Established in 1565, the Cathedral Basilica is the oldest Christian congregation in the US.
Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine
Category: States
Flagler College
We have toured beautiful St. Augustine before, but have wanted to see the Tiffany stained glass windows in Flagler College, so we signed up for a tour. It was pouring down rain as we found a parking place for my big truck with two kayaks on top, then walked a few blocks to the college. All the tours are given by students, and we were lucky to have a good one. The college was once the Ponce de Leon Hotel, extravagantly built by Flagler for the ultra wealthy, who paid a flat fee of $4,000 for the season of February through March. His railroad extended from Newport, RI to St. Augustine and Flagler Beach. Built in 1887, the city was ready to tear it down in 1968 when Lawrence Lewis gave the money to restore it and start Flagler College.
Our tour really only covered the lobby, an event room, the courtyard and dining room. With heavy rains, we couldn’t go out in the courtyard, but it is truly magnificent. His father being a priest, the courtyard is laid out in a cross. Electricity for the hotel was installed by Thomas Edison and his Edison Electric Company. Murals were done by George Maynard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponce_de_Leon_Hotel).
Aunt Kate's, North Beach, Florida, Aunt Kate's, North Beach, Florida, Florida, North Beach Camp Resort, Florida, North Beach, Florida
North Beach, St. Augustine, Florida
Moving up to North Beach didn’t take long, and it was a pretty drive up the coast with the Inland Waterway to our west. We were in North Beach Camp Resort last year and we loved it. It’s a beautiful beach, a very nice campground with good facilities and a good staff and there are restaurants on either end. We met up with Ruff and Sandra, got settled and went to Aunt Kate’s on the Tolomato River for cocktails and dinner. We still rate Kate’s Key Lime pie as the best……well north of the Keys anyway.
The next morning we walked on the beach for an hour, then went to the grocery store.
Florida, Great Blue Heron1, Great Egret, Ormond Beach, Florida, The Scenic Drive, Ormond Beach, Florida, Tomoka River, Florida, Tomoka State Park, Florida, Tomoka State Park, Florida
Tomoka State Park, Florida
We drove east across Florida from Manatee Springs State Park to Tomoka State Park, passing near beautiful Ocala. It’s like Lexington, Kentucky, with gorgeous horse farms. This is the height of show season, and big horse trailers were traveling to events. Tomoka sits between Orlando and Jacksonville, just north of Daytona Beach and south of Flagler Beach. It is a very nice state park with well-protected campsites and sand roads. The Tomoka River runs through the middle of it, providing a great place to kayak.
We have never been to this park, so we drove around exploring “The Scenic Trail Loop”. It is certainly scenic. It was Bike Week, so lots or Harleys were also driving the loop, mixed in with local travelers. I came to a frantic stop at Boardman Pond, a beautiful spot on the Halifax River. I grabbed my camera, tripod and walked back up the busy road, and for 40 frightening minutes took a hundred pictures of ducks, little blue herons, big blue herons and great egrets as cars whizzed by a few feet behind us. It’s a dangerous place to shoot, but would prove to be the best of the trip. I would later learn there is a viewing platform on the other side, but we would not see so much at that location.
We drove over to Ormond Beach and went into Hull’s Seafood Market, maybe the best we have ever been into and bought a big Tripple Tail filet to grill over the fire. After lunch, we put the kayaks in and paddled Tomoka River for an hour or so. In the middle of the float, I was surprised by my phone ringing. It was Nick from The Apple Core. I find it difficult to understand people on a cell phone in perfect conditions, but with the wind blowing in my ears, I could barely make out what he was saying. He said he need to replace some chips and a board, that cost $450. The labor would bring it up to $920, and did I want to go ahead? “Yes, go ahead Nick.” That was an expensive bottle of wine!
Florida, Manatee, Manatee Springs State Park, Manatee State Park, Suwannee Belle Landing, Suwannee River, Suwannee River
Manatee Springs State Park
This is the second time we have been to Manatee Springs, and we will be back! The campground is excellent and the springs and boardwalk are very cool. It is a short stream from the springs to the lovely Suwannee River, but don’t underestimate it. Depending on the time you come, there will be opportunities to see a large variety of wildlife. This site lists 179 species of birds sighted: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L127260. Of course, there are manatees which we were fortunate to see. This is a place for kayaking, swimming, picnicking, hiking and diving, so it is a popular spot.
