So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 4)

...we stopped in Savannah, GA. I had never been to downtown Savannah but Terry had. (Another sewing gig.) I had been to the Savannah airport back in 2001 to pick up Jessica as she flew in to attend Rick's "graduation" from Parris Island two weeks after 9/11. I thought the airport was quaint.

Well so is the city. Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia and was a vital port during the Revolution and Civil War. It escaped destruction in the latter when the city fathers negotiated with General Sherman and--well--basically surrendered the city to the Union troops in December of 1864.

The city was laid out by General James Oglethorpe back in 1733 in what is basically a grid pattern with many small public parks or squares. Originally I believe there were some 25 of these squares, today there are 22 remaining in the Savannah Victorian Historic District, one of the largest Historic Landmark Districts in the country.

We hopped an Old Town Trolley Co. tour bus at the visitors' center in the warehouse district and took a tour of the historic part of the city.

Oglethorpe Square

Madison Square

 Those squares with statues of Confederate Soldiers and/or Generals (and there area a few) all have those men facing north. Think about it and you'll understand why.

Monterey Square

In honor of the USMC. I did mention that Parris Island was nearby, right?

A lovely place to sit and think. Anyone have a box of chocolates? (Yeah, Forrest Gump was filmed here...just not in this particular square.)

 

Should you decide that a slower pace is required to really enjoy all the beautiful squares in the old city, there's always the carriage ride.

Griffin statue over at the Old Cotton Exchange on the harbor.

And here's a view of the building itself.

We enjoyed our brief visit to the city of Savannah and , like St. Augustine, FL, we'll be back again. Next time I hope to be doing some walking in those places as there's so much to see.

What? I didn't mention the cane I was using for the first week and a half? Seems I jarred something in my back a week before we left home and was considerably hobbled. But a steady administration of Naproxen Sodium and a couple of relaxing hours in Janet's swimming pool and hot tub were eventually doing their job. After this stop, the cane stayed in the truck.

After our tour, we parked ourselves for the night in a motel near Hilton Head and set out the next morning to Charleston.

We stopped at the visitors' center outside of town to get our bearings and were told of a parking garage down town near the old district. We also asked about a particular restaurant we had once visited but couldn't remember the name of over by the U.S.S. Yorktown and were told, "Yes, the Fish House is still there."

Well, the garage was too small for the Tundra and with out a handicapped sticker there was no place to park...so we drove down to the battery, waved at Fort Sumter across the bay, and zig-zagged our way through the cramped little streets of the area ("Don't Even Think About Parking Here!" was a common sign.) Then we hopped on the bridge and went over to the U.S.S. Yorktown to find the place for lunch. (We had visited the U.S.S. Yorktown many years ago with Terry's cousins and didn't feel the need to go again.)

Well, we found the Fish House but it wasn't the place we remembered. More of a yacht club meets country club style building right on the wharf with the Yorktown and we knew this was not the place we remembered. So sitting in the parking lot we added up our recollections (red roof, oyster shell parking lot, two stories, near water) and did a Google Maps search to come up with RB's on Shem's Creek just a short hop, skip and a jump down the road.

Yep! That's the place!

We entered, went upstairs and had a lovely lunch as we overlooked the creek and watched the fishermen come in for lunch and the kayakers paddle back and forth.

After lunch we decided that if Charleston was going to be so unwelcoming we'd drive up the coast to see what all the fuss was about Myrtle Beach.

As a couple from New Jersey familiar with Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island, Cape May, etc. we both agreed about Myrtle Beach: Fahgit about it!

Nothing but huge condos/hotels along the main drag with the beach beyond. While there are numerous (small) parking areas with beach access, there didn't seem to be any such thing as a board walk or amusement area. The closest was right on the main drag with cars driving through the center. Not our cuppa tea at all.

So we kept on driving on up to Roxboro, North Carolina to visit with Janet's daughter, Micki and her family.

We didn't visit long as Micki's daughter, Sarah, was graduating Saturday and she and Caleb (her younger brother were making confirmation on Sunday. As it was, Caleb out taking driver's ed so we never did get to see him and Travis, Micki's husband got home from work while we were there. Even so, we had a nice, if brief, reunion.

(And no, I didn't get any pictures of Charleston--I was driving, or Myrtle Beach--driving again, or of Micki and her family--I'm an idiot, okay? I never take enough pictures of people when we go visiting. Don't know why, but I'm hesitant to ask people to pose or even to snap candids of them. And I always regret it later.)

