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Published: July 28th 2014
Wednesday 16th, Thursday 17th July 2014 Both of these days were work days for Judy, she having to mark over 50 university assignments. Victor worked most of his required 15 hours at the golf course, Helen and Rags doing their own thing.
The postal service delivered a parcel for Rags, this being a gear set for the bike he intends to build when we get back. Much cheaper to buy here in USA and postage is free as well.
First thing this morning Rags took one of the bikes out for a ride around the suburb. He did prove that the approach road to where we are staying comes to a dead-end if approached from the south, as he rode through dense vegetation and water trying unsuccessfully to get through. Even so, the 15kms or so he rode felt good, he missing his regular rides.
Later on Wednesday, Rags and Judy went off to a nearby Walgreen's store for Judy to buy cosmetics at a much better price than we would at home. We had only just got inside when the heaviest rain we have seen here started. A mini tornado appeared to rip through,
The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge
This bridge spans almost 7 kilometres. Incredible!denuding a few palms in its wake. The rain was not only heavy, it also came down almost horizontally, the wind that strong. For once, Rags was glad he was in a shop!
Thursday was a similar day, everyone doing something, with Judy and Helen going off shopping!
Friday 18th July 2014 Today Victor drove us all over 180kms south to the cities of Tampa and St Petersburg. These cities are situated on the banks of the very large Tampa Bay, with Tampa on the mainland side and St Petersburg appearing to be on an island. In spots the bay about 12kms wide.
There are four bridges spanning the bay, one, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, is a spectacular bridge with two large turrets making it look like a suspension bridge. Much of the areas near the bridges is state national park, with parking spots and small beaches where people go fishing. The water is quite shallow near here and we saw several fisherman with either floats or tripods to hold their gear, they standing in chest deep water and casting out.
We overheard a couple of canoeists at one beach, one
saying how he came across a few manatees a few days earlier but we didn't spot any.
Entering St Petersburg we headed to the Salvador Dali Museum, set on the waterfront in a modernistic glass and concrete building with large empty carparks at the front. The place was almost deserted, this possibly due to the high cost of admittance to the gallery, $21. We weren't prepared to pay this so we just went off to take some photos of the exterior. Parking was also expensive, and difficult in that you had no way of paying for your spot except by ringing a phone number. We decided to risk it, Victor remaining with the car. Another couples also did this, they not prepared to pay to enter the museum either.
A police car drove in, so Victor hailed him and explained what we were doing and asked if we could stay for a few minutes. The policeman said he didn't look after parking but that the group that did would book you even if you were standing next to the car. He said he'd watch the cars to ensure they weren't booked and parked across them. Nice guy!
Continuing on following the waterway we saw many highrise and expensive looking single residences, many with absolute water frontages. Surprisingly the cost of the later were only between $1.2 and $2 million. Not super cheap but we thought they would be much more. We crossed another bridge and entered the Tampa historic area of Ybor City.
There were a few interesting looking buildings but our main objective was the Columbia Restaurant, a Spanish restaurant and Florida's oldest established in 1905. Victor & Helen had been before and enjoyed it. Casimiro Hernandez,Sr. opened it as a corner cafe for the local Cigar makers and named it after his homeland. It has expanded over the years and now seats 1700 people in 15 dining rooms. Only 3 of these rooms were in use with waiters dressed in dinner suits which fitted the very Spanish décor. Our meals of Steak Melanesa, El Combo de Cuba, Bolich Creollo and Shrimp Creollo were served, good-sized helpings and very tasty.
After our meal we were invited to explore the restaurant, which we did going up the stairs to the balconies overlooking where we were, as well as several other dining rooms. A very interesting
Bobcat
All we could get of Mum and cub after they crossed the road place decorated with Spanish tiles on the wall and photos of past members of the family and famous guests dotted around.
We drove a little more around the town before wending our way through different exits onto the highway home. After refueling at a nearby gas station (to use their terminology), Rags took the wheel and drove the 90 minute trip back.
A late dinner/supper consisted of cheeses, olives etc and a bottle of Argentinian Malbec, finished with a piece of key lime pie made by our wonderful hosts. A lovely way to finish a good day.
Saturday 19th July 2014 A quiet day today, Judy working steadily to reduce the amount of marking to be done. Rags fiddled around a bit and generally took it easy.