We hiked a beautiful trail through the park, then went to dinner at Suwannee Belle Landing, a very good restaurant on the river. Using a shuttle service to take us up stream, we kayaked the Suwannee for two hours down to the springs. I wasn’t too excited about floating what seemed to be a docile river with little wildlife, so I didn’t take a camera. As luck would have it, I was once again proven wrong. The Suwanee is a beautiful river teeming with wildlife. We watched 50 Ibis fly into the trees, herons along the edges of the river, fish jumping, black vultures migrating and a tree full of wood storks. Sometimes it’s nice just to float along and enjoy the ride! Next time we will take a longer float and take the camera.
Six Mile Cypress Slough
The Audubon Corkscrew Swamp is one of my favorite places anywhere. Similarly, Six Mile Cypress Slough is a winding boardwalk through a swamp with a great opportunity to see wildlife along with cypress trees, epiphytes and flowers. I spent the morning looking, but it was one of those days when the wildlife was hiding out somewhere else. It was still pretty, and was lucky to have a young girl spot a cottonmouth that I never would have seen.
Bonita Springs, Florida
While the Airstream was getting solar panels, we were fortunate to stay with a friend from Charlottesville, Sheri. She has a gorgeous home on a wonderful lot overlooking a lake. Sheri took great care of us for three days.
One day, while a potential buyer came to see the house, we went to explore old town Bonita Springs. It is a pretty little town with the lovely Imperial River running through it. Several artisan huts were in a plaza so we went to explore. There was a great basket shop, Coiling Pine By Design. We talked with one of the owners, Jennifer Sanders. Her work reminded me so much of Tara’s mom and her friend, Tina’s work. Martha bought a basket for the Airstream table. Jennifer used to work for the Tourist Information Center, so she knows the area well. She have us some great ideas for restaurants, ice cream and sight-seeing, and is a delightful lady.
Walking down the street, we went to the Everglades Wonder Gardens, the highlight being a parrot that would ring a bell when asked. Martha couldn’t stop asking.
Florida, Little PeeDee State Park, Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, North Carolina, Smith's Red & White, Dortches, NC, South Carolina
Drunken Computer
How will I ever catch up?! After a few days on the road to Florida, my computer got drunk and became completely worthless. It all started with good intentions as I poured a healthy glass of wine and opened the cabinet above the table to get A&K music player. Caution! Things may have moved during travel! A book tumbled out of the cabinet, spilling the wine all over everything, including the computer. In such a hurry, I threw paper towels on the table to soak it up. It was dripping on the floor and couch. What a mess! Thankfully, the computer was closed as I grabbed a dish towel and wiped it off. Maybe it would have been OK if I hadn’t turned it upside down and sideways while drying it. Then, of course, it was covered with sticky, red wine residue, so I wiped it with a damp cloth – bad idea.
After everything was in order, I opened the computer, but it wouldn’t come on. I plugged it in, but it wouldn’t take a charge. I pushed the on/off button repeatedly until it finally came on……..briefly, but then went off. Drunken fool! I suddenly remembered previous thoughts of backing up, but ignored them. My last backup was from home a week ago. That won’t do me any good for four more weeks of travel.
A quick search took me to The Apple Core in Sarasota, Florida, rated 4.7 by 181 people. I called and talked to a very friendly and reassuring Mylissa. Since we were traveling, she told I could drop it off, and they would send it to me once it was repaired. On our way to Manatee Springs State Park, I took it into The Apple Core. Mylissa was busy talking to a couple at a small table to the left. Nick Nmey was talking on the phone while two young children played on the steps behind the counter. After the phone call, Nick listened to my problem. He said I shouldn’t have forced it to turn back on, which just gave it more more chance to arc or short circuit. He said some chips would have to be replaced, maybe the board and maybe the computer, but he felt confident he could restore it. I gave him the go ahead, and he took it over to his desk and opened it up. He called me over to see the inside, where there were still little puddles of wine and a couple of areas where it arced.
It takes a great deal of trust to leave your computer in someone’s hands. I thought of all my passwords, all my financial information, all my notes and all my pictures. But this is what he does for a living, and he is very busy, and they have a 4.7 rating by 181 people. I left it and headed for Manatee Springs.
My main purpose for the trip to Florida was to see Lew Farber and have him put more solar panels on the Airstream. Heading down I95, we stopped at Smith’s Red and White at the Dortches exit for some sausage Kelly told us about. He said it is the best, and we were looking forward to it. We took three days to get to Naples, staying in Little PeeDee State Park, Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park in Keystone Heights and Collier Seminole State Park. Martha planned the trip, and we liked all of these parks.