After a night in the motel in Roxboro, we drove southwest toward Ashville, NC so we could hop on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the North Carolina Visitors Center in Spruce Pines, NC. (We were going to start at the southernmost terminus but reports of construction and road closures near Craggy Gardens and again further south caused us to change our minds. Again.)

We would spend the next two days slowly making our way north along first the Blue Ridge Parkway and then the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. That will be our fifth and final report or our southern wanderings. Later.

So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 3c)

...went to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. This state park is accessible by a short, guided boat ride from the primary parking area to the visitors' entry where you pay your entry fee.

Peaceful boat ride to the main part of the park.

The park is famous for being one of the prime homes for manatees. During the winter, dozens of manatees congregate in the adjacent Homosassa River. There are some permanent residents in the main spring pool, however and you can easily view them on you own or wait around for one of the several "shows" they have. (Really just feeding times with a narrator.)

One of the three manatees who call the spring enclosure home.

 There's an underwater viewing area as well. It's lined with glass (that needs replacing) and offers underwater views of the manatees and huge schools of fish.

Lots of fish, like these snook and mullet, find the conditions around the spring just perfect.

You can get a great fish-eye view of the schools from the bubble--sort of a reverse aquarium; you're in the tank while the fish swim free.

After getting a gander at the "tame" manatees, we strolled over to the river and got a lucky glimpse of a wild one. Like many of these huge beasts, this one had a couple of wounds on its back from boat propellers. Perhaps that is why it wasn't heading north to Georgia or the Carolinas with its relatives.

Feral manatee in the Homosassa River.

Previous to becoming a state park and focusing on local/regional wildlife, Homosassa was an exotic animal park. All the previous tenants were sold off or donated to various zoos--except one. No one wanted a rather aging hippo so he has remained and is now fifty some years old. They celebrate is "birth" day every year and he's got quite a following.

The lone hold over from the "exotic animal park" days.

The rest of the entourage consists of critters you might find outside the park--and many of the birds come and go as they please. They've black bears, Florida cougar, bobcats, red and gray foxes, river otters, and red wolves. (As were were walking past the wolf enclosure, an ambulance drove up to the entrance with its siren wailing. The wolves all responded in kind and every one of them howled! Splended!)

Seven of these beasts, ranging in size from around 8 to 10 feet long inhabit their special pool.

They've a reptile house with all manor of snakes also. Many lovely specimens and many poisonous ones, too. Terry stayed well away from the glass.

The animals were neat to view, but the birds! Goodness! Did they have birds. Some were free to come and go as they pleased, others were enclosed in a huge aviary (think of it as a walk-in bird cage) and still more were unable to leave due to injury. (The latter group was primarily birds of prey--hawks and eagles--and owls.)
 

Flamingos doing flamingo things. (No, they aren't plastic.) (Free ranging.)

White pelican. (Free ranging)

Brown Pelican. (Free ranging.)

Snowy Egret. (Capitve.)

Black-crowned Night Heron. (Capitve.)

Common Gallinule. (Capitve.)

Osprey and American Bittern. (Capitve.)

Roseate Spoonbill. House building? (Capitve.)

Black Vulture. (Free ranging.)

Immature Anhinga living dangerously in the gator pool. (Free ranging.)

Eventually we had to leave which meant taking the boat back to the parking area.

Boat ride back to the parking area. Nice way to end the visit.

All in all it was a pleasant outing. As was our visit with my long lost cousins.

Time to head north (where they were having rainy/snowy weather!?). On to Savanah, GA.

See Part 4 for our tour of the city.

So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 3b)

...went to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the mermaid show. You enter the park through a visitors' center. On the other side, there are pathways to an animal exhibit, a short boat ride and the Mermaid Theatre. We took the boat ride first.

Upon returning, we grabbed seats at the theatre to catch the show.

The show the performed was based on Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid. You know the story:

The pretty little mermaid...

...saves a drowning sailor...

 ...and wishes for a pair of legs so she can join the handsome sailor on land.

She makes a deal with the Sea Witch.

 The hag steals her voice but the mermaid (in this case) throws the Sea Witch into a deep abyss, regains her voice and...

... the young lovers live happily ever after.

So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 3a)

...visited my cousins Janet and Linda in Weeki Wachee. This was the first time I had seen them in many years. My sister and I used to spend many a Saturday at their house in Pequannock, NJ while Dad did yard work. Janet's husband, Dave, taught industrial arts (shop) in Sparta and Jan was a nurse. When they retired, they followed Jan's mom, my Aunt Grace, to just north of Tampa. Linda's husband, an electrical lineman, got a job in the same area about the same time. The Faber clan visited them all when we traveled to Disney World around 1990. I haven't seen them since. Terry visited a few years ago when she had one of her sewing conventions in Orlando.