Late in the afternoon we did join Victor, driving to a Canadian friend's house to check out whether there were any obviously leaking taps. This is their summer house, as they live in Canada the rest of the year. Sadly the wife has terminal cancer and they are unlikely to see her again.
A bit of excitement, as we walked out of the
Lake Ella
Has won awards for best lake in USA house, Judy suddenly screamed as a 1 metre long black snake slithered out of the garden towards us. She cowered behind Rags, who was did his utmost to back off, when Victor informed us it was a harmless Black Racer snake. Our heart rates did drop but it took a little time!
Nice house, nice pool area with insect cage, cost about $80K a couple of years ago. We did try to start the owner's car but the battery was completely flat so Victor took the battery to see if anything could be done. As we were leaving the couple over the road pulled up and inquired about the owner's health. While we stood talking to them we learnt that they had a large turtle that they kept as a pet. It had a free run of the house and even tried to pry open the fridge at times!
A delicious Mexican dinner was prepared by Helen with fish tacos being the star of the meal, supplemented by pulled pork, beans and several other delicious condiments. We think Helen cooks Mexican better than the Mexicans!
Sunday 20th July 2014 Today was Victor's
Lake Ella
An interesting tree there. Note soft surface underneath, children encouraged to climb it! birthday but he still went to the golf-club at about 6am to do his normal Sunday work. He returned at 0830 hrs to congratulations from all of us, after which we had breakfast at the same golf club, Kings Gate, we went to last Sunday.
The temperature was uncomfortable outside, so instead of doing much we all sat quietly at our laptops until later in the afternoon. We then set off to see the old Punta Gorda historic district which is south of where we were staying. We drove up and down several of the streets looking at the older houses, many built in the southern style as we have seen in movies.
Fisherman's Village is a large complex of the usual types of tourist shops you see everywhere, luckily for Victor and Rags most of them were closing, and at the end was the Village Fish Market and Restaurant. It was here we had a delicious seafood meal, Rags and Judy sharing a plate of mixed seafood which included fried oysters, clams, shrimp, fish and calamari, served with sweet potato fries. Not overly healthy but very tasty as was the $2 Guinness (Sunday special)Rags had with it!
Lake Ella
Several of these lizards performed for us by puffing out their chests At 1900hrs we boarded a boat to enjoy a 90 minute sunset cruise. When we left the sun was still up very high but covered in cloud, so the skipper took the boat up and down several of the canals in the housing estate there. Some splendid homes there with pools and jetties on most, every now and again with one of the original houses still nestled amongst them. We were told that most of the blocks had been built on, any vacant land was due to Hurricane Charlie in 2002 wiping out many of them. The skies seemed to clear a little and we re-entered the bay and headed west. The bay itself is huge, we were still over 40 miles from the entrance and it was difficult to see from one side to the other. Sunset wasn't very spectacular but it was still worth it to be out there as the sun set, with no wind and smooth water.
Back at the house we did our final bit of packing as we intend leaving first thing tomorrow morning heading towards Tallahassee as our first large centre on our way back to Atlanta. We've had a full
Water Mocassin
This snake was curled up on the road near St Marks lighthouse. and very enjoyable 2 weeks with Victor and Helen, who have been the perfect hosts.
Monday 21st July 2014 After a fond farewell we left Victor and Helen only to stop just up the street to watch a bobcat and her one offspring amble slowly across the road. Rags fumbled under the back seat to get his camera out only managing to get a rear and a partial photo of them. No real record but certainly something to remember.
The drive to Tallahassee was uneventful, we covering the 600kms in just under 6 hours and that included a coffee break and a leisurely lunch at Cracker Barrel. The freeway system allowing us to cruise nicely at 120kph which is just a few kph over the limit. The little VW Jetta was very comfortable at this speed and just gobbled up the distance very economically.
In Tallahassee we checked into the Baymont Inn and Suites, these probably the best we have seen in the USA this trip and at the reasonable price of just over $60 including breakfast.
We went for a drive, exploring the town centre in preparation for a quick
visit tomorrow before we leave.
The Capitol buildings, both the new and the old looked very impressive, this being where the state government resides. Tallahassee is the capital of Florida, although most would think it was Miami.
