The original map doesn't but Aunt Gus includes it. LOL
Story Aunt Gus & Little Bear's Great Adventure Book 1 (Complete)
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
The original map doesn't but Aunt Gus includes it. LOL
Sammy55
Veteran Member
Great!! I'll be interested to hear what she has to say about that national park. According to the article I read, not all of the local residents are/were in favor of this area becoming a national park. Not enough roads and trails and parking spots and campsites and hotels, etc. But it has beautiful views!
Apr 2: Biscayne National Park, Florida
Weather: 80F/59F
Wifi/Cell Signal: Free wifi is offered at the Dante Fascell Visitor Center; however, availability and strength of signal can vary. Cellular service is also available but areas without coverage exist throughout the park, roads leading to the park and/or local area.
Since there was no one to say goodbye to I pulled out shortly before 6 am. I had to wait for the blasted feral chickens and roosters to move their butts first. I also had to clean chicken craps off the van’s hood where apparently one decided to roost for the night. Why the feral cats – nearly as numerous as the feral foul – only go after the domesticated chickens and not the other is beyond me. I mean chicken is chicken for Pete’s Sake. Many of the cats are six-toed and descend from a kitten given to Ernest Hemingway when his home was on the island. The cats are “famous” and protected, and they know it. The only time I’ve seen Groucho effectively freak out is when I took a broom to a black polydactyl cat that was marking his turf. That’s also when I found out that Groucho is superstitious about some things. Stella whispered that she’d deal with the animal when Groucho wasn’t around.
I would have liked to have stayed for our last sunrise in The Keys, but it wasn’t until 7:17 AM and I was too eager to start this next phase of my life, which also includes Benny’s life. That’s really the only anxiety I have. I’m ready to cut loose from the past, use this time to figure out where I’m going since my life plans were changed by life happening. But, at the same time I can’t take Benny’s past away from him. He still cries for Lawrence, mostly after a bad dream, and is still angry at Penny for just leaving him. He’s better than he was, but there are days when he gets clingy and I suppose that is okay for five-year-old little boys.
I’ve had way too many people ask me how I expected to have a life with Benny in tow. I’ll admit to a shocking truth; in the very beginning I asked myself the same question. But the truth hit me hard and fast. Benny is my life, at least for now. One day he’ll grow up and I’ll still be pretty young. Maybe not spring chicken young but not far over thirty. There will still be plenty of time for something to come after. And who knows what could happen between now and then; or not. I don’t want to be with someone that views Benny as baggage, or have Benny viewing himself that way. I’ll eventually figure things out, but it won’t be tonight, tomorrow, or likely even next week.
I woke at my normal of 5 am but let Benny snooze another thirty while I got dressed and looked over the day’s itinerary. I also nuked the overnight oatmeal I had prepped for breakfast. Benny is one of those kids that sleeps comatose, as in you could drop an anvil right beside him and he’d just roll over. However, if you try and be quiet, he wakes up wide eyed and freaked out and I have to use a paint scraper to get him off the ceiling. Lawrence was the same way. Fastest way to wake my brother up was to try and sneak out or sneak in. Ask me how I know. Whatever. I was thankful to have a few minutes to myself to pull it together. I was leaving port and might never be coming back this way. It was weighing on me, praying I was doing the right thing.
I have an entire four-inch 3-ring D-Binder filled with our plans. Some of it will go and some stay as time goes along. This will be my “Ship’s Log” to a certain extent; or that is the plan. Kirkland said maybe one day I will write a book. Who knows? Maybe I will.
I got Benny up right around 5:45 am, but only to tell him to get dressed and put his bed away. Legally he is still supposed to be in a booster seat, and though he hates it, the kind I have for him lets him sleep without getting a crick in his neck when we are on the road. I hooked it into the bench after Benny had folded his bed up and away we went with Benny asking, yet again, when can he leave the booster seat behind. I said when he can sit in the seat with his back fully against the back of the chair and his legs properly bending at the knee at the end of the seat. “And you know doggone good and well Benjamin Barrymore because we’ve had this conversation before … and more than once or twice, including last night.”
He sighed like the weight of the world was baring down on him. “But Aunt Gus …”
“Uh uh. I’m not torturing you on purpose. We follow the laws unless you want us to have to walk everywhere. Because if they catch me driving with you not properly restrained, I could lose my license, not to mention if we are in an accident you could pop out and bang around just like that pea the doctor finally got you to sneeze out of your nose.”
He started laughing because the pea had shot out and bounced off two walls in his pediatrician’s office before landing at my shirt collar and falling down into my cleavage. I don’t know who was trying not to laugh the hardest as I pulled my shirt open and fished the offending vegetable out, the Doctor, Lawrence, or the nurse. Benny wasn’t trying, that little rapscallion was laughing so hard boogers came out next and Aunt Gus had had enough.
“That was funny!” he said. He claims to remember it, but I suspect it is more because the story was told often and reinforced the “memory.”
“No it wasn’t. You scared me to death.”
“Daddy laughed.”
“Yeah, well my brother was just silly relieved too. And I catch you even thinking about doing that again, I don’t care of it is only a spit ball to gross me out, you’re grounded until you are eleventy-two.” The little pirate just laughed, but at least he was distracted from the previous topic.
It will be a relief to not have to do that 135-mile drive on Hwy 1 again, at least for a while. It has never been about the distance; I like to drive just like Dad. It’s that those bridges can be a nightmare if there is a breakdown, or 5 o’clock traffic gets out of hand or there is a storm in the Gulf that creates problems. Seven-Mile Bridge was widened and modernized back in the 1980s so that there was a breakdown lane for changing tires but the idiot Lookie Lou’s and those that don’t or can’t pull off still manage to cause plenty of problems. You can’t go forward, backward, or either side unless you want to swim for it. You must sit there and sit there and sit there until they can work traffic out of the way backwards far enough that emergency vehicles can get through. Ugh. I’ve been through that three times. Hours I tell you. Hours. A complete nightmare. One time it was during a storm and the white caps were so big they washed over the section of the bridge I was one. Some people did leave their cars and seek shelter on the nearest Key and what a mess that was. That particular back up kept me in place overnight. Sigh.
The bridges to Key West were once the Flagler Railroad (also known as Flagler’s Folly) when they opened in 1912. It remained an important transportation route until the unnamed hurricane of 1935, the most powerful storm to hit the US to this day, took out so many spans and killed so many people. It took three years to rebuild but it was no longer a railroad track but a road for cars and trucks was, and still is, called the Overseas Highway. When I drive over it I sometimes pull over on the Keys it passes and connects just to look at the water which is often so clear you can see whatever is swimming in the water including sharks – I once saw a fifteen foot Great White – as well as sea turtles, fish of all kind, and dolphins galore.
We pulled into the Biscayne National Park visitor center parking lot at 9 am and ate our second breakfast of corn muffins that I’d fixed last night that were filled with cheese and diced ham. Little Bear was hungry as a bear.
We went straight to the visitor center and picked up the Junior Ranger booklet. This one had characters; Diego the dolphin, Peter the panther and Aleesha the alligator. The kids follow them through the book as they explore three South Florida parks (Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne, and Everglades National Park). When Benny found out if he completed the entire book he would earn three badges plus an exclusive South Florida junior ranger patch he gave me those big puppy dog eyes and said, “Aunt Gus? Pleeeeeeze?!” Yeah, I’m a sucker. LOL
When they saw I had my go-pro equipment, they asked if I was filming for commercial purposes.
“No Sir. For the blog I started for our traveling adventure so family members can see what we are up to. However, I will not sell any of the photos, particularly if they have “Little Bear” in them. Those are password protected for family members-only.”
They still gave me the spiel about the rules. Given the prevalence of people trying to make a living off social media I can’t blame them. I’ll just need to make sure that none of this park’s photos get onto the blog and get viewed as “pay for” viewing. The rules are “low-impact filming” only. Low-impact is defined as outdoor filming activities in areas open to the public, except areas managed as wilderness, involving five people or less and equipment that will be carried at all times, except for small tripods used to hold cameras. Those participating in low-impact filming activities do not need a permit and are not required to contact the park in advance. Videographers, filmers, producers, directors, news and other staff associated with filming are reminded that rules and regulations that apply to all park visitors, including park hours and closed areas, still apply to filming activities even if a permit is not required. The rules are understandable and easy to follow so we made sure to comply.
I filed our float plan, got the double-seater kayak off the top of the van, had Benny take our lunch cooler while I had our water in a backpack (and the stuffies in their bright orange survival bunker), and headed to the launch area where we would grab a ride out to Jones Lagoon with the NPI (National Park Institute) boat that was taking out a tour. I knew the captain of the boat from Groucho’s shop and had confirmed his offer of a lift so I wouldn’t have to paddle the entire way with Benny. He was agreeable but said it would be a thirty-minute ride and that I’d need to let him know which tour boat I was taking back so he could let other staff know just in case.
I’ve been to Jones Lagoon a few times, but I’d never taken Benny there. The other times I’d been there were before Lawrence died and I’d gone with my Ship and with the Cadets as part of a training course. It was nice to go back and show Benny some of the fascinating things in the park. First off, there are areas on the lagoon where the water is barely a couple of inches deep. You have to be careful to glide through and not drag the kayak or paddle, especially during low tide. I got lucky and the water was deep enough and we spotted some baby sharks, turtles, and a Roseate Spoonbill.
I’m glad I thought to put the netting on our hats as there were a couple of places the bugs were miserable. The small fry were happy for the food but it made for a rough trip for those that didn’t heed the advice to wear sunscreen that had built in bug repellent … or vice versa depending on the product you bought. I put zinc on our noses and made sure that Benny’s sunglasses still fit and that the string I put on them kept them around his neck, not across his throat.
Lunch in the kayak was a hoot. Benny was not thrilled when the gulls round us, and he really gave them a lecture on what constitutes good manners. Like the gulls were actually listening. They nearly stole his last bite of sandwich and I decided that my forbearance was at an end. I used my paddle, and a few judicious moves, and the birds decided we were too much trouble and moved on. Wasn’t long after that I decided we needed to head back to the pick-up point and got there just in time to take the last two spots on the boat.
I noticed once we got back to dry ground that even with the good SPF sunscreen Benny got a little pink. Lawrence and I took after our mother who had an olive complexion and could get a tan from a table lamp according to Dad. Benny looks a lot like Lawrence and Dad but has a lighter skin tone and his sandy-blonde hair can lighten quite a bit depending on how much time he spends outside proving that he is also Penny’s son. I added to my mental grocery list to pick up the really high SPF cream (like for babies) and just hope it didn’t have a certain type of picture on the container. Lately Benny has gotten sensitive about any appearance of being a “baby” so I do what I can. If I have to I’ll put the stuff on my nose and ask him if I looked like a baby and see if that helps. Little boy egos are way too easy to crush and the thing with Penny has certainly made it more complicated.
Speaking of grocery list, after packing the kayak away – it’s like a jigsaw puzzle in the van at the moment even with the kayak itself tied on top – we headed to one of my favorite supply options. The place was packed, and I didn’t recognize but a couple of the stockers so I got done without wasting time; I had a list and I stuck to it. It was interesting getting things put way. The van is seriously packed, but we’ll get some relief once we reach Jacksonville and I off-load the boxes and kayak into the storage facility.
Tonight we are at a property owned by a friend of Stella’s. The place is normally an AirBnB, but after the last short-term renter left the place pretty well trashed, the owner took it off the market for renovation and may well sell it rather than reopen. It currently sits gutted and vacant, and she had no problem with us parking on the property and using the hose so long as we were considerate. Yes! on saving lot rent at an RV park and on the free water. As thank you Benny and I went around picking up some trash the construction crew had left lying around and put it into the trash receptacle properly.
Stella’s friend also didn’t have a problem with me emptying the black and gray tanks into the septic system. Good practice for me as well. I’m going to keep those two tanks emptied as much as possible, regardless of inconvenience, because of the weight the effluence adds to the van. One of my main goals must be to keep the mpg rate as high as possible and weight is one of the things that drags it down. I mean I still need to use some commonsense, like by not allowing the freshwater tank to go too low, but I don’t want the other fluids to steal my fuel efficiency either.
Benny was a tired little boy and crashed and burned after a dinner of deli food I picked up with our groceries – pulled chicken with pinto beans and rice. I decided that having some paper plates and plastic sporks would not condemn me to environmentalist hell so clean up was fast and easy. I uploaded the blog post, did a little meal planning, filled in my ship’s log and I’m ready to hit the hay myself. Not too thrilled with the jungle music coming from down the road but my budget likes the free digs. Miami and Homestead can get a little iffy on occasion, hopefully this won’t be one of those occasions.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $200
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $0
Cumulative miles: 135
Resources:
https://www.nps.gov/bisc/learn/kidsyouth/upload/Junior-Ranger-Activity-Guide-Nov-2018-for-web.pdf
Biscayne National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Kayaking with Kids: Tips for Families | REI Co-op
PaddlingTrailGuideJones.pdf (nps.gov)
Weather: 80F/59F
Wifi/Cell Signal: Free wifi is offered at the Dante Fascell Visitor Center; however, availability and strength of signal can vary. Cellular service is also available but areas without coverage exist throughout the park, roads leading to the park and/or local area.
Since there was no one to say goodbye to I pulled out shortly before 6 am. I had to wait for the blasted feral chickens and roosters to move their butts first. I also had to clean chicken craps off the van’s hood where apparently one decided to roost for the night. Why the feral cats – nearly as numerous as the feral foul – only go after the domesticated chickens and not the other is beyond me. I mean chicken is chicken for Pete’s Sake. Many of the cats are six-toed and descend from a kitten given to Ernest Hemingway when his home was on the island. The cats are “famous” and protected, and they know it. The only time I’ve seen Groucho effectively freak out is when I took a broom to a black polydactyl cat that was marking his turf. That’s also when I found out that Groucho is superstitious about some things. Stella whispered that she’d deal with the animal when Groucho wasn’t around.
I would have liked to have stayed for our last sunrise in The Keys, but it wasn’t until 7:17 AM and I was too eager to start this next phase of my life, which also includes Benny’s life. That’s really the only anxiety I have. I’m ready to cut loose from the past, use this time to figure out where I’m going since my life plans were changed by life happening. But, at the same time I can’t take Benny’s past away from him. He still cries for Lawrence, mostly after a bad dream, and is still angry at Penny for just leaving him. He’s better than he was, but there are days when he gets clingy and I suppose that is okay for five-year-old little boys.
I’ve had way too many people ask me how I expected to have a life with Benny in tow. I’ll admit to a shocking truth; in the very beginning I asked myself the same question. But the truth hit me hard and fast. Benny is my life, at least for now. One day he’ll grow up and I’ll still be pretty young. Maybe not spring chicken young but not far over thirty. There will still be plenty of time for something to come after. And who knows what could happen between now and then; or not. I don’t want to be with someone that views Benny as baggage, or have Benny viewing himself that way. I’ll eventually figure things out, but it won’t be tonight, tomorrow, or likely even next week.
I woke at my normal of 5 am but let Benny snooze another thirty while I got dressed and looked over the day’s itinerary. I also nuked the overnight oatmeal I had prepped for breakfast. Benny is one of those kids that sleeps comatose, as in you could drop an anvil right beside him and he’d just roll over. However, if you try and be quiet, he wakes up wide eyed and freaked out and I have to use a paint scraper to get him off the ceiling. Lawrence was the same way. Fastest way to wake my brother up was to try and sneak out or sneak in. Ask me how I know. Whatever. I was thankful to have a few minutes to myself to pull it together. I was leaving port and might never be coming back this way. It was weighing on me, praying I was doing the right thing.
I have an entire four-inch 3-ring D-Binder filled with our plans. Some of it will go and some stay as time goes along. This will be my “Ship’s Log” to a certain extent; or that is the plan. Kirkland said maybe one day I will write a book. Who knows? Maybe I will.
I got Benny up right around 5:45 am, but only to tell him to get dressed and put his bed away. Legally he is still supposed to be in a booster seat, and though he hates it, the kind I have for him lets him sleep without getting a crick in his neck when we are on the road. I hooked it into the bench after Benny had folded his bed up and away we went with Benny asking, yet again, when can he leave the booster seat behind. I said when he can sit in the seat with his back fully against the back of the chair and his legs properly bending at the knee at the end of the seat. “And you know doggone good and well Benjamin Barrymore because we’ve had this conversation before … and more than once or twice, including last night.”
He sighed like the weight of the world was baring down on him. “But Aunt Gus …”
“Uh uh. I’m not torturing you on purpose. We follow the laws unless you want us to have to walk everywhere. Because if they catch me driving with you not properly restrained, I could lose my license, not to mention if we are in an accident you could pop out and bang around just like that pea the doctor finally got you to sneeze out of your nose.”
He started laughing because the pea had shot out and bounced off two walls in his pediatrician’s office before landing at my shirt collar and falling down into my cleavage. I don’t know who was trying not to laugh the hardest as I pulled my shirt open and fished the offending vegetable out, the Doctor, Lawrence, or the nurse. Benny wasn’t trying, that little rapscallion was laughing so hard boogers came out next and Aunt Gus had had enough.
“That was funny!” he said. He claims to remember it, but I suspect it is more because the story was told often and reinforced the “memory.”
“No it wasn’t. You scared me to death.”
“Daddy laughed.”
“Yeah, well my brother was just silly relieved too. And I catch you even thinking about doing that again, I don’t care of it is only a spit ball to gross me out, you’re grounded until you are eleventy-two.” The little pirate just laughed, but at least he was distracted from the previous topic.
