Formerly known as Charles Town

We made the short move to Charleston, SC from Savannah, GA and have found a wonderful campground for our stay.  It is Oak Plantation Campground just outside of Charleston, formerly known as Charles Town, and has a wonderful atmosphere and is a relaxing place to stay.

Lady of the house, relaxing on the patio

The ride over to Charleston had a few exciting moments when a strong downpour turned some of the streets in one of the towns into a small river.  I did drive through it too.  But before I did, I watched several vehicles make it just fine so off we went and we made it just fine.

Driving to Charleston during a rainstorm

Our visit into Charleston was slightly different than the previous cities of Savannah and Saint Augustine.  Instead of motorized tours, we took one of the city’s famous horse drawn carriage rides.  Charleston is a functioning city that has maintained its narrow streets and to avoid congestion between horsepower and automobiles, the city has enacted a lottery system for its carriage operators.

When you board a carriage, it is just like Forrest Gump declared, ‘like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re gonna get.’  The carriage driver pulls up to the city run lottery center where the city assigns your area from the four available according to traffic and the current total of carriages in each area.  The next time you take a carriage ride, you have a one in four chance of getting the same area as opposed to one of the other three.

Interesting to see cars and horses using same streets.

Our ride through the city had some wonderful sights and old houses to view.  Of course Charleston is well known for being the site where the first shots of the War Between the States were fired.  We drove down the street next to the harbor that shows clearly Fort Sumter and offers the same view the town’s people had that morning the shelling of the fort began the war.  Interestingly, for a war that produced so many deaths and casualties, there were no casualties from this first action of the war.

View of park with trees adjacent to Charleston Harbor

Houses are large and grand

A lot are at 90 degrees to street but entrance still faces street

Just up the street is Rainbow Row.  It is so named for the pastel colors on the houses that have been repainted to closely resemble what they would have actually looked like during the period they were built.  There is a lot of French architecture in the city because there was a lot of French immigration into the city.  Unlike New Orleans, there is not a Mardi Gras celebration in Charleston.  The main reason is the French immigration was made up of a group of protestant French, known as Huguenots, instead of Catholic French.  They came to this part of the colonies to escape the religious persecution in Europe.

View of Rainbow Row from the carriage.

We had the opportunity to visit Magnolia Gardens and Plantation while in Charleston.  This plantation was a rice plantation and the main crop was Carolina Gold, the moniker given to rice grown in the Low Country of the Carolinas.  We are very thankful we chose this one to visit, as it is one of the oldest plantations in the country that is still owned by the original family group (14 generations) that settled in the colony.  A pretty amazing fact considering the history of the area where most plantation owners were financially bankrupt after the War Between the States and the property they owned destroyed.

The house we toured is actually the third one that was built on the property.  The first one was burned and replaced with the second that was burned during the War when Federal troops burnt all the plantations along the river outside of Charleston.  The owner was financially bankrupt after the War because he had invested heavily in the Confederate Bonds during the War which were worthless after the War.  It was at this time he seized upon an idea to save the property from foreclosure.  Over the years he had planted and maintained a sizable ‘romantic garden’ filled with all kinds of plants and flowers.  He thought he should charge a small fee to come visit the garden and allow people a chance to ‘escape’ the devastation and destruction that surrounded folks in the South immediately after the War.

Magnolia Plantation House

View of back yard from house towards river landing

One of the local residents checking out our photographer

Bridge to the Garden area

Adjacent area to house

Close to river landing for plantation

He offered his freed slaves the opportunity to stay on the property with the understanding that he could not pay them but he could and would allow them free room and board in exchange for helping maintain the garden.  Since their options were also limited; most agreed to that arrangement for a time until later when he could afford to pay, he began hiring and paying those who wished to be employed.  Later he was able to sell some of the land formerly cultivated for crop production to keep the main campus of the plantation intact where the gardens and house are located.

To me the most interesting and educational part of our visit was the portion dedicated to telling the story of the enslaved people.  The property has preserved four slave dwellings showing the progression through time of the type of conditions and discussion of how the people lived and worked.  It is called the Slave Tour and I highly recommend it because it is eye opening and tastefully presented.

