Savannah, GA 2010

The Cotton Exchange in Savannah

The old cotton warehouses along the harbor have been made into shops. The harbor is the fourth busiest in the US following San Diego, New York City and LA.

There are 26 parks within the old town area of Savannah. They call these squares. There are trees everywhere.

The best way to see the city is to take a trolley tour with an on/off option. You are able to get all the history from the guide and then take off on foot and pursue the various areas that interest you.

The churches are beautiful and well worth going into.

Here are some pictures of the parks.

All the streets are canopied with trees.

We drove out to the Isle of Hope and looked at the beautiful water front homes there and visited the Tybee Island lighthouse but it was closed the day we were out there.

While in this area we also visited Fort Pulaski National Monument. This fort played a large part in the Civil War. It was surrendered to the Union and later used by the Union as a jail for Confederate soldiers.

As you can see we are still traveling with our friends, Jim and Tracy Tull and enjoying our time with them.

Lovely live Oak tree lined old plantation road.

While in Savannah we stayed at Skidaway State Park. What a find. It was lovely. Big spots, lots of trees and about 8 miles of nice hiking trails.

Two years ago we stopped in Charleston, SC on our way home. If I were to compare the two cities I would have to say that what stand out about Savannah are the trees and the parks throughout the city. In Charleston, what I remember most are the beautiful homes and unique architecture and beautiful gardens. Both cities are loaded with history and have beautiful churches. I couldn't say I prefer one over the other they are each unique in their own way.

Bulow Platation, FL 2010

We usually stop by Flager Beach and stay at Bulow Plantation an Encore Park. This is a beautiful site nearby. Fairchild oak--what a tree. That's Jim Tull and Lee admiring the tree.
This is Jim Tull and Lee in front of John Rockefeller's private residence in Ormond beach. We took a tour of the residence and the grounds.
The residence is now owned by the city and they've done a beautiful job of restoring it and it is used by the city for many functions now. It is called the Casements and it is well worth the trip to see.

This is me getting a kiss from Lee on the grounds of the Rockefeller residence.

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse
There are 203 steps to the top and Lee and I and Jim and Tracy Tull (who are presently traveling with us) all made it to the top.

As you can see it's a long way up.

The weather was great our week here and we spent a lot of time at the beach. It was plenty warm and the water was warm enough to get in and enjoy.
Below Tracy and I having fun in the waves.

Jim and Tracy having fun.

Nearby the campground was a model plane flying field. We sat and watched them flying one morning it was really amazing.

We also found a tennis court nearby and were able to get in some really good pickle ball games with Jim and Tracy.

There was a development nearby that I was able to roller blade in with no traffic it was great!!

On to Savannah Georgia

Visit with our daughter, Karen 4/10-4/19 2010

What a beautiful 10 days we had with Karen. While at Nokomis, we spent most of the time on the beach.

Day after day of beautiful calm, clear water and it was finally warm enough to get into.

Karen enjoyed the warmth of the sun and had lots of time to read and just kick back and enjoy.

Nicky had a great time with Karen. He loved being spoiled by an additional family member.

We took a drive over to Casey Keys to look at the beautiful houses of the rich and famous. I mean really, how much do we really need?

We were only 5 minutes from the beach in Nokomis and just on the other side of the draw bridge was this really cute restaurant on the water. We had a delicious dinner there one night.

Here we are packing up after another gorgeous day at the beach.

What a pretty walkway to the beach!!

After Nokomis on the Gulf, we moved to Silver Springs in the Ocala National Forest. There we met up with Rob and Bonnie Wall who own a lot in the campground there. They have a standard black poodle named Jet and he and Nicky have been friends for 5 years now.

Wilderness RV park is a Passport America participating park. It's a beautiful park. Really nice facilities and the grounds are lovely. It sits on the Ocklawaha River. Rob and Bonnie like it here because they can drop their kayak right in the river just in front of their lot.

There is the cutest little retro restaurant on the premises and the food was great. Big fish fry every Friday night with fresh catch from Lake George.

This great tree was just across from our camper.

This is a picture of Karen and I taken at Juniper Springs.

These underground springs that bubble up from the earth maintain a temperature of about 72 degrees year round.

The water is so clear it's hard to believe it's as deep as it is.

One of the sites along the pathway at Juniper Springs.

This is Glen Springs and the children on spring break were really enjoying the day.

Above is a picture of Salt Springs.

This is the Ocklawaha River at the campground.

What a pretty river to paddle.

I think she's tired.

Words cannot express how wonderful our visit was with Karen. It's so special to have that much one on one time with your children even when they're all grown up because to you they are always your child. I want to thank our son in law Mac for giving us this time with Karen and our grandsons Mickie and Lukas for lending us their mom.