Break from Vacation updates - current updates!

I'll post more vacation stuff tomorrow, but I wanted to post these pictures I took here at home since we've returned.    These are the invitations we've been passing out to Lauren's birthday party at the end of the week.  She is having an ice cream theme - with an ice cream bar along with her cake.  So, appropriately we made ice cream bar card invitations.  I've seen these done many times - but usually a real ice cream stick is used.  We didn't have any so we made our own!  They turned out really cute.  When we deliver them, she asks them to "pick a flavor".

  Being a goof as always!

This is a picture I took that I thought just turned out really cute of the kids - unusual!  Our community recently lost a 22 year old in Afghanistan that was a graduate of Jason's High School.  They were asking people to line the streets in support of the family during the funeral procession.  I thought since all we had going that day was the pool, we should go.  It was very emotional.  He was buried at the National Cemetery with full military honors.  Please keep the Mahler family in your prayers.

And of course, the biggest event of this weekend was getting Jason ready for the National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) camp.  He is taking the "Pack and Paddle" course which means that in addition to having to schlep all his stuff all day, sleep in the woods, and create his own shelter, he'll also have to help carry the canoes overland as needed.  It will be a good lesson in endurance for him.  I'm hoping it will build his confidence and initiative.   It was amusing listening to Dave and Jason trying to pack up the bag efficiently.  Packing, unpacking, practicing how to protect it from rain....where did you put your sunscreen?  Why in the bottom of the bag?  What if you need it while walking?  On and on....for half the day.  But, his dad had him really ready for anything by the time he left!




Here he is all ready to go!  Going away a boy and coming home a little bit more manly!

Still looks like a little boy to me!  

  Back to vacation review tomorrow.


Susan

 

The last full day in the Keys we took a road trip to visit Key West.  We did a little exploring along the way, to see the other Keys and make mental notes about where we might look into staying if we ever returned, and to visit some of the sites.  This is Bahia Honda Beach.  It is supposed to have been ranked as the second most beautiful beach in America, and it could well earn that title.....but it would have to be in the "natural" category, as there was a lot of seaweed that day.  I can't get over those long legs on Lauren- looks just like me at that age!

Lauren was a little hesitant about going swimming with the seaweed because of having been stung by that jellyfish on our second day, but she bravely persevered!  Fortunately all was well.

  This is where we finally got to use the big umbrella we bought at Costco before leaving.  I know we'll get plenty of use out of this through the years, but we didn't use it much on vacation - most beaches provided them at the resorts we stayed at.

It was VERY hot this day, and sporting a sunburn on my back from snorkeling (despite the 70 spf I used!) I decided to hold down the fort while everyone else went swimming.  Dave kept his shirt on for the same reason!

We had lunch on the way down the Keys at this Cracked Conch Cafe and it was superb!  Dave and I got a fresh fish sandwich blackened - OMG so good!  It was open air, but a good iced tea and the smell of the food was worth it.

The night before we had Conch Fritters and Conch Chowder, so the kids didn't opt for that this day - it was met with cool reviews.

Finally making it to Key West, the first thing we did was to go and take our picture at the Southernmost Point of the USA.  Only 90 miles from Cuba - closer than to Miami!  These crazy geographic landmarks are kind of fun - like the 4 corners out west and the Continental Divide - we've seen many of them!

This was the funniest thing we saw down there - this guy surf paddling with his dog in a life jacket  - but not him of course!  We wondered if this was rush hour commuting for Key West!

It wasn't long after parking that we needed something cold - did I mention it was HOT that day?  So we stopped at a stand and Dave and I got Key Lime Sherbet Freezes - OMG good!!!!!  The kids opted for frozen strawberry lemonade.  Very refreshing.   This is the square down by the water.  The restaurant behind us is the Red Fish, Blue Fish where we later returned for dinner.  The boat is home to a crazy rooster that tries to jump from the boat into that tree behind it....not successful while we watched.  There were roosters all over the place - I think it must be the Cuban influence.  And there were also "ShipWreck Castaways" as I called them.....long haired, sunburned, dred locked, seriously looked like they were Robinson Crusoe wannabees on every corner making some kind of palm leaf sculptures for cash.  The kids got embarrassed when I called them that, but I was in a motherly way trying to express my disapproval should they choose that lifestyle!  I refrained from taking pictures of them though....they probably would have charged me for it!