It will be a relief to not have to do that 135-mile drive on Hwy 1 again, at least for a while. It has never been about the distance; I like to drive just like Dad. It’s that those bridges can be a nightmare if there is a breakdown, or 5 o’clock traffic gets out of hand or there is a storm in the Gulf that creates problems. Seven-Mile Bridge was widened and modernized back in the 1980s so that there was a breakdown lane for changing tires but the idiot Lookie Lou’s and those that don’t or can’t pull off still manage to cause plenty of problems. You can’t go forward, backward, or either side unless you want to swim for it. You must sit there and sit there and sit there until they can work traffic out of the way backwards far enough that emergency vehicles can get through. Ugh. I’ve been through that three times. Hours I tell you. Hours. A complete nightmare. One time it was during a storm and the white caps were so big they washed over the section of the bridge I was one. Some people did leave their cars and seek shelter on the nearest Key and what a mess that was. That particular back up kept me in place overnight. Sigh.
The bridges to Key West were once the Flagler Railroad (also known as Flagler’s Folly) when they opened in 1912. It remained an important transportation route until the unnamed hurricane of 1935, the most powerful storm to hit the US to this day, took out so many spans and killed so many people. It took three years to rebuild but it was no longer a railroad track but a road for cars and trucks was, and still is, called the Overseas Highway. When I drive over it I sometimes pull over on the Keys it passes and connects just to look at the water which is often so clear you can see whatever is swimming in the water including sharks – I once saw a fifteen foot Great White – as well as sea turtles, fish of all kind, and dolphins galore.
We pulled into the Biscayne National Park visitor center parking lot at 9 am and ate our second breakfast of corn muffins that I’d fixed last night that were filled with cheese and diced ham. Little Bear was hungry as a bear.
We went straight to the visitor center and picked up the Junior Ranger booklet. This one had characters; Diego the dolphin, Peter the panther and Aleesha the alligator. The kids follow them through the book as they explore three South Florida parks (Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne, and Everglades National Park). When Benny found out if he completed the entire book he would earn three badges plus an exclusive South Florida junior ranger patch he gave me those big puppy dog eyes and said, “Aunt Gus? Pleeeeeeze?!” Yeah, I’m a sucker. LOL
When they saw I had my go-pro equipment, they asked if I was filming for commercial purposes.
“No Sir. For the blog I started for our traveling adventure so family members can see what we are up to. However, I will not sell any of the photos, particularly if they have “Little Bear” in them. Those are password protected for family members-only.”
They still gave me the spiel about the rules. Given the prevalence of people trying to make a living off social media I can’t blame them. I’ll just need to make sure that none of this park’s photos get onto the blog and get viewed as “pay for” viewing. The rules are “low-impact filming” only. Low-impact is defined as outdoor filming activities in areas open to the public, except areas managed as wilderness, involving five people or less and equipment that will be carried at all times, except for small tripods used to hold cameras. Those participating in low-impact filming activities do not need a permit and are not required to contact the park in advance. Videographers, filmers, producers, directors, news and other staff associated with filming are reminded that rules and regulations that apply to all park visitors, including park hours and closed areas, still apply to filming activities even if a permit is not required. The rules are understandable and easy to follow so we made sure to comply.
I filed our float plan, got the double-seater kayak off the top of the van, had Benny take our lunch cooler while I had our water in a backpack (and the stuffies in their bright orange survival bunker), and headed to the launch area where we would grab a ride out to Jones Lagoon with the NPI (National Park Institute) boat that was taking out a tour. I knew the captain of the boat from Groucho’s shop and had confirmed his offer of a lift so I wouldn’t have to paddle the entire way with Benny. He was agreeable but said it would be a thirty-minute ride and that I’d need to let him know which tour boat I was taking back so he could let other staff know just in case.
I’ve been to Jones Lagoon a few times, but I’d never taken Benny there. The other times I’d been there were before Lawrence died and I’d gone with my Ship and with the Cadets as part of a training course. It was nice to go back and show Benny some of the fascinating things in the park. First off, there are areas on the lagoon where the water is barely a couple of inches deep. You have to be careful to glide through and not drag the kayak or paddle, especially during low tide. I got lucky and the water was deep enough and we spotted some baby sharks, turtles, and a Roseate Spoonbill.
I’m glad I thought to put the netting on our hats as there were a couple of places the bugs were miserable. The small fry were happy for the food but it made for a rough trip for those that didn’t heed the advice to wear sunscreen that had built in bug repellent … or vice versa depending on the product you bought. I put zinc on our noses and made sure that Benny’s sunglasses still fit and that the string I put on them kept them around his neck, not across his throat.
Lunch in the kayak was a hoot. Benny was not thrilled when the gulls round us, and he really gave them a lecture on what constitutes good manners. Like the gulls were actually listening. They nearly stole his last bite of sandwich and I decided that my forbearance was at an end. I used my paddle, and a few judicious moves, and the birds decided we were too much trouble and moved on. Wasn’t long after that I decided we needed to head back to the pick-up point and got there just in time to take the last two spots on the boat.
I noticed once we got back to dry ground that even with the good SPF sunscreen Benny got a little pink. Lawrence and I took after our mother who had an olive complexion and could get a tan from a table lamp according to Dad. Benny looks a lot like Lawrence and Dad but has a lighter skin tone and his sandy-blonde hair can lighten quite a bit depending on how much time he spends outside proving that he is also Penny’s son. I added to my mental grocery list to pick up the really high SPF cream (like for babies) and just hope it didn’t have a certain type of picture on the container. Lately Benny has gotten sensitive about any appearance of being a “baby” so I do what I can. If I have to I’ll put the stuff on my nose and ask him if I looked like a baby and see if that helps. Little boy egos are way too easy to crush and the thing with Penny has certainly made it more complicated.
Speaking of grocery list, after packing the kayak away – it’s like a jigsaw puzzle in the van at the moment even with the kayak itself tied on top – we headed to one of my favorite supply options. The place was packed, and I didn’t recognize but a couple of the stockers so I got done without wasting time; I had a list and I stuck to it. It was interesting getting things put way. The van is seriously packed, but we’ll get some relief once we reach Jacksonville and I off-load the boxes and kayak into the storage facility.
Tonight we are at a property owned by a friend of Stella’s. The place is normally an AirBnB, but after the last short-term renter left the place pretty well trashed, the owner took it off the market for renovation and may well sell it rather than reopen. It currently sits gutted and vacant, and she had no problem with us parking on the property and using the hose so long as we were considerate. Yes! on saving lot rent at an RV park and on the free water. As thank you Benny and I went around picking up some trash the construction crew had left lying around and put it into the trash receptacle properly.
Stella’s friend also didn’t have a problem with me emptying the black and gray tanks into the septic system. Good practice for me as well. I’m going to keep those two tanks emptied as much as possible, regardless of inconvenience, because of the weight the effluence adds to the van. One of my main goals must be to keep the mpg rate as high as possible and weight is one of the things that drags it down. I mean I still need to use some commonsense, like by not allowing the freshwater tank to go too low, but I don’t want the other fluids to steal my fuel efficiency either.
Benny was a tired little boy and crashed and burned after a dinner of deli food I picked up with our groceries – pulled chicken with pinto beans and rice. I decided that having some paper plates and plastic sporks would not condemn me to environmentalist hell so clean up was fast and easy. I uploaded the blog post, did a little meal planning, filled in my ship’s log and I’m ready to hit the hay myself. Not too thrilled with the jungle music coming from down the road but my budget likes the free digs. Miami and Homestead can get a little iffy on occasion, hopefully this won’t be one of those occasions.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $200
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $0
Cumulative miles: 135
Resources:
https://www.nps.gov/bisc/learn/kidsyouth/upload/Junior-Ranger-Activity-Guide-Nov-2018-for-web.pdf
Biscayne National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Kayaking with Kids: Tips for Families | REI Co-op
PaddlingTrailGuideJones.pdf (nps.gov)
Jeepcats27
Senior Member
Nice new chapter, thanks Kathy!
Notes for those that care ... when I cite temps or sunrise/sunset times they are based on 2020 dates and locations.
Sammy55
Veteran Member
LOVE IT!! I learned so much just from this one chapter, in addition to all I learned from all the other chapters, too!
I wonder what Little Bear had to do in his Junior Naturalist book? I'm going to go check out the website now....
ETA: WOW!! This is quite a book!! If I do it, do I get the badge? LOL! I suppose not because I'm not there. But I'd love to go. Maybe, Kathy, you'll inspire a lot of people (like me) to get out to more (and maybe all!) of the National Parks! I know I want to go even more after reading what you've written so far!
I wonder what Little Bear had to do in his Junior Naturalist book? I'm going to go check out the website now....
ETA: WOW!! This is quite a book!! If I do it, do I get the badge? LOL! I suppose not because I'm not there. But I'd love to go. Maybe, Kathy, you'll inspire a lot of people (like me) to get out to more (and maybe all!) of the National Parks! I know I want to go even more after reading what you've written so far!
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A lot of the national parks are also developing virtual versions. go to NPS.gov and pick a park and there is a lot of information, pictures, etc. Most of the parks also have some version of their junior ranger program online. And some will even issue you a badge if you send your complete book in. LOL
Then go you youtube and look the national park in question up. Lots of people have loaded lots of videos for each park.
Then there are websites like:
Exploring the World, One National Park at a time - National Park Obsessed
ohranger.com
List of National Parks of the United States - National Parked
and a bunch of other resources. I'm going to try and include what I used for research. You can find it at the bottom of each entry. I've managed to put in some footnotes as well that might be helpful.
Apr 3 – 4: Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida
Weather: 79F/57F
Driving Route: Homestead, FL >> Everglades NP main entrance >> Miccosukee Indian Village and Shark Valley Visitor Entrance/Gate >> Shark Valley Loop Road >> Everglades City, FL >> Big Cypress (overnight)
April 3rd
Everglades National Park is the third largest park in the lower 48 states, covering 2,400 square miles. That’s a direct quote from a sign at the visitor center as there is no way I am getting out and measuring the place. It’s big and that’s a fact. It has multiple entrances, but we started at the main entrance and the Royal Palm Visitor center. Found out that the Junior Ranger program is available in English, Spanish, and Haitian. Alrighty then. Benny had already done a few of the activities but he was raring to go so he could get that “exclusive” South Florida ranger patch along with the other three. He’s definitely Lawrence’s son. Wow, my brother could be competitive and invested in making rank. Of course I’ve got a bit of it too if I’m being honest. Probably why I made it all the way to Chief Petty Officer in the Cadets when most females don’t.
After getting oriented and finalizing our activity list we headed to the Miccosukee Indian Village gift shop just to look around (I picked up a couple of postcards) and then to the Shark Valley Visitor Center where the Shark Valley Loop Road is located. He got enthralled with the word Miccosukee after I taught him how to pronounce it correctly and I guess a little OCD ensued. Miccosukee, Miccosukee, Miccosukee over and over and over. He sounded a bit like a choo-choo train. Then as suddenly as it had set in, it was over and he was skipping along. Unfortunately the blasted refrain was stuck in my head like a vicious ear worm. Miccosukee, Miccosukee, Miccosukee … I had to turn the radio on and up and little more than commonsense would dictate until we found an appropriately sized parking spot for the van.
You can’t drive the loop in your personal vehicle anymore. You can purchase tickets for a tram, walk it, skate it, etc. What we were going to do is bike it. Thankfully we were early enough that getting a parking spot was not a problem. We pulled out my bike and attached the kid seat since there is no way that Benny could make it the full 15 miles of the loop road on his own. Yes, the bike seat takes up room in the Ark, but I think it will come in handy. He was a little miffed at first; that “baby” thing again but it was two hours well spent and Benny quickly got over his mullygrubs about not being able to ride his own bike when he saw how long the ride would have been. Plus, I let him wear the go-pro camera on his helmet so he could play cameraman for our home movies.
At the halfway point of the loop there is a 45-foot-high observation deck that gave us fantastic views of the Everglades. The day was clear so we got to see roughly 20 miles in all directions. After pedaling all that way I was grateful that there weren’t steps but instead there was a ramp going up to the observation tower deck with the last little bit being a metal spiral staircase that made me dizzy watching my feet and Benny’s as we went up. Unfortunately we got there the same time as a tram full of people and the ramp was full. It made it difficult for Benny to see anything until I put him on my shoulders. That he definitely enjoyed. We stayed up there long enough for the crowd to clear out then ate a snack and took more pictures then pedaled the return trip back to the van.
I picked us both up some Gatorade at the quickie stop store at the end of the loop road. They were doing a banging business because a bunch of the Snowbirds didn’t seem to know what to make of 80F weather in April. Instead of soda pop they would have been better of buying sunscreen. I swear some of them didn’t seem to have the sense to get out of the sun … or at least wear a hat. Next grocery store run I’m going to see how much that powdered sports drink stuff is and try and keep it on hand. I was sweating like crazy by the time the 15 miles were finished and felt limp until I got some in me. That stuff must be better than a soda pop, certainly better for my teeth.
From there we headed north to Big Cypress National Preserve. We did a little hiking in the area but not much. Benny was wiped out and I’m ashamed to admit that I need to build my stamina up. I could have gone all day and more when I was in high school. Please tell me that turning twenty didn’t change that. I exercise daily, work out when I can, walk at least 50% of the time to all my destinations, don’t sit around at all, especially since I haven’t been taking online college classes. I mean it is ridiculous. Gotta work on building the stamina back up, especially given all the activities that are planned for this adventure.
After BCNP we drove to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center to pick up our tickets for the next day’s activity (airboat) and to get our reserved camping spot for the night ($22/night - 50% discount as a Gold Star Family x 2 nights). Benny was a tired boy but getting into the spirit of our new life. And he went to sleep holding his coveted extra special, super duper, South Florida Junior Ranger patch. I was gratified that the Rangers made a big deal out of him. It is positive reinforcement and good motivation. He has already learned a couple of new sight words. I guess I am going to need to keep track of that sort of stuff as part of his “portfolio of work” in case any creepoids try and give me crap over educational neglect or something along those lines. Stella understands how serious I am about keeping people off our backs and their noses out of our business. She’s had her own problems over the years with people thinking that just because she looks like a biker chick with a pneumatic wrench on one hip, plier set on the other, and a tire gauge in her front pocket that she was “unfit.” Well she’s not unfit. Just because she isn’t Betty Crocker doesn’t mean she hasn’t earned her Mother’s Day award more than once or twice. She’s honestly earned it more than most.
I sat outside and wrote the blog and ship’s log after Benny crashed and burned for the night. The sunset was spectacular and there were even a couple of lightning bugs. I heard a couple of people complaining about how noisy the night creatures were – mostly crickets and frogs – but to me it sounded like when I was little and Dad was still alive. We lived in a stilt house along the Suwannee River and I went to sleep serenaded by those sounds every night. I was nodding off so got up and went to bed so I wouldn’t fall asleep outside. I had already decided we would have smoothies for breakfast so had it all sitting out on the counter and lunch was already made and in the frig.
April 4th
Benny and I were both excited so it wasn’t a struggle to get up and get going. Since smoothies are one of his favorite things, getting him to eat/drink his breakfast in a timely manner wasn’t hard and since I put them in solo cups clean-up was minimal as well.
The Everglades is made up mostly of wetlands, so is best explored by boat. A FOG (“friend of Groucho”) had made an offer to take Benny and I on an airboat tour and I took him up on it. The guy’s son had hit on me a couple of times but had a new girlfriend so that was something I didn’t have to mess with. Nice guy, just a little young for his age if you catch my drift.
The tour took about two hours. We filled up the two-remaining seats that would have otherwise had to run empty on a six-person airboat, and rode for free so long as we mentioned the company on our blog and included a link. I’ve started a resource page for each state/park/location. Benny and I both had a lot of fun, so it was no skin off my nose to give them some free advertising. It was a different way of seeing the Everglades, that’s for sure. We spotted alligators and even one crocodile; the Everglades is the only location in the world where both species can be found together.
I could tell the out-of-towners in our small group. They were scared of the gators big time. I mean I wouldn’t want to go swimming with them, and you don’t let kids or pets at water’s edge in most places, but they are basically big lizards. Big, cranky lizards that continue to grow until they are about twenty-five years of age; after that they slow down so much that it is hard to say if they grow or if they just fill out. But I swear the woman gave the impression she thought they were a cross between a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Velociraptor. The woman in the other party was annoyed with her theatrics and kinda egged her own by whispering “don’t go into the tall grass” when we stopped at a mangrove island to check out some birds. Geez, I thought scaredy cat was going to crawl up on her husband’s shoulders. And to be honest he wasn’t much better.
I was very appreciative of the free fun and made sure to show my appreciation as well by having some decorum and not irritating the Captain/Guide. Some people have no sense. Once we were back on land it was time to eat. Benny was starving and I wasn’t exactly hungering for the PBJ sandwiches either, so we grabbed a semi-quick lunch in Chokoloskee, then took off for the second adventure of the day. We kayaked in the Ten Thousand Islands area, hopping out to explore Barrier Island Beach. It was a good way to access the more remote areas of the park and spot marine animals such as dolphins.
The only issue is that to access those areas you must go with a tour group. Lucky for me there was another FOG (“friend of Groucho”) who owed him a favor for some boat motor work. And since Benny and I already had the kayak, it turned out all for the good. The tour group we trailed was made up mostly of college-age and young adult tourists – people my age - with Benny being the only kid. They gave him and me some strange looks but after it became known that I’ve taken him sea kayaking plenty of times they backed off. None of their freaking business to start with but to avoid trouble I just ignored the putzs amongst them. Benny knows the rules and what to expect much more than some of the Spring Breakers that were in our group, and the three-and-a-half-hour tour went smoothly … for us.
The tour was led by an experienced naturalist guide who was certified by both the park and the US Coast Guard. I could have talked to him all day. He wanted to know why I didn’t pursue my original career path and I explained that family responsibility had intervened. He told me I could still get a degree and work for the NPS and to be honest that does have some appeal. It is on the list to explore.
The tour started in what is called a kayak transport boat. What a sweet ride. It had all the trimmings (full safety equipment, satellite communications, GPS tracking system, large sunshade, even a cooler for drinks). And it was a good thing as we were traveling through one of the most remote areas of the national park on our way to Barrier Island Beach.