Tree adjacent to former slave quarters

Preserved slave quarters from four different periods of time

Our time in Charleston was dampened by the rain that set in while there and limited our outdoor activities.  We spent a lot of time just relaxing and planning for the next moves.  From here we headed slightly north to Myrtle Beach.  It is quite expensive to stay in Myrtle Beach due to the tourist industry associated with this area so we opted for a three night stay to take in the highlights and spend a couple of days at the beach.  Rain again hampered our ability to enjoy the outdoors so the beach visit was limited to a stroll up and down the beach during a lull in rain showers.

We did visit a dinner show entitled Pirates Voyage.  It is similar to the Dixie Stampede we described in last fall’s post from Branson, MO.  This show is performed over water and has a lot of acrobatic type action.  Like the show in Branson, it is part of Dolly Parton’s enterprises and is family oriented fun.  Not only that, the meal is quite tasty as well.

Another grand adventure awaits inside

These birds would fly all around us and land in front of us

That's quite a bit of loot there matey!

...and a splashing good time was had by all.

After a few days of never ending rain, Bibi did get a short walk on the beach.  The last one for awhile because tomorrow we move inland.  See you down the road.

UPDATE:  
Since the draft of the above was done before Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, I thought I would add this quick update.  The entire Eastern Coast of Georgia and South Carolina is called the Low Country for a reason.  It is sea level and barely higher quite a ways inland.  We experienced flooding of streets (see the picture above) on our way from Savannah to Charleston from a quick thunderstorm that dumped a lot of rain in a short period of time.  I can only imagine the devastation caused by torrential rain for extended periods of time from a hurricane.  In fact, the area of Savannah where we loaded onto the boat was completely under water after Irma.

My brother-in-law and sister along with two of their children's families experienced severe flooding in the Houston and Beaumont areas with Hurricane Harvey.  This hurricane did rain extensively, 50 inches in a few days for the area, and caused widespread flooding misery for the lower Texas coastline.  Many people that were told to not buy flood insurance because their property was not in the flood plain have experienced complete and total losses without any insurance coverage.  

The only good that has occurred from such horrible events has been the quieting of the terrible rhetoric from the news media about political divisions in this country.  They finally have something more newsworthy to focus on and I do hope they keep focusing on the aftermath because it will take a very, very long time for these people to find their footing and return to some semblance of normal.  

Savannah, next stop on East Coast Tour

Savannah Georgia is a great place to visit.  We actually have been here before during work lives but did not have enough time to explore in-depth.  We are back now and have chosen to spend a week in the area to get a better sense of the history and see more of the sights.

Now here is something you don't see everyday.  A three-legged person's tracks in the sand.  Obviously, someone(s) went to a lot of trouble to do this and probably got a 'kick' (get it?) out of it when we stopped to memorialize the sighting in a photo.

Hmmmm?

We actually are staying at Camp Jasper Lake RV Park in Hardeeville, SC.  It is close to Hilton Head and Savannah.  As it turns out this is a great choice for the quiet atmosphere and large RV sites.  It is also where we met a very nice couple (John and Sandi) who are starting their RV Full-time adventures.

They are selling their retirement house nearby and have already moved into the RV to keep from having to clean the house while it is being shown by realtors.  If you are interested in a large, nice retirement home in this area that has access to all the Del Webb Sun City amenities; let me know and I will put you in touch with them.

We always update our location on RVillage so we can see and others can see where we are located.  It was this update that led to the introductions.  As I was setting up the satellite dish, they came around to introduce themselves.  It is so nice to find folks along the way, especially those that share the love of the lifestyle.  They gave us great information about the area and took us to a famous local place, Cahills, that is a restaurant serving home cooking that is grown on-site at the Cahill farm.  We even went back later to purchase some fresh veggies that were equally delicious.

We had lots of ‘gab’ sessions where we learned about each other’s plans, aspirations, history and families.  It was a great time and fun to socialize with folks that share so many interests.

