St AugustineFL – Believe in the fountain of youth

We just left St Augustine. We stayed at a nice little RV park that was perfect for our whole family. Brady had a huge field and woods to play in. We pick fresh vegetables and strawberries at the parks hydroponic farm and there was also a weekend flea market that was made complete with the “amazing little river of boiling grease doughnuts” (a family favorite {if you ever see one of these BUY THE DOUGHNUTS. They are worth every calorie}).

This is the only way to pick the fresh stuff.

Every costal town has a fort. St Augustines is Castillo De San Marcos (1672). Since this is the oldest city they claim the oldest to a lot of things. This is a pretty old fort. 

Big ol' Spanish Fort

It is very easy to see St Augustine. We bought a three day ticket on the “Old Town Trolley”. You can get on and off at any stop and the driver narrates along the way.

The old Jail tour came highly recommended. The jail was built in 1891 and used up to 1953. The money to build it was a gift from Standard oil millionaire Henry Flagler. The current jail was next door to his fancy richie rich hotel and just gave off a bad atmosphere. So the jail was built outside of town. Flagler stipulated that it had to be built to be pretty. The jail also had a lovely house for the sheriff and his family on the other end. The security theory and design was used to build Alcatraz. The tour is given by a “trustee” in a prison uniform. Ours gave a very convincing presentation.

St. Augustine jail - outside

and inside - No escapes from here - power to the chain gang

Just across the hall - the sheriff and his family lived quite nicely

Our trustee guide

The light house has been completely refurbished, has great views, has 219 steps and was built in 1824. Really what else does a person need to know?

This is a beautiful area and the views from the top helps put in prospective how small the St. A is

An average side walkdown town.  a little tippy but easy enough in a sandle wedge

But so pretty

One of our favorite stops was Flagler College. It started out as that Richie rich hotel built by Henry Flagler, the “Ponce De Leon Hotel”. The hotel was built in 1887 and still holds the largest collection of Tiffany glass (windows and chandlers) in the world. This was Tiffanys first decorating job and his launch. To stay here your name had to be on the New York social register, you had to stay for the whole season (Jan – Mar {this was the only three months the hotel was even open}). The cost to you in 2012 dollars would be $250,000.00. Wait a minute, I think I might have a coupon. This was one of the first hotels with electric lights. It was the job of select employees to turn on and off the lights so as not to endanger the guests. Today this building has been saved and is being used as a liberal arts college. The hotel rooms are the girls dorms and meals are served in the grand ballroom.

Tiffany windows at The Ponce De Leon Hotel (now Flagler College)

The entrance

Court yard

More windows

Chandler

The ladies sitting room

More of the sitting room

Across the street is the Alcazar hotel (also Flagler money). It has been a hotel, city hall and now the LitchnerMuseum. I must say that it is the craziest mix of collections we have seen. Winston Churchill’s Lion, a mummy, hair combs and toasters. The indoor pool was the coolest part of this hotel. No longer a pool the area is now space for shops, a café.

Alcazar not El Cabong

Hotel (now museum) koi pond

Mummies and

Lions and

 toasters oh my

I thought this chair was an on display.  No they are for the patrons relaxation - I still love it

This was the pool.  The water went up to the top of the stairs so swimers could walk into the pool.  They could dive down and swim out through the caves (doors on the bottom)

200 foot free standing stanless steal structure (second tallest in the states)  This is the sight of the first Catholic Mass

Just want to say the fountain of youth water tastes pretty yucky – but I have drank yuckier things.

Water from the fountain of youth - Mixed with scotch and ice it might be ok (a lot of scotch and a lot of ice)

salvage ancor

The old city gate

There is great food, shops, popsicles and tourist attractions all over the place. This is such an easy place to have fun. We wrapped up the trip with one of my favorite things. Les dropped me off at one of the many beaches in the area and I soaked up the joy of the ocean.

Blue skys

Les being handsome

Yep - they have a David too. 

What is not to love about this place

St Augustineis on the short list of places for the Alcooks to live.

7 May 2012

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John and Mable Ringling Museum - Sarasota FL

