Our October Vacation-Part One: Savannah, Georgia 2011
Bobbie and I took another Fall trip (vacation) this year as we did last year when we went to Montreal, Vermont,and New York. This Autumn had nothing to do with the changing color of foilage that we found in Canada and New England last year. As many of you already know, Bobbie and I had no opportunity for summer travelling this year. As a result, we missed Kaitlin's graduation from high school in early June and then Mark and Meredith's Wedding just two weeks later.
NOW, IF YOU ARE NOT A FOLLOWER OF SENEX MAGISTER, HE FELL AND BROKE HIS ANKLE ON MAY 6TH WHICH ALTERED HIS MOBILITY AND MOST ACTIVITY UNTIL lABOR DAY. THREE WEEKS IN THE HOSPITAL OF WHICH TWO WEEKS WERE REHAB THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY HOME HEALTH CARE ONCE I BECAME A LIBERATED PERSON FROM INSTITUTIONAL HOSPITAL CARE. EVEN WITH THE MS, I THOUGHT I WAS CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL. SO IT WAS A REAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE WHEN I FOUND THAT I COULDN'T STAND OR WALK. BOBBIE WAS AN 'ANGEL' AND TRUE CAREGIVER UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES. WE WERE BLESSED TO HAVE AN OLD HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND WHO NOW LIVES IN CHICAGO COME OUT AND SPENT A MONTH WITH US UNTIL I WAS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF RECOVERY AND RECUPERATION. MICHAEL IS MY GUARDIAN ANGEL AS WELL. BUT THAT WAS THEN AND NOW A NEW WORLD (VITA) HAS DAWNED UPON US.
We first went to Savannah, GA for the Wedding of our dear friends Kara Kavanaugh and Laura Wingate on October 9th. We arrived in Savannah on 6th and left on the 10 to attend various activities related to the wedding and do some sightseeing on our own.
Saturday we went to Tybee Island as well Fort Pulaski, a National Historic Park.
It was a cloudy, windy, and rainy day but we didn't let that deter us from enjoying the day! :)
It was a cold and windy day.
Especially for Oct
Bruce Feels the Wind
Bobbie Fighting the Wind
Bruce Riding Down the Pier
Bruce Getting out of the Rain
A Stormy Day
Shelter from the Rain
The Rain Begins to End
The Sun Comes Out
After all the rain and wind, our visit to Fort Pulaski was actually a pleasant respite. We also enjoyed it because it had been used this past year in the filming of Robert Redford's film, The Conspirator about the trial and execution of Mary Surratt.
Bruce trying to be a Photographer
Bruce entering the Fort
We hadn't completely escaped the storm. The wind was still lingering.
A Cloudy Sky
An Approaching Storm
We then returned to Savannah to discover we had problem with the hotel key/card lock on our door. Maintenance had to replace the entire unit but thankfully we got into our room before all the work was finished. This allowed Bobbie time to do some sightseeing in the historic area of Savannah as well as checking out parking and the best route to the wedding/commitment ceremony and the reception and dinner that followed. While Bobbie was doing all that, I stayed at the hotel and had some quality time between me and my computer.
Bobbie's Tour of Historic Savannah
Our hotel was on the edge of the Historic District which made seeing local sites easy.
The bell of the Presbyterian Church along with several photos of the gardens and the staircase inside.
Savannah documents most locations with historic markers!
Girl Scouts from around the world come here to pay homage.
A very pretty Inn next to the Low home.
Portions of the old cotton exchange being restored by the Savannah College of Arts
Yes! That is a pink elephant in the Marc Jacobs window!
The Dancing Fountain.
You may remember this steeple from Forest Gump and the feather floating down.
Seen in the movie Something to Talk About--one of many filmed in Savannah.
House used for filming Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
The murder took place in the room behind the window on the left!
Wrought iron and beautiful gardens--truly Savannah!
Even Savannah has some houses that do not fall under the historic preservation rules!
The Catholic Cathedral
The cobblestoned river street
Savannah's famed waving lady
The Olympic Flame
Saturday was fun but the real reason we had come to Svannah was to celebrate Kara and Laura's Marriage. Sunday provided more than amble opportunity for both family and friends to express their love to special young ladies. This is for:
Kara and Laura Kavanaugh
After enjoying some of the wonderful sights in Savannah and the joy of Kara and Laura's wedding, we got on the road and headed to Florida. We had two destinations: one was to visit our dear friend, Margo, in South Florida and the other was to finally make our way to Key West, Florida. We weren't able to have a Summer Vacation so we decided to have Fall Vacation instead.