The guy was good at his job, when he wasn’t having to babysit the doofus among us. We learned about the history of the Everglades, as well as the wide variety of wildlife and vegetation that lives in the park. We didn’t see any manatees, but we did spot some dolphins, sea turtles, bald eagles, ospreys, herons, and egrets. And mosquitos, gnats, and roaches. I had to move away from one girl or I swear I was going to dump her over. Even Benny gave her some strange looks. Her boyfriend finally told her to knock it off or she could stay in the hotel room for the rest of the week. Geez what a freak out over nothing kind of person she was. A hermit crab is not going to bite you. Good Lord.
At the beach we took a walking tour getting a good explanation of wrack lines, shallow tidal zones, dunes, uniquely adapted plants, shells, mangrove swamps, plus a wildlife tour of the various invertebrate species we saw. After the beach hike we paddled back to the boat for the ride home.
Once at the van Benny and I headed back to Collier-Seminole State Park campground for the night and with tomorrow being a busy day, we needed to hit the hay early. Benny was ready but I still had a few things to do, like write this, check in with Groucho to let him know favor was repaid, and prep our meals for tomorrow. The unplanned stop at the restaurant and drinks at the market can’t happen too often or it will eat up our cash cushion.
The Wifi/Cell signal has been hit or miss outside of the campground. It was a complete miss while biking on the loop trail. Every time the signal is up I get bombarded. I’ve been getting a lot of texts from people asking for the link to the blog. Tonight I made a list, sent them the link via an invitation from the blog directly with their permissions already in place. I may have to switch it to a log-in because I realized Kirkland had forwarded it to some people and somehow or other it got back to Mizzou who said some trash crap. Now I am going to have to go to the trouble of putting comments on moderated. Man, some people have way too much time on their hands.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $377
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $22
Cumulative miles: 306
Resources:
Collier-Seminole State Park
Be A Junior Ranger - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Weather: 79F/57F
Driving Route: Homestead, FL >> Everglades NP main entrance >> Miccosukee Indian Village and Shark Valley Visitor Entrance/Gate >> Shark Valley Loop Road >> Everglades City, FL >> Big Cypress (overnight)
April 3rd
Everglades National Park is the third largest park in the lower 48 states, covering 2,400 square miles. That’s a direct quote from a sign at the visitor center as there is no way I am getting out and measuring the place. It’s big and that’s a fact. It has multiple entrances, but we started at the main entrance and the Royal Palm Visitor center. Found out that the Junior Ranger program is available in English, Spanish, and Haitian. Alrighty then. Benny had already done a few of the activities but he was raring to go so he could get that “exclusive” South Florida ranger patch along with the other three. He’s definitely Lawrence’s son. Wow, my brother could be competitive and invested in making rank. Of course I’ve got a bit of it too if I’m being honest. Probably why I made it all the way to Chief Petty Officer in the Cadets when most females don’t.
After getting oriented and finalizing our activity list we headed to the Miccosukee Indian Village gift shop just to look around (I picked up a couple of postcards) and then to the Shark Valley Visitor Center where the Shark Valley Loop Road is located. He got enthralled with the word Miccosukee after I taught him how to pronounce it correctly and I guess a little OCD ensued. Miccosukee, Miccosukee, Miccosukee over and over and over. He sounded a bit like a choo-choo train. Then as suddenly as it had set in, it was over and he was skipping along. Unfortunately the blasted refrain was stuck in my head like a vicious ear worm. Miccosukee, Miccosukee, Miccosukee … I had to turn the radio on and up and little more than commonsense would dictate until we found an appropriately sized parking spot for the van.
You can’t drive the loop in your personal vehicle anymore. You can purchase tickets for a tram, walk it, skate it, etc. What we were going to do is bike it. Thankfully we were early enough that getting a parking spot was not a problem. We pulled out my bike and attached the kid seat since there is no way that Benny could make it the full 15 miles of the loop road on his own. Yes, the bike seat takes up room in the Ark, but I think it will come in handy. He was a little miffed at first; that “baby” thing again but it was two hours well spent and Benny quickly got over his mullygrubs about not being able to ride his own bike when he saw how long the ride would have been. Plus, I let him wear the go-pro camera on his helmet so he could play cameraman for our home movies.
At the halfway point of the loop there is a 45-foot-high observation deck that gave us fantastic views of the Everglades. The day was clear so we got to see roughly 20 miles in all directions. After pedaling all that way I was grateful that there weren’t steps but instead there was a ramp going up to the observation tower deck with the last little bit being a metal spiral staircase that made me dizzy watching my feet and Benny’s as we went up. Unfortunately we got there the same time as a tram full of people and the ramp was full. It made it difficult for Benny to see anything until I put him on my shoulders. That he definitely enjoyed. We stayed up there long enough for the crowd to clear out then ate a snack and took more pictures then pedaled the return trip back to the van.
I picked us both up some Gatorade at the quickie stop store at the end of the loop road. They were doing a banging business because a bunch of the Snowbirds didn’t seem to know what to make of 80F weather in April. Instead of soda pop they would have been better of buying sunscreen. I swear some of them didn’t seem to have the sense to get out of the sun … or at least wear a hat. Next grocery store run I’m going to see how much that powdered sports drink stuff is and try and keep it on hand. I was sweating like crazy by the time the 15 miles were finished and felt limp until I got some in me. That stuff must be better than a soda pop, certainly better for my teeth.
From there we headed north to Big Cypress National Preserve. We did a little hiking in the area but not much. Benny was wiped out and I’m ashamed to admit that I need to build my stamina up. I could have gone all day and more when I was in high school. Please tell me that turning twenty didn’t change that. I exercise daily, work out when I can, walk at least 50% of the time to all my destinations, don’t sit around at all, especially since I haven’t been taking online college classes. I mean it is ridiculous. Gotta work on building the stamina back up, especially given all the activities that are planned for this adventure.
After BCNP we drove to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center to pick up our tickets for the next day’s activity (airboat) and to get our reserved camping spot for the night ($22/night - 50% discount as a Gold Star Family x 2 nights). Benny was a tired boy but getting into the spirit of our new life. And he went to sleep holding his coveted extra special, super duper, South Florida Junior Ranger patch. I was gratified that the Rangers made a big deal out of him. It is positive reinforcement and good motivation. He has already learned a couple of new sight words. I guess I am going to need to keep track of that sort of stuff as part of his “portfolio of work” in case any creepoids try and give me crap over educational neglect or something along those lines. Stella understands how serious I am about keeping people off our backs and their noses out of our business. She’s had her own problems over the years with people thinking that just because she looks like a biker chick with a pneumatic wrench on one hip, plier set on the other, and a tire gauge in her front pocket that she was “unfit.” Well she’s not unfit. Just because she isn’t Betty Crocker doesn’t mean she hasn’t earned her Mother’s Day award more than once or twice. She’s honestly earned it more than most.
I sat outside and wrote the blog and ship’s log after Benny crashed and burned for the night. The sunset was spectacular and there were even a couple of lightning bugs. I heard a couple of people complaining about how noisy the night creatures were – mostly crickets and frogs – but to me it sounded like when I was little and Dad was still alive. We lived in a stilt house along the Suwannee River and I went to sleep serenaded by those sounds every night. I was nodding off so got up and went to bed so I wouldn’t fall asleep outside. I had already decided we would have smoothies for breakfast so had it all sitting out on the counter and lunch was already made and in the frig.
April 4th
Benny and I were both excited so it wasn’t a struggle to get up and get going. Since smoothies are one of his favorite things, getting him to eat/drink his breakfast in a timely manner wasn’t hard and since I put them in solo cups clean-up was minimal as well.
The Everglades is made up mostly of wetlands, so is best explored by boat. A FOG (“friend of Groucho”) had made an offer to take Benny and I on an airboat tour and I took him up on it. The guy’s son had hit on me a couple of times but had a new girlfriend so that was something I didn’t have to mess with. Nice guy, just a little young for his age if you catch my drift.
The tour took about two hours. We filled up the two-remaining seats that would have otherwise had to run empty on a six-person airboat, and rode for free so long as we mentioned the company on our blog and included a link. I’ve started a resource page for each state/park/location. Benny and I both had a lot of fun, so it was no skin off my nose to give them some free advertising. It was a different way of seeing the Everglades, that’s for sure. We spotted alligators and even one crocodile; the Everglades is the only location in the world where both species can be found together.
I could tell the out-of-towners in our small group. They were scared of the gators big time. I mean I wouldn’t want to go swimming with them, and you don’t let kids or pets at water’s edge in most places, but they are basically big lizards. Big, cranky lizards that continue to grow until they are about twenty-five years of age; after that they slow down so much that it is hard to say if they grow or if they just fill out. But I swear the woman gave the impression she thought they were a cross between a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Velociraptor. The woman in the other party was annoyed with her theatrics and kinda egged her own by whispering “don’t go into the tall grass” when we stopped at a mangrove island to check out some birds. Geez, I thought scaredy cat was going to crawl up on her husband’s shoulders. And to be honest he wasn’t much better.
I was very appreciative of the free fun and made sure to show my appreciation as well by having some decorum and not irritating the Captain/Guide. Some people have no sense. Once we were back on land it was time to eat. Benny was starving and I wasn’t exactly hungering for the PBJ sandwiches either, so we grabbed a semi-quick lunch in Chokoloskee, then took off for the second adventure of the day. We kayaked in the Ten Thousand Islands area, hopping out to explore Barrier Island Beach. It was a good way to access the more remote areas of the park and spot marine animals such as dolphins.
The only issue is that to access those areas you must go with a tour group. Lucky for me there was another FOG (“friend of Groucho”) who owed him a favor for some boat motor work. And since Benny and I already had the kayak, it turned out all for the good. The tour group we trailed was made up mostly of college-age and young adult tourists – people my age - with Benny being the only kid. They gave him and me some strange looks but after it became known that I’ve taken him sea kayaking plenty of times they backed off. None of their freaking business to start with but to avoid trouble I just ignored the putzs amongst them. Benny knows the rules and what to expect much more than some of the Spring Breakers that were in our group, and the three-and-a-half-hour tour went smoothly … for us.
The tour was led by an experienced naturalist guide who was certified by both the park and the US Coast Guard. I could have talked to him all day. He wanted to know why I didn’t pursue my original career path and I explained that family responsibility had intervened. He told me I could still get a degree and work for the NPS and to be honest that does have some appeal. It is on the list to explore.
The tour started in what is called a kayak transport boat. What a sweet ride. It had all the trimmings (full safety equipment, satellite communications, GPS tracking system, large sunshade, even a cooler for drinks). And it was a good thing as we were traveling through one of the most remote areas of the national park on our way to Barrier Island Beach.
The guy was good at his job, when he wasn’t having to babysit the doofus among us. We learned about the history of the Everglades, as well as the wide variety of wildlife and vegetation that lives in the park. We didn’t see any manatees, but we did spot some dolphins, sea turtles, bald eagles, ospreys, herons, and egrets. And mosquitos, gnats, and roaches. I had to move away from one girl or I swear I was going to dump her over. Even Benny gave her some strange looks. Her boyfriend finally told her to knock it off or she could stay in the hotel room for the rest of the week. Geez what a freak out over nothing kind of person she was. A hermit crab is not going to bite you. Good Lord.
At the beach we took a walking tour getting a good explanation of wrack lines, shallow tidal zones, dunes, uniquely adapted plants, shells, mangrove swamps, plus a wildlife tour of the various invertebrate species we saw. After the beach hike we paddled back to the boat for the ride home.
Once at the van Benny and I headed back to Collier-Seminole State Park campground for the night and with tomorrow being a busy day, we needed to hit the hay early. Benny was ready but I still had a few things to do, like write this, check in with Groucho to let him know favor was repaid, and prep our meals for tomorrow. The unplanned stop at the restaurant and drinks at the market can’t happen too often or it will eat up our cash cushion.
The Wifi/Cell signal has been hit or miss outside of the campground. It was a complete miss while biking on the loop trail. Every time the signal is up I get bombarded. I’ve been getting a lot of texts from people asking for the link to the blog. Tonight I made a list, sent them the link via an invitation from the blog directly with their permissions already in place. I may have to switch it to a log-in because I realized Kirkland had forwarded it to some people and somehow or other it got back to Mizzou who said some trash crap. Now I am going to have to go to the trouble of putting comments on moderated. Man, some people have way too much time on their hands.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $377
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $22
Cumulative miles: 306
Resources:
Collier-Seminole State Park
Be A Junior Ranger - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
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Jeepcats27
Senior Member
almost felt like I was there with them! Thanks Kathy!
Sammy55
Veteran Member
Wonderful!! Thanks much, Kathy!!
It did feel like I was tagging along! I'd love to see that tower and see what I could see from the top, but I'd have to go by tram. I don't think I could bike or walk that far right now. And the airboat is now on my bucket list. Haven't been on one of those!
Question - the 3rd paragraph under the kayak picture. Was it a sweat ride or a sweet ride? Either would fit, but I couldn't decide if the ride was too hot or if it was way cool! LOL!!
It did feel like I was tagging along! I'd love to see that tower and see what I could see from the top, but I'd have to go by tram. I don't think I could bike or walk that far right now. And the airboat is now on my bucket list. Haven't been on one of those!
Question - the 3rd paragraph under the kayak picture. Was it a sweat ride or a sweet ride? Either would fit, but I couldn't decide if the ride was too hot or if it was way cool! LOL!!
Lord, Lord ... homonyms and homographs will be the death of me. It was a Sweet ride. LOL
Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
While visiting Louisiana with the grandson when he was a youngster, we went to an alligator farm which was interesting. Bought a preserved alligator head from the alligator farm which I still have.
We also took an air boat ride out in the swamps and saw lots of alligators. The air boat guide was able to grab a small alligator and passed it to use. Interesting feeling hold an animal that would like to lock its jaws onto you.
Thanks Kathy for the story.
Texican....
We also took an air boat ride out in the swamps and saw lots of alligators. The air boat guide was able to grab a small alligator and passed it to use. Interesting feeling hold an animal that would like to lock its jaws onto you.
Thanks Kathy for the story.
Texican....
Apr 5 – 6: Canaveral National Seashore >> Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine >> Fort Matanzas, St. Augustine >> Fort Caroline and the Kingsley Plantation - Jacksonville, FL
Weather: 87F/69F (St. Augustine), 76F/53F (Jacksonville)
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: good signal in all locations
April 5th
Last two days has reminded me how long that drive felt when we moved from Jacksonville down to Key West. Was up early because it was a 6-hour drive into St. Augustine. Broke it up a bit by stopping at the Canaveral National Seashore to stretch our legs and let Benny turn in the Junior Ranger book I had downloaded earlier. He’d completed its content as we drove. It was a pretty cool little booklet to be honest. So was the one for Fort Matanzas which was our next stop.
The Junior Ranger Program encourages kids of all ages and their family group to explore the history, nature, and wildlife around Fort Matanzas. Didn’t get to do as much as I expected because the ferry to the fort was closed, but it was very easy to see what was of interest and do some of the activities with Benny. We watched the movie in the visitor center theater, took a self-guided nature hike, walked on the beach across from the fort about a half hour, and there were a ton of informational signs to read.
From there we headed to the St. Augustine visitor center to park. Fifteen bucks for parking a car! And they said the van wouldn’t fit and I would have to park in the RV lot which was even more expensive. Yikes! So I headed down to the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park where the parking was free once you bought your tickets and it was a place we intended on going anyway. Instead of heading right into the park we hoofed it to the Castillo de San Marcos as our first stop. It was just passed lunch so Benny and I ate our lunches as we walked – Cantaloupe Salad with Basil and Mozzarella[1] in individual plastic containers and Walking Taco Salad made with Frito Corn Chips[2] (gluten-free) made in the chip bag. The backpack I was wearing was weighted down with two large liter water bottles of water but not just because of all of the salt. It was warm. Maybe not as warm as Key West but I wasn’t the only one sweating.
The Castillo was cool, but Benny remembered Lawrence and me bringing him here, last trip we took as a family during a week that Penny was visiting one of her sisters, which made him kind of sad. I tried to encourage him by saying, “Just think, no matter how old you get, you’ll always remember your Dad lifting you up so you could see over the castle walls. I know there are pictures of that someplace on my cloud drive.”
A little hopefully Benny asked, “Are there really pictures Aunt Gus?”
“There are really pictures. I saw them a couple of weeks ago when I was organizing some of the photo folders.”
That seemed to soothe him, and we finished our visit with an enthusiastic, “Dad would be proud of me!”
“You betcha Little Bear. And I’m proud of you too,” I told him.
He rarely mentions Penny. I need to help him remember there were good times with his mother. I just don’t want him remembering how few those times were after Lawrence left us.
After the Castillo we walked around the historic district on an easy self-guided tour. The homeless population was very prevalent, especially in the green spaces near Flagler College. Many seemed mentally ill and/or off their meds though they were interacting with each other rather than the general population. I did have one man approach me and ask me if I had really been a naval cadet. I’m proud of the insignia but they do occasionally cause comment. Pulling Benny behind me, trying not to be too obvious about it, I straightened said, “Yes Sir.”
He chuckled. “Don’t get so defensive kid. Was just asking. Take it the boy is why you didn’t enlist.”
“He’s my nephew. My brother … didn’t come home. My brother took responsibility serious. He raised me after our father died. I’m doing the same for my brother’s son.”
That seemed to change his tune. He nodded slowly. “Raise ‘im right. Don’t let him forget. Everyone forgets. But don’t you and don’t let ‘im. Everyone always forgets.” He wandered off talking to himself.
“Sir?” He turned. I can’t even begin to describe the look in his eyes when I saluted him. When he turned and wandered away he wasn’t quite so out of it, or so it seemed. And it was time for Benny and I to move on because we were drawing attention.
“Aunt Gus? Was he one of the lost people that Preacher Phil talks about?”
“Preacher Phil” is a lay-preacher that serves the rougher areas in The Keys. A couple of Groucho’s biker friends brought him to the shop when his old VW bus blew a gasket.
