The Keys and a lot of rain...and then sunshine!

On Sunday, October 16th, we drove south to Margate (near Ft. Lauderdale) where we caught up with Ken's high school friends, Dave and Betty, their daughter, Tracey, and granddaughter, Kayla. We had a fabulous time chatting and catching up over lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (great salad place!) and then coffee later. We departed Margate southward and within 15 minutes found the edge of a tropical depression that had formed in the Gulf. The rain was horrible for most of our way through Miami, but we continued until we stopped for dinner in Florida City (just north of the Keys). Monte called to warn us about the storm, potential for road flooding, hurricane possibility, etc, and so we sat in the RV in the parking lot under lots of falling rain for almost an hour before finally deciding to press on to the Keys...another 3 hours south.

Miraculously, we found Rt. 1 without flooding or traffic. As we were driving in darkness (and rain), we couldn't see any of the scenery of the upper Keys, but arrived and set up camp in Summerland Key (mile marker 25) during an uncommon break in the rainfall.

It rained most of Monday, though we drove to Key West in spite of it. Many of the stores and restaurants were closed, as they normally are, on Mondays, in the slow season...in a torrential downpour. As such, we retreated to the RV for movies and games.

On Tuesday, the 18th, the weather broke a bit though it was still very overcast, and we headed north to Marathon in search of cheap gasoline and a tasty fish lunch. We only found the lunch. (Gasoline here is averaging about $3.69 a gallon or higher, perhaps in anticipation of next week's FantasyFest goers. And we paid $2.97 a gallon in Mississippi not 2 weeks ago. Grr.) The lunch was tasty indeed, and on a deck overlooking the ocean at the Sunset Grill and Raw Bar. Yumm. The restaurant is next to the eastern end of the 7 Mile Bridge...which is actually just short of 7 miles long. (We feel a little ripped off...only 6 and half miles for a '7 mile' bridge. Pretty cheap, Conehead.) After lunch, we walked a little on the old section of the bridge and then went to a beach to dip our toes in the water. We didn't stay long with the heavy clouds threatening rain so retreated again to the RV for another rainy afternoon of movies and coconut rum/pineapple juice drinks (our new favorite, courtesy of Sean and Dulce in Port St. Lucie). Yum. 

We found wild roosters wandering around the parking lot of the local grocery store cock-a-doodle-dooing at everybody. Ha!

Overnight Tuesday, the rain and thunder and lightning and wind were loud enough to wake the dead...well, maybe not the dead, but they did wake me.

On Wednesday, the rain mostly stopped, though it was still quite overcast. We set out to see some sights and found mostly flooded side streets and parking lots. While driving through Big Pine Key, we spotted two Key deer, an endangered species protected by law. They are adorable and silly-looking because, while they look like (and are actually related to) the Virginia white-tailed deer, they are the size of dogs. I read that they grow to, at most, 32" at the shoulders and no more than 80 pounds. So cute!

We also drove to the same beach we had been to yesterday and waded in about a 1/4 mile following a path of bright white sand out far from the shoreline. Though we were so far out, the water was never deeper than our hips. We could see very little in the water due to the weather and headed back in before the inevitable next rainfall. We later read that upwards of 18 inches of rain fell in the lower Keys during the storm from Saturday to Wednesday.

Crabby!

On Thursday, the 20th, the sun finally appeared and we ran again to the same beach at Veterans Memorial Park, a little narrow beach at the bottom of the western end of the mis-named 7 Mile Bridge. The sun was glorious to see, so we rushed into the water to stroll the white sand through what we could now easily identify as seagrass on both sides of the path. We saw hundreds of fish...scores of tiny fluorescent green ones, lots of little striped ones, a bunch of very fast silver ones, two shaped like needles and one small catfish bent on charging our feet at one point. So cool!

Key Deer

Back on the beach, we found a ghost crab hiding in the grass and so we followed him around taking his picture and, inadvertently, terrifying him, I'm sure. Little guy was very expressive for a crab.

After the beach, we drove around the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key to look for more deer. We were not disappointed. The first one we found on a little side street came right up to the car when Ken slowed down. He sniffed Ken's fingers while we sat there in complete awe. His little head didn't even reach the bottom of the car window! Anyway, we were there for a few minutes taking his picture and letting him sniff our fingers before we drove on. So adorable!!

We did find more Key deer, though none nearly as brave as the first. We must have seen at least 10 of them within an hour's time. We also saw our first iguana at Blue Hole, the only freshwater lake in the Keys. We took lots of pictures of the 4 foot iguana thinking, later foolishly, that they were hard to find and harder to capture on film. Ha. On our way to Key West, we saw literally dozens and dozens of iguanas along the side of the road, in front yards, near businesses, on the bike trail...and in every size from 1 to 4 feet long.

We headed to Key West again, this time in the beautiful sunshine, for dinner and the famous sunset. Let's just say that the sunset was infinitely more satisfying than the meal at a local tourist rip off joint. The sunset is enjoyed best in the company of several hundred other sunset watchers, a mixed bag of street performers and an odd assortment of vendors of tchotchkes of questionable value and origin. It is a great sunset, overlooking the ocean and several large sailboarts. The view is amazing.