The parts we saw gave us the impression that the city was not very affluent. There were a few grand houses around Lake Ella, but most were very basic. Lake Ella was a must visit for us, just for the name, and it lived up to it by being voted one of the best parks in USA quite recently. We enjoyed a walk along it, photographing different birdlife, turtles and plants.
Tuesday 22nd July 2014 This morning we checked out of the hotel quite early and drove about 30 miles south to the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge. This was established in 1931 to provide a winter habitat for migratory birds. It also incorporates the St Marks Lighthouse which was built in 1831.
There are trails for hiking, wildlife observation and photography as well as boat ramps and areas for hunting.
In October the Monarch butterflies stop here for food before continuing to
St Marks Animal Refuge
A warning not to go swimming Russia to breed. Similarly migratory birds are here from November through to April. We missed out on all of these but there were still a few different bird and butterfly species to be seen, as well as alligators.
Just before reaching the lighthouse Judy spotted a snake curled up on the road. Rags hadn't seen it but on returning we found it in the same spot. We took a few photos from the car, then Rags got out and took a few from about 3 metres, getting back in as a vehicle approached. It was a Wildlife management vehicle and it just missed the snake and continued on. When we saw the Ranger a little later he admitted he didn't see the snake either, and on seeing our photos he recognised it as a Water Moccasin snake. These snakes are very poisonous and aggressive, so much for Rags getting so close!
We took photos of birds, alligators, dragonflies and butterflies and by it was nearly midday by the time we returned the borrowed binoculars to the Visitor Centre and Rags had his drivers licence they hold as security, returned.
As we still had a 3 hour drive
Dragonfly
There were hundreds of these near st Marks lighthouse ahead of us to our next stop, Columbus, we gave going to the 20th floor lookout at the Capitol building a miss, instead having a tasty meal of rice, beans, meat and salad at Taco Bell before leaving.
Once off the state freeway the scenery was more interesting going through little towns, but much slower. This changed for the last 150kms or so after the last town, we then having a mostly divided highway of 2 lanes each way, of very smooth road. Rags controlled the urge to put his foot down and kept pretty well within the limit as we had seen many sheriff vehicles and several bingles along the way!.
After checking in at the La Quinta Inn we drove to the grand-looking civic centre, our objective being the Chattahoochee River. We had both heard of this river in films and storied and Judy wanted to walk along it. This we did for some distance but as they have made a 24kms long path alongside it we only walked a short section. Cyclists, runners, walkers and rollerskaters make use of this path, we seeing examples of all except the latter. The river itself is not attractive
with its brown water flowing briskly past and steep banks with vegetation on both sides.
To return to the car we walked two streets back from the river, Broadway. This street has a wide median strip with trees which date back to the early settlers. Many of the stately houses on this road date back to that era and are protected by an heritage listing. We saw several period houses which had been transported from other parts of town, each having a sign outside informing of the origin and the original owners.
By the time we returned to the hotel it was after 1900hrs so for our last evening meal here we made a return visit to the Longhorn Steakhouse. A fillet steak for Judy and a full rack of ribs for Rags, together with salad and a roast potato had both of us very replete. There was no room for dessert, as the waitress must have guessed because she handed us the bill almost as she asked us if we wanted any!
Packing, discarding, repacking followed, we having to get the car back by 1500 hrs and flying out at 1800. We left too much time
between when booking, forgetting that the first flight will be domestic.
Wednesday 23rd July 2014 Today our destination was Newnan. This is dubbed the City of Homes. Our first stop was the Visitors' Centre located in the historic County Courthouse constructed in 1904. The friendly man behind the desk here gave us some helpful information and then a guided photographic tour of the history of the courthouse. He then explained that we could visit the courtroom which we did. amazingly beautiful with its theatre style seats and cork floors.
After this we walked around the square laid out in 1828, as we had a pamphlet that provided details of the history of all the buildings. From here we walked to a park, Greenville Park that we had spied driving in. It was quite impressive with its 25 column colonnaded entrance and we hoped that the greenery at the back might lead to the river, but on exploring it we found a railway line hidden behind the secluded pathways and other features.
By this time we returned to the car and punched in an address for one of the historic homes. A walk along a few shady
streets viewing the elegant old southern homes followed before we set the GPS for Atlanta Airport!
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