Montgomery, Al

When it's over, it's over. It's time to go home. After we left Ocala National Forest we stopped for a quick fix at Micanopy, one of my favorite spots in Florida. It is the oldest town inland that is not on a waterway. There are unique old houses, a few restaurants and antique shops, and live oaks covered with Spanish moss. We took a few more photos.
We arrived in Montgomery about dark and chose a spot at Wal-mart in spite of the no camping signs. They assured us a small van was ok and it was!

Ocala, Fl

Much of the day was spent driving from Stuart to the Ocala National Forest. It was a mistake to get off the turnpike too soon. We arrived at Salt Springs to find the campground full and chose a nice spot at Fore Lake, a more primitive campground but very pleasant and quiet. We rode the bikes and got out the grill after touring the forest to get acquainted for a possible future visit. This is the area on which the book The Yearling was based. There are many waterways and also quite a few canoes in the area. Perhaps another time.

Stuart, Fl

An early Saturday morning arrival at Phipps County Park in Martin County was perfect timing to get a camping spot alongside the Okeechobee Waterway just as a camper was leaving, since there are only 15 electric/water sites. This is a spacious park with plenty of sunshine and lots of palms. After a nice bike ride we spent the rest of the day taking care of chores in town (haircut, Chinese food, oil change, propane, new phone, junk souvenir shopping) before returning to grill some of our fresh vegetables!


On Monday we moved a few hundred feet down the road to the St. Lucie Locks Corps of Engineers' campground alongside the Okeechobee Waterway that runs from the east coast at Stuart, through Lake Okeechobee, and to the west coast at Ft. Meyers. We had a fine visit and lunch with Regina and Mike in St. Lucie West and were given a grand tour of the PGA neighborhood.

We have a few more photos.




We then drove to the coast and wandered up 1 and 1A1 from Ft. Pierce to Vero Beach, stopping along the way to walk on the beach although it was quite windy. In Vero Beach we had a delightful visit with Susan, a friend since the 5th grade, and her sister Gene and husband Jerry. Very nice people.

We meandered along the coast along 1A1 to Stuart and back to our home for the night amid a pretty good rain that washed the van.
Tuesday morning we watched the Olympian kayakers from Germany paddle up and down the waterway before joining Marcia and Sue for a trip to the Brighton Seminole Casino near Okeechobee. It was a great opportunity for a visit. We each even won a few dollars. We very much enjoyed the Stuart and Jupiter areas. There are a few more photos of our ride along the coast.

Jupiter, Fl

After we left the Everglades we stopped at a fresh vegetable market and got a box full of beautiful fruits and vegetables before heading to Miami. We spent a couple of hours exploring the art deco area of South Beach. They were having a food and wine festival but were sold out, so we left the crowds and headed north. We can't show all the photos we took! Some are censored.
Friday afternoon in February is not the best time to look for a campground in coastal southern Florida. We checked several in the area of Jupiter but all seemed to be full. Even the Wal-mart had no overnight parking signs posted as one would expect. So we chose a quiet spot beside a pond complete with ducks at the Blue H. Then it was off to tour the area. We drove along Jupiter Beach and stopped to watch people with their wind surfers. We located the Square Grouper Tiki Bar, also known as Castaways, famous for Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson's "It's Five O'clock Somewhere" duet. After a short visit there we went to the Food Shack and had a delicious dinner to end a long day. We took a couple more photos.

Everglades, Fl

After a couple of days in Key West we were ready for some quiet time in a real campground. We procured a campsite at Long Pine in the Everglades National Park and then spent the afternoon taking short hikes along the boardwalks to view mangrove swamps, mahogany tree hammocks, and other features of the area. We drove 32 miles down to the Florida Bay and Flamingo camping area and even did one geocache while there.
On Friday morning we walked along the Anahinga Trail which was totally delightful. We saw many species of water birds and I especially enjoyed watching the wood stork. There was a plethora of alligators not to mention turtles and photographers.

Look at some of our other photos.

Key West, Fl

A change in lattitude = a change in attitude!! The pace just seems to slow once you are here. What a great two days we spent in Key West. It was in the upper 70's with plenty of sunshine. We celebrated Fat Tuesday by stopping at MM39 near Marathon to visit BK and watched a Mardi Gras parade by members staying at the $90/day RV park!
In Key West we made our stop at Margaritaville and then enjoyed Wayne and Mike at Sloppy Joe's. They are two funny guys who play music and tell stories. We wandered around Mallory Square and rode our bikes through the streets overflowing with tourists before calling it a night on Simonton Street.


