island. Often called the "forgotten island", it is amazing how far you can walk along the beach, especially in the state park, without seeing another person.

The island is a shell hunter's paradise. You can find more "keeper shells" in the first 50 yards of walking, than in half a mile on most beaches.  

Unusual birds abound. Sea turtles, alligators, and other wildlife are often seen here. In the winter, at least, things are laid-back and quiet. Surf fishing is productive and unusual species are caught frequently. Good catches of pompano, flounder, redfish, sea trout, whiting, and spanish mackerel are common.

There are numerous sea-food restaurants and interesting shops around the island. We plan to stop by St George Island again when we find ourselves in the area.

 

We have a few more days to spend here and then we plan to move on a little further south.

 

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Jan 8, 2014 to Jan 15, 2013

January 10, 2014

 

 

In addition to nurturing the earth it has been said that rain is also cleansing.  We shouldn't need to take a shower for quite awhile.  Since our arrival on St George Island, we have had 2 days of gray skies and rain most of the time.  We did manage to snap a few pics anyway.  I will post those soon.   Here is one. 

St George Island Lighthouse

 

 

Yesterday we visited the historic old town of Apalachicola.  The rain persisted, but I did get my picture to post on Day 10 of the 365 challenge.  I also got a few more as did Jo.  Since it's only a short distance away, we are going back today.  The weather is a little brighter (still cloudy) so maybe we can get more pictures.  Besides there is a restaurant and grill there that has a sign out front about the world's largest fish sandwich.   Hmmm.......

Here is just about the sum total of everything we saw today.   Thank God this is not one of our "vacation days". 

Actually the St George lighthouse came in handy as we were driving back home.  It sits right in front of the corner where we turn towards the campground. 

Then there was the "World's Largest Fish Sandwich".  I saw one being delivered to another table.  It was roughly the size of Kansas.  I opted for the "Worlds Best Fish Sandwich" which was about 1/3 the size and every bite delicious.  Look for this to hit a JoAnn's review sometime soon.

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Alabama Coast Dec 30 through Jan 5

Alabama Coast 

We arrived at the Alabama coast area on Monday, December 30th. We are parked in Johnny's RV Resort near Foley, Al, right next to the AC (activity center). We chose this resort on the advice of some friends (who remain absent from their RV).
We decided to spend at least a week here to catch up on our sleep and spend a little time finding out what retirement really is all about. Already, the day to day routines of our former profession are fading fast. I can't tell you how many times I have totally forgotten what day it is. And it's only been a couple of weeks! Wednesdays and weekends (days off) are no longer prominent days of the week.

After setting up our site, we went directly to our favorite seafood market to pick up some of those famous Alabama gulf shrimp.  We are going to have shrimp cocktails with every meal (possibly even breakfast) until we are sick of them. After picking up the shrimp, we took a little walk on the beach. Did you know that it's chilly on the beach in December?

Jeep wind breaker

Jo in her photo - zone

Tuesday (New Years Eve day) we spent the morning watching people going in and out of the activity center. Must be something going on over there, but I'm too lazy to go look at the activity calendar to see what it is. We went to Lambert's Cafe (home of the throwed rolls) in the afternoon,
bringing home enough food for at least another meal for each of us. Then we spent the evening (New Year's Eve) watching a couple of those cute Christmas movies that we recorded from the Hallmark channel (such party animals we are).

New years day passed with Jo organizing her photos on her laptop, football games, (how about that Johnny football?), and watching people go in and out of the activity center. I really have to find out what's going on over there.


So far our stay at the Alabama coast has been gloriously lazy and just what we both needed.

Beach sunset before a rainy night

 

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