St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! (yep, I know it’s a bit late.)

We didn't really plan on doing anything to celebrate the holiday, but sometimes life hands you opportunities…  

As we left St. Augustine intending to go to Savannah (with our usual lack of prebooked reservations), little did we know that we were heading straight for a huge party and a noticeable lack of accommodations. Whoops! St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah is actually a several day long party, culminating in a 3 hour parade – the second largest in the United States, and celebrating its 190^th anniversary. The city adds nearly a million people to its populace during this time. 

We did find camping space(s) after visiting the Georgia Visitor Info Center (thank you to them for having a convenient list of RV Parks off the I95!), and then set off for Savannah. 

We discovered that another family we had met in Florida would be in Savannah too, and we made plans to watch the parade with them. Parade day was quite soggy & cool, but the company of friends prevented the weather from dampening our spirits. Bob buying 5 boxes of Girl Guide cookies helped too (Well played Girl Guides!) 

The parade was fun, but it wasn't quite what I expected.  It was long (nearly three hours), but it wasn't as grand as I thought it might be. There were plenty of marching bands, past parade marshals, a notable armed forces presence (with lipstick kisses on their cheeks), and floats, but it felt more like a small town parade than a fancy affair.

After the parade was finished our family went off for lunch and then took time to walk around some of historic Savannah (the first planned city in the US). Due to the revelry, it was (likely) more crowded than usual, and the open squares closest to the parade route were full of people rather than serene greenness. Police were everywhere (at least one car per street – usually more) monitoring the crowds of revelers, and clean-up crews were all over the place, picking up after the party was done. 

The squares were lovely (especially once the people cleared out), with tall trees and often with statues & plaques, and with the cobble stone streets, and old buildings it was easy to imagine we had been transported to Europe. 

My favorite building was the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, with its towering façade. 

By this point it was later afternoon and it was time to return to the truck & get groceries and make our way back to Fort McAllister SHP, where we were camped. We had a yummy scallop supper to celebrate the day, but no green beer (Sorry sis!).

St. Augustine

The oldest city in all of North America: St. Augustine, Florida, is a really pretty place. We spent two days here learning a bit about the area, and could have easily spent several more.

First stop, the Lighthouse.

Climbing the 219 steps of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, Morgan comments “I’m afraid of heights!”

 (eye roll, no he’s not, or he’d never go on all those crazy amusement park rides!)  He likes to throw stuff like this out there, and then do his best to make it true.  Kinda like when he says he’s allergic to eggs and then makes enormous gagging noises if anyone in the house is having them. Yes, he won’t eat an egg, but he has them in all sorts of things (including French toast – hello! Egg dipped bread, anyone!), and has never had a problem.  Plus, he has actually been tested for an egg allergy – nothing.

Anyway, I’m off track… Back to the lighthouse.
It is big, pretty, has interesting displays & information in the rooms at the base, has an awesome 360 degree view from the top, and is actually not in its original location. The original one was closer to the ocean – too close in fact, and the lighthouse had to be rebuilt a bit further inland when the old one was claimed by the sea.  The sand bars around here move, and so the coastline moves too.

It would have been nice to really appreciate the view from the top of the lighthouse longer, but both kids did two quick laps and insisted they wanted Down (the top is definitely not a place for squirrely children to hang out). Bob took them, and I followed shortly after.

Oh, great.  Bob just told me that on the way down Morgan found the open stairwell of the lighthouse a fascinating place… to spit off of.  Evidently he was spitting down into the center.  Seriously, kid!  I swear, some days I can’t take him anywhere!!!

I’m happy to say that the hooligan children were much better behaved the following day when we went into St. Augustine to see the Old City and its restored fort. 

The historic city beside the Atlantic Ocean is old. It began as a Spanish colony in 1565, several years after Ponce de Leon claimed the land for Spain after sailing north from Puerto Rico (even though it was already claimed by the local natives).

In the late 1600’s when the Colonial Wars raged in the New World, the Castillo de San Marcos was built to protect the Spanish city from the British. The Castillo is the oldest masonry fort in the US, built by the Spanish over several years, and occupied under four different flags during its lifetime. As such, it is a precious National Monument.

You can see the lighthouse in the distance

The Castillo is built of coquina, a local shellstone which is very strong & capable of absorbing impacts which would break other stone (good if you’re using it to build a defensive structure!). The old walls though are quite fragile, and so we had to be careful not to touch any of them.

Both the kids decided to do the Junior Ranger booklets, and they stopped frequently while walking through the fort to work on parts.