On Wednesday morning we are parked by Bayview Park watching the homeless begin their day while kids skateboard by on the way to school and other people play with their dogs in the park. There doesn't appear to be much difference between us and the homeless. They have 2 bikes, we have 2 bikes, but our bed is on wheels and their's is in a garbage bag.
Today we will wander on the boardwalk along the bay, ride our bikes over to the southernmost point in the US, eat some seafood, and watch the sunset and street performers at Mallory Square. Ask us sometime about our bikes disappearing.
The weather is here, we wish you were beautiful. Check the other pictures.
Just a little bit of history I find interesting: The keys belonged to the Spanish until a Mobile, Alabama businessman, John Simonton, bought the land for $2000.00 and Key West was founded in 1822. By the 1850s there were 2,70 people, many who came from New England and the Bahamas as "wreckers." When there was a shipwreck they would salvage millions of dollars of cargo from ships that ran aground on the reefs. By 1830 Key West was the richest city per capita in the U.S. and which was the case for about 50 years. In 1856 the 2,000 residents split almost $400,000 in booty.
Later in the century Cuban immigrants led the city into becoming the world's leading cigar manufacturing center with 100 million cigars rolled by hand per year. This business later moved to Tampa. The next industry to arrive was sponging, once grossing $750,000 a year. In 1910 a red tide killed the Key West beds and the industry collapsed. Today tourism is alive and well.

Big Cypress, FL

Susan and I have had a wonderful time in the Big Cypress National Preserve. We spent the night at Midway campground, a nice spot surrounding a borrow pit lake with water and electric, a shower house, and a dump.
We took a tour on an airboat with Tigertails, and it was a wild and exciting ride which we both enjoyed. We stopped at 2 islands in the "sea of grass" and watched our guide feed and pet an alligator. Next stop: Key West and "Margaritaville." Check out our photos along the Tamiami Trail.

Sarasota, Fl

We visited the estate owned by John Ringling. It includes the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. We saw some impressive art including a large collection of Rubens. The museum was built in Italian Renaissance style and the courtyard has an impressive display of sculptures. John Ringling, of circus fame, built a large home on Sarasota Bay. His winter residence known as Ca d'Zan cost $1.5 million in 1926 and the 32 room mansion resembles a Venetian Palace. The 66 acre complex also includes the Circus Museum with gilded parade wagons, calliopes, costumes, posters, and more. The gounds are landscaped with huge banyon trees and statues are everywhere! Sarasota has long been noted as a vacation spot but is also quite an art community owing much to the Ringlings.
Another day while in Sarasota we stumbled across the Art Festival as we were trying to get to Whole Foods for lunch. We took lots of clown photos, which seemed appropriate, before we joined friends at the El Adobe.


We then found an Irish festival at a nearby pub and enjoyed Irish music, food, and dancers. Sunday should be a day of rest and a grouper sandwich at Turtle Beach!

Check out our other photos.

Venice, Fl

Brrr. A cold front came through but 60 degrees sure beat 30 in Arkansas. So it was south to explore the area around Venice with a visit to RV World. Along the way we drove out on Casey Key, an area more similar to Florida past with not such large mansions lining the shores.
South of Casey Key we drove down Venice Avenue through a cute shopping district loaded with tourists. Then we stopped at Sharkey's on Venice Beach where many were huddled inside for lunch due to the windy conditions on the beach. That did not keep us from driving down to Caspersen Beach to find some shark's teeth since we were in the shark tooth capitol of the world.
We then went to Nokomis Groves for some fresh grapefruit juice, oranges, and a delightful chocolate and lime twist ice cream cone! Bombax trees were all around us. What a day!

See more photos of the Venice area.

Myakka City, Fl

Thursday was tourist day indeed! We began with a drive over to Myakka River State Park to take the canopy walk. This is a boardwalk built among the treetops in swinging bridge fashion with a tower approximately 74' high at the end where you can easily look over the forest. The walk allows you to examine closely the ferns, lichens, airplants, and insects living up in the trees. The adjoining nature walk is through a palm and oak hammock with many small palms in the undergrowth. We did even see some wild pigs.