“Could be, but I don’t think we should judge him either way.”
“Could Daddy have been like that if he had lived?”
Startled I asked, “What?!”
“Mommy said that he was better off in Heaven than if he had lived with all his inj … in ja …”
“Injuries?”
Damn Penny and her loose cannon mouth. I bent down to tie Benny’s shoe and told him, “There are some things that are above our paygrade Little Bear. We can’t live on might have beens or could have beens, and your dad wouldn’t want us to. We can only live with the way things are and accept that’s the way it happened. When we get to Heaven we can ask all the questions in our head and hearts and get the answers because there are no tears in Heaven.”
“Is Daddy there waiting for us?”
“That’s what I believe. But he doesn’t want us getting there too soon because living this life to the fullest and learning to be honorable and fulfilling our jobs here is important too. That’s why we have to use our noggin’ for something besides hanging our hat on.”
He was quiet for a little bit but within ten minutes he was back to his normal self. Thank goodness for whatever our Creator gives kids to make it through the rough times. I pray I am up to the task I’ve taken on. Mostly I am repeating what my grandparents, Dad, and Lawrence said to me about life. It helped me, I hope it helps Benny.
We didn’t go inside any of the historic buildings, didn’t need to for the experience, and then we headed back to the archaeological park that was actually not the tourist trap I was expecting. It wasn’t cheap - $18 for me but Benny was free because he was under six. The place was surprisingly well worth it. The biggest funny of the day was that Benny almost wouldn’t drink the water from the “fountain” as he didn’t want to stay a little kid forever. He made the other adults listening laugh. The exhibits through out the park were all pretty neat … cannon, historical rifles, how the original inhabitants built canoes … and the peacocks were incredibly noisy. Added a friend for Little Bear and Gus the Pelican. Percy the Peacock. A small plastic toy. I had offered to get Benny a stuffed version, but he only wanted a particular plastic one for some reason. This may become a thing, Benny sure is getting a kick out of it.
Last stop of the day was Nombre De Dios park that was beside where we had parked. Free and very, very nice with just enough history to go with the park-like setting that I wished we had more time in St. Augustine. I should have allotted another day here, but we have a schedule and I guess I just take Florida for granted having lived here my entire life. Benny was getting hungry and so was I, but I was not doing take out or fast food again for a while so that meant cooking.
We stayed the night in Anastasia State Park, another place I wish I had allotted more time at. There were a couple of short hikes Benny and I went on but it would have been nice to have spent a day on the beach; we just didn’t have it to do. I need to look over our itinerary to make sure I’m not pushing things too fast ‘cause I tell you trying to get dinner cooked that night I felt rushed. If Benny hadn’t been so hungry I might have settled for smoothies.
Dinner was a gluten-free Caprese Pasta Salad. Basically you cook gluten-free rotini-shaped pasta by following the directions on the box. You chop and saute some fresh asparagus. You slice some cherry tomatoes in half. In a blender put 2/3 c. olive oil, a handful of fresh basil, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/3 c. rice wine vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste and give it a whir until smooth. Mix everything together then add some olives and mozzarella pearls and mix again. Then I flaked a small can of salmon and tossed that in. Even Benny will eat a plateful. I put half of it in the frig so that we could have it for lunch the next day and then I had us wash up and hit the hay.
April 6th
Took an early morning walk on the beach to help Benny and I get the wiggles out. Breakfast was a smoothie that caused most of the wiggles. He thought that was hilarious, also a result of the sweet smoothie. Gonna need to watch out for the sweet stuff at breakfast. Smoothies are convenient and packed with fiber and plant protein powder but that isn’t always wise when they also have sugars, even if they are of the natural variety.
After leaving the campground we drove up A1A and pulled into the St. Augustine Lighthouse for a quick peek. We didn’t get too close because they charge just to enter the grounds but we did walk the sidewalk along the marina and read the signs that told of whales that use the area for migration. I’ve seen one whale in all the years in Florida, and that was Killer Whale at Sea World. Maybe one of these days I’ll manage to see a real whale. Wouldn’t that be something.
An hour drive into Jacksonville and our first activity was to drop off the boxes at the storage facility. Made a lot more room in the van and it made the galley usable and meant I wasn’t sleeping in half a bed anymore. Hooray. Benny laughed when I said that. On the other hand, I’m going to miss the kayak. It was one of my few personal belongings that I brought from Jacksonville when we moved to Key West. But it was time to try something new. I’ll envision the van – The Ark – as our ship and the roads and highways our river. I’ve never been landlocked and I have a feeling driving in some parts of the country are going to be a learning experience for me.
I could really feel the difference in how the van handled as we headed to Fort Caroline for part of the day. Of course we started with a Junior Ranger program after finding out that national parks aren’t the only ones that have those types of programs.
Where St. Augustine was settled by the Spanish, Fort Caroline area was settled by their enemy, the French. Contrary to popular assumption, the Spanish and Indians worked well together for the most part, had peaceful relations, and intermarried. In 1565 the Spanish brought Christianity to North America. We learned that at the Nombre de Dios mission as well as the archaeological park. In direct contrast the French used one tribe to subjugate all the other tribes in the area and then forced them to defend against the Spanish because the French were basically squatters and trying to take land that Spanish explorers had already claimed for Spain.
Fort Caroline didn’t fare well, even in the beginning. The French colonists were ill-prepared for how difficult life would be and were soon at odds with local, indigenous populations, and running out of supplies and were starving. They were resupplied in the nick of time but then when those reinforcements took their ships to attack the Spanish, they were decimated by a hurricane. Those that made it to shore were soon captured by the Spanish and that’s where Menendez, the leader of the Spaniards, ordered nearly 350 men to the death penalty. Spain gave mercy to the women and children that survived, and they were allowed to escape, with the few men that survived at Fort Caroline, and return to France. France would never again have much of a presence in Florida.
“Wow Aunt Gus. Those Spain guys were mean.”
I had been trying for a history lesson and didn’t think I was doing half bad. I told him, “Not really. It was a different world back then. You gotta remember Squirt that was over 400 years ago.”
“That’s a loooong time.”
“Yeah, nearly as long ago as since you’ve had a bath. And you eat the ice cream, you don’t wear it.”
He laughed. I’d bought us both an ice cream from a food truck and made the mistake in thinking we could keep it in the cone rather than on the front of our shirts.
From Fort Caroline we drove to the Kingsley Plantation … and yes, another Junior Ranger program. The Plantation covers a different historical era, the 18th and 19th centuries when a lot of different people moved to Florida. Florida’s plantation era was from 1814 to 1865 (the end of the US Civil War). The Kingsley Plantation has a rather unique backstory. I’ll quote the history texts:
In 1814, Zephaniah Kingsley moved to Fort George Island and to what is known today as the Kingsley Plantation. He brought a wife and three children (a fourth would be born at Fort George). His wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was from Senegal, West Africa, and was purchased by Kingsley as a slave. She actively participated in plantation management, acquiring her own land and slaves when freed by Kingsley in 1811.
With an enslaved work force of about 60, the Fort George plantation produced Sea Island cotton, citrus, sugar cane, and corn. Kingsley continued to acquire property in north Florida and eventually possessed more than 32,000 acres, including four major plantation complexes and more than 200 enslaved people.
So a slave became the wife of a plantation owner and eventually owned slaves in her own name as well as land. Most of the Anna Kingsley story flew over Benny’s head but I found it fascinating and different from what is taught in school. (www. .nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/kp_anna_freewoman.htm) Zephaniah Kingsley is equally as interesting. I’m finding that it isn’t just Benny that is going to learn on this adventure we are on. It is going to be school for me as well.
Gotta say that having Benny do the Junior Ranger programs is really motivating. I read on a blog that it is a good idea to get the kid motivated so they love learning, and you aren’t having to use a whip and chair to get them to do their school. Looks to be working for Benny, and frankly it is fun for me as well. I’m not doing the work for him … I’m the facilitator … but I’m learning things at the same time. Who could have guessed?
I never mean to replace Lawrence and Penny. But, if I’m being honest with myself, I like being more than just Benny’s aunt. I mean I will always be his aunt but maybe I can be more without taking Lawrence’s and Penny’s place in his life. I don’t want to be his stepparent, but I know I want to be something, already am something. I’m not sure if I will ever have kids of my own, hadn’t considered it to be in my future, for philosophical reasons and biological ones, but since my future seems to have changed from what I planned maybe … oh heck, that’s looking too far into the future. For now I’m going to concentrate on Benny and just let the rest be what it is. Not interested in having a guy complicate our situation but maybe it is a little more possible down the road than I was giving it. I guess we’ll see. But not right now. Certainly the surprise I got in Jacksonville gave me some other things to think about.
Rather than stay in a park or campground, one of my former Sea Scout leaders let us glamp in their backyard. Yes, I said glamp. Geez. Not a term I ever thought about needing to use but there’s a first for everything. I certainly got a surprise when we pulled in. He surprised me by having everyone there for a cookout. They even remembered that Benny had a gluten-free diet. Made a big deal out of the van. A couple of the people that had known me since I was a kid did question my plan, but that was par for the course and only because they cared.
Hopefully Benny is finally out for the night. He got a little wound up from all the people paying attention to him, once he got over being shy. I’m going back outside and do a little more catching up. Looks like I’m going to make a few more contacts that might be able to help out on the road. And several of them say they plan on keeping up with us through the blog. I had/have good friends. I wish I hadn’t lost touch with them when I could have really used their support, even if it was just some empathy. It sucks feeling alone.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $552
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $52
Cumulative miles: 727
Resources:
Anastasia State Park | Florida State Parks
Be A Junior Ranger - Canaveral National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Fort Matanzas National Monument Agustin Explores Matanzas Junior Ranger Activity Book (nps.gov)
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument Agustín’s Adventure, Junior Ranger Activity Book. (nps.gov)
National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche – Mission Nombre de Dios – St. Augustine, Florida (missionandshrine.org)
Fountain of Youth – St. Augustine Historical Attraction (fountainofyouthflorida.com)
Microsoft Word - foca jr ranger under 7 black box.doc (nps.gov)
KP-Jr-Ranger-7-and-under-4-24-14.pdf (nps.gov)
Anna Kingsley’s story: www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/kp_anna_freewoman.htm
[2] Walking Tacos | Cooking Mamas
Weather: 87F/69F (St. Augustine), 76F/53F (Jacksonville)
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: good signal in all locations
April 5th
Last two days has reminded me how long that drive felt when we moved from Jacksonville down to Key West. Was up early because it was a 6-hour drive into St. Augustine. Broke it up a bit by stopping at the Canaveral National Seashore to stretch our legs and let Benny turn in the Junior Ranger book I had downloaded earlier. He’d completed its content as we drove. It was a pretty cool little booklet to be honest. So was the one for Fort Matanzas which was our next stop.
The Junior Ranger Program encourages kids of all ages and their family group to explore the history, nature, and wildlife around Fort Matanzas. Didn’t get to do as much as I expected because the ferry to the fort was closed, but it was very easy to see what was of interest and do some of the activities with Benny. We watched the movie in the visitor center theater, took a self-guided nature hike, walked on the beach across from the fort about a half hour, and there were a ton of informational signs to read.
From there we headed to the St. Augustine visitor center to park. Fifteen bucks for parking a car! And they said the van wouldn’t fit and I would have to park in the RV lot which was even more expensive. Yikes! So I headed down to the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park where the parking was free once you bought your tickets and it was a place we intended on going anyway. Instead of heading right into the park we hoofed it to the Castillo de San Marcos as our first stop. It was just passed lunch so Benny and I ate our lunches as we walked – Cantaloupe Salad with Basil and Mozzarella[1] in individual plastic containers and Walking Taco Salad made with Frito Corn Chips[2] (gluten-free) made in the chip bag. The backpack I was wearing was weighted down with two large liter water bottles of water but not just because of all of the salt. It was warm. Maybe not as warm as Key West but I wasn’t the only one sweating.
The Castillo was cool, but Benny remembered Lawrence and me bringing him here, last trip we took as a family during a week that Penny was visiting one of her sisters, which made him kind of sad. I tried to encourage him by saying, “Just think, no matter how old you get, you’ll always remember your Dad lifting you up so you could see over the castle walls. I know there are pictures of that someplace on my cloud drive.”
A little hopefully Benny asked, “Are there really pictures Aunt Gus?”
“There are really pictures. I saw them a couple of weeks ago when I was organizing some of the photo folders.”
That seemed to soothe him, and we finished our visit with an enthusiastic, “Dad would be proud of me!”
“You betcha Little Bear. And I’m proud of you too,” I told him.
He rarely mentions Penny. I need to help him remember there were good times with his mother. I just don’t want him remembering how few those times were after Lawrence left us.
After the Castillo we walked around the historic district on an easy self-guided tour. The homeless population was very prevalent, especially in the green spaces near Flagler College. Many seemed mentally ill and/or off their meds though they were interacting with each other rather than the general population. I did have one man approach me and ask me if I had really been a naval cadet. I’m proud of the insignia but they do occasionally cause comment. Pulling Benny behind me, trying not to be too obvious about it, I straightened said, “Yes Sir.”
He chuckled. “Don’t get so defensive kid. Was just asking. Take it the boy is why you didn’t enlist.”
“He’s my nephew. My brother … didn’t come home. My brother took responsibility serious. He raised me after our father died. I’m doing the same for my brother’s son.”
That seemed to change his tune. He nodded slowly. “Raise ‘im right. Don’t let him forget. Everyone forgets. But don’t you and don’t let ‘im. Everyone always forgets.” He wandered off talking to himself.
“Sir?” He turned. I can’t even begin to describe the look in his eyes when I saluted him. When he turned and wandered away he wasn’t quite so out of it, or so it seemed. And it was time for Benny and I to move on because we were drawing attention.
“Aunt Gus? Was he one of the lost people that Preacher Phil talks about?”
“Preacher Phil” is a lay-preacher that serves the rougher areas in The Keys. A couple of Groucho’s biker friends brought him to the shop when his old VW bus blew a gasket.
“Could be, but I don’t think we should judge him either way.”
“Could Daddy have been like that if he had lived?”
Startled I asked, “What?!”
“Mommy said that he was better off in Heaven than if he had lived with all his inj … in ja …”
“Injuries?”
Damn Penny and her loose cannon mouth. I bent down to tie Benny’s shoe and told him, “There are some things that are above our paygrade Little Bear. We can’t live on might have beens or could have beens, and your dad wouldn’t want us to. We can only live with the way things are and accept that’s the way it happened. When we get to Heaven we can ask all the questions in our head and hearts and get the answers because there are no tears in Heaven.”
“Is Daddy there waiting for us?”
“That’s what I believe. But he doesn’t want us getting there too soon because living this life to the fullest and learning to be honorable and fulfilling our jobs here is important too. That’s why we have to use our noggin’ for something besides hanging our hat on.”
He was quiet for a little bit but within ten minutes he was back to his normal self. Thank goodness for whatever our Creator gives kids to make it through the rough times. I pray I am up to the task I’ve taken on. Mostly I am repeating what my grandparents, Dad, and Lawrence said to me about life. It helped me, I hope it helps Benny.
We didn’t go inside any of the historic buildings, didn’t need to for the experience, and then we headed back to the archaeological park that was actually not the tourist trap I was expecting. It wasn’t cheap - $18 for me but Benny was free because he was under six. The place was surprisingly well worth it. The biggest funny of the day was that Benny almost wouldn’t drink the water from the “fountain” as he didn’t want to stay a little kid forever. He made the other adults listening laugh. The exhibits through out the park were all pretty neat … cannon, historical rifles, how the original inhabitants built canoes … and the peacocks were incredibly noisy. Added a friend for Little Bear and Gus the Pelican. Percy the Peacock. A small plastic toy. I had offered to get Benny a stuffed version, but he only wanted a particular plastic one for some reason. This may become a thing, Benny sure is getting a kick out of it.
Last stop of the day was Nombre De Dios park that was beside where we had parked. Free and very, very nice with just enough history to go with the park-like setting that I wished we had more time in St. Augustine. I should have allotted another day here, but we have a schedule and I guess I just take Florida for granted having lived here my entire life. Benny was getting hungry and so was I, but I was not doing take out or fast food again for a while so that meant cooking.
We stayed the night in Anastasia State Park, another place I wish I had allotted more time at. There were a couple of short hikes Benny and I went on but it would have been nice to have spent a day on the beach; we just didn’t have it to do. I need to look over our itinerary to make sure I’m not pushing things too fast ‘cause I tell you trying to get dinner cooked that night I felt rushed. If Benny hadn’t been so hungry I might have settled for smoothies.
Dinner was a gluten-free Caprese Pasta Salad. Basically you cook gluten-free rotini-shaped pasta by following the directions on the box. You chop and saute some fresh asparagus. You slice some cherry tomatoes in half. In a blender put 2/3 c. olive oil, a handful of fresh basil, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/3 c. rice wine vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste and give it a whir until smooth. Mix everything together then add some olives and mozzarella pearls and mix again. Then I flaked a small can of salmon and tossed that in. Even Benny will eat a plateful. I put half of it in the frig so that we could have it for lunch the next day and then I had us wash up and hit the hay.
April 6th
Took an early morning walk on the beach to help Benny and I get the wiggles out. Breakfast was a smoothie that caused most of the wiggles. He thought that was hilarious, also a result of the sweet smoothie. Gonna need to watch out for the sweet stuff at breakfast. Smoothies are convenient and packed with fiber and plant protein powder but that isn’t always wise when they also have sugars, even if they are of the natural variety.
After leaving the campground we drove up A1A and pulled into the St. Augustine Lighthouse for a quick peek. We didn’t get too close because they charge just to enter the grounds but we did walk the sidewalk along the marina and read the signs that told of whales that use the area for migration. I’ve seen one whale in all the years in Florida, and that was Killer Whale at Sea World. Maybe one of these days I’ll manage to see a real whale. Wouldn’t that be something.