While we would enjoy the company of Janet, Linda, Dave, Becky (one of Janet's daughters) and their four dogs and two cats, Terry and I would use thier house as a base to visit Weeki Wachee Springs and the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park just up the road.

More about those places later.

So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 2)

...visited St. Augustine, Florida.

Our first stop in St. Augustine was to the newest visitors' center on the main drag where we learned they ran an Old Town Trolley that toured the --well--Old Town. We paid for a three day ticket and hopped the free shuttle over to the trolley depot near the Old Jail. There we were "incarcerated" for a brief while as a trustee showed us the ropes. But we got paroled.

Terry with the Big Man. The "trustee" can be seen lounging on the porch in the rear.

Me with the Big Man.

Terry was taken by this old sewing machine in the sheriff's living quarters.

Then we boarded the trolley for a 1-1/2 hour tour of the city. The plan was to use our tour to pick the places we would visit on day two. Lord! There are a lot of places to see!

Old Town Trolley picks up and drops off at some 25 different locations. But these guys are out of luck.

This is the oldest city in the US having been established back in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez but visited as early as 1513 when Ponce de Leon came in search of the Fountain of Youth and gold for the Spanish treasury.

A partial reconstruction of the earliest palisades made with palm logs.

Restored city gates.

View of The Castillo de San Marcos (estb. 1672)

 In the late 1800s St. Augustine became THE place to winter for some of the wealthiest people in the US. The primary promoter of this destination was one Henry Morrison Flagler who was then perhaps the second richest man in the US behind his good friend John D. Rockefeller. It was Flagler's vision to cater to the rich and famous of the day and he hired world renowned architects to build some luxury hotels for that purpose. Today those hotels are the core of Flagler College, established in 1968.

Statue of Flagler at the entrance to the college.

Ponce de Leon Hotel is now the core of the college.

More of the Ponce de Leon's magnificent architecture.

There's more to see and do in St. Augustine, of course. Besides the trolley, you can take a horse drawn carriage tour or a boat tour of the bay if you'd prefer.

Carriages await fares.

You could rub shoulders and have your picture taken with many famous people at Potter's Wax Museum--"Where great minds mingle."

You could visit the first permanent home of Ripley's artifacts. (It's in one of the many former hotels that attempted to compete with Flagler's. There are a few that tried but failed because Flagler was both an astute businessman and a right old bastard. He controlled the railroad that came into town and the warehouses in Jacksonville that were to supply those rival hotels.)

You could stroll the pedestrian mall in the old town section where you can walk among some of the older buildings like the Oldest (remaining) Wooden Schoolhouse in the US while shopping for a snack or souvenir.

There's the old Spanish muster site with it's walls encrusted with seashells on the outside like an early day razor wire fence for those attempting to invade.

 Or search for eternal youth as Ponce de Leon did. (Beware, it's pricey to even look! If old Ponce had been a better business man, he could have made a fortune by marketing the waters from the spring here.)

Or, like we did on day two, you can visit the new St. Augustine Distillery and the Winery for a free tour and tasting at each. The former specializes in potables made from sugarcane, vodka, gin and rum. Their bourbon had not yet aged enough to be released to the public. Darn it! (We did purchase some vodka and rum, however.)

We drove north of the city both nights to eat at some very fine restaurants and Terry even walked down to the beach to dip her toes into the Atlantic. (She said it was chilly.)

Having left much unexplored (for a future visit?), we headed out toward Weeki Wachee just north of Tampa-St. Pete to visit some folks from my side of the family.

But that will have to wait for Part Three.

So. We went on a road trip and....

..had a great time.

As previously mentioned, Terry and I drove to South Carolina, Florida and North Carolina to visit relatives. We also stopped at various locals to do some sight-seeing. After finally looking at and editing some of th epictures I took--and procrastinating my butt off--I'm going to take a few days to post the tale of what we did along with some photos so be patient.

We left on a Sunday morning in the rain and headed south on Route 15 and then I-81. Being Sunday, the traffic was light and we made great time. Just to be on the cautious side, however, we stopped for the night in southern Virginia.

Monday we hopped on I-77 and swung through North Carolina and eventually on to Columbia, South Carolina and stopped at the home of our first set of kin--on Terry's side. Jim (Terry's cousin) and his wife, Pat, were waiting for us and greeted us warmly.