 After a fantastic dinner at the restaurant I mentioned - I had this salad - we headed toward the water to kill the last bit of time we had left on the parking meter.  We ended up at the Sunset Celebration that is held every night on the boardwalk.  It was really fun.  Lots of street performers, and artist displays that were charming.  Lauren got pulled into this "magicians' act.  He was quite foul mouthed

despite the number of children around and we wandered away quickly.  He gave us a CD for her participation, but I haven't let the kids watch it yet - we may need to preview it.  He was really funny when he kept it clean, so I almost felt like it was uncontrollable in some way.

This guy was making gigantic bubbles and had a golden retriever in boxers that chased them to pop them.  He would yell "Watch OUT" each time he made one so that people didn't get hit by them.   They were pretty as they caught the sunset colors.

So that was our day at Key West.  It took ALL DAY to travel the 90 miles to get there - of course we did stop, but still I wish we had returned sooner to enjoy our last night at the resort.  Key West was too commercialized and touristy for my tastes - we liked our Key Largo area better!  But it was fun to say we've been there and I always enjoy seeing local architecture etc....and if you want to shop, that is the place in the Keys to do it!

Still to come - our trip begins heading back north as we work our way home, but we still have several stops along the way - tomorrow I'll post Singer Island beach day.

Smiles,

Susan

Snorkeling!!!!

The whole reason for our trip, and the part of the trip that I most dreaded, was the day we were going to go snorkeling.  Now, for those who don't know this about me - I have had a phobia about deep water ever since encountering a shark off the North Carolina coast while in High School.  It plagued me through all my years of working for SeaWorld.  Difficult to be enthusiastic about "Terrors of the Deep" to your clients when you want to pass out in the exhibit!  And I had not been in the ocean beyond my knees for over 20 years now!  So, needless to say I didn't want to go.

The night before we were supposed to go out, Lauren got stung by a jellyfish out in the resort lagoon.  They have a lot of seagrass in there, and apparently these little nettles called upside-down jellyfish feed in there.  David, Jason and I all were stung, but they were just mildly irritating.  Lauren had been stung already, when she got stung badly on her back.  She was up all night with an allergic reaction to it - felt itchy inside she said and couldn't hold still.  So, I was partially thinking I would have an "out" on our excursion and have to stay behind with her.

No such luck.  She recovered quickly the little stinker, and nothing would keep her down - unless I lied to her and told her she might be stung again.....hmmmm?  So out we went.  This is the boat ride with the resort behind us.  A trip through the mangrove forests of the Pennekamp state park, and then out to clear water.....

Oh!  So blue!  It was as if the water had some sort of luminous glow.  We went 5 miles out to sea and stopped at that buoy you can barely see on the horizon - the "Molasses Reef".

I still had some reservations, but thought I would at least try to just swim around close to the boat.    At first, I had trouble getting my breathing under control.  It brought back to many memories of asthma attacks as a kid, and I had some mild anxiety about it, but soon got the hang of the breathing.  Jason and Lauren jumped right in - no looking back, no hesitation!

  Eventually we were all in the water, and when I saw how far my kids were from me, my mother instincts overrode my fear and I went out with them.  I wouldn't say the phobia is conquered, but it seems to have more to do with not being able to see what's in the water with me, and this was so clear that I was ok.

This is the classic snorkeling butt shot.

Soon, Jason learned how to hold his breath and prevent the water from going up the snorkel and was able to dive down to get a closer look.  This is truly his idea of what heaven would be like.  He has always said that he wanted to be a marine biologist, and we thought maybe this trip would cement that dream enough to get us through HS science!  He was the only one of us to give up the noodle and swim on his own the whole time!

We were able to get some underwater cameras at Walmart and they worked pretty well.

David peeking!

The cameras did a good enough job to capture the sea turtle!  Lauren was thrilled - it's her favorite animal next to a horse!  We also saw a sting ray but didn't get a good picture.  Lots of barracuda too!

And I heard later, that there were some nurse sharks seen, but fortunately not by me!  I would not have been this far away from the boat if we had!










It was a fabulous day and an experience that I'll never forget!    I think it's probably the first of many trips where we might try to find an opportunity to do a little snorkeling!

Smiles,



Susan

Missing that view!

I can't believe that this was the view I woke up to each morning just 2 weeks ago today!  I wanted to trim that dead palm leaf or photoshop it out, but even that blemish can't ruin this wonderful place!  This was the view off of our balcony looking into Florida Bay from the Key Largo Marriott Resort.  It was beautiful!   I'm so glad that we went despite our concerns about oil - we saw none!  They drastically over estimated the speed with which it would reach the Keys, and the tourism is suffering.  We were there right before their peak season began, which made it really wonderful because this is about as crowded as it was at the beach whenever we went down there!



Don't we look relaxed and rested?




Here's why:

Favorite place to hang out!

Comfy!

