2023 Feb 22-24, Amelia Island, Kingsley Plantation, Fernandian Beach, St Augustine, FL. and Fountain of Youth (Diamond Travel Huey Town, AL) 5 Days

Day 3: Wednesday, February 22

Breakfast in the hotel was a cinnamon roll, sausage, milk, and cranberry juice.

Meet our guide loaded onto the bus for an hour ride to Kingsley Plantation, which is located on Fort George Island along the St John's River. Two roads lead to the site, Palmetto Avenue, which is a dirt road that is often in rough condition. Fort George Road is paved but subject to flooding during weather events and extreme tides.

 Kingsley Plantation  and our guide

The birds we heard were House Finch,  Yellow-rump Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throat Warble, Carolina Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Boat-tailed Grackle, and a couple of Peacocks.

We had about 45 minutes to tour the house, barn, gift shop, and gardens, there, we saw a gopher tortoise.

Loaded back onto the bus and headed to Amelia Island, where we walked along the sandy beach.

Amelia Island Beach and sand

Loaded back onto the bus and headed to Fernandina Beach, where we walked through the town and stopped to eat lunch at "The Happy Tomato," where hubby and I split a club sandwich, potato chips, and a couple bottles of water.

Club Sandwich with Lay's Chips

We walked along the pier, where we saw a great-gray heron and heard several grackles.

We saw several House sparrows and a yellow-tailed warbler.

Wall of Gray Butterflies 

Town of Fernandina Beach 

Loaded back onto the bus and headed back to the hotel to freshen up.

Our last stop of the day was Apple Bees for dinner, where I ordered grilled Chicken, a Caesar salad, and a brownie.

FIESTA LIME CHICKEN

Grilled chicken glazed with zesty lime sauce and drizzled with tangy Mexi-ranch is smothered with a rich blend of Cheddar cheeses on a bed of crispy tortilla strips. Served with Spanish rice and house-made pico de gallo.

Day 4: Thursday, February 23, 

Breakfast at the hotel of a cinnamon roll, biscuit, and gravy with juice.

Loaded onto the bus and headed to St Augustine.

We stopped at the Visitor Center to pick up our guide. We also shopped and toured the museum inside the visitor center.

Our tour Guide

We loaded back onto the bus, and our guide told us about the many historic sites in St. Augustine.

We stopped at Flager College (the former Ponce de Leon Hotel) and several churches.

Flager College

Rode back to the Visitor Center and were on our own for a couple of hours. 

We walked to St George Street, which is a pedestrian-only filled with unique shops and restaurants.

We ate lunch at  St. Augustine Seafood Company. We ordered a shrimp plate with fries, cole slaw, and water. I also bought 2 bottles of their hot sauce to take home to my son. 

Shrimp, Fries, and Cole Slaw at St Augustine Seafood Company

We walked several blocks on St George Street, stopping to take pictures of historic markers and sites.

We walked through the Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine and Saint Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine.

Saint Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine

Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine

We walked inside a mall area where we saw several people dressed up like pirates.

Got my picture made with them a few minutes later.

Me with the pirates

We walked back to the visitor center and did a little shopping. Hubby bought a hat, and I bought a kitchen towel. 

We loaded back onto the bus and headed to the Fountain of Youth.

At the Fountain of Youth, we walked around and stopped to taste the spring, suffer water, watch a show, watch a blacksmith at work, and the firing of a cannon.

Couple taking a sip from the Fountain of Youth 

Loaded back onto the bus and rode to Cucina Giovanni for dinner.

It took forever for them to take our orders, and the food was overcooked.

Salad 

Chicken Parmigiana topped with marinara sauce& mozzarella served with Spaghetti. 

Pasta Alfredo with creamy Alfredo sauce 

Cannoli

The salad and dessert were good. We were there too long to enjoy our meal.

Day 5: Friday, February 24, Travel Home 

Packed our bags and took them downstairs to be loaded onto the bus.

Ate breakfast and watched a couple of Scottish men play Amazing Grace on bagpipes.

Loaded onto the bus and headed for Hueytown, Al.

We stopped in Perry, Ga ate lunch at Fire House Sub.

Club sub 

Small Philly Sub 

Stopped at the Rest Area at Lake Park Suwanee River Valley, Ga 

Rest Area at Lake Park Suwanee River Valley, Ga 

Arrived in Birmingham around 4:49PM.

Loaded our luggage into the car and headed home, a 2 1/2 hour drive.

