Hello friends and family,
Now that we are home safe and sound, I can sit down in my own room and write to you. It feels good to be back. Hello New York! On Wednesday, we drove from Dunedin to Savannah, GA, while making a quick jaunt over to Tybee Island. Unfortunately, it was raining a little bit, so we didn't get to explore the area very well. That's ok though, because it was very touristy. If you wanted to park anywhere, there was a pay meter nearby. Thursday morning, we walked around the cute historic neighborhoods of Savannah. After freezing in the 50 degree weather (we weren't quite used to the cold yet), we packed up and headed to Bluffton, SC. There we enjoyed the hospitality of our lake neighbors, who were getting away from the cold as well. They treated us to a wonderful lunch and took us for a walk around town. After our visit, we headed all the way to Richmond, VA, where we spent the night. This morning (Friday), we got an early start and drove the rest of the way home. We passed through some familiar areas as we drove through PA (one place where we got a flat tire last year) and NY. Here are some final stats from our trip. - We were on the road for 38 days - We visited 13 states in total - We drove ~ 5200 miles - We visited 8 beaches (Biloxi, Pensecola, Destin, Daytona, St. Augustine, Honeymoon Island, Clearwater, and Sand Key) - We stopped at 8 National Historic Parks - And we attended 3 Methodist Church services I am sad to say goodbye for now, but I know that I will see you all again, hopefully very soon. I give y'all my best wishes. Yours truly, Jack
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Hello Y'all,
Sorry I did not post yesterday! Yesterday, we went to Sand Key Beach, which is very close to Clearwater Beach. I hoped to find some sand dollars, but with no avail. I did collect some smaller sea shells for making projects, though. It was very windy, so we only stayed for a few hours. Unfortunately, that was our last day on the beach. For our "lunch," we stopped at The Pie Factory. Of course we had pie and picked up a box for dinner. Today, we went to our second Yankees/Blue Jays game. We parked in downtown Dunedin and walked around the little downtown. We stopped at Main Street Hot Dogs and my father and I both had a gourmet hot dogs. They were really good. We then stopped at Lane's Lemonade (the same place we had ice cream before the Mardi Gras parade) and tried their limeade and lemonade. (We also stopped back later for more ice cream.) We then walked a few blocks to the Blue Jays stadium about an hour early. While Noah waited to get a ball autographed, I walked around the outfield with my dad. We took some pretty good pictures. The game started a while later and the Yankees won 4-1. It was not a very exciting game. It was mostly strike outs. We had a Mardi Gras celebration (Happy Fat Tuesday!) at the pool here and ate some really tasty food. We are packing up now so that we can leave here by 8 AM tomorrow morning. We will be home on Friday! Yours truly, Jack Hi Y'all,
This morning, we went to the local First Dunedin UMC. At 11 we attended their modern worship service consisting of a variety of uplifting, upbeat songs. The sermon, about Jesus borrowing Peter's boat was really good and inspiring. After the service ended, we picked up a sub for lunch and headed to Honeymoon Island to meet up with our aunt and uncle. While our parents stayed with my uncle (who was fishing), my brother and I went with my aunt collecting shells over 3 miles up and down the beach. On our way back to the chairs, I noticed a dorsal fin cutting through the water. At first, I thought it was a shark, but after pointing it out, we realized that it was a dolphin. There were actually more than one, maybe 2 or 3. We also found a nautilus shell that was home to a hermit crab (who I named Kermit The Crab, as in Kermit The Frog). Sadly, we had to throw him back into the water. At about 6 PM we returned to our cars and went back to the condo. After a dinner of fish, squash, corn, salad, and beans, we watched a few movies before bed. Yours truly, Jack Hi Y'all,
Today was the Dunedin Mardi Gras parade. This morning, we went to the beach. It was chilly while we walked three miles, but we found a boat load of shells. We picked up all different kinds from jingle shells to pencil shells to conchs. The wind was blowing, so we wore winter coats even though it was 60 degrees. We returned to the condo with our spoils and prepared for the parade. We arrived at about 5 PM, walked around the vendor's booths, and ate dinner. At 7, the parade started and we all collected several pounds of beaded necklaces. After an hour of catching beads and candy, we packed up our gear and headed back to the condo. We sorted and organized our beads and we are now watching a show. Yours truly, Jack Hi Y'all,