An hour drive into Jacksonville and our first activity was to drop off the boxes at the storage facility. Made a lot more room in the van and it made the galley usable and meant I wasn’t sleeping in half a bed anymore. Hooray. Benny laughed when I said that. On the other hand, I’m going to miss the kayak. It was one of my few personal belongings that I brought from Jacksonville when we moved to Key West. But it was time to try something new. I’ll envision the van – The Ark – as our ship and the roads and highways our river. I’ve never been landlocked and I have a feeling driving in some parts of the country are going to be a learning experience for me.
I could really feel the difference in how the van handled as we headed to Fort Caroline for part of the day. Of course we started with a Junior Ranger program after finding out that national parks aren’t the only ones that have those types of programs.
Where St. Augustine was settled by the Spanish, Fort Caroline area was settled by their enemy, the French. Contrary to popular assumption, the Spanish and Indians worked well together for the most part, had peaceful relations, and intermarried. In 1565 the Spanish brought Christianity to North America. We learned that at the Nombre de Dios mission as well as the archaeological park. In direct contrast the French used one tribe to subjugate all the other tribes in the area and then forced them to defend against the Spanish because the French were basically squatters and trying to take land that Spanish explorers had already claimed for Spain.
Fort Caroline didn’t fare well, even in the beginning. The French colonists were ill-prepared for how difficult life would be and were soon at odds with local, indigenous populations, and running out of supplies and were starving. They were resupplied in the nick of time but then when those reinforcements took their ships to attack the Spanish, they were decimated by a hurricane. Those that made it to shore were soon captured by the Spanish and that’s where Menendez, the leader of the Spaniards, ordered nearly 350 men to the death penalty. Spain gave mercy to the women and children that survived, and they were allowed to escape, with the few men that survived at Fort Caroline, and return to France. France would never again have much of a presence in Florida.
“Wow Aunt Gus. Those Spain guys were mean.”
I had been trying for a history lesson and didn’t think I was doing half bad. I told him, “Not really. It was a different world back then. You gotta remember Squirt that was over 400 years ago.”
“That’s a loooong time.”
“Yeah, nearly as long ago as since you’ve had a bath. And you eat the ice cream, you don’t wear it.”
He laughed. I’d bought us both an ice cream from a food truck and made the mistake in thinking we could keep it in the cone rather than on the front of our shirts.
From Fort Caroline we drove to the Kingsley Plantation … and yes, another Junior Ranger program. The Plantation covers a different historical era, the 18th and 19th centuries when a lot of different people moved to Florida. Florida’s plantation era was from 1814 to 1865 (the end of the US Civil War). The Kingsley Plantation has a rather unique backstory. I’ll quote the history texts:
In 1814, Zephaniah Kingsley moved to Fort George Island and to what is known today as the Kingsley Plantation. He brought a wife and three children (a fourth would be born at Fort George). His wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was from Senegal, West Africa, and was purchased by Kingsley as a slave. She actively participated in plantation management, acquiring her own land and slaves when freed by Kingsley in 1811.
With an enslaved work force of about 60, the Fort George plantation produced Sea Island cotton, citrus, sugar cane, and corn. Kingsley continued to acquire property in north Florida and eventually possessed more than 32,000 acres, including four major plantation complexes and more than 200 enslaved people.
So a slave became the wife of a plantation owner and eventually owned slaves in her own name as well as land. Most of the Anna Kingsley story flew over Benny’s head but I found it fascinating and different from what is taught in school. (www. .nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/kp_anna_freewoman.htm) Zephaniah Kingsley is equally as interesting. I’m finding that it isn’t just Benny that is going to learn on this adventure we are on. It is going to be school for me as well.
Gotta say that having Benny do the Junior Ranger programs is really motivating. I read on a blog that it is a good idea to get the kid motivated so they love learning, and you aren’t having to use a whip and chair to get them to do their school. Looks to be working for Benny, and frankly it is fun for me as well. I’m not doing the work for him … I’m the facilitator … but I’m learning things at the same time. Who could have guessed?
I never mean to replace Lawrence and Penny. But, if I’m being honest with myself, I like being more than just Benny’s aunt. I mean I will always be his aunt but maybe I can be more without taking Lawrence’s and Penny’s place in his life. I don’t want to be his stepparent, but I know I want to be something, already am something. I’m not sure if I will ever have kids of my own, hadn’t considered it to be in my future, for philosophical reasons and biological ones, but since my future seems to have changed from what I planned maybe … oh heck, that’s looking too far into the future. For now I’m going to concentrate on Benny and just let the rest be what it is. Not interested in having a guy complicate our situation but maybe it is a little more possible down the road than I was giving it. I guess we’ll see. But not right now. Certainly the surprise I got in Jacksonville gave me some other things to think about.
Rather than stay in a park or campground, one of my former Sea Scout leaders let us glamp in their backyard. Yes, I said glamp. Geez. Not a term I ever thought about needing to use but there’s a first for everything. I certainly got a surprise when we pulled in. He surprised me by having everyone there for a cookout. They even remembered that Benny had a gluten-free diet. Made a big deal out of the van. A couple of the people that had known me since I was a kid did question my plan, but that was par for the course and only because they cared.
Hopefully Benny is finally out for the night. He got a little wound up from all the people paying attention to him, once he got over being shy. I’m going back outside and do a little more catching up. Looks like I’m going to make a few more contacts that might be able to help out on the road. And several of them say they plan on keeping up with us through the blog. I had/have good friends. I wish I hadn’t lost touch with them when I could have really used their support, even if it was just some empathy. It sucks feeling alone.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $552
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $52
Cumulative miles: 727
Resources:
Anastasia State Park | Florida State Parks
Be A Junior Ranger - Canaveral National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Fort Matanzas National Monument Agustin Explores Matanzas Junior Ranger Activity Book (nps.gov)
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument Agustín’s Adventure, Junior Ranger Activity Book. (nps.gov)
National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche – Mission Nombre de Dios – St. Augustine, Florida (missionandshrine.org)
Fountain of Youth – St. Augustine Historical Attraction (fountainofyouthflorida.com)
Microsoft Word - foca jr ranger under 7 black box.doc (nps.gov)
KP-Jr-Ranger-7-and-under-4-24-14.pdf (nps.gov)
Anna Kingsley’s story: www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/kp_anna_freewoman.htm
[1] Recipe: Cantaloupe Salad with Basil, Fresh Mozzarella & Onions | Kitchn (thekitchn.com)[2] Walking Tacos | Cooking Mamas
Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
Aunt Gus is more than Auntie to Bennie and becoming more than aunt to Bennie for Gus which will develop as they travel.
This is an epic journey that you are leading your readers thru along with Aunt Gus and Bennie.
Thank you Kathy.
Texican.
This is an epic journey that you are leading your readers thru along with Aunt Gus and Bennie.
Thank you Kathy.
Texican.
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
Yes! I really appreciate all your efforts Kathy.
Apr 7 – 8: Cumberland Island National Seashore – St. Mary, GA >> Fort Frederica National Monument – St. Simons Island, GA
Weather: 79F/53F
April 7th
There has already been a major correction for our trip. Before I went to bed last night the guy who used to play navigator for my Ship checked the roads “for old times’ sake” and discovered that I95 was backed up to hell’s gate and beyond because of a multi-car accident caused by a snowbird trying to return north who misjudged his ability and fell asleep at the wheel. Forty cars. Forty! And multiple fatalities so I’m going to control my snit fit and try to have some compassion.
Charles helped me to come up with a workable plan and another friend from high school even called up his uncle who works at the Jekyll Island State Park and helped me get a spot in the campground there. It meant backtracking a few miles, but I had to go that way to pick up the highway I needed anyway. It was a quick goodnight to everyone after that and many promises to stay in touch better.
Charles in particular said, “Gus, don’t fall off the map this time.”
“Gotcha. Look, I’ve been stepping around it trying to hear something from someone else first but, how’s your brother?”
That doused his light quite a bit but he still answered me. “Doing better. They got him into a program at the VA. He’s already on half the meds he was prescribed and half the amount of the ones they left him on. He still hasn’t come to terms with losing the hand but he’s not suicidal anymore. My ex-sister-in-law is still acting like a bitch because she lost her bennies when Damion’s caseworker stepped in and cut her off, but it was her choice to leave and file for a no-fault divorce.” He glanced over at the van. “At least there weren’t any kids no matter how my parents had been pushing them to have one.” Then acting like he wasn’t sure how to ask but wanting to he said, “You sure about this? I mean Benny seems like a good kid but … you’re what, just hit twenty? I’m a year older than you and I don’t know that I could do this, and I have my parents and two older sisters to fall back on … and my brother most of the time.”
I shrugged. “Just have a different way of looking at it I guess.”
"So spill it. Help me feel less like a heel for not stepping up and riding shotgun. Because … because …”
"Because you can’t. I get it. Don’t have a coronary. You and Renee really going to do it?”
“Don’t deflect Chief. I’m serious.”
I gave him some credit for being a friend and said, “I don’t want people to feel bad because my life took a left turn. If it wasn’t meant to happen it wouldn’t have happened. My dad didn’t turn me over to someone else to raise when my mom died at my birth. Lawrence didn’t leave me to be raised by someone else when our dad died. I’m not leaving Benny to …”
“But they were lots older when they were in your spot. Geez Gus, you’re barely more than a kid yourself.”
I snorted. “Look who is talking. A year doesn’t make that big a difference.”
“But it does make some.”
I sighed. “Yeah. It does. And I’ve had two years that have changed me and ‘grew me up’ as Coach Mac used to say.”
He snorted a laugh at our shared memories. Finally he said, “I guess. Just … keep in touch. Things are changing so much. My folks are really against me enlisting. I’m not sure it is the right thing anymore myself. Seeing it from my brother’s side, it ain’t the bill of goods we were being sold.”
I didn’t know how to respond. If I had a more open road, I would still enlist in a heartbeat. But as Groucho said one time recently, “Maybe that’s one of the reasons your road got changed for you, ‘cause you wouldn’t or couldn’t do it on your own.”
It took me a while to go to sleep.
April 8th
Benny is used to early hours, but I still let him sleep when I can. This wasn’t one of those mornings. We were on the road by 6 am and a good thing we started when we did because traffic sucked. We managed to get into the Cumberland Island National Seashore and join the tour that had been arranged for us by check in time. It started at 9 am. It was billed as a “rugged” five-hour trip. I don’t know if I would call it rugged, but some of the people were pretty whipped by the time it was over. Maybe I’m not as in bad of a shape as I thought because I wasn’t the least bit limp. We started with the ferry and the water was a little choppy. Didn’t bother Benny and me but it wasn’t a good start for some of the others.
The tour was a lot of in and out of a 4x4 open top transport, and when we were out there was a lot of walking on sandy paths to see the point of interest. We started at the Sea Camp Ranger Station and from there went to landmarks such as the remains of Robert Stafford’s plantation and cemetery, Plum Orchard Mansion, Cumberland Wharf, the Settlement, and the First African Baptist Church.
None of it was as old as Fort Caroline or the stuff in and around St. Augustine, but it was still interesting. For instance, the mansion was built in 1898 in the Georgian Revival style and is 20,000 square foot. It was built by Lucy Carnegie, of the famous Carnegie family, for her son and his wife. As big as that place was it took 45 minutes for the interior tour and we only got to go in a couple of the areas.
The other buildings and locations had their own interesting history. The First African Baptist Church was the site of JFK Jr.’s wedding to Carolyn Bessette. My grandmother would go on and on about old celebrities and how they were so much classier than what we have today and that’s the only reason I know who those people were. I mean they died back before the turn of the century for Pete’s sake.
My favorite part of the tour was called Wild Island. It was single lane roads all the way through one of the largest maritime forests remaining in the United States. I would have loved more time to get out and explore it, but we had to get back to the ferry and back on the road.
Traffic had significantly cleared up. Benny ate leftovers from the cookout while I drove. I downloaded a vid of us crossing the Georgia border from the dash cam and put it on the blog. I might try and do that for every state line we cross, at least so long as it doesn’t turn into a hassle. When we got to Fort Federica I stuffed some leftovers in my own face and then tried to calm Benny down from where he was super excited to complete another trifecta of Junior Ranger activities so he could get an extra patch. Complete all three booklets: Fort Frederica, Underwater Explorer (which we did in the Dry Tortugas) and Junior Archeologist and he earned a Fort Frederica Master Junior Ranger Patch. I may have created a monster. LOL
Some of the things we did at the fort included the movie and exhibits inside the visitor center, the self-guiding walks where we could read a lot of the informational signs that explained the fort’s original lay out and the history since it was built, and there were some live demonstrations as well. One of them was on period firearms but Benny knew what to expect after the demonstrations at the Fountain of Youth Park and wasn’t so startled by how loud the guns were. He did giggle at how some of the other people jumped.
When we left Fort Frederica, it took me longer to reach our destination than I expected and it was also back the way we had come by forty-five minutes. Not a disaster but I should have looked at the map better and accounted for “beach traffic,” especially considering the time of year.
Jekyll Island is the smallest of Georgia’s major barrier islands and has had several different names. It is only ten miles long and one and one-half miles wide at its widest point. It has a total of 5,700 with eight miles of beach coast. The island was first used by the Creek Indians for hunting and fishing; they called the island “Ospo.” In 1562, the island was claimed by the French Huguenots and was called "Ile de la Somme." In 1566 Spanish Jesuit priests established a mission there. In 1736, General James Oglethorpe who claimed the island for England, established an outpost and renamed it Jekyll after his friend Sir Joseph Jekyll. We walked some wiggles out on the island after we signed in at the campground.
The Jekyll Island Campground is fantastic. Not perfect, our spot cost $41 (no discount), but definitely fantastic. There are 158 campsites on 18 wooded acres. The campsites range from basic tent sites to full hook-up, RV sites with electricity, cable TV, water, and sewer. And get this, Wi-Fi and DSL Internet are free for registered guests. There is also a General Store on-site with amenities and supplies. The store isn’t cheap, but the ice cream was reasonable and they had it in cups which meant Benny could eat the ice cream without having to throw away a cone.
Our site was within walking distance of Clam Creek and Driftwood Beaches so after finishing the last of the leftovers that’s where we headed. They also had bath houses with hot water and after hiking on the beach and playing in the water a little bit we both needed it. I could have used the shower in the van, but I couldn’t turn down the unlimited hot water which wouldn’t eat into our propane and fresh water. The fresh water would have been an easy refill, replacing the propane not so much. The snowbirds heading home, or getting back on the road to their next home, had been scavenging supplies at every stop we made. I’m honestly thinking of buying a third propane tank to have a back up for my back up. I almost did some laundry at the laundromat they had on site, but every machine was busy and Benny needed to get to bed and I had things to do as well.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $590
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $93
Cumulative miles: 816
Resources:
Cumberland Island National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Fort Frederica National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
https://www.nps.gov/fofr/learn/kidsyouth/upload/Junior-Archeologist.pdf
https://www.nps.gov/fofr/learn/kidsyouth/upload/UnderwaterExplorerJuniorRangerBooklet.pdf
Jekyll Island | Department Of Natural Resources Division (gastateparks.org)
Weather: 79F/53F
April 7th
There has already been a major correction for our trip. Before I went to bed last night the guy who used to play navigator for my Ship checked the roads “for old times’ sake” and discovered that I95 was backed up to hell’s gate and beyond because of a multi-car accident caused by a snowbird trying to return north who misjudged his ability and fell asleep at the wheel. Forty cars. Forty! And multiple fatalities so I’m going to control my snit fit and try to have some compassion.
Charles helped me to come up with a workable plan and another friend from high school even called up his uncle who works at the Jekyll Island State Park and helped me get a spot in the campground there. It meant backtracking a few miles, but I had to go that way to pick up the highway I needed anyway. It was a quick goodnight to everyone after that and many promises to stay in touch better.
Charles in particular said, “Gus, don’t fall off the map this time.”
“Gotcha. Look, I’ve been stepping around it trying to hear something from someone else first but, how’s your brother?”
That doused his light quite a bit but he still answered me. “Doing better. They got him into a program at the VA. He’s already on half the meds he was prescribed and half the amount of the ones they left him on. He still hasn’t come to terms with losing the hand but he’s not suicidal anymore. My ex-sister-in-law is still acting like a bitch because she lost her bennies when Damion’s caseworker stepped in and cut her off, but it was her choice to leave and file for a no-fault divorce.” He glanced over at the van. “At least there weren’t any kids no matter how my parents had been pushing them to have one.” Then acting like he wasn’t sure how to ask but wanting to he said, “You sure about this? I mean Benny seems like a good kid but … you’re what, just hit twenty? I’m a year older than you and I don’t know that I could do this, and I have my parents and two older sisters to fall back on … and my brother most of the time.”
I shrugged. “Just have a different way of looking at it I guess.”
"So spill it. Help me feel less like a heel for not stepping up and riding shotgun. Because … because …”
"Because you can’t. I get it. Don’t have a coronary. You and Renee really going to do it?”
“Don’t deflect Chief. I’m serious.”
I gave him some credit for being a friend and said, “I don’t want people to feel bad because my life took a left turn. If it wasn’t meant to happen it wouldn’t have happened. My dad didn’t turn me over to someone else to raise when my mom died at my birth. Lawrence didn’t leave me to be raised by someone else when our dad died. I’m not leaving Benny to …”
“But they were lots older when they were in your spot. Geez Gus, you’re barely more than a kid yourself.”
I snorted. “Look who is talking. A year doesn’t make that big a difference.”
“But it does make some.”
I sighed. “Yeah. It does. And I’ve had two years that have changed me and ‘grew me up’ as Coach Mac used to say.”
He snorted a laugh at our shared memories. Finally he said, “I guess. Just … keep in touch. Things are changing so much. My folks are really against me enlisting. I’m not sure it is the right thing anymore myself. Seeing it from my brother’s side, it ain’t the bill of goods we were being sold.”