Stopped at KFC in Athens at 7:01 PM and home around 8 PM.

Had a great trip but woke up Monday morning with COVID.

 

2023 Feb 20-21, Bus Trip to Jacksonville, and touring Jacksonville, Fl (Diamond Travel Hueytown, AL) (5day trip)

Day 1: Monday, February 20

Hubby and I traveled 2 1/2 hours to Hueytown, Al stopped at Jack's in Hueytown for gravy and biscuits.

Everyone was checked in and given a name tag that was our ticket for our meals, events, and lodging.

Around 7:30, the bus arrived, loaded our luggage along with 40 other people's luggage onto the bus, and 

By 8 AM, we were on our way.

Our first restroom stop was I-20 at the Georgia Welcome Center in Waco, Georgia.

Georgia Welcome Center Waco, Georgia.

Our next stop was for lunch at the Arbor Mall in Douglasville, Georgia, where there were several different places to eat. We picked Chick-fil-A I ordered a kid's chicken nugget meal, and hubby ordered a chicken sandwich with waffle fries.

Arbor Mall in Douglasville, Georgia 

Our third stop was at I-75 Rest Area Southbound Forsyth, Georgia.

 I-75 Rest Area Southbound Forsyth, Georgia.

Our fourth stop was the Florida Welcome Center I-75 in Jennings, Florida. (They always have fresh orange juice here, but they closed at 5PM, and it was just a few minutes after 5).

Florida Welcome Center I-75 in Jennings, Florida

We stopped for dinner at Ole Times CountyBuffet in Lake City. Here, I ate collard greens, green lima beans, carrots, a piece of fish, cornbread, and a slice of chess pie.

Ole Times CountyBuffet in Lake City

We finally arrived at the hotel, were given our room keys, and took our luggage to our room.

Everyone was exhausted from the long ride, so they took a shower and went to bed. 

Holiday Inn Express room 310.

Day 2: Tuesday, February 21,

Breakfast at the hotel: omelet, sausage, biscuit with grape jelly, and milk.

At 8:00, we were on the bus headed to St John's Town Center to pick up our guide.

Our first stop was Memorial Park along the St John's River. 

St John's Memorial Park along the St John's River

Our next stop was Sweet Pete's Candies, where they have 100s of candies & chocolates.

Sweet Pete's Candies 

We walked to the nearby Weldon Johnson Park, which was located in the center of town near the Art Museum and City Hall.

James Weldon Johnson Park

Our next stop was Jessie Ball Dupont Park to see Jacksonville's Favorite 70-foot tall, 25-foot trunk Oak Tree.

The so-called Treaty Oak is at least two centuries old.

Treat Oak 70 Feet 25-foot trunk. 

We loaded back onto the bus and headed back to St John's Town Center to drop off our guide and get lunch.

We chose the M-Shack's gourmet burger that is made with all-natural, hormone-free ground beef. 

Hubby and I split the M-Shack's hamburger. 

Our next stop was the Miss Headley River Boat Cruise along St John's River.

Miss Headley River Boat Cruise 

We loaded back onto the bus and headed to the hotel to freshen up, for we were going to the Double Tree by Hilton for a buffet dinner and show.

By the time we filled our plates, there was no place to sit with our group. We ended up setting up front near the band with a fun group from Louisiana.

One of the women was a librarian. The one sitting next to me had red hair, and she said her husband didn't care for traveling. She said when I was growing up, my dad would take me to the pub with him. He would give her money to play Pack Man games, and he would go and drink. Her dad was much older than her mom. Her dad had passed several years back, and her mom remarried, and she didn't care much for her new husband.

She said if anything happened to her husband, she would never remarry. Their group had already visited the Fountain of Youth, and she said the water tasted like sulfur. This group was a lot of fun, and we all danced around the room waving our napkins to the Saints Go Marching In. 

2019 Jan 16-18, 🚙Trip to Gulf Shores , Fairhope, Orange Beach & Foley, Alabama ( 3days)

Jan 16, 2019, Wednesday,

Hubby and I traveled to Gulf Shores, stopping at Jack’s Restaurant(1360 Hwy 43 West bypass Russellville) for breakfast. 

We both ordered a sausage and biscuits with strawberry jelly at 8:56AM and spent $7.06.

We ate lunch at KFC Thomasville at @1:17 p.m.

Hubby ordered a fillip box meal, and I ordered a three-piece wings meal with biscuits (that I saved for the birds), we spent $13.46.

