6b. Siesta Key and other beaches

6b. Siesta Key and other beaches

Siesta Key and other beaches photo album




Wow it's hard to believe that we'll be on the road again in a couple of days or so. Our stay here in port Charlotte has been a very relaxing and recharging one. As mentioned in the previous post we have been hanging around the pool for the most part but occasionally we have ventured off to go do some geocaching and beaching.  Here are some of the beaches we went to.




1.  Englewood beach;  known for its petrified shark teeth and shelling. My sister in law Mindy is so good at finding these teeth, she's found hundreds....then she creates her own artwork with the teeth. This shark photo is made from these shark teeth ....pretty cool huh?
















2. Munche Beach and Pine Island : Not much to say say about this one except to say it smelled probably from rotting seaweed or something....so we had a quick picnic lunch and departed....We also ventured off to Pine Island on the same day.

Well as you can see from the map IT IS AN island, so we thought we would find a bike trail or some beaches we could swim at....well the bike trail is parallel to the main road..not my idea of a leisurely bike ride to enjoy the views so we DID NOT cycle and no public beaches to swim at ....for the most part the tips of the island are well maintained with expensive homes with private ocean front piers.  It was quite apparent this island was not commercialized at all so there weren't many tourist type amenities.... in fact all we saw were palm tree nurseries up and down the main drag on the island.....needless to say we turned around and left the island....

3. AHHHHHHH.....Siesta Key Beach: it's no wonder this beach has been voted America's #1 beach for many years ....it's by far my favorite beach of all. Last Monday was a very special day..... we met Andreé Anne and her family at this beach for an afternoon and evening of fun, laughter, dancing, singing,  love and the pièce de résistance......the MOST spectacular sunset I  have ever seen.

Siesta Key Beach , which provides free parking and shuttle service to all three beaches on the island, has the finest , whitest sand which feels soooooo good and cool under your feet because it's made up of 99% quartz. What's special about quartz is that doesn't heat up like regular sand,  soooooo you never need to run like a chicken when  you're barefoot on this beach.  Siesta Key also has a very active tourists' village lined with restaurants,  shops and nightlife!!!! We had so much fun we actually closed the beach down ....we left around 10:30 even though sunset was around 8 ish ...the moon provided enough light for us to enjoy ourselves til then...wowwwww amazing day.....

4. Turtle Beach and Point of Rocks Beach: these 2 beaches are south of Siesta Key and still considered to be  part of Siesta Key. Turtle beach is the most southern one and oddly enough it doesn't have the same white sand, although it is a lot more secluded if you want privacy. We then moved to Point of rocks beach which is in between.....yeahh back to the white sand and snorkeling to boot off a point of rocks that just out from the beach. Welllllll it wasn't exactly the Great Barrier reef but we did see lots of fish....I managed to get a video of them check it out in our photo album...Off in the distance on the beach , a wedding was taking place during the sunset. It was pretty special  for the bride and groom. All in all another great day at the beach...although Siesta Key remains my absolute favorite of all.

well that's all for now folks...how are you doin? send us your news, we love hearing from you!

much love
Mary and Peter


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6a. Port Charlotte

6a. Port Charlotte

6a. Velo Caching, reading by the pool and sunset chasing photo album

This is our first post since we arrived last Saturday.  In a nutshell, we've been trying to relax as much as possible before we head west. We've been doing a lot of sitting by the pool reading, doing Sudoku and  crosswords etc. It feels soooo good to sleep in a real bed and to have the luxury of a real home for 2 weeks. Occasionally we head out to buy groceries and check out the local stores. They have such different stores than we do....Bealls, Dillards, DSW Shoes, JC Penny and so on ....BUT since our dollar is soooo weak right now we are refraining BIG time from buying more running shoes and clothes....

We decided to do some velo caching....ok geocaching but on our bikes. We headed out towards Englewood Beach and ended up at this trail ... It wasn't too hot to begin with but mannnnn did it ever shoot up to 94 degrees pretty fast. So we found as many as we could and decided to go to the beach to cool off a bit.