Sunrise Over The Outer Banks
October 25, 2021
Sunrise as the Northeaster passed the Outer Banks of North Carolina
Cabin Creek Trail, Grayson Highlands, Cabin Creek Waterfalls, Grayson Highlands, Grayson Highlands State Park, Grayson Highlands State Park, Virginia
Grayson Highlands State Park
Tuesday, October 18, 2021
Preparing for the trip to Grayson Highlands, I turned on the propane and started the refrigerator in the Airstream. Luckily, I went back for something and smelled smoke. Checking the refrigerator vent, I saw smoke coming out and quickly turned it off. I already have a leaking water tank – now what? A couple of hours later I turned it back on with the same result – smoking. OK, without fresh water or a refrigerator, what should we do? We decided to load the groceries in my big Pelican cooler and carry a case of bottled water. We might have been OK without water, because the campground has full hookups, but they have cut off the water at campsites due to drought.
I read up on a smoking refrigerator on Airforums, and there were several suggestions. One was to blow out the tube leading to the stack. Two – clean the stack by banging on it. Three – remove the refrigerator and clean the stack. Four – buy a new refrigerator for $1,500 – $2,000. Before leaving at 10:00, I blew out the tube with canned air. Three stink bugs came out. The refrigerator would not work on electric, so I opened the cover to the circuit board and removed 15 more stink bugs! Still wouldn’t work on electric, so I changed a small glass fuse. Still didn’t work on electric. I banged on the stack and more stink bugs fell out. I think the smoke was coming from roasted stink bugs. I then fired up the refrigerator on propane – no smoke 😀. I didn’t want to travel four hours with it on, so I turned it off and would fire it back up when we got there, keeping a close eye on it.
Description
Elevation: 3853 ft.
The extensive 4800-acre Grayson Highlands State Park provides any nature enthusiast premier wildlife watching potential within the mountain range home to Virginia’s highest peak, Mount Rogers. The park offers camping, picnicking, overnight horse stables, a visitor center, hiking trails, and access to the Appalachian Trail. The Rhododendron Trail can be accessed from Massie Gap in the park. Hiking along the summit of Wilburn Ridge can produce spectacular cliffside views. This trail connects to the Rhododendron Trail. The Rhododendron Trail then forks to lead into either the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail or the Appalachian Trail to Mt. Rogers (not accessible by horses).
Habitats within the park range from open meadows, northern hardwoods, rocky outcrops, rhododendron thickets, sphagnum bogs, grazed pastures, Fraser fir groves, and red spruce forests. Nine trails originate within the park, but several of these connect to the extensive trail networks of Mount Rogers National Recreational Area and the Appalachian Trail. Mountain hikers should note that the least strenuous and shortest hiking trail, at 4.2 miles to the summit of Mount Rogers, originates at Massie Gap within this park. Sullivan’s Swamp can be accessed from Massie Gap, as well. This rhododendron bog holds many unique treasures, occasionally including alder and willow flycatchers.
Wildlife watching in this park can be rewarding any time of the year. In addition to eastern hardwood breeders such as wood thrush, ovenbird and black-and-white warbler, in summer, visitors can look for nesting songbirds typical of high-elevation forests, such as black-throated blue, black-throated green, Canada, and chestnut-sided warblers, as well as scarlet tanager and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Spring and fall visits can produce a copious number of migratory warblers, thrushes, and vireos. This park is also home to a large diversity of other wildlife as well. Visitors should keep an eye out for black bear, bobcat, red fox, ruffed grouse, deer, and wild turkey. Salamanders can be plentiful, and this is one of the few regions where Weller’s salamander can be found.
We met our friends, Ruff and Sandra, Tuesday afternoon for a three-night stay in Grayson Highlands. They have a new camper, and were worried about pulling it up the mountain with their Honda Pilot, but they had no trouble. We enjoyed an evening by the fire catching up on the latest happenings.
Each morning I went down to the overlook for sunrise. With colors about peak, it was beautiful.
Martha and I hiked the Cabin Creek Trail the first morning. It is listed as strenuous, but really isn’t too bad unless you hike up Cabin Creek, which we did. This section of Cabin Creek is a tremendous series of waterfalls, all of which are pretty.
The next day we all hiked up Massie’s Gap Trail to see the ponies that remain wild here. We then walked up the Appalachian Trail south to the park boundary. A ranger at check-in said we would find horses there, and sure enough, three were there. A photographer was coming down and said there was a great overlook ahead, but it was socked in with fog. I love fog, as it often makes cool pictures, but I have recently had a fog overdose.
Sunrise at the overlook the next morning was cool with the clouds.
We have barely scratched the surface of Grayson Highlands and will surely return. Happily, the refrigerator worked fine on propane, although not on electric. It might require a new circuit board, but I’ll read more on Airforums.