Lunch with Margo in Boynton Beach
Clock tower along the beach in Palm Beach
A very blue Atlantic Ocean
Town square in Palm Beach
Shopping area: the Rodeo Drive of Palm Beach
The Breakers Hotel, Palm Beach
A beautiful fountain outside the Breakers
After lunch we took a drive that took us through Palm Beach and eventualy to Whitehall (The Flagler Museum). It was quite a house even for its day. It was pointed out to us that it was fine example of Gilded Age Style. My education I discovered was a bit lacking because I had never heard of Henry Flager, but he was the co-founder along with John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil. We were also told that Henry Flagler created and established the corporate structure under which Standard Oil operated. It would become the model for the modern American Corporation.
Whitehall
The Flagler Museum
Our last evening in Boca Raton we went out to dinner with Margo and a former Latin student of mine, Ms. Patricia (Stafford) Sallo who now lives in Boca Raton. We were able to make this great discovery because of Facebook.
The next leg of our October Vacation was to drive down to Key West, Florida - as you all know - the southern most point in the Continental United States. This was a Thursday and after having such beautiful weather with Margo we were hoping for the same in Key West. However, God decided to haunt us with a little more rain and then a whole lot of rain.
The drive was a little different from most. On one side of the road there was the Atlantic Ocean and then on the other side of the road you had the Gulf of Mexico.
After a four hour drive primarily because of speed restrictions and road conditions, we finally made it to Key West. Then we made our way to our hotel, The Doubletree Grand Resort. We were tired and decided to have dinner at the hotel and relax before starting our sightseeing on Friday.
Bruce and Bobbie at the Doubletree
Friday morning we got up and had a leisurely breakfast at the Doubletree before going into the more 'touristy' parts of Key West. We had two destinations that we wanted to see on our first day. The first one was Ernest Hemingway's home with its many 'six toed' cats and the other was Mallory Square.
One of Many More
Front Entrance of the House
Bruce Michael
A Painting of the Hemingway Home
A Painting of Hemingway's Fishing Boat
Another Painting of the Entrance to Hemingway's Home
There is a story here or at least we were told one. Hemingway along with some of his friends went one night to a favorite bar and proceeded to reach a state of healthy inebriation. Well, they then took the urinal from the Men's Room and took back to Hemingway's house. You may have seen a nice ceramic urinal in a bar's toilet but I haven't. Hemingway's current wife at the time saw no humor in it and said that it would never come into her house, so Hemingway turned into a fountain from which his cats could drink. Anyway that was the story Bobbie and I were told.
The Cats' Cemetary
(Still in Operation Today)
I told you there were a lot of cats.
Bobbie
Builder and Original Owner of the House
Key West, Florida
Hemingway became an endearing figure in Key West though most of the guides had gray beards (I suppose in homage of Hemingway himself) - they made no mention of his suicide at only 62. A tragic end to a man who gave so much to our literay culture of the 20th Century.
Mallory Pier Square
A common sight you see when you go to Key West would be Roosters strutting around making their presence known with their crowing. I found this a little curious so I simply asked (this time Bobbie was my investigator again). Cock Fighting was quite an entertainment sport in Key West until Florida state law made it illegal in the early 1970's. You might ask, "Why didn't the local community just get rid of an apparent nuisance?". It seems that the Roosters were quite efficient in removing pesky and unpleasant vermin, so they could go where they wanted without the fear of harm especially a temporary tourist.
Sunrise Friday at Key West
Sunrise Friday at Key West
The Weather turned against us on Saturday. There was rain and then there was more rain. Saturday was a bust and ESPN was very poor so we didn't even have good college football to make up for it.
On Sunday we decided rain or no rain that we were going to brave the elements. Our first stop the southern most point on Key West and then we also wanted to visit what was fondly called the 'Little White House" where Harry Truman enjoyed periods of relaxing when he was president.
Jet Ski lessons off Mallory Pier
This is 'me' reading something on my Kindle waiting for our tour of the 'Little White House'. Unfortunately and especially for Bobbie photography wasn't allowed so we have no pictures of the interior.
Monday morning we woke up to torrential rain coming down - the weather-person on TV was referring to it as a semi-tropical storm. Downtown Key West was already under almost four inches of rain. Our first reaction was to leave before we couldn't but then we thought would the roads remain open long enough for us to get back across the Keys. Bobbie as she always does found out what the actual situation was that faced us. Well, High Tide wasn't going to occur until 1:00 giving us more than enough time to travel across the Keys. It was a difficult drive where rain was coming down so fast that even peering over the steering wheel you barely had any visibility. We made it safely back to the mainland and staying ahead of rain and tornados, were home three days later.
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