We stopped for gas at Marathon at Rams Food Mart 19039 43 hwy  Northport and spent $22.08

Arrived Gulf Shores just before sunset  4:45-5:14PM

We rode to the beach before checking in at the hotel to see the sunset. 

The moon came up before the sun went down and looked like a ball in the red sky.

Gulf Shores Sunset 

After the sun went down, we rode to Staybridge Suites 3947 Gulf Shores, Pky Gulf Shores, and Al 36542. 

We booked for two nights, which cost $170,84 for room 114. 

Their computers were down, and the night manager said we could join everyone in the dining room for grill night.

In the food bar were grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, Cole slaw, baked beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. 

I fixed a plate with hamburger potato salad, chips, and a glass of wine.

Dinner: hamburger potato salad, chips, and a glass of wine.

There were fountain drinks, tea, and a variety of wines and beers.

We checked into room 114, ground level, and hubby took a long tub bath.

I stretched out on the bed and turned on the Television. My eyes were giving me a fit, so I put eye drops in them. My eyes felt like something was in them, they hurt all night.

I must have gotten sand in them it was very windy when we went to the beach the night before.

Jan 17, Thursday, 

Hubby and I dressed and went to breakfast. I ate oatmeal with nuts, & cranberries and drank orange juice.

After breakfast, hubby and I rode along hwy 98 scenic highway to Fairhope.

We stopped at Valence & Fairhope Municipal Parks, located along the Coastal Highway.

We saw a statue of Maria Johnson, ducks & geese swimming, boats along the pier, blooming flowers, and lots of old trees.

Fairhope’s Municipal Pier, Fairhope’s Pepper Nelson Volunteer Fireman’s Hall, flower gardens, and yellow and white buttercups blooming.

Fairhope’s Pepper Nelson Volunteer Firetruck at Fairhope Museum 

We toured Fairhope’s History Museum outside, we saw the People’s Railroad train car, roses in bloom, and a statue of Craig Turner Shelton, the first public state artist in Alabama’s history. 

Fairhope’s Museum of History is located at 24 N. Section St, Fairhope, Alabama 36532

Inside, we saw permanent exhibits such as Fairhope’s founders, the single tax theory, the town jail built in 1868, the old fire department, a fire truck, a fire hydrant, fire hats, & coats.

Fairhope's historic jail inside the museum 

We saw a miniature replica of Middle Bay Lighthouse, John Bowen, Maria Howard, Della Nichols, Shuah S. Mann, Clarence Mershon, and James Bellanger, the people of Fairhope.

We saw old push-mowers hanging from the ceiling.

We picked up some pamphlets from the Welcome Center next door.

We ate lunch at Greers in Fairhope.

We ordered three chicken fingers, corn fritters, green beans, and cornbread.

Our next stop was Daphne at the Little Bethel Baptist Church, built in 1867. We took a few pictures of the church and a Historic marker nearby.

Our next stop was at the US Sports Academy Walk of Fame Daphne, where we sat in the metal of runners, baseball players, football players, basketball players, Swimmers, Weight lifters, Gymnasts, bikers, and golfers.

 US Sports Academy Walk of Fame Daphne  Baseball Player Statue 

We stopped at Daphne’s Gator Walk, where we saw a nice wooden boardwalk lined with a marker that said: 

Where are you in the Watershed?

Exploration of Ecosystem

Slowing the flow of Storm Water

The Big Picture of the Ecosystem

It is all about the Alligator 

What is this building for?

Along the Eastern Shore Trail

We did not see any gators along the trail, but we did see a few shorebirds.

After that long, hot walk, we needed something to cool us down, so we stopped at Jubilee Square at Krazy Frozen Treats for a waffle bowl of creamy-flavored yogurt around noon.

We chose cheesecake, cookies, and cream.

Krazy Frozen Treats  scoop of Cookies & Cream and Cheesecake

We stopped at the Foley Train Depot to watch men run the miniature trains. (They only run at certain times during the week)

Included in the collection were a Ringling Bros & Barnum Big Top Circus, a mini train carrying circus items, a ferries wheel (that worked), cloys with balloons, a lion cage, Roadside USA, a man shot out of a canon, a tattooed lady Lulu the farebeater cost fifty cents and elephants.

Ringling Bros & Barnum Big Top Circus

The miniature town consisted of Aqua Blue Drive-in diner that served fries and hamburgers, shakes, and soft drinks.

Advertisement on the windows that said Speeds Car Wash, green & white car sat next to Car Town (new, used, l& ease) Dealership. 