I didn’t know how to respond. If I had a more open road, I would still enlist in a heartbeat. But as Groucho said one time recently, “Maybe that’s one of the reasons your road got changed for you, ‘cause you wouldn’t or couldn’t do it on your own.”
It took me a while to go to sleep.
April 8th
Benny is used to early hours, but I still let him sleep when I can. This wasn’t one of those mornings. We were on the road by 6 am and a good thing we started when we did because traffic sucked. We managed to get into the Cumberland Island National Seashore and join the tour that had been arranged for us by check in time. It started at 9 am. It was billed as a “rugged” five-hour trip. I don’t know if I would call it rugged, but some of the people were pretty whipped by the time it was over. Maybe I’m not as in bad of a shape as I thought because I wasn’t the least bit limp. We started with the ferry and the water was a little choppy. Didn’t bother Benny and me but it wasn’t a good start for some of the others.
The tour was a lot of in and out of a 4x4 open top transport, and when we were out there was a lot of walking on sandy paths to see the point of interest. We started at the Sea Camp Ranger Station and from there went to landmarks such as the remains of Robert Stafford’s plantation and cemetery, Plum Orchard Mansion, Cumberland Wharf, the Settlement, and the First African Baptist Church.
None of it was as old as Fort Caroline or the stuff in and around St. Augustine, but it was still interesting. For instance, the mansion was built in 1898 in the Georgian Revival style and is 20,000 square foot. It was built by Lucy Carnegie, of the famous Carnegie family, for her son and his wife. As big as that place was it took 45 minutes for the interior tour and we only got to go in a couple of the areas.
The other buildings and locations had their own interesting history. The First African Baptist Church was the site of JFK Jr.’s wedding to Carolyn Bessette. My grandmother would go on and on about old celebrities and how they were so much classier than what we have today and that’s the only reason I know who those people were. I mean they died back before the turn of the century for Pete’s sake.
My favorite part of the tour was called Wild Island. It was single lane roads all the way through one of the largest maritime forests remaining in the United States. I would have loved more time to get out and explore it, but we had to get back to the ferry and back on the road.
Traffic had significantly cleared up. Benny ate leftovers from the cookout while I drove. I downloaded a vid of us crossing the Georgia border from the dash cam and put it on the blog. I might try and do that for every state line we cross, at least so long as it doesn’t turn into a hassle. When we got to Fort Federica I stuffed some leftovers in my own face and then tried to calm Benny down from where he was super excited to complete another trifecta of Junior Ranger activities so he could get an extra patch. Complete all three booklets: Fort Frederica, Underwater Explorer (which we did in the Dry Tortugas) and Junior Archeologist and he earned a Fort Frederica Master Junior Ranger Patch. I may have created a monster. LOL
Some of the things we did at the fort included the movie and exhibits inside the visitor center, the self-guiding walks where we could read a lot of the informational signs that explained the fort’s original lay out and the history since it was built, and there were some live demonstrations as well. One of them was on period firearms but Benny knew what to expect after the demonstrations at the Fountain of Youth Park and wasn’t so startled by how loud the guns were. He did giggle at how some of the other people jumped.
When we left Fort Frederica, it took me longer to reach our destination than I expected and it was also back the way we had come by forty-five minutes. Not a disaster but I should have looked at the map better and accounted for “beach traffic,” especially considering the time of year.
Jekyll Island is the smallest of Georgia’s major barrier islands and has had several different names. It is only ten miles long and one and one-half miles wide at its widest point. It has a total of 5,700 with eight miles of beach coast. The island was first used by the Creek Indians for hunting and fishing; they called the island “Ospo.” In 1562, the island was claimed by the French Huguenots and was called "Ile de la Somme." In 1566 Spanish Jesuit priests established a mission there. In 1736, General James Oglethorpe who claimed the island for England, established an outpost and renamed it Jekyll after his friend Sir Joseph Jekyll. We walked some wiggles out on the island after we signed in at the campground.
The Jekyll Island Campground is fantastic. Not perfect, our spot cost $41 (no discount), but definitely fantastic. There are 158 campsites on 18 wooded acres. The campsites range from basic tent sites to full hook-up, RV sites with electricity, cable TV, water, and sewer. And get this, Wi-Fi and DSL Internet are free for registered guests. There is also a General Store on-site with amenities and supplies. The store isn’t cheap, but the ice cream was reasonable and they had it in cups which meant Benny could eat the ice cream without having to throw away a cone.
Our site was within walking distance of Clam Creek and Driftwood Beaches so after finishing the last of the leftovers that’s where we headed. They also had bath houses with hot water and after hiking on the beach and playing in the water a little bit we both needed it. I could have used the shower in the van, but I couldn’t turn down the unlimited hot water which wouldn’t eat into our propane and fresh water. The fresh water would have been an easy refill, replacing the propane not so much. The snowbirds heading home, or getting back on the road to their next home, had been scavenging supplies at every stop we made. I’m honestly thinking of buying a third propane tank to have a back up for my back up. I almost did some laundry at the laundromat they had on site, but every machine was busy and Benny needed to get to bed and I had things to do as well.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $590
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $93
Cumulative miles: 816
Resources:
Cumberland Island National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Fort Frederica National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
https://www.nps.gov/fofr/learn/kidsyouth/upload/Junior-Archeologist.pdf
https://www.nps.gov/fofr/learn/kidsyouth/upload/UnderwaterExplorerJuniorRangerBooklet.pdf
Jekyll Island | Department Of Natural Resources Division (gastateparks.org)
Sammy55
Veteran Member
For some reason, I missed this recent chapter!! Probably because I left a comment just before you posted a chapter and then didn't go back to check when I saw other posts made after mine. Golly gosh!!
But I came now - just to check, not to push - and it was a nice surprise to find a chapter I hadn't read yet!
Thanks, Kathy! I really love reading the about the parks and the history and the area. The maps really add to the story for me, along with the other pictures. When I have time in the next couple of days, I'm going to explore the links, too.
Thanks!! I love your stories! I just finished "Starting Over and Over and Over" for the 3rd? 4th? time, and am now on "Will to Survive" for the 3rd? 4th? time. LOL!!
But I came now - just to check, not to push - and it was a nice surprise to find a chapter I hadn't read yet!
Thanks, Kathy! I really love reading the about the parks and the history and the area. The maps really add to the story for me, along with the other pictures. When I have time in the next couple of days, I'm going to explore the links, too.
Thanks!! I love your stories! I just finished "Starting Over and Over and Over" for the 3rd? 4th? time, and am now on "Will to Survive" for the 3rd? 4th? time. LOL!!
Apr 9: Fort Pulaski – Savannah, GA >> Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historic Park – Charleston Harbor, SC >> Charles Pinkney National Historic Site – Mt. Pleasant, SC
Weather: 75F/59F
Map Route:
A really good day today despite how it tried to end. We were on the road at six and drove the two hours to Fort Pulaski National Monument outside of Savannah, Georgia. You can guess we did the Junior Ranger program of course.
Cell service was good so checked in with Groucho to make sure he could track us on the blog. “Send more pictures” was his response. He said he and Stella were living the dream “vicariously” through us. He really used the word vicariously and I nearly choked. Found out that Stella has a new calendar in the shop … word of the day. They try and outdo each other how many times they can insert the word into conversations. I kinda miss their craziness. And kinda not. And on some days, it is hard to decide.
Got there just in time to join one of the free ranger-led tours. The ranger told Benny he could also be a Junior Civil War historian and was the one that signed off on his special certificate about two hours later when we left. The Ranger was in civil war costume so Benny took a picture with him and we added it to his digital photo frame.
We had a longish drive after that to get to our next stopping point, so Benny ate in the van while I drove. The BBQ leftovers left me with acid reflux so I was content to eat a meal bar and a shot of Pepto-Bismol. Yum, yum. Not. We crossed into South Carolina and I barely remembered to get a picture of it with the dash cam.
We missed the eleven o’clock tour at Fort Moultrie National Historic Park so I opted for us to do a self-guided one. Found out those sign-things are called “interpretive wayside exhibits.” Cool. I’ll probably still wind up calling them sign-things most of the time. Tried to come up with a decent acronym for them and failed so sign-things it is.
To get to Fort Sumter we had to take a ferry from Patriot Point and Maritime Museum. I am glad I called ahead on that one and got our tickets. Wow, what a crowd of people that had a hard time figuring out simple instructions. By calling ahead I also found out that Fort Sumter doesn’t fall under the NPS Annual Pass. It was thirty bucks for both of us. I was going to blow it off until the concessionaire found out we were a Gold Star Family and let Benny ride for free. The tickets also included a harbor tour on the way to the fort and access to the maritime museum. Decided it was just one of those things I should have budgeted for and went with it. Turns out I made a good decision.
Visitors on the first ferry out to Fort Sumter get to help the rangers raise the US flag over the fort. Visitors on the final ferry out get to assist the rangers in lowering the flag and folding the colors. Benny and I both helped. When they found out I could play the bugle, I played Taps while Benny and some of the other children helped to lower and fold the flag while a couple of Vets stood by to help and make sure the flag didn’t touch the ground.
One of the rangers, also a vet, asked me how Benny knew exactly what to do despite his age. I explained about how I had taught him at the BnB after Groucho gave me permission if I replaced the flag there that was badly in need of retirement. I also explained about Lawrence. What I didn’t say was that Benny has refused to be parted from the flag he’d been given during Lawrence’s burial ceremony. It is in a special, triangular wood and glass case and he keeps his woobie wrapped around it to protect the glass. That is what is hidden in the bottom of the bench storage area. Benny doesn’t want to talk about it but won’t be separated from it either. I’m not sure what to do except to let it ride for now. I’ve asked if he wants to display it on a shelf or something and the firm answer is no and the subject gets closed. For a five-year-old he can let you know when a conversation is over.
We spent a little time in the maritime museum and frankly I could have spent all day there, but we needed to get on the road. We headed to Charles Pinkney National Historic Site in Mt. Pleasant, SC. I wasn’t worried about being late because we were supposed to stay in a hotel that night.
Charles Pinckney was one of the authors and signers of the United States Constitution. At the national historic site you can see the remnants of his coastal plantation. And of course, there was a Junior Ranger Program. It was one of the ones that I had emailed for ahead of time and Benny was mostly finished with it already except for the mandatory on-site activities.
Now comes the near disaster. The hotel where I had booked to stay didn’t have any record of my reservation and had booked the room out from under us even though I had proof that the booking had been confirmed and paid for in-full. They gave me a refund and an insincere “I’m sorry for the inconvenience” but, having little choice since I was too tired to drive further, I had to find something.
There was nothing else in town and I was getting frustrated, spring break or something like that, or maybe it was a convention, I was too tired to figure it out and too irritated to bother finding the energy. I was running myself ragged running in circles. Then I thought to ask on one of the more frequented road-life forums and I found a very cool service called Harvest Hosts. For a yearly membership you have access to a lot of neat RV/Vanlife locations and they are FREE! I still needed to drive a bit and it was late when we got in here, but we are staying at this place called Cartersville Country Winery.
I hadn’t intended on going this direction. It is a tad out of the way but not horrible. I’m going to camp two nights here and I’ll do a service project to say thank you. Their flower boxes by their entry sign need to be weeded. That will only be an hour of work if Benny helps and then they can replant their spring and summer stuff there.
A quick re-cap for our first week. Benny is a lot easier to deal with than I thought he would be. I think the trick, like Stella recommended, is to keep our activities geared to his age range but not to turn it into nursery school. Stella has some experience with kids. She had a kid for each of the men she was married to … except Groucho. Her youngest is a dental hygienist in Tallahassee with three kids of her own. I met her once. She is so ordinary it makes your teeth hurt. According to Stella she takes after her father that was a dentist … but who was only ordinary on the outside. There are days I have to run away yelling TMI.
As far as expenses go, I am in the black so what I budgeted for, but haven’t spent, is getting moved into my “cushion” funds. And I’m learning about alternate overnight accommodations, another win. I also got a huge surprise from Groucho and Stella. They have a friend that needs a favor. The favor is so important to her that she’ll spot us five nights at a hotel in DC. Sweet. That’s down the road though and the favor is absolutely something I would do even without the perk. Details are being worked out but seriously good news for the budget. Thus, I am saying so far so good. I’ll do another review at the one-month mark.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $744
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $93
Cumulative miles: 1186
Resources:
Junior Civil War Historian Online Activities - Fort Pulaski National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)
Fort Sumter Junior Ranger Booklet (nps.gov)
Fort Moultrie Junior Ranger Activity Book (nps.gov)
Tours of Fort Sumter - What Does The Experience Involve? (fortsumtertours.com)
Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
RV Camping at Wineries, Breweries, Farms & More with Harvest Hosts
Weather: 75F/59F
Map Route:
A really good day today despite how it tried to end. We were on the road at six and drove the two hours to Fort Pulaski National Monument outside of Savannah, Georgia. You can guess we did the Junior Ranger program of course.
Cell service was good so checked in with Groucho to make sure he could track us on the blog. “Send more pictures” was his response. He said he and Stella were living the dream “vicariously” through us. He really used the word vicariously and I nearly choked. Found out that Stella has a new calendar in the shop … word of the day. They try and outdo each other how many times they can insert the word into conversations. I kinda miss their craziness. And kinda not. And on some days, it is hard to decide.
Got there just in time to join one of the free ranger-led tours. The ranger told Benny he could also be a Junior Civil War historian and was the one that signed off on his special certificate about two hours later when we left. The Ranger was in civil war costume so Benny took a picture with him and we added it to his digital photo frame.
We had a longish drive after that to get to our next stopping point, so Benny ate in the van while I drove. The BBQ leftovers left me with acid reflux so I was content to eat a meal bar and a shot of Pepto-Bismol. Yum, yum. Not. We crossed into South Carolina and I barely remembered to get a picture of it with the dash cam.
We missed the eleven o’clock tour at Fort Moultrie National Historic Park so I opted for us to do a self-guided one. Found out those sign-things are called “interpretive wayside exhibits.” Cool. I’ll probably still wind up calling them sign-things most of the time. Tried to come up with a decent acronym for them and failed so sign-things it is.
To get to Fort Sumter we had to take a ferry from Patriot Point and Maritime Museum. I am glad I called ahead on that one and got our tickets. Wow, what a crowd of people that had a hard time figuring out simple instructions. By calling ahead I also found out that Fort Sumter doesn’t fall under the NPS Annual Pass. It was thirty bucks for both of us. I was going to blow it off until the concessionaire found out we were a Gold Star Family and let Benny ride for free. The tickets also included a harbor tour on the way to the fort and access to the maritime museum. Decided it was just one of those things I should have budgeted for and went with it. Turns out I made a good decision.
Visitors on the first ferry out to Fort Sumter get to help the rangers raise the US flag over the fort. Visitors on the final ferry out get to assist the rangers in lowering the flag and folding the colors. Benny and I both helped. When they found out I could play the bugle, I played Taps while Benny and some of the other children helped to lower and fold the flag while a couple of Vets stood by to help and make sure the flag didn’t touch the ground.
One of the rangers, also a vet, asked me how Benny knew exactly what to do despite his age. I explained about how I had taught him at the BnB after Groucho gave me permission if I replaced the flag there that was badly in need of retirement. I also explained about Lawrence. What I didn’t say was that Benny has refused to be parted from the flag he’d been given during Lawrence’s burial ceremony. It is in a special, triangular wood and glass case and he keeps his woobie wrapped around it to protect the glass. That is what is hidden in the bottom of the bench storage area. Benny doesn’t want to talk about it but won’t be separated from it either. I’m not sure what to do except to let it ride for now. I’ve asked if he wants to display it on a shelf or something and the firm answer is no and the subject gets closed. For a five-year-old he can let you know when a conversation is over.
We spent a little time in the maritime museum and frankly I could have spent all day there, but we needed to get on the road. We headed to Charles Pinkney National Historic Site in Mt. Pleasant, SC. I wasn’t worried about being late because we were supposed to stay in a hotel that night.
Charles Pinckney was one of the authors and signers of the United States Constitution. At the national historic site you can see the remnants of his coastal plantation. And of course, there was a Junior Ranger Program. It was one of the ones that I had emailed for ahead of time and Benny was mostly finished with it already except for the mandatory on-site activities.
Now comes the near disaster. The hotel where I had booked to stay didn’t have any record of my reservation and had booked the room out from under us even though I had proof that the booking had been confirmed and paid for in-full. They gave me a refund and an insincere “I’m sorry for the inconvenience” but, having little choice since I was too tired to drive further, I had to find something.
There was nothing else in town and I was getting frustrated, spring break or something like that, or maybe it was a convention, I was too tired to figure it out and too irritated to bother finding the energy. I was running myself ragged running in circles. Then I thought to ask on one of the more frequented road-life forums and I found a very cool service called Harvest Hosts. For a yearly membership you have access to a lot of neat RV/Vanlife locations and they are FREE! I still needed to drive a bit and it was late when we got in here, but we are staying at this place called Cartersville Country Winery.
I hadn’t intended on going this direction. It is a tad out of the way but not horrible. I’m going to camp two nights here and I’ll do a service project to say thank you. Their flower boxes by their entry sign need to be weeded. That will only be an hour of work if Benny helps and then they can replant their spring and summer stuff there.
A quick re-cap for our first week. Benny is a lot easier to deal with than I thought he would be. I think the trick, like Stella recommended, is to keep our activities geared to his age range but not to turn it into nursery school. Stella has some experience with kids. She had a kid for each of the men she was married to … except Groucho. Her youngest is a dental hygienist in Tallahassee with three kids of her own. I met her once. She is so ordinary it makes your teeth hurt. According to Stella she takes after her father that was a dentist … but who was only ordinary on the outside. There are days I have to run away yelling TMI.