We were lucky to be there during one of the live demonstrations, and got to see men in period costume fire one of the cannons. Boom! Morgan was impressed when we were told that the cannon is accurate enough to hit the lighthouse, several kilometers away. “That’s impossible!” were his exact words.  (I’ll admit, I was pretty impressed too.)

City Hall

After our tour of the fort, we walked across the modern day street, into the Old City and took a stroll from the old city gates down St. George Street. The narrow street has been transformed into a tourist area, but its Spanish origins were very evident, and I felt a bit like I’d been transported to the small town in Mexico where my in-laws spend their winters. The glimpses of lush courtyards behind the walls of the street added to that old world feel. There is so much history here, and many of the buildings in the Old city have plaques on them providing the date the building was built and any important history of it. As we stepped out of the walled street, we walked past a treed square and into an area of grand architecture. Flagler College (the former Ponce de Leon hotel), the Casa Monica, and the Lightner Museum (City Hall) and the garden in front, all face each other across the street (with the open square occupying the fourth corner), giving an impression of grandeur to the place.

This may have been my favorite spot in the city, with its beautiful architecture.

We walked around a bit more, until, with our parking meter expiring, and our feet tired from walking, we headed back to the truck & back to the campground to prepare for our departure the following day.  I do wish we would have spent more time there now that we've gone from the area. (Now how many times have I said that!) Someday I’ll learn!  And perhaps, someday I’ll be back to explore the rest of the old city and the area.  

Pirate ship off the starboard bow!

Kennedy Space Center

Do you ever have a day where no matter how unenthusiastic (or grumpy) you start out, the universe keeps sending you messages to look up. The day we went to the Kennedy Space Center was a bit like that.

Our day got off to a rather rough start as I grumpily packed up the trailer, annoyed that we were leaving Florida, and many of the families we had met in the state (and who were at the campground with us) without a proper goodbye. Then, mis-communication on the route meant we took an extra hour to get there (in true McMillan style!). Bob was initially excited about our destination, but by the time we actually arrived in the parking lot, he was rather frustrated. It didn't help that the kids and I weren't all that enthused to go. Despite most of the family’s initial ambivalence, we spent an interesting afternoon learning about the various space craft and space, in general. (My first bright light – the parking lot attendant only charged us a vehicle fee, instead of the RV parking fee.)

The Center has many displays and activities (and tours) providing history of the race to get humans (and stuff, in general) into space, and some the innovations and inventions which were required to actually make it all possible.

 

A walk through the Rocket Garden gave the adults a chance to look at various rockets used to get stuff into space. 

It also gave the kids a chance to be silly in some of the space craft.

I’m not really sure what Angry Birds has to do with the actual Space Program, but there was a sizable area that had several games & activities for the kids to do.

In the Space Shuttle building, the kids liked the videos about life on the space station the best; barely blinking an eye at the (actual) Space Shuttle Atlantis overhead.

The slides beside the shuttle were much more interesting. Oh, and the space toilet got rave reviews from them too. (Bob did find the Atlantis interesting, though, and was quite surprised to see how rough and patchwork looking the outside of the entire shuttle actually is.)

The IMAX show, Hubble, capped off our day with some spectacular images of far-away galaxies, nebulas and stars captured by the telescope.

Our noon arrival didn't provide enough time to see everything the Center had to offer before closing at 5 o’clock (not even considering tours of the launch area – there was no way the kids would have managed a 2 ½ hour tour, even if we would have had sufficient time), and so we missed out on one of the IMAX shows, and some of the displays. I didn't mind skipping the History of space exhibits (as we had seen similar in New Mexico), but I do wish we would have had time to go into the robotics section.

Now, also in true McMillan style, we started our drive day at a time when most people would be stopping. Hey! What a novel idea! I’d already had enough of the day, and wanted supper at a reasonable time. So, just a few minutes up the road, we stopped at the KOA for the night. This was a good decision as the front desk person gave us an extra 10% off (I guess looking tired and grumpy gets me discounts!).  The campground playground let the kids burn off some energy, and the free WiFi let me connect and catch up on some of the TV I had been missing (yes, WiFi makes me happy).  And so, what began as a grumpy day, finished up on a good note.

The Bounce

OMG! It is my least favorite thing about living in a trailer, and perhaps the one thing I have not gotten used to in 8 months. The bounce as people move about and the trailer frame flexes. You can feel it everywhere, but it's especially noticeable in the back (my bedroom) where the flex is the greatest. Some days I feel like I'm living on a trampoline!