So we went to BLind Pass Beach in the Lemon Bay area, it soooo nice out here...the beach was really busy today so we stayed for a little while.
Had a picnic lunch then headed back to Port Charlotte.  Upon arrival we were super sweaty  Again so we jumped in the pool to cool off . More of the usual, reading etc....










After supper we decided to go chase down the gorgeous sunset. As we got an extremely late start,  we barely had time to head over to a beach so I took the sunset photos off a canal overpass..... "better than nothing" I thought, as it turns out the sunset pics are stunningly beautiful....breathtaking actually!!

Soooooo,  I'm really excited for Andree Anne to arrive today !!! She's spending a week at her parents' condo nearby...it'll be super seeing her....stay tuned!!!

we are enjoying ourselves in this relaxing environment
Hugs and kisses to all

6a. Velo Caching, reading by the pool and sunset chasing album

6. DeBary and Port Charlotte, Florida

#6. DeBary and Port Charlotte, Florida
April 1 -April 16


#6. Debary and Port Charlotte Arrival Photo Album

Got up bright and early because we had a lunch date with my cousin in Debary Florida. I hadn't seen my cousin in 16 years so this was gonna be special, plus my aunt would be there too!! It's a 3 1/2 drive from Savannah to Debary.  The drive went smoothly and we pulled in  on her driveway around 11:30. Garrett, her son jumped into our arms as soon as he answered the door. Wow!!!! what a fantastic welcome. We were greeting very warmly and had a wonderful lunch. Chit-chatted with my aunt, then with Mickenzie , she's 16 , a very good softball player, and my cousin Toni. Mickenzie and I went out back to hit a few balls while Peter played guitar in the house. Garrett is a sweet boy who's really into Pokemon Go and video games. After a 2 1/2 stay we said our goodbyes as they had commitments in the afternoon. What a special detour this was.....off to Port Charlotte, our home for 2 weeks.





A huge shout out to Mindy, Peter's sister, and Bryan, her husband, for graciously allowing
 us stay in their beautiful home.

#5. Debary and Port Charlotte Arrival Photo Album

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5. Fort McAllister and Savannah, Georgia

5. Fort McAllister and Savannah, Georgia,
March 30-31


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Fort McAliister and Savannah, Georgia Photo album

Forsyth Park

"Oh Savannah you did not disappoint ... giant oaks, Spanish moss, St. John the Baptist Church , Tybee island , Forsyth Park, Fort Pulaski, botanical gardens and Wormsloe Plantation ... oh and we found the coolest geocache ever!!! What a day ❤️

Off to Florida tomorrow for a 2 week hiatus 

This was our Facebook Post ..allow us to elaborate;


We arrived at this very secluded campsite after a 4 hour drive from Myrtle beach. Then it hits you why it's so remote, it was a fort used in the civil war in the 1860's between the Union and the Confederates.  The campsite itself is very well maintained and the sites are very spacious. Our site overlooked the salt marsh which we drove across on the causeway.  I've included a brief history of both forts below FYI.

Our first night we decided to hang out here at camp and realized there were a ton of geocaches. Time to hop on our bikes and head out hunting, and hunting we did....we found 5 out of 7 caches and were attacked by noseeums.....arghhhh.... we also found a baby tick on us sooooo off we went to hit the showers...I am super paranoid about ticks. We decided that tomorrow we were gonna go check out Savannah, which I heard so many good things about. 

Wormsloe Plantation

"A breathtaking avenue sheltered by live oaks and Spanish moss leads to the tabby ruins of Wormsloe, the colonial estate of Noble Jones (1702–1775). Jones was a humble carpenter who arrived in Georgia in 1733 with James Oglethorpe and the first group of settlers from England. Wormsloe's tabby ruin is the oldest standing structure in Savannah."