On Friday morning we took a long walk around the neighborhood and really noticed all the great textures and variety of the plants here. There are big palm trees with fruits of different sizes and colors, shrubs with thick knife-like leaves, bushes with flowers in blue or coral or pink or white, and these big palms with leaves in the shape of a fan...beautiful!

We decided to go to lunch at the Square Grouper at mile marker 22.5 on Cudjoe Key. This is a great restaurant with great food and a ridiculously cute logo. We totally recommend this place.

Afterwards, on the recommendation of our server, Sheri, we drove to Bahia Honda State Park at mile marker 37 to swim and lounge at the beach there. Great recommendation. The park has 3 beaches, part of an old bridge, several campgrounds, kayak rentals and a little deserted island, too.

We lounged at the water's edge for the better part of 2 hours at Sandspur Beach, enjoying the sun and the cool water. We strolled up and down the beach and found lots of pieces of coral and sea sponge and tons of dead seagrass. (We didn't take anything though, because the little sea birds eat from it, the dunes thrive on it, everybody wins.) We walked up to the bridge's end and then down to stroll on Loggerhead Beach. Such a beautiful day, such a beautiful park.

West Coast to East Coast of Florida

On Wednesday (October 12) in Venice, Ken and I lazed around the pool and then had a great dinner with Monte and watched the sunset at Sharky's On The Pier. On Thursday, we went to lunch at Pineapples Island Restaurant where it rained quite a bit, then we went to the beach, stayed there for about 10 minutes, then headed back to laze around the pool for the rest of the afternoon. That is vacation, folks. Geckos, little lizards, and little froggies ran all around the pool and the screened enclosure. HA!

On Friday the 14th, we left for the east coast of Florida, driving through the flattest land I have ever seen to date. There are enormous farms (orange groves, cattle ranches, palm tree farms, lots of sod farms) throughout the middle of the state, interrupted only by a huge prison complex with lots of razor wire. Yikes. The farms are extremely flat and so large that in many spots along the way, we couldn't see a house or a barn or even a tractor as far as the eye could see.

We did see a big turtle (we learned later it was probably a gopher tortoise) crossing the road. We swerved around him, people, don't get excited, and we saw him get to the side of the road safely before the next vehicle was close to him. Phew.

Sean, Dulce and Ken

We drove on to the Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound on the east coast. This is a HUGE park, with more than 11,500 acres, that was named after a Quaker whose vessel shipwrecked nearby in 1696. He, evidently, was on his way to Pennsylvania, but after landing here, was driven north by Seminole Indians to St. Augustine, Florida, where he settled.

On Friday, while innocently watching a Jeopardy episode, our TV suddenly, and unceremoniously, died. Nice. Just as we were going to hear the answer to one of the Jeopardy clues. Not cool.

On Saturday, we visited Ken's nephew, Sean, and his wife, Dulce, in Port St. Lucie. We enjoyed lots of catching up and great food and drink. It was really nice to see them! And they had a spare TV to replace our dead one. Nice! Thanks so much!

Pensacola, FL...home of the Blue Angels

Big Lagoon State Park, Pensacola, Florida

On Sunday, October 9th, we drove to Pensacola to visit my cousin, Jamie, and meet his lovely wife, Genny, and adorable kids, Tara and Holden. Coincidentally, Jamie's mom, Della, was also in town, so we got to visit with her as well. Bonus!

Genny, Tara, Jamie, Della

Jamie is on the Navy Blue Angels team and he took us all on a tour of his "office". We saw a couple of spare planes and part of the hangar where the team is based. So cool! 

My cool cousin, Jamie!

Check out the pawprints!


Afterward, we went back to Jamie and Genny's house for a nice home-cooked meal and some slobber, courtesy of Killian (doberman) and Guiness (hairy mutt). The dogs were hilarious. We managed to get a picture with Tara, but 2 year old Holden had already gone to sleep.

At Big Lagoon State Park where we camped, Ken and I headed down to the 'beach', which was really only about 2 feet wide. But we saw dolphins! Jumping out of the water! Neato! We also saw quite a few snowy egrets and a crane...or maybe it was a heron. Ornithologists we're not.

In any case, we had a great time in Pensacola, especially visiting the headquarters of the Blue Angels with Jamie...so interesting.

Heron? Crane? Bird.

When we left Pensacola, we drove through the rain and wind to Perry, Florida, where we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot. At least it was quiet.

Screwed tire

We left early the next morning on our way to Venice, but managed to hit a snag in Pinellas Park. Well, actually, it was a screw and it caused one of the tow dolly tires to roll off. With the help of two Good Samaritans to take the tire off, take the wheel off and then put the spare on, we were on our way again after only 45 minutes or so. Not too bad. A big thanks to the two of them!! We arrived in Venice in time to enjoy a nice dinner with Monte while watching the sun set over the Gulf at Sharky's.