Great sleeping quarters!

Take me to your leader!

Alien invasion on the beach!

Happy kids!

Exhausted from snorkeling all day!














A beautiful sunset beauty!

An evening view from the room.

I think David was there - though you wouldn't know it from these photos!   We spent many hours drinking margaritas and listening to Jimmy Buffet - I hope he has a nickel for every time they play one of his songs!

I hope this relaxed you a little while viewing.  Tomorrow I'll post our snorkeling excursion.

Smiles,

Susan

Two Weeks ago today.....

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago today is when we packed up the car and left for our vacation!  What a whirlwind!  We had been on the fence about whether to go, or not to go based on the projections of the oil movement in the Gulf.  After all, the main reason for going to FL was to snorkel....and if you can't get in the water, well, what's the point?

Our first stop, which would have been two weeks ago tonight, was in Kennesaw GA.  Now, I didn't know it at the time, but apparently several of my ancestors fought in the Civil War battles around that area.  I found out looking up something for a stop at the end of our trip, which I'll get to later!  Wish I had known - I would have taken some photos, or made the side trip to Lookout Mtn.  Our main concern in this area, was getting the heck out of there - Dave had heard terrible things about the Atlanta traffic, so we wanted to leave asap!  Fortunately, on Sunday mornings everyone in Atlanta must be in church - we breezed through!

Our next stop was Savannah.  We thought after a full day and a half of driving, we should stop early and see some sights.   This was a free night stay for us, so we couldn't be too picky, but we thought the hotel was lovely - brand new, and only 3 blocks from the Juliette Gordon Lowe house.  This is us as we walk down from the hotel to visit her house.

The tour was very interesting, especially for current and former Girl Scouts!  She really was a remarkable woman for her time and very talented in many ways as the art objects in her house demonstrate.  Lauren was able to get a pin for her sash that you can only wear if you've taken the tour.

Next, we drove over to Historic Fort Jackson.  It was either that or Ft. Pulaski, which would have given us another stamp in our National Park passports, but it was rather far out of the city and we were sick of the car.  Ft. Jackson is a state historic site serving in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars.



It's main purpose is to protect Savannah from invaders up the river.  There were many interesting displays for we history buffs to enjoy, and because it was Memorial  Day there was a canon fire demonstration and an interpreter on site.




The kids favorite part was most likely the tiny crabs living in the moat around the structure.  They were visible because the tide was out. 

Next, we returned to the city and went walking around until dinner.  We had the required hat pins, and souvenir patches to collect.  I loved these trees - so spooky looking, they have to add to the mystique of Savannah's paranormal history!  There are many park squares throughout the city that provide a lot of charm and ambience.  We were never able to figure out which one was Forest Gump's bus stop scene though.

We went down to the riverfront as well.  Not much appeal there - great restaurant's, but mostly souvenir shops.  With it being a holiday weekend, there were street performers and live music, and I think it had recently been the place of much partying. The streets were the old cobblestone - which was fine if you were tourists in good walking shoes like us, but I felt sorry for the idiots in heels trying to impress their dates!  And for the moms with the strollers!  Yikes@!  Overall,  it was a bit dirty and smelly for my tastes.



Check out the stairs to get down to the riverfront!

The best thing on the riverfront was the candy store where they made homemade pralines and candied pecans!  It smelled SO good in there!  We of course had to get a souvenir from there!

Dinner reservations were made at the Historic Pirate House.  We had been told that it was good food and kid friendly.  When we arrived we were less than enthused - it seemed like a fancy, yet old, Long John Silver's and Dave and I despaired of having truly good food.  But, we were wrong!  He ordered the BBQ platter, and I ordered the house fried chicken - OMG!  Both were excellent, but the chicken was served with a praline drizzle that made it scrumptious!  Highly recommend - I think it even outranks Mitchie's Tavern!  And of course, the house is interesting and full of pirates!  We encountered one while dining that impressed Lauren into service.   The restaurant is an old house that was supposedly where Robert Louis Stevensen set the scene for the death of the pirate in "Treasure Island".  It is of course, haunted.

Speaking of haunting, no tour of Savannah would be complete without a Ghost Tour.  I had wanted to make reservations for a walking tour, but they were booked so we opted for the traditional Trolley tour.  Not recommended.  It was hokey and we could barely hear the lady, nor understand her accent when we could hear her.  The kids got into it in the end, but I think I would go the private walking tour option if we ever were to return.


Next stop - Key Largo, but that will have to be another day.

Hoping to stamp today - Lauren needs to send out her party invitations asap as her birthday is right around the corner!

Smiles!

Susan