When people walk around it creates a little bit of a jiggle, but my family has extra special bouncy talent it seems. The trailer really gets going when Morgan plays his Wii games - especially Wii Fit plus. (I can handle this a bit, but he loves to play these games first thing in the morning, which makes for one grumpy mama.) When he gets Bob playing a game with the balance board I'm amazed the trailer doesn't make horrible groaning noises from the forces applied to it. If I could just do away with the Wii, all my problems would be solved! - not really. (I already have a hate-relationship with the Wii, so I might be slightly biased against it.)

Morgan also likes to bounce and run from one end of the trailer to the other. Then we get both bounce and roll back and forth. (Running outside is apparently not nearly as fun!!!!) This is not a ship on the ocean, and yet, I've had moments of mild seasickness from it (albeit before we added anything)!

We've tried steps to reduce or eliminate this motion, but they've only been partially successful. There are many solutions on the market claiming to be the ideal solution, but I'm not sure there is one. We use both X-chocks in between our wheels (which helps with the front to back roll) and installed a SteadyFast system just before Christmas (which helps quite a bit with the side to side motion, but not perfectly, due to our trailer jack configuration and the need for a weld, which we haven't done yet). Our LT tires actually add to the bounce, as they have a stiffer sidewall than standard trailer (ST) tires, which have more give.

Sometimes I wish we would have gotten a trailer with a fancy ($$$$) level up, firm up system, but for the most part I like my trailer. Quite a bit. Except for this.
Aside from teaching my family to be light footed (and I'm told I make it bounce too), or spending more on another solution, someday I'm just going to have to get used to it (grumble, grumble).

Signed,
the grumpy mama

(Although, I am seriously considering adding a set of scissor jacks to the back, behind the tires to firm it up some more, as suggested by the owner/ manufacturer of the SteadyFast system. Anything to help!)

Good bye to Southern Florida

AKA Morgan & Lily go on a Boat ride, parts 2 & 3

It’s time to say goodbye to the heat & humidity of southern Florida, and start moving north. Before we left the area we wanted to do just a couple more things we hadn't done yet…

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As we drove north through Key Largo we stopped at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to do a little bit of snorkeling, and possibly go on a glass bottom boat tour before we continued on to the mainland. Bob & Lily snorkeled for a while at the beach, but the boats were docked for the day due to high seas (similar size swells as the one’s we encountered in Seward – can’t say I was that disappointed! (stupid seasickness)).

So, we each took out a double kayak and paddled through the mangroves instead. We were given an aerial view map and directions to a set of trails & off we went. The water through the mangrove channels was relatively calm, but the wind was a bit challenging and once in a while would catch us & send us off to visit the mangrove trees up close (meaning into them!). The clear water of the channels provided us a good view of the fish below. I even saw a large ray as it sped past.

Along the way, we decided to take a narrow trail called The Whip, which threaded its way under the mangroves, without a lot of room for maneuvering. It was fun, and a totally different way to see the treed areas that often surround the edge of a Key. Lily did get rather annoyed with me bonking her in the back repeatedly as I tried to keep the paddle from getting stuck in the trees, though. (I did eventually get the hang of getting around the tight spots.) We all had a pretty fun day at the park, but between the swimming & paddling we were rather worn out by the time we returned to the truck to finish up our drive. (These State Parks fill up months and months in advance for camping, so we were out of luck for staying there.)

The next morning we took an airboat tour at GatorPark, on the edge of the Everglades, to see some alligators. The place was busy with tour buses by 9:30 am, but we didn't have to wait long before boarding our boat. 

The operator went slowly through the channel leading out, pointing out wildlife as we encountered it – a bird, and a smallish alligator well hidden in the plants.  Leaving the channel, we picked up speed and zipped through both open water, and across the saw grass.

The Everglades looks like a swamp, but it’s actually a river. It’s rather shallow everywhere (only ankle to knee deep in most places) but is 95% covered with saw grass, giving it that swamp-like impression. The animals are well hidden in this, and I can see why the operator chair of the airboat is up high (the better to see over the plant life, and spot the wildlife).

On the way back we spotted a larger gator, and a baby. The baby gator got lots of oohs and attention from the passengers. 

I guess a baby anything is cute to some people. I dunno if I buy in to gator cuteness, though.

After returning from our boat ride, the kids had their pictures taken playing on a smaller (personal sized) airboat, before checking out the bigger alligators in their enclosures.