While unpacking the Tundra I noticed some severe, uneven wear on the front tires of the Tundra and knew immediately that the vibrations I had been feeling in the steering wheel meant I had an alignment problem. Well, Jim and Pat both happen to drive Toyotas so after we drove over to Fort Jackson cemetery to visit the grave of Terry's cousin Lorraine, we drove over to the Toyota dealership to make an appointment. (Lorraine died from recurring cancer a couple of years ago. She fought bravely but after an all too brief period where it seemed to go into remission, the Big C returned and took her from us.) The dealership said they could take me Tuesday morning at 7:45. Jim also made an appointment for an oil change at the same time so we were good to go!

Tuesday it was confirmed that I needed an alignment by the personal concierge assigned to my case. (Did I mention that this was a HUGE dealership? They had a drive-in check in garage with six or seven people to greet customers, take the vital information and do a look-see of what your problem was.) I ordered a complete set of Cooper tires for the Tundra as they had a buy-three-get-one-free deal going on. I wold also get the fluids in the transmission and transfer case changed. As it would take a couple of hours I agreed to wait in their luxurious waiting area.

Jim's oil change took about an hour and he went home while I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Noon came and I was told the tires were on their way from across town. One o'clock came and my assigned concierge was full of apologies. Like me he was beginning to think they had to tap the trees for the rubber. He went to talk with the service manager and came back saying they would give me a 20% discount on my bill because things were taking so long. I was properly appreciative but told him it sounded better than being put on the time clock. Anyway, I finally got my tires and left the dealership around 2:30 in the afternoon. We all went out to dinner in celebration of Terry's birthday  and then we sat around watching NCIS that evening.

Wednesday, May 3rd, we did a little touring around town and visited a farmers market. Pat cooked a wonderful meal had then we had a visit from Terry's god daughter, Michelle, and her family. (Michelle is Lorraine's daughter making her a second cousin(?).) Michelle's oldest is graduating high school this year. My how time flies!

Thursday, Terry and I drove over to Sumter to visit with Michelle's sister-in-law, Sarah, and her son, Jacob. (Husband Richard was away at work in Charleston. He builds sets for the entertainment industry--movies, TV and the like.) We got there a tad early and had to wait for Sarah and Jacob to get back from an errand. Well, Sarah made a big mistake when she got home as she handed Jacob the car keys and got out of the car. The two-and-a-half year-old Jacob pushed the wrong button and locked himself in the car and wouldn't/couldn't unlock the doors for his Mom. Sarah searched for the extra keys, but Richard must have had them. Next thing we know Sarah has two cop patrol cars in her drive, each having an officer with the right tools but not the expertise to jimmy the door open. A third, unmarked car arrived with someone who had the proper knowledge and the door finally got opened and Jacob was free!

The rest of the visit was somewhat anticlimactic but very enjoyable. Jacob is a hoot! And a whiz with a tablet. He and I played a couple of apps on his and he was pretty good at fitting words into their proper slot as I read sentences to him. When I tried to change to a different screen he immediately knew which icon to touch to get back to the one he wanted. Bright little bugger! So how come he wouldn't/couldn't unlock the door? Later in the afternoon, we had a visit from Terry's cousin-in-law/Lorraine's widower, Joe. He's battling cancer now, too and looks a bit wore out but says he's doing okay.

Me and Jacob

Friday morning Pat and Jim teamed up to make some wonderful omelettes for breakfast and then Terry and I hit the road for St. Augustine, Florida.

Thus ended Stage One of our travels. More to come!

Trip Planning.

I've been busy planning a lot of trips for this summer and fall. These in addition to Terry's two conventions/seminars for SAGA and EGA--both of which take place in the Virginia this year; in Hampton Roads, VA and Alexandria, VA respectively.

First, Terry and I will be traveling south next week to visit relatives in North and South Carolina as well as Weeki Wachee, FL. We'll also do a quick sightseeing tour of St. Augustine, FL; a stop over in Charleston, SC; and drive both the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive on the way home. We''ll be staying with family members much of the time. Yes, they know that already!

The second will be a three to four day trip to the Cape May area--before Memorial Day and the usual Jersey Shore (never "the beach!") madness revs up.

Third is a brief trip out to Long Grove, IL (north of Chicago) to visit with Rick, Sandy, and Chelsea as they will be in to visit Sandy's parents for a week.

Fourth (for me) will be a trip to Clova, Quebec in mid June to do some fishing for pike and walleye with Joe at a remote cabin off Goin Reservoir. (Reserved and eagerly awaited!)

Our fifth trip will be a longish one in July as we plan to trailer to Acadia National Park, ME; the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick; then back to Gorham, NH; and Alexandria Bay, NY. Three weeks on the road. Reservations have been made for those places we'll be staying more than one night but the one night stops still have to be booked or we'll take our chances calling ahead as we travel.