When we visited Savannah again, we did the Old Town Trolley thing again like we did in Saint Augustine.  These drivers know their cities and can tell some great stories.  Again, the architecture of the city is front and center.  Whereas Saint Augustine had a decidedly Spanish influence, Savannah is definitely English.  When we visited during our work lives, we did a Segway tour.  This is also an excellent way to experience the historical area of Savannah.

There are many sights to see including the area where Tom Hanks sat on the bench in the movie ‘Forrest Gump.’  The bench is not there as he has it but there is a replica in a museum close by.  It is kept there so it doesn’t sprout legs and walk off.  Another sight to see is the house used in the filming of ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.’  The movie is based on a nonfiction book about a murder that took place and the subsequent trial.  You can also see the statue of The Bird Girl featured on the cover of the book.

Statue of Oglethorpe in one of the Squares

Savannah has been used many times for filming of movies.  In fact, so many that it would be way too lengthy and difficult to try to remember and describe all of them.  Suffice it to say, the ambience and scenery lends itself to movie sets.

Street scene leading away from a Square

Fountain in a Square

Closer view of the fountain

We took a short river cruise to get a view of the city from the waterway.  It is easy to see why Oglethorpe chose this site to establish the Georgia colony.  The water is protected as a port as well as deep and wide enough to allow ships of huge size to navigate the passage easily.  There were plenty of stories (including the firing of a cannon at us from a fort and the story of the statue of the waving girl) told along the way to make the short one hour excursion very interesting.

View of waterfront from the boat.

Waving girl statue, interesting story behind this memorial.

While visiting this city, we were able to agree to a contract to sell our second house back in Texas and close the deal via long distance.  We located a UPS store right off the city market that we spent about an hour in printing, signing and transmitting the signed documents back to the title company to finalize the sale the following day.  Today’s modern technology is such that you can actually transact business legally such as sell real estate in real time even when a thousand miles separate you and the other party.  Amazing technological times indeed.

Speaking of the city market, there is a museum dedicated to the preservation of history surrounding the Prohibition Era in this country.  Yes that is correct, remembering the time and crime during a period in this country when it was illegal to drink booze.  It was obviously a failed experiment and the lesson we should have learned is you cannot legislate morality, even though we still try to do so, even to this day.  Each individual’s moral compass has to guide them in making decisions and not some lawmaker’s pen.  (Just my opinion, which is free today.)

The museum is a fun place to stop and visit plus it had some pretty unique characters in it.  There were figures, recordings, still photos and live docents, dressed in period clothing, to guide you through the times and events surrounding this unique experience.  It was fun, entertaining and a lively stop.

Hey!  Whose that woman in the strange garb picketing?

Oh come on pal; share a little!

Whoah!  Them there is fighting words!

The museum, along with the sale of the last remaining real estate, put us in the mood to celebrate.  So we made our way to one of the oldest restaurants in town.  We chose the Pirates’ Restaurant.  It is located up the hill from the water and is on the site of a frequented watering hole of yesteryear frequented by pirates from days of yore.  It is said there were tunnels beneath the restaurant that led directly to the docks.  Many a poor sailor that tied one on would wake up the next day and find themselves on a ship out in the ocean, pressed into service for the balance of the voyage.  That sounds like a pretty steep price to pay for a night of drinking.

Pirates' House - you can see it has seen many add-ons over the years

All good things eventually do come to an end and so does our time in Savannah.  We are now headed up the coast to Charleston and then on to Myrtle Beach.  Check back in soon for the latest.

Sutures and St. Augustine

We have moved from the Orlando area to Ormond Beach, FL.  This is an area in between Saint Augustine and New Smyrna.  We want to explore around Saint Augustine and we have to visit the dermatologist for scheduled day procedure in New Smyrna so it seemed a good fit for us.

The procedure is to remove a couple of cysts on Bibi’s face that are bothering her.  Interestingly, Florida has an abundance of qualified and highly regarded dermatologists.  She found the group she visited via research on the web and reviews from patients.  Her first visit was to the clinic in New Smyrna a couple of weeks ago where they advised her minor surgery would be required to remove the cysts and scheduled her for the Saturday following the ladies (see last post) departure.