We then watched a show where the fellow demonstrated to the crowd how to wrestle gators. It was a cool morning, and so big Mr. Gator didn't do much, other than open his jaws wide. It was still neat to see him though, and to understand better just what those crazy gator wrestlers are dong.

After the show, Lily did some gator wrestling of her own.   

Having had our fill of alligators, it was now time to head to Orlando for some good byes of a different type.  

The Dolphin Research Centre

(I've always found dolphins rather fascinating. They seem so intelligent, and with that smiling curve of their mouth, they also look like they’re eternally happy, and a bit mischievous. But, in my landlocked homeland, there aren't opportunities to actually interact with them & find out what they are really like.)

While in the Keys, we visited the Dolphin Research Center, on Marathon Key. The DRC is an interesting place where you can get right up close with the animals through a variety of experiences. In and around Florida there are many places to see & touch dolphins, but I liked here, because, unlike many other facilities these dolphin aren’t captive. This is first & foremost, a research facility (now, who is doing research on whom is up for debate!) which focuses on learning about dolphins & educating the public. There are information boards all over the facility, providing information about each of the dolphins & some of the research the facility does.

The dolphins live in ocean pens, and if they really wanted to, they could jump the net fence with ease and head off into the Gulf of Mexico. But they don’t, because the DRC is their home. Some of them are rescued animals, but many of them were born and raised here. They have a pretty good life. Good food, medical care, entertainment (people watching is fun), and the opportunity to learn fun tricks which encourage those people to stick around (so the dolphins can people watch even more!). And if they don’t feel like doing tricks, or want to do a different one, then that’s okay, too. Why wouldn't they stay?

Wild dolphins sometimes come to visit through the fence (just like neighbours?), and during hurricanes the gates to the ocean are opened, in case any of the resident dolphins want to relocate during the storm. Some stick around the facility and get a chance to swim in the areas where only people usually walk! (This struck me as a bit funny and curious. I wonder what they think as they swim along the walkways?)

While there, Lily and I got to meet and touch Louie, the dolphin. During our Meet the Dolphin program, a staff member first talked a bit about the dolphins at the center; how they are cared for & trained, and what the DRC does. We watched one of the trainers run the dolphins through a variety of activities – which were obviously fun for the dolphins (you could tell there was no pressure for them to do a trick). There was lots of praise by the trainer (and small fishy treats), and the dolphins obviously loved it. It was a bit like watching an excited group of preschoolers, as they zipped around their enclosure.

After all the participants & dolphins were organized, our group walked out on the small floating platform where we would get to meet with a dolphin, close up. We all ran our hands down his back as he swam past, and then each got to give him a handshake (or, is that flippershake?). His skin was rubbery, smooth and firm. Lily said he was also slippery and slimy. She was a bit nervous at first, and didn't want to touch, but once the trainer assured her that Louie was a friendly dolphin she gave it a go. When she stepped away from Louie, she had a great big grin on her face.

The staff members were all very friendly and questions were encouraged at all times. I liked it best after our program when the trainer was showing some of how they teach the dolphins the tricks they do (It’s all based on natural behaviors), and Louie was more than happy to show off for his adoring fans. It was so natural, and unstaged, and when the dolphins added their own moves, they were praised just as much as when they did the moves the trainer requested.

It was a great experience, and I’m glad that Lily & I got to meet Louie. Now I can say I've touched a dolphin! Very cool J

Spin jump

The Turtle Hospital

Halfway through our visit to the Keys we shifted RV parks, moving 30 miles back towards Miami, to Fiesta Key RV resort. Bob (with a little nudge from another full-time family we ran into at the resort) finally decided it was high time to finish up his SCUBA certification that he had started in Calgary 8 months ago, and booked in for two afternoons of diving with a local dive shop. That left the kids and I to our own devices.

While Bob worked on his SCUBA certification, the kids and I went to the Sea Turtle Hospital in Marathon (tour required, if you want to see the turtles). Lily has been reading the National Geographic Kids Sea Turtle book on the Ipad a lot lately, so she was extra excited to see sea turtles for real.

Sea turtle populations are under a lot of pressure from human activity, and all the species here are endangered or threatened. Encounters with boat propellers, fishing line & hooks, and pollution (plastic, especially) take their toll on the population, and a number of turtles each year are injured or get sick. When that happens (or when they just get lost), and people find them, these turtles are taken to the Turtle Hospital for help. The turtle population (especially the greens) is also susceptible to a virus, which causes tumors to grow, and the Turtle Hospital is one of a few in the world who will perform surgery to remove them. 