A tow truck sat in front, and next to the railroad tracks (Consoled gas and power), 76 Union Gas Station, two-story homes, dogs, people walking, riding scooters, mail carries, a lineman working on the power lines, 

There were bridges, factories, train stations, firehouses, and trains traveling in all directions on the many tracks.

We watched the trains until they closed.

We ate dinner at 5:00PM at Bubba’s Seafood House in Orange Beach.

Hubby and I split one CaptainsCaptainsCaptainsCaptains’ combo platter that consisted of Crab legs, grilled shrimp, chargrilled Mahi, Mahi served with corn on the cob, new potatoes, and garlic butter. 

We stopped at Rouses Market, where we bought a Coke, Strawberry cream coffee cake, & three large cannolis.

Sitting in a Large Blue Chair outside Bubba’s Seafood House Orange Beach

Jan 19, Friday

The next morning, we met Hannah at the Ruby Red Slipper Orange Beach before he headed home.

I ordered a stack of cinnamon toast.

Hubby ordered sausage, eggs, potatoes, link sausage, and pancakes.

Hannah ordered bacon, eggs, gravy, pancakes & coffee.

We finished breakfast around 8:30AM  and began our long ride home. $44.52

We filled up with gas at Love's $29.78 in Loxley, Al 

We stopped at CVS to get some eyewash my eyes were red, running, and burning.

I washed both eyes out with the eyewash and slept most of the way home.

Stack of cinnamon toast

We stopped at Firehouse Subs in Athens, and we bought a large and medium steak sandwich with a mushroom on wheat bread. $18.42

We stopped at Aldie in Athens to pick up  a few groceries spent @20.77

We had a great trip, ate breakfast with my granddaughter, and saw many sites.

Got sand in my eyes, which burned every time I closed them. 

🚗2011 ~ Sept 14, Wednesday, Day Trip Paducah, Kentucky

Left the house at about 6:30 A.M., drove up Highway 43 to Highway 64 leading to Pulaski, Ten, then onto I-65 toward Nashville, Ten. 

We rode through the construction work and early morning work traffic. 

We arrived in Paducah, Ky., at about 10:30 A.M. 

Murals along N Water Street Each mural tells a story 

We walked along the riverfront on Water Street, which displays several blocks of 43 beautifully painted story-telling murals by Robert Dafford and his team. It has taken over eleven years to paint these Wall-to-Wall murals, which display the “3 queens,” visiting Paducah, “the American Queen, the Delta Queen, and the Mississippi Queen.

Whaler’s Catch Restaurant and Oyster Bar Market

We walked around the town back to Whaler’s Catch Restaurant and Oyster Bar Market to eat lunch. 

Whaler’s Catch is located in the historic Johnson Building on Second Street in Paducah. 

Outside is the more eating area called the Crow’s Nest overlooking the River. 

We had boiled seafood Potpourri, boiled shrimp, crab cakes, baked fish, salad, and iced tea. Their specialty is a pot of black-eyed peas; everyone is welcome to take a bowl full of black-eyed peas.

After the meal, we walked across the street to the National Quilt Museum. 

Quilt Museum, along with Lewis, Clark, and their dog 

On the lawn outside the museum were displayed five statues: Lewis, Clark, Indian Girl, Man, and Seaman. (The dog Lewis paid $20 for, and he only paid $5 for Paducah.)

At the National Quilt Museum, we saw A Sense of Balance, The Chicago School of Fusing, The National Quilt Museum Collection, and the Miniature Quilt Collection.

In the sense of balance display, we saw how quiltmakers of the past balanced form, color, and lines in their quilts. 

In the Chicago School of Fusing, we saw works of artists that displayed vibrant, whimsical, and 3-D quilt cloth objects. "Fiesta Del Mar I,” by Anne Lillie Autobiography, by Susan Else

Ongoing exhibits are quilts donated by the founders of the museum, Bill and Meredith Schroeder, and the American Quilter’s Society quilt show and contest purchases award winners donated through AQS.

The collection includes more than 300 quilts created by more than 333 quiltmakers. 

The miniature quilts may not be wider than 24 inches, no longer than 24 inches, and they must be reduced in scale. 

We rode along the Ohio River, where we saw tugboats, Raymond Schultz Park, and the Tennessee~Tombigee Waterway historic markers.

We drove back through the town of Paducah, and I took pictures of old buildings (bank, churches, theater, Irvin Cobb Hotel, Tilghman home/Civil War Museum, Hank Bro and Jones Hardware building, etc.).

