1/24 - 1/28/2013
Gulfport, FL
Navy SeaBee Base

We were here last year so not too much to report, great beaches, good weather, nice people and just a great place to walk the beaches, and great seafood.  I had developed a nasty cold and just didn't feel like going out too much and didn't even feel like taking pictures so these are from last year.

Look at the whiskers on this guy.

I was experimenting with some settings for out in the bright sun and sand and I got a few of them a little too dark.

These docks and shops were completed this year.













It's been 7 years since Katrina and still many damaged homes, vacant lots and lots of building going on.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by

Nancy

Mystic Springs

1/21 - 1/23
Mystic Springs, FL
Airstream Park

A very pleasant easy drive to North North West Florida where there are big hills, horse ranches and gentleman farms.  A beautiful area and nice to be away from the hustle-bustle area of Destin.

There is nothing here, but a great place to rest, read, get caught up on laundry, walk along the Escambia River and visit with other Airstream people.  There were people here from Ontario, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and Pensacola.

Very rustic relaxing place with FHU  for about 100 trailers ($11.00/nite) and lots of room for dry camping another 100 trailers.

While at Mystic Springs, Linda and Charlie drove up for a visit and then took us to lunch in Pensacola, (about 30 miles south).  They were with us on the Southeast Coast Caravan so we had not seen them since Jekyll Island.  It was so much fun spending the day with them, can you tell they are newlyweds.
Thank you Linda and Charlie.






Not too much to report here, not even pictures of the Escambia River, I guess I'm really slipping.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Ho Hum, I guess we'll stay here

1/11 - 1/17/2013
Ho Hum RV  Park
Carrabelle, FL
On the Gulf

Oops, I forgot to post this one.

This was only about 130 mile drive and plenty far enough, as Joe was still recovering and tired easily. We stayed at Ho Hum last year and really liked it, quiet and only 5 miles from the little village of Carrabelle a nice place to eat, The Fisherman's Wife, and an IGA and no traffic lights.

A beautiful sunset the day we arrived.

                                         Sunrise

At the memorial park.  These statues are about 4' tall.

Lighthouse at St Joseph island, about 3 miles across the water from Carrabelle.

The Atlantic Ocean side of St Joe Island.  There are several islands and spits of land all forming barrier islands along the Gulf.












We had a nice relaxing time here, very clean and everyone is very friendly, also the beach is dog friendly.

Have a great day,

Nancy

1/18 - 1/20/2-13
Destin, FL
Army Recreation Area
Destin is sort of like a mini Miami on the Gulf, hopefully it does not become another Miami.  Many water ways, white sand and very expensive boats.  The boat pictured in the background is for sale, a 38' for a mere $1,650,000.  It must have gold fixtures in the galley and head.  Of course a boat like this maybe they call is chef's kitchen.  There is only one really really tall big hotel/condo which is behind me.  They do have a really nice board walk and not too many people, but... come March it will be body to body with spring break kids.

Views from the Army recreation camp

They have a fun water park but you can't see the many spouts of water coming up.  This cute little girl is shooting water out the cannon.











All and all, we had a good time, the place is just too busy for us even in this off season.  I can't imagine what it's like later on in the year.

Have a great day

Nancy

Getting caught up again.

 November 10 th to January 11th 2013
Jacksonville, FL area

Today is 1/30/13 and getting caught up

After our caravan we only had about 120 miles to drive to Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, FL.  This is one of our favorite military RV parks.  It is on the Atlantic Ocean to the east and north is the St Johns River.  The RV park looks out at two shipping channels, one for the Navy and the other is the commercial channel.  There are container ships coming through here 24/7.

Notice the rocks and cement slabs that make up this levee.  See below about Joe's accident on these.

We were here last year and took many pictures so I have very few pictures time.  I love watching all the ship activity.

We thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving with my son, Tim, he is a fantastic cook.  Tim retired from the Navy about a year and a half ago and has been going to school full time.

The second week of December we moved 50 miles to Anastasia State Park in St Augustine.  Even though it rained most of the time we had a wonderful time.  The state park is great, right on the ocean and very popular,   St Augustine claims that they are the oldest city in the United States, established in 1565.  I can't imagine the hardships they had to go through.  The forest and undergrowth is very thick and then to have an organized city in 1565; these people were truly a hardy bunch.

Bridge of Lions from Anastasia Island into St. Augustine.

Looking into the city.

There is a pair of lions at the entrance to the bridge.  That black area under the lion is Buddy, he puts up with anything.  I had to lift him above my head to get him up there.  Then to get him down he climbed on my shoulders, what a brave guy.








Joe's accident:  Joe was out fishing on these rocks, he slipped and fell, scrapping up his shoulder, arm and leg.  I cleaned and bandaged him up, watching for any sign of infection.  It took about two weeks to heal.  Then he started feeling ill, becoming weak, unable to eat or drink, then the fever, then the chills with more fever, then a trip to the ER.  He ended up in the hospital for 8 days, and was discharged Christmas Eve at about 6 pm, they were waiting for the results of a blood test.   However he still had to go back to the hospital every day, starting on Christmas Day to continue infusion of antibiotics for the next 14 days.  It turned out that he had some nasty bacteria off those rocks when he fell: e-coli .  This is a nasty bug to get rid of.  He is now fine and no damage to his organs.