The hospital has a 90 minute guided tour, where we first learned about the five different species of turtle found in the region and how the Turtle Hospital helps them. Our group then had a quick tour of the surgery & X-ray room (where we were shown some of the fish hooks removed from former patients; happily there were no patients that day) and an overview of the rehabilitation tanks. Next, we were off to the turtle enclosures where some rescued turtles rested in tanks, either awaiting surgery or recovering. The turtles are released back into the ocean as soon as they are deemed well enough, although in the case of those who have ended up with tumors that means waiting one full year of being tumor free. These longer term stays were in small sea water pools. 

Others, who are too damaged to be able to survive in the wild, remain at the hospital. These permanent residents hang out in a big pool, fed by natural seawater, and they all look pretty content – especially when they get handfuls of turtle food! 

Although interesting to me, the kids both found the presentation part of the tour a bit slow. They did get to touch turtle shells, skulls, sponges and a conch shell, though. During this part of the tour, Morgan asked several very thoughtful questions, proving that while he looked bored, he was taking it all in. 

What is a turtle shell made of? A: bone

Why would a turtle swallow a fish hook?  A: the hooks are baited and so the turtle only sees food, not a fish hook

Why do the turtles float? A: because of gas – either intestinal gas, or from gas build-up near the shell caused by a boat strike

Visiting the turtles was definitely the highlight of the tour. Lily took many pictures of the various turtles, taking special notice of the smallest turtle in the bunch – a fellow who had blown off course, and was regaining strength before release. 

Morgan examined each of the turtles, but seemed especially drawn to one who had just had surgery to remove tumors the day before (and was still in bandages). 

It was a really interesting visit, and we all learned a lot about sea turtles and the human impact on them here in the Keys. I have come away with a new appreciation and awe for these animals, for the efforts that people are taking to ensure they do not disappear, and a reminder for myself to do what I can to help keep my planet clean. I hope my children did too. 

Happy Place

I think I've found my happy place (at least one of them); a place otherwise known as the Florida Keys. The Keys are a chain of low lying islands stretching south and west from the southeastern tip of Florida which straddle the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Bob wanted to come down to the Keys before we started heading north so he could snorkel, scuba, and soak in some sun & heat. It sounded like a pretty good idea, and so we booked ourselves into two different RV parks, prepared to explore somewhere new. I would not have guessed I would fall in love with the relaxed, tropical vibe of the lower & middle keys, but I have. I imagine it would be stiflingly hot and humid here in the summertime, however right now it's just perfect. I have to remind myself I am not on vacation, and that there is plenty of schoolwork Morgan & Lily need to do. It’s so tempting, though…

There’s something about the blend of land and water and plants & animals that just fills me with contentment. The rest of my little fishy family is enjoying it just fine, too.

This is a place that best speaks from it's scenery, and so rather than a whole lot of words, I shall share pictures of some of what we've been up to. 

Bahia Honda State Park (looking at it from the Atlantic Ocean)

The water is quite shallow, with reef not that far under the surface

Bob and Lily went snorkeling at the beach

I took the kids out (one at a time) on a double kayak. This would have been awesome, except for the fact that I managed to get seasick trying to peer into the water looking for coral and fish. Yeesh!

Bob went on a snorkel tour to Looe Key while the kids and I worked on our sunburns (we did an awesome job!)

Key West chickens! These guys were just hanging out in a variety of places. (Key West is the southernmost point in the contiguous US, and is actually closer to Cuba than to Miami. Of course, you can't drive to Cuba!)

Watching the boats come in with the last of the sunset

Looking across the Gulf of Mexico at Sunshine Key RV Resort

  

Fish hang out in the marina at Sunshine Key (I could have spent hours there just watching). There was something different to see every day. There were parrotfish, angel fish, mutton snapper, comb jellyfish, barracuda, even a shark (and lots more)! 

comb jelly or Sea Walnut

Morgan spent several sessions at the marina providing the fish school with their daily lessons. They had math, and phonics, and I think a bit of health sciences and bicycle safety too. They would have had spelling if he could have figured out how to get a chalkboard down to them. Eventually he gave up on them though, stating that they just swam around and wouldn't learn. 

Iguana outside my window. Very cool! 

Pelicans float in the sky. It's especially neat to see them floating motionless as you drive past them on one of the many bridges.  

Most of the Keys are so small that the Overseas highway is never far away.