We rode past the Oak Grove cemetery where was buried Irvin S. Cobb, Dr. Reuben Saunders, etc. 

Indian wood carving by Peter Wolf to honor the Chickasaw Indians. 

We stopped at Noble Park to take a picture of the Indian wood carving by Peter Wolf to honor the Chickasaw Indians. The trail of the whispering giants Wacinton means to have an understanding.

Superman Metropolis, IL 

We then drove to Metropolis, where we saw two statues; the first statue was in front of Metropolis courthouse it was a ten-foot Superman, and the other statue was Big John in front of Big John’s Grocery store. 

We rode to Harrods casino, where we spent $5.00.  

We saw a sign that said we would give you $100 and a free meal at Harrods, so we went to check it out. 

You had to be a first-time player, play for a solid hour, and lose $100, and they would reimburse you.

Beautiful staircase at Whitehaven Mansion Welcome Center Paducah 

We stopped at the Welcome Center located! -24 Eastbound Mile Marker 28 in Paducah at Whitehaven 

On our way home, we stopped in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, at Patti’s 1880 settlement, where we saw a small church, animals, boating, a waterwheel, and a flower garden.

Patti's 1880 Settlement 

For dinner, we ordered an appetizer inside Patties restaurant.

We arrived home at about 9:30 P.M. We had a wonderful day.

Valentines's Day Adventure!❤️❤️

Hubby and I celebrated Valentine's at Famous Dave's at Cool Springs.
We ordered the Valentine's Special
Celebrate your Sweetheart Famously!
Our BBQ Feast for TWO
Only $24.99 -Save $10
4 corn on the cob, 7 slices brisket, Several ribs, two pieces of BBQ Chicken, a basket full of fries, baked beans, Coleslaw, cornbread muffins, and a bowl of Collard Greens!!!!
YUM! YUM!
I love this place and we do not have one anywhere near where we live.

A Feast for two (corn on the cob, brisket, chicken, ribs, slaw, fries, baked beans, cornbread muffins, collard greens.

We had two boxes of takeaway.
We rode to Hundred Oaks to see the Bedford Falls Train display.
Hundred Oaks is now Vanderbilt Health Center.

A radio station was parked at Hundred Oaks. A man dressed as a Valentine was passing out free ROSES. I took one and thanked him.

Cupid Rhymes with Stupid 96.3 JACK FM playing what we want!

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" 

❤️❤️

The train display was inside a glass case at one of the doctor's offices.
You could see the display from the outside but to get a better view you needed to go into the waiting room.
I meet this little boy about 7 or 8 years old playing with the buttons.
So, together we would go from one to the other buttons to see what each one would do.
One moved the train, one the trolley, one the sky lift, one the ladder truck, one the fire truck, and one the ambulance. I took several pictures of the display.
The little boy wanted to look at the pictures each picture I took so, I would show them to him.
When I got ready to leave the little boy's father said, thank the nice lady for sharing the pictures with you. I told the little boy and I never thought to ask why he was at the doctor's office. He looked healthy so maybe everything was okay with him.

You are now in Bedford Falls.
Bedford Falls (or Pottersville) is the fictional town in which the American Christmas drama It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Philip Van Doren Stern's 1943 short story "The Greatest Gift" (on which the film is based) is set. The Bedford Falls railway station is the main form of transport to get in or out of the town. The location is used only once in the film when Harry (Todd Karns) comes back from university with his wife Ruth Dakin (Virginia Patton) as George and Uncle Billy are waiting there. While waiting there George says to Uncle Billy that a train whistle is one of the three most exciting sounds in the world. The other two were anchor chains and plane motors.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

❤️❤️

We walked to the electronics store but they did not have what we wanted. We stopped at the Walmart a few streets down and purchased a few items.
We took the highway US 31 there was a lot of road construction in Thompson Station and we rode by Clarks Distillery but was closed.
In Spring Hill we stopped at Murphy for gas and Walmart. We also stopped at Dairy Queen for an Ice Cream (they have the best ice cream).


On our way to Nashville, we stopped at the newly rebuilt I-65 Welcome Center at Ardmore Giles County which features eco-friendly solar panels, recycling, and a Geo-Thermal Operating System.
Inside they have five rocking chairs, a fireplace, and a display about the Civil War.

I-65 Welcome Center at Ardmore Giles County 

It was overcast and rained a little, not much of a day for being outside.
We were home by 6:30PM.