We finally left Jacksonville January 11th instead of our planned departure of 12/27/12.  We had several reservations at state parks and when I explained to Reserve America about Joe's hospitalization they waived the cancellation fees at two different parks.  I thought I would have to provide a note from the hospital, but they said no, you have been through enough.  What a pleasant surprise.

That's it for tonight, thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

2/23 -  3/19/12

Pelican Roost, NS Mayport


OK, so I have had a couple of emails and phone calls threatening me it I don't get busy with blogging again.
As you can see we left Mayport almost a month ago.  Part of the delay was staying in remote locations with no internet service.  Once for 8 days!

Naval Station Mayport at Jacksonville Florida has been a superb place to stay during the last three weeks, with a double deep water channel right in front of us.  One channel for the Navy and one channel for the commercial ships/ barges.    While here we visited with our son Tim who just retired from the Navy last July and is now in school full time.  He has a very nice home about twenty min from our camp spot.  There is so much to do in the area; we visited the zoo, Budweiser Brewery, St Augustine, San Sebastian Winery who claims to be the oldest winery in the United States.  The tour was great at the winery, they also had a roof-top bar/grill and blues/jazz performance every Sunday which is the day we were there.  They were also dog friendly.  We also visited the Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach, they also had dog friendly places.  The beaches were starting to be packed as Spring Break was just starting.

However the beach at NS Mayport was just as good and no crowds.  We saw many Navy ships come and go along with a couple of subs.  Three ships (all frigates) were decommissioned while we were there, it was sad to see them leave for their last time and probably will be cut up and used for scrap metal.  Sometimes they are sold to other countries but we were told these will be cut up.  

Below is an aircraft carrier that carries helicopters and a type of boat that skims over the water and can be loaded into the stern of the boat, which just lowers onto the water and the boat just shoots right on up there and is then stored inside the ship.

Tim loves waffles so he was come for breakfast on every Sunday for our ritual of waffles, I sure wish I had a picture of that.  I make the waffles with Biscuit or Krusteas Buttermilk mix, using 2 ½ cups plus I also add ¼ cup of bran and ¼ cup of Flax meal.  I usually make the batter a little on the thin side and this makes the waffles light and crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

We stayed a little longer at Mayport than we had originally planned because our daughter Brenda and SIL Tom flew in from San Diego.   They were on their way to Jamaica to celebrate Brenda’s  

BIG 4 0  birthday  along with Tom’s birthday a few days later.  We were fortunate to be able to spend a couple of days with them.  Do they look a little tired?  Tom and Brenda had just arrived from San Diego about 2 hrs ago.

Tim, the master chef

And the whole gang:  Joe, Nancy, Brenda, Tom and Tim

At the Zoo in Jacksonville we were fortunate to see the black Panther and a Giraffe up close.

That’s it for now.

Be Safe

Joe and Nancy

2/19 - 2/23/12
Two nights at Tampa, McDill AFB
Two nights at Dade City, Travelers Rest RV Resort

We wanted to visit both of these places to check them out for a possible two week stay next year.  I think they were only  about 60 miles apart.

Leaving Sarasota for Tampa we crossed the Sunshine Bridge (actually not sure if that is the correct name or not).  We almost didn't go this way because of the toll on the bridge and then it was only $2.00.  One of the best deals in florida

It was still a bit hazy, glad the fog had started lifting

The bridge was just beautiful with the sun shinning through just in time for us.

1While in Tampa we visited Ybor City which is known as Tampa's Latin Quarter for over a century was founded by Vincente Martinez-Ybor as a cigar-manufacturing center.  You can still see hand rolled cigars.

4

5

This lady is rolling cigars using a variety of leaves from four different countries

She has been doing this for 25 years

The cigars are placed in this holder

Then they are pressed for 25 minutes

After that they go to another person who puts the finishing touch with a 

moist leaf wrapped very tight

We had lunch here at the famous Carmine's, famous for their Cuban Sandwich

It was very good.

Next stop was the shrimp market

I enlarged these pictures in hopes you could see the way this guy is taking the heads off.

He picks up three or four shrimp in each hand and pops the head off by pinching them at the correct joint and not smashing the shrimp.  He has been shrimping for 45 years.

He is working on the five lbs that we purchased.  The shrimp go in the crate on the left and the heads are sort of in a pile closest to him

He was a very nice gentleman to talk with, he only looked up once or twice, he just kept on working,   he still had another hundred pounds to de-head

We enjoyed the Tampa area and hope to go back again next year for a week or two.

Next stop was Traveler' Rest RV Resort, Dade City, in the middle of the state.  We usually try to avoid RV parks with the word Resort in it.  We came here because this use to be an Airstream Park and we know several people that live here, now the park is open to all RV's, which was a smart move on their part.  This is a very active Park with something for everyone.  If you just want to sit around and watch TV this is not the place for you.  They have golf, tennis, shuffle board, bocce ball, horseshoes, just to name a few, a very large swimming pool, wood working tools along with many other tools to borrow.  They also publish a newspaper every Friday and a group that volunteers at an equestrian center. They also have a very active garden club which is where I would like to spend some time.  Everyone is constantly going to some activity.

A lovely place to sit and watch the beauty of it all.  Yes we would like to come back here next year for about a month.

Safe travels to all

Nancy & Joe