As far as expenses go, I am in the black so what I budgeted for, but haven’t spent, is getting moved into my “cushion” funds. And I’m learning about alternate overnight accommodations, another win. I also got a huge surprise from Groucho and Stella. They have a friend that needs a favor. The favor is so important to her that she’ll spot us five nights at a hotel in DC. Sweet. That’s down the road though and the favor is absolutely something I would do even without the perk. Details are being worked out but seriously good news for the budget. Thus, I am saying so far so good. I’ll do another review at the one-month mark.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $744
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $93
Cumulative miles: 1186
Resources:
Junior Civil War Historian Online Activities - Fort Pulaski National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)
Fort Sumter Junior Ranger Booklet (nps.gov)
Fort Moultrie Junior Ranger Activity Book (nps.gov)
Tours of Fort Sumter - What Does The Experience Involve? (fortsumtertours.com)
Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
RV Camping at Wineries, Breweries, Farms & More with Harvest Hosts
I almost feel as though I'm ridin' along with 'em.
Apr 10: Congaree National Park, South Carolina
Weather: 69/37
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: Public WiFi is available in the Harry Hampton Visitor Center and breezeway 24-hours a day. It isn’t great service but it operates better than having nothing.
April 10th
An hour to Congaree National Park and an hour back to our campsite. A bit like commuting in Jacksonville during rush hour but I still shouldn’t complain. Our camp fee was $0 and I’m already half-way through weeding the plant boxes at the front of their road. The owner was so surprised he didn’t know what to say at first.
“Just think of it as our way of doing a good turn daily and that sort of thing. I’m just grateful we had a place for the night after our reservation blew up in my face.” He smiled and waived us off as we pulled out for our day.
I’m guessing, from what I am hearing, that there are a lot of … hmmm … headcases would be a polite word for them. Lots in the cities and lots out on the road. After the “Housing Crisis of the ‘20s” people took to alternative housing. This is stuff I learned in my college American History II class so it isn’t like I’m brilliant or informed or anything. Lawrence also talked about it as one of the reasons he wasn’t interested in buying a house. Basically a lot of people embraced things like living on the road and working remotely, “little houses,” and stuff like that. It often didn’t work long term but for the two extremes of the population … young and childless to retirement age … it provided a means to an end.
I mean look at Benny and I. But it also attracts people that can’t seem to function in a “normal” setting. You have your “Young Bohemians” who are a version of a modern-day hippie. Then you have your former, older hippies trying to recapture their youthful freedom. Next up are those that simply can’t afford to live any other way, not that Road Life is cheap or anything.
Whatever. People should be able to live and live with their choices. But then you have people that seem to think that rules and boundaries are merely suggestions that are causing problems for everyone else. You also have the influx of former urbanites that can’t seem to give up their stressful behavior despite needing a new way of doing things on the road. The part time road people also create some issues. So on and so forth down the line.
I only bring it up because I hear the complaints by other campers talking to one another, asking if there are any locations to be wary of. I listen … okay I’m being nosey … but I try not to get involved. Benny and I keep to ourselves. I don’t need trouble from people getting into our business. That might be the only solution to avoid problems. We keep to ourselves as much as possible and only interact in what Lawrence use to call “arm’s length transactions” meaning no close associations, just casual and from a distance.
Congaree became a national park in 2003 which makes it one of the newer ones. It was a logging area in a previous life so really old growth trees are rare. After it got logged over it become the Congaree Swamp National Monument making it roughly 22,000 acres of protected land. It became a haven for local and migrating birds and by 2003 the logical next step, according to the signs in the visitor center, was to become a National Park. The park now encompasses over 26,000 acres of land.
I sure would like to have had the kayak. There was a lot of area we could have covered with it. We hit all the high notes however. We did the Boardwalk Loop Trail (2.6 miles roundtrip), Bluff Trail (1.8 miles roundtrip), Sims Trail (3.2 miles roundtrip), Bates Ferry Trail (2.2 miles roundtrip), and Spur Trail (0.4 miles roundtrip). All of the trails we did were marked easy but I still wound up putting Benny on my shoulders a couple of times when the trails got extra muddy. There were a couple of moderate trails I would have liked to have tried but they were closed in a couple of places along their length. We learned from a ranger that the Congaree River overflows its banks about ten times a year. You have to be serious about checking trail conditions before heading out. I wasn’t the only one I saw walking around the park with muddy shoes and boots.
I know the amount of hiking we did seems excessive since I have a five-year-old with me, but Benny loves to hike. I swear that boy all but pouts when we have to use a vehicle to get from point A to point B. Sure, some of it is the “car seat” but not much of it. Benny and Aunt Gus have “wiggle issues” and we both are much better examples of humanity when we get lots of exercise. And if you start in the morning and don’t quit just because it is after 2 pm then trust me, you can get a lot more hiking and walking in than most people do.
Just for the heck of it I checked with the campgrounds. Only tents and hammocks are allowed; no RVs, vans, etc. And you must walk into your campsite. Lucky for us we had somewhere else to go. I mean we could have camped because I have the two-man pop up tent for emergencies but gotta admit I wasn’t loving the idea of camping in a tent when it is damp and cold. Okay, make fun of me for having all the training but being a princess. I’m just not acclimated yet to the cooler weather. I thinking living down in the Keys has thinned my blood.
Overnight we are back in the winery parking area and I’m more than grateful for the two free nights. They were surprised that Benny and I finished pulling the weeds out of the flower beds. Their gardener is laid up with a broken ankle. I’m not twenty-one and can’t drink … okay strike that, I choose not to drink because of Benny … but they were very cool and gave Benny and I some pop-bottle sizes of the juices they use to make their wines: grape, peach, blueberry, and strawberry. I’m going to make a peach smoothie for part of our breakfast and see how it tastes. They seemed fascinated with our choice to visit as many of the national parks as we could as a type of “gap year.” It isn’t the first time that I heard someone say, “I wish I would have done that sort of thing when I was younger and freer.” My hope is that I don’t eventually wind up saying, “I wish I would have picked a different path.” There’s pro’s and con’s to both sides I suppose.
Cleaning my hikers was fun … not. But since it isn’t the first time I’ve had to do something like that I got it done quickly and then set them to dry on the dash and donned my camp shoes (crocs) so I could get some organizing under way. Next two nights are going to be one of our most expensive nights of the trip. There’s reasons and if they pan out I’ll explain them. For now, I’m locking up and getting to bed. Got a drive ahead of me in the morning.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $792
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $93
Cumulative miles: 1303
Resources:
http://www.nps.gov/cong/learn/kidsyouth/upload/CONG_Jr_Ranger_Booklet_508.pdf
Congaree National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Weather: 69/37
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: Public WiFi is available in the Harry Hampton Visitor Center and breezeway 24-hours a day. It isn’t great service but it operates better than having nothing.
April 10th
An hour to Congaree National Park and an hour back to our campsite. A bit like commuting in Jacksonville during rush hour but I still shouldn’t complain. Our camp fee was $0 and I’m already half-way through weeding the plant boxes at the front of their road. The owner was so surprised he didn’t know what to say at first.
“Just think of it as our way of doing a good turn daily and that sort of thing. I’m just grateful we had a place for the night after our reservation blew up in my face.” He smiled and waived us off as we pulled out for our day.
I’m guessing, from what I am hearing, that there are a lot of … hmmm … headcases would be a polite word for them. Lots in the cities and lots out on the road. After the “Housing Crisis of the ‘20s” people took to alternative housing. This is stuff I learned in my college American History II class so it isn’t like I’m brilliant or informed or anything. Lawrence also talked about it as one of the reasons he wasn’t interested in buying a house. Basically a lot of people embraced things like living on the road and working remotely, “little houses,” and stuff like that. It often didn’t work long term but for the two extremes of the population … young and childless to retirement age … it provided a means to an end.
I mean look at Benny and I. But it also attracts people that can’t seem to function in a “normal” setting. You have your “Young Bohemians” who are a version of a modern-day hippie. Then you have your former, older hippies trying to recapture their youthful freedom. Next up are those that simply can’t afford to live any other way, not that Road Life is cheap or anything.
Whatever. People should be able to live and live with their choices. But then you have people that seem to think that rules and boundaries are merely suggestions that are causing problems for everyone else. You also have the influx of former urbanites that can’t seem to give up their stressful behavior despite needing a new way of doing things on the road. The part time road people also create some issues. So on and so forth down the line.
I only bring it up because I hear the complaints by other campers talking to one another, asking if there are any locations to be wary of. I listen … okay I’m being nosey … but I try not to get involved. Benny and I keep to ourselves. I don’t need trouble from people getting into our business. That might be the only solution to avoid problems. We keep to ourselves as much as possible and only interact in what Lawrence use to call “arm’s length transactions” meaning no close associations, just casual and from a distance.
Congaree became a national park in 2003 which makes it one of the newer ones. It was a logging area in a previous life so really old growth trees are rare. After it got logged over it become the Congaree Swamp National Monument making it roughly 22,000 acres of protected land. It became a haven for local and migrating birds and by 2003 the logical next step, according to the signs in the visitor center, was to become a National Park. The park now encompasses over 26,000 acres of land.
I sure would like to have had the kayak. There was a lot of area we could have covered with it. We hit all the high notes however. We did the Boardwalk Loop Trail (2.6 miles roundtrip), Bluff Trail (1.8 miles roundtrip), Sims Trail (3.2 miles roundtrip), Bates Ferry Trail (2.2 miles roundtrip), and Spur Trail (0.4 miles roundtrip). All of the trails we did were marked easy but I still wound up putting Benny on my shoulders a couple of times when the trails got extra muddy. There were a couple of moderate trails I would have liked to have tried but they were closed in a couple of places along their length. We learned from a ranger that the Congaree River overflows its banks about ten times a year. You have to be serious about checking trail conditions before heading out. I wasn’t the only one I saw walking around the park with muddy shoes and boots.
I know the amount of hiking we did seems excessive since I have a five-year-old with me, but Benny loves to hike. I swear that boy all but pouts when we have to use a vehicle to get from point A to point B. Sure, some of it is the “car seat” but not much of it. Benny and Aunt Gus have “wiggle issues” and we both are much better examples of humanity when we get lots of exercise. And if you start in the morning and don’t quit just because it is after 2 pm then trust me, you can get a lot more hiking and walking in than most people do.
Just for the heck of it I checked with the campgrounds. Only tents and hammocks are allowed; no RVs, vans, etc. And you must walk into your campsite. Lucky for us we had somewhere else to go. I mean we could have camped because I have the two-man pop up tent for emergencies but gotta admit I wasn’t loving the idea of camping in a tent when it is damp and cold. Okay, make fun of me for having all the training but being a princess. I’m just not acclimated yet to the cooler weather. I thinking living down in the Keys has thinned my blood.
Overnight we are back in the winery parking area and I’m more than grateful for the two free nights. They were surprised that Benny and I finished pulling the weeds out of the flower beds. Their gardener is laid up with a broken ankle. I’m not twenty-one and can’t drink … okay strike that, I choose not to drink because of Benny … but they were very cool and gave Benny and I some pop-bottle sizes of the juices they use to make their wines: grape, peach, blueberry, and strawberry. I’m going to make a peach smoothie for part of our breakfast and see how it tastes. They seemed fascinated with our choice to visit as many of the national parks as we could as a type of “gap year.” It isn’t the first time that I heard someone say, “I wish I would have done that sort of thing when I was younger and freer.” My hope is that I don’t eventually wind up saying, “I wish I would have picked a different path.” There’s pro’s and con’s to both sides I suppose.
Cleaning my hikers was fun … not. But since it isn’t the first time I’ve had to do something like that I got it done quickly and then set them to dry on the dash and donned my camp shoes (crocs) so I could get some organizing under way. Next two nights are going to be one of our most expensive nights of the trip. There’s reasons and if they pan out I’ll explain them. For now, I’m locking up and getting to bed. Got a drive ahead of me in the morning.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $792
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $93
Cumulative miles: 1303
Resources:
http://www.nps.gov/cong/learn/kidsyouth/upload/CONG_Jr_Ranger_Booklet_508.pdf
Congaree National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Apr 11 – 12: Jamestown, VA >> Yorktown, VA >> Williamsburg, VA
Weather: 66F/33F (Jamestown/Yorktown), 66F/37f (Williamsburg)
Driving Route:
Hours of Operation
Jamestown – 8:30 – 4:30, Glass House – 8:30 – 4:30, Visitor Center – 9 am – 5 pm
Yorktown Battlefield – 9 am
Wifi/Cell Signal: both were really good the passed two days
April 11th
There was no way to get to Jamestown by 8:30 am because I had a five-hour drive ahead of me, including crossing over into a new state … Virginia. Still managed to be on the road a little before five in the morning. I put Benny in his booster seat and let him sleep until he woke up when I stopped for fuel. Made great time on the interstate because truckers gotta truck, but eventually even truckers gotta sleep. Once we arrived at the Jamestown entry gate the morning rush had dissipated (heard stories of people having to wait in line at the entrance for almost forty-five minutes) and we made it through the gates at 10 am. We stayed three hours.
They are charging for everything these days. I thought Groucho was going to wet himself when I sent him that text to let him know we’d arrived safely. Geez. He’s used to me sounding older than I am but now he is calling me Granny. That’s just what I need I’m sure.
Entrance fee was $25. One of the rangers saw the Gold Star family card in my wallet. “Oh, step over here a sec.” I was wondering what kind of trouble I was in, but it turned out that the manager in charge that morning was a fan of the Gold Star Family program and made sure to get us in free (Benny would have been free anyway because of his age) and gave a list of all the free and reduced fees between Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg. Good deal Lucille. He also set Benny up with the Junior Ranger Programs. Talk about a kid that was thrilled.
In the three hours I allotted us we walked all over and saw the displays, exhibits, and reenactments. Benny really liked the Glass Blowing at the 1608 Glasshouse. I liked that it warmed the air up a bit. Still not loving the cold. And yes, highs in the 60s is cold … to me. I’m looking around and seeing people in shorts, tank tops, and flip flops and I’m thinking they’ve lost their minds. When it drops below 70F I’m pulling on some layers and here those nuts were shucking out of everything but their skivvies, talking about how warm it was. Geez.
Arriving with Captain Christopher Newport on the second resupply in early October 1608, the Virginia Company of London sent eight Dutchmen (their term for Germans) and Poles (yep, that means Polish) to produce glass, pitch, tar, and soap ash. By early December, Newport departed for England with "trials of Pitch, Tarre, Glass, Frankincense, Sope ashes, with what Clapboard and Waynscot that could be provided." However, what type or form of glass and how much was actually produced is unknown according to the sign-things placed around the glass-blowing exhibit. The guy blowing the glass also explained that that first attempt at a full glass production facility in the New World failed as a business.
The glasshouse may still have been active in 1610 as evidenced by a letter from the secretary for the Virginia Company of London stating that the glasshouse was "a goodly house ... with all offices and furnaces thereto belonging." In 1622, the Company tried again to create a glass-manufacturing operation, this time using Italian glassblowers. This attempt also failed. Guess businesses back then were just like businesses today.
Benny and I got our first real souvenir here. A glob of molten glass that was pressed into a round, flat piece that had the Jamestown logo stamped into it. Completely useless except as a dust catcher and memory knacker, but my grandmother used to say that you could hate dusting, but you still needed at least a few of those memory knackers. Benny likes when I tell stories about Dad and his parents. I should do it more. If I don’t who will remember them? I mean I understand that eventually everyone dies. The cycle of life and all the other ways it gets explained. But what’s the purpose of living if you don’t leave something of yourself behind? Bah. Adulting type thoughts are burning my brain.
Lunch was in the van on the way to Yorktown. I need to make another batch of gluten free bread so we can make sandwiches. Heck, I need to make a grocery list and get to the store but I’m hoping to put it off for a couple more days. Need to plan a little better for the mornings/days we are in a rush and that includes food prep.
It took about forty minutes to get from Historic Jamestown to Yorktown (via the Colonial Parkway) and get parked. We stayed there a little more than three hours. We started at the visitor center naturally, for the displays and to get oriented. The rangers are also pretty good about giving advice so people can maximize the amount of time they have. Turns out that we could save time by using my bike. They have trolleys you can use but they are always busy and don’t go into the battlefield.
Yorktown has two tour routes. The seven-mile Battlefield Tour marked by red arrow signs begins at the visitor center parking lot. The nine-mile Encampment Tour, marked by yellow arrow signs, begins at Surrender Field. Both routes utilize park tour roads and heavily traveled state highways; however, the Encampment Tour has minimal interaction with highways and is, therefore, less heavily traveled. We also learned that all streets in Yorktown are open to vehicles, except Main Street, which is normally closed to vehicular traffic spring through fall. If traveling across the Tobacco Road footbridge, bicyclists are required to dismount and walk across the bridge for safety reasons. We got a maps of the tour roads and town at the NPS visitor center. Tour Roads are open to pedestrians, bicycles and motor vehicles, however no buses, motor homes or vehicles over 5-tons from using them. Lawrence’s old Chevy Avalanche wouldn’t have been allowed. All state and local traffic regulations apply so at least people are supposed to know how to drive, though given a few things I saw I find it doubtful that everyone did.
By using the bike – and Benny didn’t fuss about riding in the child seat when he saw there were other kids even older than him that used them – we got the best of it all and could go at our own pace. I have to admit that I hadn’t counted on the van not being allowed on some of the roads. I’m really glad we have the bikes. Benny’s helmet is getting small so that’s something I’m going to have to address. Should have gotten him a new one before we left Key West. Hopefully Wallyworld or Tar-jay will come to the rescue and I can do some grocery shopping at the same time.
We left Yorktown and made our way to Williamsburg to park for two nights. The place is called the Historic Fife and Drum Inn. Definitely not cheap but we can walk to Colonial Williamsburg from the Inn. Bonus, it has a small coin-operated launderette which is something we were desperately in need of. Loving the Lavario but we need a lot of things washed and not just clothes. I had towels and bedding too.