The only part of the whole ordeal that made her feel funny was the name of the dermatologist that would do the actual surgery.  His name is Dr. Savage.  Yes, that is his name.  Now this is pretty funny if you stop and think about this doctor is going to be cutting on your face and his name is Savage.

All turned out well and she liked him a lot.  She was assured by the nurses that he is really good and will make sure any scar left from the procedure will blend into the natural contours of the face.  She was very relieved to hear this and found his manner soothing and comforting.  All is well - for now.

The procedure was done on Saturday and she came out sporting two nicely wrapped spots in the whitest white gauze which had to remain in place for 48 hours.  Underneath is flesh colored tape covering the wounds and stitches.  I tried to get her to let me take her to church on Sunday so we could show off the bandages but she politely refused.

We knew we would need follow-up afterwards to have the stitches removed and look her over to make sure healing was progressing.  Therefore, we made plans to stay in the area for at least a week and as it turns out almost two weeks due to weekends.

During this recuperation time we visited Saint Augustine, the oldest settlement in the U.S.  Prior to Florida’s admittance into the union (right before Texas) as the 27th state in 1845, the Pilgrim’s Plymouth Bay was recognized as the oldest in the U.S.  Now Florida wishes to lay claim to the oldest settlement.  Some of their tourist brochures use the statement, ‘Rediscover the Nation’s Oldest City’ as a means to garner your attention.

Gate to the original city of St. Augustine

We have found using a guide service is the quickest way to gather a lot of information and an overview about a location enabling us to make smarter decisions about further investigations.  In Saint Augustine we chose to ride the Old Town Trolley Tours guide service.  This is a service that follows a route with numerous stops and you are allowed to hop off and hop on throughout the day.  The drivers constantly tell stories, give explanations about things you see when traveling between stops and provide very interesting commentary.

A view down a street in old St. Augustine

There are two stops on the Saint Augustine city tour that one of our drivers was sincerely bemused about when we stopped.  One was a winery with free tasting room and the other was a distillery with free sampling.  It seemed no one on the tram that trip was interested in either and he was unable to comprehend how anyone could pass up free booze.  I suspect it was because the next stop was a chocolate factory tour and looking at the folks on board, I surmised we all might be more enticed to sample its wares.  Jus’ sayin’.

There are many interesting sights to see in Saint Augustine.  Things such as the zero mile marker for the eastern end of the Old Spanish Trail, the first transcontinental road from St. Augustine to San Diego, CA.  The influence of Henry Flagler, the partner of John D. Rockefeller in starting Standard Oil Company, is seen all over Saint Augustine.  His legacy is seen in the area as he brought railroads to Florida (eventually extending all the way down Florida into the Keys) and he initiated the winter escapes of the very wealthy to the Florida coastline by building hotels, plus his philanthropy of contributing to churches and hospitals for the area.

Church built by Flagler and where he is buried

Intricate carvings on one of the 8 front doors

Interior shot of a ceiling detail

Organ pipes and more architectural details.

He built the Hotel Ponce De Leon as one of the retreats.  It had running water and electricity (installed by Thomas Edison) both of which were unheard of at the time.  Only the extremely wealthy could afford to stay and were expected to stay for the entire winter season.  It closed in 1967 and was re-opened the following year as Flagler College which has an enrollment of approximately 2,500 students now.

Typical architecture around the city.

Henry Flagler contracted with Louis Comfort Tiffany to install windows in the hotel dining hall.  This installation helped launch Tiffany's brand and his name became synonymous with excellence in glass.  Those 87 original windows are still in place and are now valued at more than $100 million.  Of course, there are bulletproof exteriors and interiors to protect them from accidents and/or vandalism.  Wow, just wow!

$100 Million windows, not very impressive in this shot
but regardless, there they are behind the bulletproof glass.