Nothing is planned for August, but we may have the trailer out to visit some of the fine state parks here in Pennsylvania. There will also be time for rebuilding several of the garden beds where dry rot has taken out the landscape timbers I used, oh, nine (!) years ago.

Sixth on the list will be a solo affair with Terry heading to Hampton Roads, VA in the second half of September for her SAGA Convention.

Seventh--and as yet unplanned completely will be a solo excursion for me to Portland, OR and Anaheim, CA to visit with the kids. That should take the first three weeks in October. I might fit in a day birding at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge at the north end of the Great Salt Lake. Maybe even stop in American Canyon, CA and visit with family there. I could even get down to San Diego to visit friends Ellie and Wayne. Who knows?

The eighth and final will be another solo trip for Terry the final week in October into November to Alexandria, VA for her EGA Seminar.

I love the act of planning these trips. Pouring over the maps and trying to figure out what we would like to do and where we will stay. Mapquest is a help but so is the Good Sam Club trip planner. the only thing they lack, as far as I can tell, is a function that lets me tell them I want to go from point A to point B but want to travel just 300 miles (with the trailer) or 750 miles (by vehicle) a day, where's my stops?

My kids and wife will tell you I will plot a course in minute detail (Eisenhower's crew planning D-Day had nothing on me!) but will toss those plans after the first day or two on the road. Unless, that is, we have to make reservations at some of the more popular spots. Even then, there are always new roads to explore, shortcuts to take, and all manner of unexpected sights to see along the way.

Then it'll be time to rest a bit, do some hunting, entertain for Thanksgiving and hibernate.

Waging War!

Saw the first carpenter bee (wood bee) of the season bouncing off the windows of the deck and searching for a likely spot to bore a hole--just as they have done ever since we've been here. So, instead of pulling out the Spectracide Wasp & Hornet spray as I've done in the past, I put out the two traps I built. Mounted one on each side of the front deck in the hopes that I'll catch the darn bees before they start excavating tunnels in the soffet--again.

I found the spray to be a killer IF I could hit the bee but that's the problem.

1. The bees are difficult to hit on the wing. 
2. The spray does NOT reach out to 25-feet as advertised when you aim upwards. (And then some of the mist falls back on me!)
3. The spray is not effective n a windy day--and we get lots of those!
4. I am not on "guard duty" full time.

The boxes are there 24/7, will not cover me with a poisonous mist and generally are more eco-friendly. 

They are nothing more than a couple of plywood boxes with a couple of smallish holes drilled slanting upward on each side and a larger hole on the bottom to which a Mason jar is attached. I simply lashed them to the extending ends of the logs rather than do any drilling/nailing into the house.

The idea is the bees enter the small holes, get confused and exit through the larger hole into the jar where they die. A friend in Tennessee a number of folks online seem to have success with them so we'll put them to the test here at the Aerie.

I may also add some faux hornets nests made from paper bags stuffed with plastic bags/Styrofoam to the underside of the covered porch and deck to scare the bees away.

I'm a b-a-d Boy.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned.

It's been over two weeks since I last posted. It's not that I've been terribly busy or anything, I just have been spending my time reading Facebook and, well, you know how that works. "I'll just take a quick glance..." and five hours goes by.

Since my last post, we have had the heaviest snowfall of the season: about 4 inches fell on Saturday April 9th. That was followed by a weekend of 75+ degree weather on April 15-18.

One bird walk was freezing (April 2), one was snowed out (April 9) and one was fantastic (April 16).

Terry and I have been planning our Spring and Summer travels:

• First up is a trip down to Weeki Wachee, Florida with stops along the way to visit relatives in North and South Carolina. We'll also do some sightseeing at St. Augustine as well as drive the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive on the way home.
• Second will be a quick trip to Cape May, NJ sometime in late May.
• Third will be another quick trip. This one to the west to visit Rick, Sandy and Chelsea when the come to visit Sandy's parents north of Chicago.
• Then I will be going north to fish in Northern Quebec with Joe M.
• Finally, and this is the big one, Terry and I will take the travel trailer on the road to visit the coast of Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before returning via Alexandria Bay (NY) and the Thousand Islands. I've been spending some time planning this one--and need to get on the phone to start making reservations. 

All if that will get us home by the end of July. But we'll still be getting around the state to some of the great state parks in the north, west and southwest corner of the Pennsylvania.

Terry will, of course, be doing some traveling of her own come fall. This time, however, she'll be a bit closer to home as both the SAGA and EGA conventions are in the east this year.