Christmas

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After leaving Tennessee we travelled south and east to Tupelo, Mississippi where once more we meet up with Rosemary and Richard for the night. We drove a little of the Natshez Trace before leaving the next morning for Heflin, Alabama for just one night. The next day finds us in Greensboro Georgia, which is in between Atlanta and Augusta. This is a small place on a lake quite pretty, we toured the town and stocked up on supplies. That night was interesting as they held a Texas Hold'em Poker Game, the buy in was $10.00 so I went and was back home in an hour having the great distinction of being the first one out. The people in the area are very nice but the accent is so strong we had a hard time understanding them at times. The next day we are on our way to South Carolina. We passed through Columbia, which is the capital and arrived at our destination campground just outside of Charleston. Here we stayed for 3 days. We toured the naval base and the aircraft carrier the Yorktown. We toured the downtown open market which ran for about 4 blocks, ate lunch at the AW Shucks Seafood retaurant and I bought a christmas dollie for my table (my only decoration this year there were plastic trees all in red or white but that's just wrong). Also a treat called BENNE WAFERS. These wafers were originally brought by the slaves from Africa. Good thing I only bought one bag because they are delectable and of course loaded with calories. We walked the open bricked streets downtown as the main street is closed to traffic. On to Fort Sumter where the first shots were fired in the Civil War. The next day we went to the Magnolia Plantation. The house and grounds are now a tourist attraction but it is still owed by the same family since the sixteen hundreds, the nineth generation lady was still living and the twelveth generation is in the Charleston area. We took a tour through the Audubon Swamp Garden and got my first glimpse of Alligator. The magnificent Angel Oaks are beautiful and have been around along time. There were stands of small trees and flowers where there used to be rice and cotton fields. Even the old slave cottages where still there. For a short time it felt like you could almost feel the past. We really enjoyed our time in Charleston. Now on the road again to Savannah, Georgia where we stayed for 2 nights. We drove into the city the next day and took a tour bus. Savannah was started in the 1700's appointed by the king of England to start the 13th colony and to act as a buffer between the other english colonies, the spanish to the south and the French to the west, therefore there were no catholics allowed in village, in case of alligence with the French or Spanish. Also no lawyers were allowed because they were considered argumentative and contentious. Savannah is laid out in a grid and in each is a historic square dedicated to someone or for some reason. Just to name a few Telfair Square is named in honour of the lady that started Girl Scouts, Franklin Square is in honour of Ben Franklin,Oglethorpe Square in honour of the man that started the 13th colony and founder of Savannah. Those are just a few of the 23 squares in the centre of the city. Most with park benches and plaques or statues. It is really quite unique. Savannah has also been home to quite a few movie sets one of the most famous being "In The Garden of Good and Evil". This was a hop on hop off tour so off we got to have lunch at Paula Deans Restaurant called Lady and Sons ( for those that do not know the Queen of Southern Cusine she is quite famous and on the food network). It was ok, enough said. During the Civil war Atlanta was burnt to the ground to save Savannah from the same fate it was gifted to Abraham Lincoln. The city is built mainly from clay dug out of the river bottom by slave labour and made into bricks. I am pleased to say we enjoyed our trip to Savannah. Now on to Florida. Our first stop in the Sunshine State was St. Augustine, the oldest European settlement in North America, dating back to the middle 1500's. The fort built in the 1600's took twenty years to build and still stands today. You can take a trolley or as we choose, you can walk the Pedestrian Walk which is right across the street from the old Fort. So we spent an enjoyable day, had a relaxing evening (hm most of our evenings are relaxing) and ready to leave in the morning for Orlando. We are staying at a campground called Lost Lake about 10 miles north of Orlando which is far enough not to be busy and close enough that we aren't driving for hours. Another benefit is the fact that it is $17.50 a night to camp where most places down here are anywhere from $60.00 to $120.00, makes you wonder. But then alot of Canadians and Northern State Americans come here for the winter so guess they can charge what ever the area handels. Well since we arrived here we have done a little touring soaked up the sun and our big thing was going for the day to Disney World. Sooo a one day ticket with hopper (meaning you can get free rides to the 4 attractions -Disney World, Animal Kingdom,Disney Hollywood Studios and Epcot Center) was $268.00 for the 2 of us. If we had wanted a 2 day ticket it would have been another 160.00, no thanks we will do it all in one day. We left at 7:30 am and headed for Disney's Animal Kingdom by 11:00 am we were at Epcot Center having left our truck and taken a bus ( oh yeah parking for the day is $14.00 more-which in the whole scheme of things is not to bad a price) at Epcot center we were hungry and had lunch at the Italian Centre. So onto enjoyment and a lot more walking. At 4pm we caught the bus back to our truck and moved on up to Disneys Magic Kingdom. IT is Wed., school is not out, why are there so many people here? We left this one for the last and knew we weren't going to make it to Hollywood Studios. We lasted until 8pm and that was it, time to go home. Conclussion- Disney is not that much fun without kids, You need to go with lots of money and do not try to do it in one day. This excursion was 2 days ago and we are still recupperating from all the walking and noise. Tomorrow we will go to the Kennedy Space Center. I bought a twelve lb. turkey(it just fits) for xmas so Chuck will BBQ it and we will have a traditional feast. Then Chuck will complain about having turkey this and turkey that for the next week and all will be right in my world. We of course are missing kids, grandkids, family and friends and will be thinking of everyone. Merry Christmas Everyone and a very properous and Happy New Year

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