Mississippi...the hospitality state

Cotton! (pic from Google)

On Wednesday, we drove toward Jackson, Mississippi, through the Mississippi Delta, a very flat area consisting mostly of cotton farms. If you've never seen cotton growing (like we hadn't), it looks like white wildflowers on brown leaf-less stalks as far as the eye can see on both sides of the highway in some spots. 



We camped near the Ross Barnett Reservoir at Goshen Springs campground, a very nice place in Brandon, MS.


James and Joy

On Thursday, we drove into Jackson to visit the Old Capitol Building, which has been renovated 4 times (!) since 1839. It was interesting to read about the changes in laws throughout the building's history, like the passage of the Married Women's Property Act, a first in the country at the time (1839). Afterwards, we had a very tasty lunch at Basil's Restaurant in downtown, right across from the Governor's Mansion.

  

Next, we headed to James and Joy's house in Canton. Let's just say that Mississippi hospitality begins at the Foy house!



Cotton Picker (pic from wikipedia)

They took us on a tour of their farmland and their son's new house (gorgeous!), and then to their neighbor's cotton farm! So much fun!

James explained that the cotton grows on leaf-less stalks because a defoliator is sprayed to kill off the leaves. This is done so that when the cotton is picked (by machine now, of course) there is less 'trash' in the cotton, like leaves and such. We hopped out and picked a few handfuls of fluffy, fresh grown cotton, then headed down to meet the Sumralls, whose cotton we had been raiding.

See the mechanical foot at the end?

That's what does the smashing!

They were working on repairing one of the two cotton pickers, giant machines that look like a Zamboni with a fork in front. The fork is actually a bunch of little rotating fingers all on a rotating drum that separate the cotton from the plant so that the picker can vacuum it all up.

Standing in the

cotton squishing machine

Once the picker is full, the driver empties it into a catcher attached to a huge tractor. Once the catcher is full, it's then emptied into a cotton module builder, which looks like a giant bottomless construction dumpster with a mechanical foot to squish the cotton down into a huge block.

One of the Sumrall sons, Jeremy, was working the controls on the module builder and he invited us up to see. Joy climbed up and then promptly jumped into the cotton, so we, of course, followed. What fun!!!  

Ken with a module of cotton

Next, James took us to his brother's farm to show us a bunch of turkeys, a bin full of skittish little quails and a small mob of crazy looking guineas that his brother raises. Apparently, turkeys can climb because we saw one walking around on the barn roof. Occasionally they even show up and harass Joy in her driveway! 

We headed back to the Foy's house for drinks, a tasty dinner and wonderful conversation. A big thank you to James and Joy for a fabulous day!





Gallatin, TN

Ken and the turkeys heading to the showers

Well, we finally got some pictures of the turkeys! Ken found them wandering around the RV again one morning and took some pictures of them before they ran off into the woods again. And then, another morning, I got some pictures of them strolling across the camp road and into the brush. They're just ridiculous.

Running turkeys!

Historic Rock Castle

We visited Historic Rock Castle in Hendersonville, TN, and tried to visit several other historic sites with varying degrees of disappointment. Historic Fort Bledsoe Lick Park was very poorly cared for and offered almost no information on its history or significance. Wynnewood, a huge log structure, was completely closed for tornado damage repair. And Cragfont (a huge, very old home) seemed a great place to tour but we couldn't find anyone on duty there in the middle of the day and the house was locked. Grr. Regardless, we enjoyed touring Rock Castle and hiking in Bledsoe Creek State Park, looking for turkeys. (Just turkeys?! No looking for deer or anything else, just turkeys? Yes, just turkeys.) We did happen to see a couple of small lizards, dozens of snapping turtles, and lots of fishies and birds. We even watched a heron catch and eat a squirming fish. Yum.

TN Capitol Building

On Thursday, we toured downtown Nashville, took in the capitol building and the surrounding grounds, and then wandered a few blocks away for some lunch and chocolate covered peanuts.

Jocelyn and Joe Reese

Then, on Friday, we began the Jocelyn and Joe wedding circuit. The rehearsal lunch was held at a nice restaurant in Gallatin, Grecian's, where we met Joe's family and friends from Kansas City, Missouri. Then we attended the rehearsal at Spring Haven (another very large, very old home). The next day, the wedding fun began. Jocelyn and Joe were married on the front steps of the house and the reception was held in the back right afterwards. Fun was had by all. What a beautiful couple they are!

On Sunday, Shauna hosted a lovely brunch party at a little restaurant in downtown Nashville, 417 Union (where Ken and I coincidentally ate lunch a few days earlier on the recommendation of a complete stranger). Afterwards, Ken and I walked a few blocks away and took in the sights around the downtown.

Lastly, of course, we roasted lots of marshmallows...almost every evening, in fact. YUM!

On Monday, we headed to Memphis where we stayed at the nice T.O. Fuller State Park, nestled in a rather nasty section of the city. In fact, as we've driven around to Beale Street, near Graceland and such, we've only found rather nasty sections of town. On Tuesday, we drove to Tunica, Mississippi, a large expanse of extremely flat farmland interrupted only occasionally by giant casinos. As we've found nothing worthy of taking a picture, we're looking forward to moving on from here today. At least we came out a little ahead at the casinos.