 Got an early jump on the day. Drove about 45 minutes to our first stop, Wormsloe Plantation. We arrived to this beautiful site of oak trees draped in Spanish moss lining the plantation. It's the only plantation left with its descendants still living in it, they are the 9th generation. We took many photos, as did many other people, then headed out. 


After the Wormsloe plantation we went to Fort Pulaski where we took a guided tour. Our young tour guide gave a very good animated version of the history that took place here. I guess this place is significant because it marked the first time that rifled cannons were used instead of smooth-bore ones. These rifled cannons were extremely accurate in comparison and the union soldiers were able to rip through the fort wall with relative ease resulting in the Confederates' surrender. We walked on the top layer of the fort walls and took several photos..... thoroughly enjoyed this fort...now off to Savannah!

Arrived in this beautiful city of 136,000 people ( way smaller than I had perceived) and tried to find parking. Apparently their meters are designated 30 min, 1 hr, 2  hr, 3 hr!!! So we had to drive around until we found a 3 hr one cuz we wanted to bike around the city. Turns out we parked on one of the prettiest streets, Jones Street. There were many other gorgeous streets such as Oglethorpe etc.  

This city is surrounded by 22 squares (parks) of famous places or people. It's a wonderful place to go sit and have respite from the biking. Wowwwww what a beautiful city....we biked up and down the streets, felt super safe on the roads as the cars are very respectful of cyclists and they would stop for you....a far cry form Montreal. We cycled to most of the popular attractions such as Forsyth Park,  St. John the Baptist Church, the riverfront, which reminded me of old Quebec, they have an upper and lower sector. We also went to city market and the botanical garden, where we found the coolest geocache I have ever seen. It was a birdhouse with a very clever system. Have to admit I need help from google to open it..... but wowwww it was cool...it involved a balloon to release the latch!

After a full day of cycling and visiting, we called it day and headed back to camp. Indeed Savannah did not disappoint, we highly recommend visiting this very historical city. 

sending love and hugs to all!

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Fort McAliister and Savannah, Georgia Photo album

The First Battle of Fort McAllister was a series of naval attacks that took place from January 27 to March 3, 1863,^[1] in Bryan County, Georgia, during the American Civil War. The commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron Rear Adm. Samuel F. Du Pont decided to test operation of new monitors against Fort McAllister before conducting a major naval operation against Charleston, South Carolina.^[2]

A Turning Point in Military History

For much of the 19th century, masonry fortifications were the United States’ main defense against overseas enemies. However, during the Civil War, new technology proved its superiority to these forts. The Union army used rifled cannon and compelled the Confederate garrison inside Fort Pulaski to surrender. The siege was a landmark experiment in the history of military science and invention

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4. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

4.  Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

March 28-29

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Myrtle Beach Photo Album

entrance to our state park

at the beach

We hit the jackpot with this state park campground. It's an absolute gem in the middle of this city. It's extremely well maintained and has its own beachfront. We are soooooo pleased to be here.

Anyway, today was a very chillax kinda day. We leisurely woke up, had a very relaxed breakfast,  then proceeded to check out the main boardwalk at Myrtle Beach. The beach itself is gorgeous and of course the boardwalk is a tourist attraction or "trap". It must  be jam packed in the summer time but today it was super calm and quiet, only a few die hard kids  in the water and the odd fisherman or two trying to catch the big one! 

Decided it was time to explore a little so we headed off towards Murrells Inlet just south of our campsite. It's a quaint fishing  village, now mostly known for "Restaurant Row"...a cluster of award winning seafood and BBQ restaurants on Main Street. We pulled up behind a church and had a picnic lunch, ti was most delightful.

As usual , we always check our geocache app to see if we can hunt one down before we leave. As luck would have it , there's one right in this parking spot. Mission accomplishment ....found signed it and decided to hop on  our bikes and hunt some more. .....so off we went....we found 3/5. One in particular was a very touching geocache tribute to 911. An original beam from the Twin Towers was erected to honor all affected.