This trip is way back from Feb. While in Z-Hills we fell into a lazy vacation mood and just let the days happen. It was a great time and we met and made friends with so many fun folks. However, we had such an interesting time at the Ringling Museum I just had to tell you about it. My niece Laura gave us a tip to see the Ringling Museumin Sarasota. It sounded like a nice little afternoon visit. No not really – This is easily a two if not a three day visit. This stop was so much more then we thought it would be.  The museum is on John and Mable Ringlings estate (yep – the circus folks). Complete with Ponds, Bridges, sculptures, Banyan Trees (gifts from Edison), a rose garden, Secret gardens, and their crazy over the top Gothic, Medieval, Mediterranean, etc Bay side mansion. There are two Circus museums: The Tibbals, This building has odds and ends about circus history but the real reason to go here is the “miniature train”. The construction of this train started in 1956 by Howard Tibbals (I don’t know who he is but he loves the circus, trains and must have a bunch of money). This train exhibit is set up to show the circus coming to, setting up, performing in and leaving town. You can observe the display from two levels. Tibbals even paid to have the building built so he would have a place to display his train set. The next is the “Original. It is full of posters, circus art work and hands on fun stuff. You can tight rope walk, ride in a clown car and watch how a clown puts on his face. You can see the original Ringling train car, Human cannon ball cannon and several rolling animal cages and the calliope. There are many paths throughout the grounds. It is very easy to wander into places that seem to have been abandoned and are guarded only by an aged, camouflaged garden gnome. The house is huge and wonderfully gaudy. Now that we have been filled with circus fun and frivolities it is time to go to the art museum. Don’t start yawning, I felt the same way –but we are here right? We paid for it right? First you are met by several docents that are very willing to help you get started on your art tour. The gallery opens to a huge courtyard overlooking Sarasotabay. Everything is over seen by a statue of David. Inside and to the right are paintings by Ruben (also my favorite sandwich). The deal with these 15^th century paintings is that they measure 20 x 30 feet. Their age, size and existence is amazing to me. Seeing these two rooms of monster sized paintings hooked us for the rest of the self guided tour. We took two days for our visit. You can stop at the Sarasota visitors’ center and save $2.00 on admission for the entire grounds. Also every Monday the art museum is free. This is a very easy place to visit and go back to. What a fun view into the lifestyle, interests and mind of a Circus mogul.

Tibbles Miniature Cicus

Test driving a "smart car"

Air travel at its finest

Straight from the parade

This room was filled with side show art

John and Mabels House

Bay side

Walkway at the art museum

The Ruben room

 

An inspired vistor

Banyons

Feb 2012

Lost time in Florida!!!!

We are alive and well in RainbowVillage in Zephyrhills, FL. We plan to stay here until April and so far we have noticed a huge difference in vacation RV parks and an RV resort. At parks we planned our day around area events and sights. In our resort you barely have time to travel as there is always something going on here. Les found this winter resort on line. It looked nice and clean but its real draw was that it is central to Florida. This gives us the opportunity to spread out and see more of the state. So this was a good plan – but we had no idea how much there would be to do right in our own resort. Our days start with a crisp walk, followed by palates or yoga. On to the dog park so Brady can play with his friends, Water Aerobics in the indoor pool can be everyday. Then it is time to get dress to go out for lunch. There is a club or activity for everyone. It is very easy to loose your day, week or month in socialization and cocktails. Imagine living in a place where everyone is happy. Why not be?? Everyone is retired, having fun and are making the most of their time. This resort has 374 sites. It is a mix of mostly permanent winter trailers and some travelers. Our little neighborhood is complete with, South Dakota, Tennessee,Pennsylvania, Ontarioand Nova Scotia. The park majority is Michganders, Canadians and Maineiacs. 

 Home Sweet Home

Our new storage area

Brady and Rosie playing in the park

"Throw the ball please"

Baxter, Brady, Rosie, Bella and Annie (the Puppy Park crew)

Z-Hills is a pretty cheap city to stay. The restaurants, shops and resort rates are perfect for the retired persons budget. Keep in mind the only reason this town exists is because of the old folks. You do have to watch out for the occasional wayward cotton top scooter driver. We were talking with a waitress about the area. She did say that the population drops to almost nothing in the summer, but you can tell when the winter season starts as you hear more ambulances. So keep ageism in mind before you plan a stay here. Our resort population is a surprise of stars everyday. We have met many Vietnam Vets, school teachers, WWII POWS, a Sergeant who served with Patton, an air traffic controller from O’Hare, Retirees from all branches of the Military, a retired tennis pro, many musicians from Nashville, and quite a few folks that survived Woodstock. Everyone has a story and is very happy to tell it.

Les and I did not plan well and did not get back to Michigan or North Carolina for Christmas. It was terrific that Max was visiting his Grandma Carol and Grandpa Bill. We spent a day visiting with them at their condo on Pompano Beach. Both are well, happy and living large. Max played tour guide showing us the area and taking us to the beach and Pompano Pier. He had it well time so we could see several fish being caught to include a shark. I do believe that everyone on the beach was from central casting. Les and Max could have spent all afternoon there sight seeing (me too). We had a long lunch, talked much, strolled the area then kissed goodbye. The day was perfect.

Pampano Beach

Handsome guys

"I think I got somethin here"

Don't worry, Mr. Sharky lived to fight another day

Incommmming

We do have our season passes to Busch Gardens (25 minutes from home).  The county parks are great for dog walks and bike rides.  We like to go to Hillsborough Park to watch the Alligators.  There is no shortage of Flea markets or fruit and vegetable stands. If I had one complaint it would be that we are too far from the Gulf (1 hour to the nearest beach in Tarpon Springs). 

So I am back on track and will post more soon.  We have gone places and done things – I have just been too distracted by line dancing classes, horseshoe tournaments and listening to concerts in the park.  Who would have thought old people played so much!?

DEC -  JAN 2012 – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

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