The room the Inn assigned us is called the Yorktown Room. It has a queen bed and a twin bed. I winced at having to pay in advance when I saw the final price tag - $169/night plus tax - but I’d saved money on overnight accommodations up to this point and we needed to do laundry and a good scrub down. It came with free high-speed internet as well. And saved on gas and parking fees ($15 for every two hours in the parking lots is what they were charging). The Inn was in the middle of the historic area. I know that is rationalizing, and offset by the Colonial Williamsburg tickets, but sometimes you just have to take those types of things into consideration. Not having to pay for parking nearly paid for a night of lodging.
The Yorktown Room is pretty nice. It is like staying in someone’s house. It has dormer windows and interestingly slanted ceiling. The brochure called it “coved.” An antique print of Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown and an 18th century French map of the colonies were hung on the walls. Benny didn’t notice them, but I did. The bathroom is tiled and feels ginormous compared to the one in the van, but it isn’t really as it has a weird seated shower. And as a bonus, the room’s décor is kid friendly. Some of the other rooms were a bit posh for a five-year-old boy to be comfortable in.
They had a hair dryer – something I left behind because of how much electricity mine used - and shampoo and conditioner that wasn’t the cheap stuff that left you feeling like a scarecrow. I’m going to give letting my hair grow out a try, assuming it doesn’t drive me crazy. I’ve kept my hair really short since the time a kid I was babysitting got gum all in my hair as a prank. I never babysat for that family again and none of my friends would either. I used to have a long braid but had been thinking about cutting my hair shorter because of my plans to join the Navy. I had not planned on getting a butch crew cut. Lucky for me Lawrence called up the barbers on base and one of them thought he could save me from what I considered at the time a fate worse than death. I’ve kept my hair pixie short ever since, but times change and I don’t want the expense of finding a barber every other week. My hair is almost to my collarbones already. No telling how long it is going to be before the year is over. I just can’t wait to get passed the mullet stage.
The Williamsburg historic area is opened from 9 am – 5 pm so doing anything at night was out so I focused on laundry, cleaning the van, getting our bedding washed and freshened, and getting the two of us scrubbed down. I was also happy to get to bed early. Luckily Benny cooperated. He normally does but it was nice that that night wasn’t one of the rare exceptions when he doesn’t. Before bed I downloaded the Colonial Williamsburg app and I purchased a day ticket so that we could enter the various museums. Benny is not six years old yet so he was free, I was not and there were no discounts as far as I was able to find so that was $36 out of pocket. Can’t expect to get everything for free or discount but every little bit helps.
April 12th
Continental breakfast at the Fife and Drum Inn started at 8 am. It was like sleeping in after our last few mornings. LOL. And hurray for gluten-free options for Benny including hard boiled eggs, a gluten-free granola, orange juice, and milk.
We quickly walked to Colonial Williamsburg as everything started opening at 9 am. We started around the blacksmith shop (CW ticket required), headed to the Capitol (CW ticket required), went to the carpenter’s yard (CW ticket required), then the colonial garden (CW ticket required), the courthouse, several historical houses, the Governor’s Palace, the armory, the kitchen and yard, the weaver, the archaeological project, and the Native American area, all of which required the ticket. One of the free things we did was go to the post office and mail a few letters to get the official Colonial Williamsburg stamp on them.
Another was to listen to the music coming out of the taverns. However, we didn’t eat there. Those places were busy and expensive. For lunch we ate at the Colonial Waffle House and Benny was so happy to see gluten-free waffles that he begged to have them for lunch. I caved. I don’t consider myself a sucker but I’m not Scrooge McDuck either. We needed to eat and someone recommended the place. Turned out to be a decent value.
Benny got a kick out of all the people in period costume walking around as guides in the historic district. Early in the day I wound up buying him a tricorn hat which he wore all day long and which I told him wasn’t a good idea to sleep in. At the moment it is on the bed beside him with his crew of stuffies sitting in it like it is a boat.
We continued walking and sightseeing and I was surprised to find out that the ticket I had purchased got us a carriage ride. We just lucked out at a vacant carriage stop and we got selfies with the horse after our brief ride. When I was a kid, my grandfather used to say he had an online friend named Dobbin that was a horse up in New England. When I told Benny he asked, “Was he joking? Can horses really do that stuff?”
“I was never sure. Sometimes you just have to believe the fantastic.” We both looked at the carriage horse and I swear if he didn’t wink at us. Benny looked at me with what Grandmother Barry would have called eyes as big as silver dollars; I shrugged. Sometimes you just gotta let yourself believe.
It wasn’t long after that that the main features of the historic area started closing. I grabbed us a Bunless hotdog and fries for supper and then had another surprise for Benny. It was called Ghost Walk Jr. The point was that it was kid-friendly so wouldn’t freak Benny out. Kids weren’t the only ones to choose that option however, there was a couple there about my age as well.
I was thankful to have gotten all the Junior Ranger stuff out of the way this morning because we were both tired by the time we got back to the Fife and Drum Inn for the night. I checked on the Van and then headed up to the room and we both showered and washed up really well. Benny crashed quickly after that and didn’t even ask to watch the TV. I was tempted to turn it on but pulled the news up on my tablet instead and set it to the side while I used my laptop to blog and write in the ship’s log. The cities that normally rock and roll parts of the year are starting things back up again. I can’t remember it ever being any different, but Lawrence told me one time that he could. I think it is a huge waste of time, but some people just can’t live without the noise and ruckus. If it gets bad and annoying like it does sometimes, I’m going to re-route us even if it means giving up some of the places we were going to see.
Going to bed before I get depressed. Our cumulative accommodation expense really jumped and our cumulative fuel expense is getting close to a thousand dollars. It was bound to happen, but it is making me itchy for having eaten out so much today.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $944
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $431
Cumulative miles: 1667
Resources:
Yorktown Battlefield Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Yorktown-Self-Guided-Walking-Tour-PDF (visityorktown.org)
Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Events | Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Weather: 66F/33F (Jamestown/Yorktown), 66F/37f (Williamsburg)
Driving Route:
Hours of Operation
Jamestown – 8:30 – 4:30, Glass House – 8:30 – 4:30, Visitor Center – 9 am – 5 pm
Yorktown Battlefield – 9 am
Wifi/Cell Signal: both were really good the passed two days
April 11th
There was no way to get to Jamestown by 8:30 am because I had a five-hour drive ahead of me, including crossing over into a new state … Virginia. Still managed to be on the road a little before five in the morning. I put Benny in his booster seat and let him sleep until he woke up when I stopped for fuel. Made great time on the interstate because truckers gotta truck, but eventually even truckers gotta sleep. Once we arrived at the Jamestown entry gate the morning rush had dissipated (heard stories of people having to wait in line at the entrance for almost forty-five minutes) and we made it through the gates at 10 am. We stayed three hours.
They are charging for everything these days. I thought Groucho was going to wet himself when I sent him that text to let him know we’d arrived safely. Geez. He’s used to me sounding older than I am but now he is calling me Granny. That’s just what I need I’m sure.
Entrance fee was $25. One of the rangers saw the Gold Star family card in my wallet. “Oh, step over here a sec.” I was wondering what kind of trouble I was in, but it turned out that the manager in charge that morning was a fan of the Gold Star Family program and made sure to get us in free (Benny would have been free anyway because of his age) and gave a list of all the free and reduced fees between Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg. Good deal Lucille. He also set Benny up with the Junior Ranger Programs. Talk about a kid that was thrilled.
In the three hours I allotted us we walked all over and saw the displays, exhibits, and reenactments. Benny really liked the Glass Blowing at the 1608 Glasshouse. I liked that it warmed the air up a bit. Still not loving the cold. And yes, highs in the 60s is cold … to me. I’m looking around and seeing people in shorts, tank tops, and flip flops and I’m thinking they’ve lost their minds. When it drops below 70F I’m pulling on some layers and here those nuts were shucking out of everything but their skivvies, talking about how warm it was. Geez.
Arriving with Captain Christopher Newport on the second resupply in early October 1608, the Virginia Company of London sent eight Dutchmen (their term for Germans) and Poles (yep, that means Polish) to produce glass, pitch, tar, and soap ash. By early December, Newport departed for England with "trials of Pitch, Tarre, Glass, Frankincense, Sope ashes, with what Clapboard and Waynscot that could be provided." However, what type or form of glass and how much was actually produced is unknown according to the sign-things placed around the glass-blowing exhibit. The guy blowing the glass also explained that that first attempt at a full glass production facility in the New World failed as a business.
The glasshouse may still have been active in 1610 as evidenced by a letter from the secretary for the Virginia Company of London stating that the glasshouse was "a goodly house ... with all offices and furnaces thereto belonging." In 1622, the Company tried again to create a glass-manufacturing operation, this time using Italian glassblowers. This attempt also failed. Guess businesses back then were just like businesses today.
Benny and I got our first real souvenir here. A glob of molten glass that was pressed into a round, flat piece that had the Jamestown logo stamped into it. Completely useless except as a dust catcher and memory knacker, but my grandmother used to say that you could hate dusting, but you still needed at least a few of those memory knackers. Benny likes when I tell stories about Dad and his parents. I should do it more. If I don’t who will remember them? I mean I understand that eventually everyone dies. The cycle of life and all the other ways it gets explained. But what’s the purpose of living if you don’t leave something of yourself behind? Bah. Adulting type thoughts are burning my brain.
Lunch was in the van on the way to Yorktown. I need to make another batch of gluten free bread so we can make sandwiches. Heck, I need to make a grocery list and get to the store but I’m hoping to put it off for a couple more days. Need to plan a little better for the mornings/days we are in a rush and that includes food prep.
It took about forty minutes to get from Historic Jamestown to Yorktown (via the Colonial Parkway) and get parked. We stayed there a little more than three hours. We started at the visitor center naturally, for the displays and to get oriented. The rangers are also pretty good about giving advice so people can maximize the amount of time they have. Turns out that we could save time by using my bike. They have trolleys you can use but they are always busy and don’t go into the battlefield.
Yorktown has two tour routes. The seven-mile Battlefield Tour marked by red arrow signs begins at the visitor center parking lot. The nine-mile Encampment Tour, marked by yellow arrow signs, begins at Surrender Field. Both routes utilize park tour roads and heavily traveled state highways; however, the Encampment Tour has minimal interaction with highways and is, therefore, less heavily traveled. We also learned that all streets in Yorktown are open to vehicles, except Main Street, which is normally closed to vehicular traffic spring through fall. If traveling across the Tobacco Road footbridge, bicyclists are required to dismount and walk across the bridge for safety reasons. We got a maps of the tour roads and town at the NPS visitor center. Tour Roads are open to pedestrians, bicycles and motor vehicles, however no buses, motor homes or vehicles over 5-tons from using them. Lawrence’s old Chevy Avalanche wouldn’t have been allowed. All state and local traffic regulations apply so at least people are supposed to know how to drive, though given a few things I saw I find it doubtful that everyone did.
By using the bike – and Benny didn’t fuss about riding in the child seat when he saw there were other kids even older than him that used them – we got the best of it all and could go at our own pace. I have to admit that I hadn’t counted on the van not being allowed on some of the roads. I’m really glad we have the bikes. Benny’s helmet is getting small so that’s something I’m going to have to address. Should have gotten him a new one before we left Key West. Hopefully Wallyworld or Tar-jay will come to the rescue and I can do some grocery shopping at the same time.
We left Yorktown and made our way to Williamsburg to park for two nights. The place is called the Historic Fife and Drum Inn. Definitely not cheap but we can walk to Colonial Williamsburg from the Inn. Bonus, it has a small coin-operated launderette which is something we were desperately in need of. Loving the Lavario but we need a lot of things washed and not just clothes. I had towels and bedding too.
The room the Inn assigned us is called the Yorktown Room. It has a queen bed and a twin bed. I winced at having to pay in advance when I saw the final price tag - $169/night plus tax - but I’d saved money on overnight accommodations up to this point and we needed to do laundry and a good scrub down. It came with free high-speed internet as well. And saved on gas and parking fees ($15 for every two hours in the parking lots is what they were charging). The Inn was in the middle of the historic area. I know that is rationalizing, and offset by the Colonial Williamsburg tickets, but sometimes you just have to take those types of things into consideration. Not having to pay for parking nearly paid for a night of lodging.
The Yorktown Room is pretty nice. It is like staying in someone’s house. It has dormer windows and interestingly slanted ceiling. The brochure called it “coved.” An antique print of Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown and an 18th century French map of the colonies were hung on the walls. Benny didn’t notice them, but I did. The bathroom is tiled and feels ginormous compared to the one in the van, but it isn’t really as it has a weird seated shower. And as a bonus, the room’s décor is kid friendly. Some of the other rooms were a bit posh for a five-year-old boy to be comfortable in.
They had a hair dryer – something I left behind because of how much electricity mine used - and shampoo and conditioner that wasn’t the cheap stuff that left you feeling like a scarecrow. I’m going to give letting my hair grow out a try, assuming it doesn’t drive me crazy. I’ve kept my hair really short since the time a kid I was babysitting got gum all in my hair as a prank. I never babysat for that family again and none of my friends would either. I used to have a long braid but had been thinking about cutting my hair shorter because of my plans to join the Navy. I had not planned on getting a butch crew cut. Lucky for me Lawrence called up the barbers on base and one of them thought he could save me from what I considered at the time a fate worse than death. I’ve kept my hair pixie short ever since, but times change and I don’t want the expense of finding a barber every other week. My hair is almost to my collarbones already. No telling how long it is going to be before the year is over. I just can’t wait to get passed the mullet stage.
The Williamsburg historic area is opened from 9 am – 5 pm so doing anything at night was out so I focused on laundry, cleaning the van, getting our bedding washed and freshened, and getting the two of us scrubbed down. I was also happy to get to bed early. Luckily Benny cooperated. He normally does but it was nice that that night wasn’t one of the rare exceptions when he doesn’t. Before bed I downloaded the Colonial Williamsburg app and I purchased a day ticket so that we could enter the various museums. Benny is not six years old yet so he was free, I was not and there were no discounts as far as I was able to find so that was $36 out of pocket. Can’t expect to get everything for free or discount but every little bit helps.
April 12th
Continental breakfast at the Fife and Drum Inn started at 8 am. It was like sleeping in after our last few mornings. LOL. And hurray for gluten-free options for Benny including hard boiled eggs, a gluten-free granola, orange juice, and milk.
We quickly walked to Colonial Williamsburg as everything started opening at 9 am. We started around the blacksmith shop (CW ticket required), headed to the Capitol (CW ticket required), went to the carpenter’s yard (CW ticket required), then the colonial garden (CW ticket required), the courthouse, several historical houses, the Governor’s Palace, the armory, the kitchen and yard, the weaver, the archaeological project, and the Native American area, all of which required the ticket. One of the free things we did was go to the post office and mail a few letters to get the official Colonial Williamsburg stamp on them.
Another was to listen to the music coming out of the taverns. However, we didn’t eat there. Those places were busy and expensive. For lunch we ate at the Colonial Waffle House and Benny was so happy to see gluten-free waffles that he begged to have them for lunch. I caved. I don’t consider myself a sucker but I’m not Scrooge McDuck either. We needed to eat and someone recommended the place. Turned out to be a decent value.
Benny got a kick out of all the people in period costume walking around as guides in the historic district. Early in the day I wound up buying him a tricorn hat which he wore all day long and which I told him wasn’t a good idea to sleep in. At the moment it is on the bed beside him with his crew of stuffies sitting in it like it is a boat.
We continued walking and sightseeing and I was surprised to find out that the ticket I had purchased got us a carriage ride. We just lucked out at a vacant carriage stop and we got selfies with the horse after our brief ride. When I was a kid, my grandfather used to say he had an online friend named Dobbin that was a horse up in New England. When I told Benny he asked, “Was he joking? Can horses really do that stuff?”
“I was never sure. Sometimes you just have to believe the fantastic.” We both looked at the carriage horse and I swear if he didn’t wink at us. Benny looked at me with what Grandmother Barry would have called eyes as big as silver dollars; I shrugged. Sometimes you just gotta let yourself believe.
It wasn’t long after that that the main features of the historic area started closing. I grabbed us a Bunless hotdog and fries for supper and then had another surprise for Benny. It was called Ghost Walk Jr. The point was that it was kid-friendly so wouldn’t freak Benny out. Kids weren’t the only ones to choose that option however, there was a couple there about my age as well.
I was thankful to have gotten all the Junior Ranger stuff out of the way this morning because we were both tired by the time we got back to the Fife and Drum Inn for the night. I checked on the Van and then headed up to the room and we both showered and washed up really well. Benny crashed quickly after that and didn’t even ask to watch the TV. I was tempted to turn it on but pulled the news up on my tablet instead and set it to the side while I used my laptop to blog and write in the ship’s log. The cities that normally rock and roll parts of the year are starting things back up again. I can’t remember it ever being any different, but Lawrence told me one time that he could. I think it is a huge waste of time, but some people just can’t live without the noise and ruckus. If it gets bad and annoying like it does sometimes, I’m going to re-route us even if it means giving up some of the places we were going to see.
Going to bed before I get depressed. Our cumulative accommodation expense really jumped and our cumulative fuel expense is getting close to a thousand dollars. It was bound to happen, but it is making me itchy for having eaten out so much today.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $944
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $431
Cumulative miles: 1667
Resources:
Yorktown Battlefield Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Yorktown-Self-Guided-Walking-Tour-PDF (visityorktown.org)
Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Events | Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
A travelogue and a story; nothing better for a weekend read for me. As usual, lots of timely reminders of skills not often used plus a few new, worthy ones interspersed throughout.
Things like this are exactly what I'm talking about:
There’s a few things that I’ve been glad to have like the mini shop vac for cleaning the van’s interior. There’s also a few things that I’m wishing I hadn’t spent the money on because they are still sitting in the box they came in … that expensive solar cooker and the Biolite camp stove. I am going to have to make the effort to use both of those but it isn’t going to be happening for a while.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $1063
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $471
Cumulative miles: 1952
Resources:
Shenandoah National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Thank you Ma'am
G.
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beaglemama
Contributing Member
Thanks, Kathy!