Saint Augustine was established by the Spanish and the architecture reflects the influence.  The original city was a Presidio or what we would call a walled city.  The city had a wall with redoubts where soldiers could stand lookout and cannons would have been placed for defense against invaders.  At night the city gates were closed at a certain time and you had to be inside the city or you got to sleep outside in the swamp with the gators, other critters and hostile environs.

There was also a fort that guarded the harbor from hostile forces from the Atlantic Ocean.  Saint Augustine was important to the Spanish to protect its ships ferrying goods and gold from the New World to Spain.  At the time, it was used as a place to re-supply ships and provide protection from pirates trying to steal the wealth being transported to Spain.

View from the fort overlooking harbor and entrance
from the Atlantic Ocean.

The streets of Saint Augustine are very narrow and not laid out in a straight line, unlike other cities laid out in a square grid pattern.  This layout helped the breezes from the ocean accelerate and cool using the Bernoulli Principle.  It also aided in the defense of the city by not allowing a cannon ball a straight shot down any of the streets.  Pretty ingenious, huh?

Of course you cannot mention this city without thinking about the Fountain of Youth which is one of the stops on the trolley tour.  It is adjacent to the spot where Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed on September 8, 1565 to secure the area for the Spanish crown against incursion by the French Protestants (called Huguenots) that were encroaching into the area by establishing a fort nearby which infuriated the Spanish King.  That landing spot is marked today by a huge cross placed and dedicated to mark the 400th anniversary of the occasion.

Marks site for original landing at St. Augustine

Also close by is the beautiful street, Magnolia Avenue.  It is lined with Florida live oak trees.  It has a beautiful canopy of branches and they are enhanced by the Spanish Moss that hangs from the branches.  Of course the name moss is a misnomer.  It is actually a plant that is related to the pineapple but do not try to eat the stuff.  It is a plant that gets its water and nutrients directly from the air and is not parasitic in nature.  It is home, as it is known in the South, to a critter called a ‘chigger’.  Others know this horrid little animal as a ‘redbug’.  These very small things bite and burrow into the skin and cause untold misery.

Magnolia Avenue with Live Oaks
draped with Spanish Moss

Henry Ford was unaware of this peculiar relationship between chiggers and the moss when he came up with the idea to use the Spanish Moss as stuffing or padding in his car seats.  Of course this idea, which seemed very good at the time economically, led to the very first automobile recall in history.  He had to replace all the seats stuffed with Spanish Moss with a more human friendly material.

While on the tour, we were introduced to the city’s oldest living resident.  He was here before Ponce, Pedro and Henry.  He is well over 600 years old and 13 feet around.  His name is the Old Senator.  He is actually a Florida Live Oak tree and his name comes from being so crooked and shady.  Very appropriate, again just my opinion.

The 'Old Senator'

Also found in the city is the very first ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum.’  Robert Ripley traveled the world and collected many different weird and bizarre objects and decided to display them here when he purchased the old Warden Castle that had been transformed from a private residence to a hotel.  He opened this museum in 1950 as the first of its type.

During our recuperation from the surgery, we found time to attend another Tortugas baseball game.  Again the hapless Tortugas lost but we did procure a Tortugas baseball hat for our son-in-law.  We also found time to visit a Saltwater Taffy factory and a Chocolate Factory while visiting Daytona.  All three of these items are part of our bucket list items we regularly dip into from time to time.

Bibi caught the free Wawa T-shirt and was
congratulated by Sheldon, the Tortuga mascot!

We decided to visit the Tampa Bay area for a major league ballgame between the Tampa Rays and the Texas Rangers.  Visiting the major league ballparks (primarily American League) is also on the bucket list.  We had tried to find a game when the grands were around but it was All-Star break so we settled for next available.  This meant driving across the state from East Coast to Gulf Coast, for a 3 hour drive.  There is quite the difference from driving across Texas, east to west which takes a good 3 days.

Checking out the interview of Elvis Andrus prior
to the game.  All in Spanish, did not understand
a single question or answer!

Hey!  How did he get here?