Today was a chilly windy day down here. We mostly ran errands and went for a walk. We first stopped at Ross, Dress For Less (since there aren't any up north). The 3 guys went out for lunch at Steak 'n Shake, a brand new southern experience. After picking up our mother and bundling up in winter coats, we headed to Hammock Park for a long stroll. Then, we came back to the condo and Aunt Julie and Uncle Don created delicious fish tacos for dinner. Now, we are ready for bed. Yours truly, Jack Hi Y'all,
As I said, we are staying in Dunedin, FL right now. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. We spent a relaxing day at the beach. After a breakfast at the condo, we packed up our beach gear and went to Clearwater Beach. After 5 hours in the sand, water, and sun, we went to lunch at Frenchy's Outpost and devoured grouper sandwiches (and calamari and fries). We then drove across a bridge to Honeymoon Island. Luckily, I found the first whole sand dollar of the trip and we collected tons of shells. We then headed back to the condo and settled down for bed. Yours truly, Jack Hey Y'all,
This morning, we went for a relaxing stroll on the beach. Then, we left Daytona, drove by the speedway and headed to Silver Springs. After walking around the park for a while, we headed toward the gulf. We are now at my aunt and uncle's condo in Dunedin. We hope to visit the beach a lot during our stay here. Yours truly, Jack Hi Y'all,
Today, was the first day that the temperature hit 80 degrees!!! This morning, we went on a chocolate tasting tour at Whetstone Chocolate Factory - which produces artisan chocolate. It was one thing that I was really looking forward to (once I heard about it). We learned about the ingredients in 3 different kinds of chocolate (white, milk, and dark) and how it is made from the cacao plant. We were allowed to walk through the production area and see the machines in use and we tasted 5 different chocolates. I liked a 42% dark chocolate so much that I bought a big bag of it. It won't last long. After we finished in the gift shop, we hopped in the van and headed to the beach. When we arrived, we unpacked, set up and dove into the sand and water. After several failed attempts of building sand castles, I finally decided to just dig a big hole. Noah and I ended up digging about 2 feet down and piling a small wall around it. Now, we are at a hotel in Daytona and we plan to head to the beach again tomorrow. Yours truly, Jack Hey Y'all,
Today, we visited the nation's oldest permanent European settlement. St. Augustine featured loads of Spanish, French, and British architecture. We took a Hop On Hop Off Trolley tour to learn about the history and take us to the important stops around town. We rode for over an hour and then stopped off at the fort, Castillo de San Marcos, that is over 315 years old. The walls were made out of coquina, a local stone made out of compressed seashells that laid in the ground for millions of years. This porous stone easily absorbed water as well as the impact from cannon balls. We learned all about life there during several different periods. I would like to send the best birthday wishes to my mother. We celebrated with special ice cream sandwiches from Peace Pies. Tomorrow, we are thinking about going to a nearby chocolate factory. I would bring y'all some, but one of us would probably eat it or it would undoubtedly melt in the hot weather! Yours truly, Jack Hello Y'all,
I'm Baaaaaaaaaack! Did ya miss me? This morning, we left our bed and breakfast, which was owned by a very nice couple. Our first stop, Wakulla Springs Florida State Park, is a park around a river sourced by an underwater cave. While circulating about 300 million gallons per day, this spring is home to many wildlife creatures, including; birds, fish, gators, turtles, and manatees. We saw many different species of these types and I took about 50 pictures by the time my phone died. While several manatees swam near the boat, the gators hid in the foliage and algae. Many different birds; herons, egrets, eagles, and other exotic birds stood in the water and in trees. I thought it was awesome to see all these animals in their natural habitats. The alligators seemed small, although it was hard to see anything accept there eyes in the rippling water. The area along the river was also home to scenes from various movies including; Tarzan, Return of the Creature, and Amphibious Fighters. When we were done there, we headed (like 3 hours) here to our hotel in Jacksonville, where I just finished a history test. Tomorrow we head to St. Augustine. Yours truly, Jack |
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