Spent the rest of the day walking to the pier and hangin' out at the beach. We also enjoyed this destination very much. It has something to offer for all tastes. Boardwalk, nature trails, etc, but most of all, the ocean.!!!

sending hugs to all

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Myrtle Beach Photo Album


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3. Assateague National seashore, Maryland ❤️

3rd destination!!! March 26-27

Greetings from Assateague National seashore, Maryland  ❤️

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Assateague photo album

sunrise

Wild horse roam free

Ahhh Assateague!!!

It was definitely worth the 25$ or so in tolls to get here. What a treasure this place is .... untamed ... untouched ... "primitive"......wild horses roaming free like they did about 300 years ago . Here's a brief history of this place;

This place is a barrier island stretching over 2 states Maryland and Virginia. The wild horses roam free in both states but the management of them is different. In Virginia they let the wild horses roam free and allow them to breed at will...then once a year the "saltwater cowboys" round the horses and  swim them across the bay to an auction;thereby controlling the population roughly 300 or so. Maryland's approach is allowing the mares to foal once and then they are given contraceptives , via a dart gun,on a yearly basis. They have  roughly 200 horses here.  The story  behind the wild horses dates back to 300 years ago when the Assateague Native tribe was here. When the colonists  arrived on the mainland, they were issued a grazing tax for their livestock so they decided to use the island as a natural corral for grazing ... they've been here ever since. The horses are absolutely gorgeous and calm, not jittery at all at human presence... having   said that  we are very respectful of them and do not touch or feed them ... it's an offense and you will be issued a ticket.  

Today we cycled 18 km up and the coast line. We checked out our geocache app and found all  3 geocaches on the island. Time goes by realllly slowly here....it's primitive ,to say the least, we sat on the beach watching the  waves roll in while soaking in all of the island's simple beauty. if you ever want to completely disconnect, this is the place for you...

Sleeping in the van is going super well for me...since I'm short , I fit nicely in there. It was very cozy under the duvet while it howled outside spitting  freeezing cold see breeze at us. The bed is super comfy 4 inches of foam mattress with a 2 inch memory gel topper.Peter's not having such a good go of it, he's still adjusting. 

Overall thoughts on Assateague. thoroughly enjoyed  this island....calmness and serenity comes over you while being in the presence of these magnificent beasts ... I rate this leg of the he trip a 9/10... cuz it was super cold and windy otherwise "10"

Tomorrow more by we're off to Myrtle Beach state campground and hopefully it'll be a little warmer! 

Sending hugs 

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Assateague photo album



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1. Home and 2. Albany, NY

Destination #1 & #2 Albany New York March 23-25

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Albany Photo Album

Well it was a really good idea to leave yesterday as the bad weather that was forecasted panned out and the drive would have been miserable. We arrived at Nikki’s house around 5:30 and were immediately whisked off to Ryan’s art exposition at Roessleville Elementary. Ryan’s in grade one and was really proud to show us his work…the teacher in me enjoyed snooping around the school and took some photos for our teacher friends….

Today’s order of business was to get an American cell phone number, so we headed off to the mall in Albany and got all that sorted. Turns out that not all carriers are compatible with my iPhone 6 …so spent 25 minutes on the phone with a clerk and the verdict is that only AT &T or T mobile are compatible…who knew it was this complicated…. anyway we’re getting ready to head off to a traditional Fish Fry at the local firehouse tonight…. Mike (Nikki’s husband) is a volunteer firefighter and they are doing their fundraiser …. we’ll see how our first fish fry turns out....I expect it’ll be a lot of fun!

Once again the weather is playing havoc with our plans….we’re keeping a close eye on it cuz we’re supposed to leave on Sunday for Assateague National Seashore but freezing rain is on the menu…..argghhhhh …..we MAY have to stay an extra night here …we’ll see…..hope you’re all doing well….please send messages on our message board …we love hearing from you …

Love always

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Albany Photo Album