Texas won and so did Bibi.  While sitting in the game, she was checking her Facebook feed and saw where a good friend of hers was at the game too.  She was able to track them down and catch up with them during the game.  They were on vacation and decided to take in the game because it was raining outside and the stadium is domed so the game would be played regardless of weather conditions.  Ain’t it a small world?

After the follow up visit to dermatology and removal of sutures, we headed towards Savannah Georgia.  There will be more about that in the next post.  Until then be safe.

Georgia, here we come!

It Must Be a 'Girlie' thing...

We headed back to the airport later in the evening (see prior post) to pick up our one and only granddaughter and her mama for a visit.  It is amazing that just a couple of hours earlier, they were in Texas after picking up the grandsons from the airport after their visit to Florida.

This is the first time in our grands’ visit that we will be doing some ‘girlie’ stuff.  Now before you get all huffy and mad about that remark, let me remind you that the ‘princess’ (as she is affectionately known) has a reputation.  This is the same girl, when she was just about a year old that wandered into the boys’ room, where they were playing, and disrupted the activities.  The oldest called to mom to come get whatever she had taken back from her and put her out of their room, to which mom responded, “I’m busy, just take it from her and get her out of your room then shut the door.”  His quick reply (full of emotion and desperation) was, “No!  I’m scared of her!”  He is six years older than his sister who was a toddler at the time, you should know she still has her bluff in on everyone!

You might wonder also how she got the moniker ‘princess’ if she is willing to take on two older brothers and any others that might wander through her universe.  Part comes from dad calling her ‘princess’ but the other part comes from an episode in her young life.  The older brothers were taunting her and calling her names one day.  The specific name was ‘weenie’.  This apparently she took great exception to because one day she announced, “I’m not a weenie.  I’m a princess.”  Enough said, right?  From then on she definitely was the ‘princess’.

Her ‘girlie’ stuff is not 100% pink and soft.  In fact, she wanted an airboat ride and a day-long excursion to a wild roller coaster filled theme park.  Neither of which is typical ‘girlie’ stuff in my book.  Now don’t get me wrong, she can shop with the best of them.  Endurance is no problem either.  I am usually wilting before she gets her second wind.  Luckily, Bibi handles the shopping excursions and I am relieved of participation duties.

I enjoyed the airboat tour with the boys and I easily entertained another ride through the swamp.  So off we went just south of Kissimmee to Wild Willy’s.  The name did not deter our enthusiasm in the least.  We managed to see a couple of gators but not as many as on the other tour.  This time we saw more winged nature than before.  After the tour we found ourselves in their shop where we were encouraged to hold small alligators.  Here are all three ‘girls’ holding the amphibian, notice there are no males holding the creature, must be a ‘girlie’ thing.

Mr. Gator lolling along.

Definitely a 'girlie' thing - right???

The next day found us at SeaWorld.  A theme park that is full of roller coasters with names like Manta, Mako, Kraken, etc.  You get the drift; a bone jarring, teeth rattling bunch of rides that try to make your heart race, stop or skip several beats.  I would love to partake, but have found out in my ‘older’ years that riding such contraptions do make me so sore, I can barely move the next day.

Manta - upside down and backwards, no thank you!

Kraken, whipping and diving plus Virtual Reality headsets, no thank you!

Not everything in SeaWorld is thrill-ride attractions.  There are many live animal shows and displays for those that do not participate in roller coaster actions.  We found several to our liking, the Sea Lions, the Dolphins and yes even Killer Whales.  However, there is a bit of warning attached to these shows (especially the Killer Whales) as well.  There is a section, which the princess took us to upon arriving, at the whale show that is clearly marked, ‘Soak Zone’, and followed by several audio warnings stating, ‘you will get wet, really, really wet’.  Now I’m not always the sharpest tool in the box but I get it when presented clear and convincing evidence.  However, I’m easily persuaded by a princess to do things I do not ordinarily do, warnings notwithstanding.  Besides, I had already wimped out of the amphibian handling thing, I could not wimp out on a seemingly harmless wet adventure with my favorite granddaughter, now could I?