We ventured along the backroads to see Solomon's Castle, a strange creation for sure! Next to the castle is the boat on a moat that Solomon built for the restaurant. It was worth the drive. It is amazing how many "older people" you find at this time of year in Florida no matter where you go. We all seem to enjoy the same things.


After a bar-b-q sandwich in the parking lot in Myakka City (no restaurants there) we arrived at the Herrman Lipizzaner show. For 90 minutes we were entertained by the beautiful horses as they were put through a training session with explanations about all the maneuvers.
Our photos are posted also.

Siesta Key, FL

We arrived in Siesta Key on Saturday and wasted no time riding bikes down the avenue to one of the whitest, prettiest beaches in America. The snowbirds are here in full force and are being bathed in warm sunshine and 70 degree temperatures.


We have especially enjoyed touring around town with Mary. We visited the St. Armands Circle and had a fine Cuban lunch at the Columbia Cafe which was begun in Tampa in 1905. We also drove over to Lido Key and then to the Whole Food store in Sarasota. What an awesome place for a vegan! And a stop at the Tiki Bar at the Sarasota Bayfront was also a good idea. Mary is the ultimate tour guide!
On Sunday we did four geocaches in the area and then met our friend Phil at the Dobe. These were Leon's first geocaches. He can hardly wait to go on more!
Today was spent by the pool soaking up some sun and fresh air as the temps should be only in the 60s for the next few days.

Tarpon Springs, Fl

We again left about 8 am to head south to Siesta Key, Florida. We debated the options and chose to follow the coastline through Weeki Wachee and many small towns so that we could visit Tarpon Springs. This is a place inhabited by Greeks long ago where they created a thriving sponge industy where they dove for sponge in the beds nearby. Although the sponge industry is no longer so important, the community is still Greek and a major tourist area. We fit right in having gyros for lunch and strolling the shops. I did have a little shopping flurry!

After enjoying a few hours there we went on south through St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and various small towns with lots of traffic to arrive at Siesta Key and our friend Mary's house about 5 pm. Another fine day!

More photos of the trip to Florida.

Manatee Springs, Fl

Again we left early to travel leisurely along the Florida coast to our next destination: Manatee Springs State Park near Chiefland, Florida. We couldn't resist stopping when we saw a sign for Leon's donuts. Oh well, we are on vacation! We stopped for lunch alongside the beach in a picnic area and learned that troops had trained there for the invasion of Normandy in WWII.

The weather was in the 70s and made for quite a pleasant drive as we went further south and through the tall pine forests. After about 7 hours we got to our campground in time for a nice bike ride over to the Catfish hole, a water filled sinkhole.

Divers were there and explained to us about the system of caves they were exploring under the water. We followed the spring water down to where it enters the Suwannee River, a popular spot for manatees in the spring. We watched deer feed among the cypress alongside the stream which is called the Spring Run. Then we scared up a couple of armadillos on our ride down the sandy nature trail among palmettos. At dusk we grilled a couple of hot dogs and reflected on another fine day.

Grayton Beach, Fl

After an early morning stop from Biloxi we toured Ocean Springs, Mississippi. What a surprise to turn down Government Street and find my favorite donut shop from 15 years ago. Indeed we stopped for coffee and donuts. From there we meandered along 90 towards Mobile. After we passed through the tunnel we turned south again and took the scenic route along the coast through Daphne and Fairhope. The tulips and hyacinths were blooming and spring was definitely in the air. We then drove over to Tanger Outlet Mall in Foley, Alabama for a little shopping.

We scurried along as fast as one can along the beach in the Florida panhandle and arrived at Grayton Beach State Park about 4 pm. We found a site there a took a bike ride over to the white sand beach. Then we had a fine dinner in town at Piccolo's and the Red Bar. It was a good day.

Biloxi, MS

The weather in Arkansas was a little cool so it was time to head to Florida. We left about 8 and 20 miles down the road we stopped at The Place in Malvern for breakfast. Then it was a nice drive south to Lake Village. We did not stop at Paul Michel's to shop but certainly did have a fine buffet at Lakeside Cafe across the road.

We then traveled through Louisiana and crossed the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. We arrived in Biloxi at sunset and found much devastation still in the area from Hurricane Katrina. The casino where we planned to stop, Casino Magic, was no longer in existence but Isle of Capri next door had been rebuilt. We stopped there for the night.