Mr. Sea Lion

Whoa baby!  Soak does not describe what happened during the Killer Whale show.  More like being baptized multiple times.  The first pass was with a whale on its side with its tail partially out of the water supposedly waving to the crowd but in reality splashing hundreds of gallons of saltwater out of the tank onto the audience in the ‘Soak Zone’.  Yes, the majority of the water hit Bibi and me to the great delight of the princess.  Again, it must be a ‘girlie’ thing.  Lucky me, I had decided to wear quick drying garments that day but I was afraid my hearing aids would never be the same afterwards.  Good news though, I can still hear.  When I heard towards the end of the show the whales would be waving goodbye, I headed for higher ground.  …And I’m not a wimp jus’ sayin'.

Petting? the stingrays

Night time sights after the fireworks show.

Easily persuaded by a princess, you say?  Yes there is another incident in our history that reflects the wily and almost deceptive nature of the female gender in our species that seems to be innate.  When the princess was about five years old, we were hungry and decided to leave older brother’s baseball tournament to grab a bite to eat.  Just the three of us (Bibi, me and the princess) stopped in at a popular fast food chicken place.  After much discussion and contemplation, the order was placed.  Princess insisted on French fries with her meal; however, after surveying the scrumptious looking mashed potatoes I had chosen, she suddenly changed her mind.  Now I am not one that gives up my food selection easily because after all it is what I ordered and wanted.

After a period of asking, begging and pleading for my mashed potatoes, I thought she had given up since I had been resolute in my stance and consistent in my response of ‘No, you ordered fries so enjoy them.’  Not to be deterred, she found a way to ‘persuade’ me to part with my bowl of mashed potatoes.  How you say?  Well who can turn down this offer?  She confidently told me she would give me a hug if I gave her the mashed potatoes.  Well the fries were pretty good; jus’ sayin’ again!

We also enjoyed swimming in the pool and a day at the beach.  We went to Cocoa Beach for this excursion.  Remember the famous and fabulous body surfing boards?  Yes, they were used again today and for an even longer period of time.  We managed to shut down the beach.  We stayed until it was almost completely dark.  The tide started coming in and eventually forced us to move our resting area further away from the encroaching water.

Cool cats!

Cooler cat - in the shade that is.

We played many board games too.  The princess is the queen of board games.  She loves to play games and is very competitive.  I think her passion is to see how many times she can beat her Gran.  Of course, I am not a pushover when it comes to Crazy Eights.  I understand the strategy and logically see the way cards should be played, what I do not see is the out of left field draw of the cards that she usually gets to beat the whampums out of me!  We had fun laughing and sharing around the table as we played many a game.

Bibi and princess took a shopping trip on their final full day with us and allowed me to stay home to hold down the fort and protect mama while she worked (she has a computer based job that allows her to be mobile) that day.  Of course, I spent the day making sure a couple of chairs did not move and stayed exactly where they were supposed to be.  Quite successfully I might add.  Only when it began to rain later that afternoon did we see the shopping duo.  According to Bibi, princess knew what she was looking for and avoided stores that did not have promise and only frequented areas of a store that would contain the items she was interested in researching and viewing.  Even resorting to bypassing an item in case she saw something she wanted more only to return if she did not find something ‘better’.  Now that is definitely a girl thing.

We all went out for a dinner on their last night out followed by a shopping trip at Disney Springs.  Luckily for me, two of them had been out shopping most of the day and we were still experiencing rain showers and drizzle so the excursion was short and sweet.  After a purchase or two at the Disney store, we managed to find some dessert choices at Disney Springs.  For me, one last Mickey Ears ice cream bar.

One of my 'ears' is gone!

The next morning found us making our way to the airport to say Bon Voyage to the ladies.  We could not believe how fast the time has gone by during the grands’ visits.  We had loads of fun and will always cherish the memories.  Now we go back to the rig and head down the road a bit.  We will check back in soon for our next adventure posting, until then be safe and enjoy life.

Love these girls - AND that's not a 'girlie' thing!