Florida 2019

American B&Bs are nothing if not full of character and the one in Plant City was no exception. We went there after our visit to Bok Tower house and gardens.   The theme of the house was strawberries, and they were everywhere. This area is famous for strawberries, and an annual 'Strawberry Festival'  begins tomorrow and lasts for 11 days! Larry and Dorie had a Western saloon-themed room, complete with a cowboy outside the swing door.... And ours had a slightly unusual table lamp cum  decoration.   What you can't see is that when the lamp is lit the locomotive wheels turn! Outside the house was an unusual garden decoration. Talk about quirky! After breakfast we went to Hollis Gardens which were small but lovely situated on Lake Mirror. On the lake were a couple of 'wood ducks'. Very attractive they were. Oh, and a cute lizard.  The next place we visited was Florida Southern College where there are several buildings that Andrew Lloyd Wright designed back in the...

Just in case you think it's all wine and roses here, this is the view from the balcony this morning; and it's only 20 degrees! Tough eh? And, this was Carolyn's view from her car widow in the afternoon! However we did manage to visit Bok Tower and Gardens in between showers. Here is what I learned about the place.... "When Bok Tower Gardens founder  Edward W. Bok  immigrated to America from Den Helder, Netherlands at age six, he did not understand the language, customs or culture. Through determination and hard work, he became a highly successful publisher, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, respected humanitarian and an advocate of world peace and the environment. Bok’s grandmother told him to “make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it,” which he did throughout his lifetime. The tower has a carillon which has 60 bells in it which were made in England in 1928 and is played by a chap you can watch via a video-link. The gardens are full o...

Our stay in Savannah ended yesterday.  We packed up and went for breakfast at a local café, made famous by a book and subsequent film; famous in Savannah anyway.  The place is very down-to-earth and popular; people were queuing for tables though we managed to grab one on the pavement almost immediately.   The plan was to kill a bit of time before visiting a botanical garden which didn't open until mid-day.  We still got there before 11:30 but while we were waiting it started spitting, then is started raining, then is started bucketing down so we gave up and hit the road South.  Apart from a bit of congestion near Jackonville and the odd fender blender it what cruise control all the way to Cocoa Beach, arriving around 4:30.   We were cocooned in air conditioning but watched the temperature climbing the further South we drove, peaking at 89F before dropping back to 87 as we arrived.  To-day it was much cooler, comfortably so, or even a bit chilly in the ...

This morning we walked a few blocks to a museum based on a house and slave quarters built in 1819.  This is a view of the back of the house, facing the carriage house where the slaves levied.   The house was designed by an English architect from Bath and incorporated advanced features like indoor plumbing.  The walls were built of that local staple, tabby, extra thick to support the weight of the water cisterns holding the rainwater used for all that plumbing, which included baths, toilets and showers on the two upper floors.  It was roofed with Welsh slate, floored with English sandstone, and the dinner service was Staffordshire bone china.  The sash windows and other fittings could well have been imported too.    In the afternoon we drove around the Savannah National Wildlife Reserve which is actually in South Carolina. (Don't ask.) We saw lots of alligators and various waterfowl especially blue herons. David took some photos of a heron which have ma...

Yesterday was warm; today was forecast to be hot, and it was.  We spent the morning going round the Wormsloe Plantation, dating from the 1730s.  It belonged to a settler from Herefordshire, Wormsloe being the name of one of the hundreds there.  We saw the remains of a small fort constructed from Tabby, a lime-based concrete with oyster shells from Indian middens as aggregate.  We also saw a reconstructed wattle and daub house and blacksmith's shop.  Our guide was excellent, very enthusiastic and easy to hear! The live oak 'allee' to the plantation was very interesting. Several hundred had been given as a birthday gift around 1895 to a member of the Jones family descendants of whom still live on the property.  In the afternoon we had a look round the Georgia Railroad museum and had a tour of the workshops and a couple of the carriages specially fitted out for the president - of the railroad.  One of them was equipped with Royal Worcester china;  cl...

I went for a stroll last night before supper and spotted a couple of classic (40s/50s) police cars in front of the police station which I went back and snapped today.   This is a 1947 Chevrolet Stylemaster. This is a Chevy as well.   Then on the way back I saw a Land Rover Defender on UK number plates parked on the street.  You have to wonder what the story is behind that one.    We went to Oatland Wildlife Center where we walked along a two-mile trail through marshland and 'brush-land'. There was lots of destruction caused by various hurricanes, plus a tornado hit the area last summer causing even more destruction. Animals here have been rescued  and are then looked after by dedicated staff and volunteers. Unfortunately due to storm damage some areas were closed for repair, so we were unable to view some of the animals. But we enjoyed the walk all the same. The 'green' water is caused by algae or pondweed, so fountains are set in the middle to keep th...

We visited the Eighth Airforce museum this morning, as the weather still promised to be chilly and wet.  (The weather was awful! C's comment)A few miles outside Savannah to the west, it is next to the local JCB dealer of all things.  Actually the British connection was to the fore; most of the missions being from East Anglia of course.  I hadn't realised that the eighth was based in Savannah before the headquarters moved in with RAF Bomber Command in High Wycombe.  They had a complete B-17, the nose of a B-24,  Mustang, Me-109 and a couple of engines inside the building, as well as a Mig-17 and Phantom outside.  We also spotted a B-47 as we were leaving. Here's the B-17 tail.  Here's the opposition: AMe-109.   Afterwards we decided to visit Hilton Head Island,NA resort area over the state line in South Carolina.  On the way we saw a sign reminding us of our daughter-in-law Charlene (from Lydney)..... At Harbour Town on the island we saw one o...

The second day in Savannah  was mostly devoted - unsuccessfully - to keeping warm!  The temperature hovered around the upper 50sF, which feels no warmer than its centigrade equivalent.  We took a guided 'trolley' tour complete with narration, which told us something of the history of Savannah in general and the architecture in particular. The oldest building goes back to the early 18th century, with no end from the 19th, early to late.  Apparently our street is reckoned one of the prettiest, and it certainly is attractive.   We only hopped off once, to have a look at a museum of ship models in a historic house. There is a garden associated with it but it was too cold to linger outside so we headed off to a classic car museum - on the basis that it would be indoors!  It was, but with nothing out of the ordinary.  You could view it as a used car dealer with an admission charge; everything inside being for sale; a Mk II and Mk IX Jag and an MG TD from the...

W e spent this morning visiting one of the chain of forts, Fort Pulaski, built in the 1820/30s to protect the approach to the important port of Savannah. This was in response to the perfidious Brits burning the White House in 1815 and was supposed to be the last word in military engineering.  It took 18 years to build,, was occupied by the Confederates at the start of the Civil War, and surrendered to Union troops after a 30 -hour bombardment.  Apparently rifled artillery did for it.   Here's a view from the inside; 42-pounder smoothbore Confederate cannon.  Here's what the outer wall looked like when the Yankees had been going at in for a day and a half.  The corner out of shot to the left had been completely breached, allowing shells through and putting the magazine and its 40,000 lbs of black powder at risk and causing the commander to surrender.   This is a poster of a contemporary photo of the interior.   Here's the nose of a shell which has been ...

Today we drove from Cocoa Beach to Savannah; 300-odd miles, mostly on one of Eisenhower's interstate highways, I-95.  It's just a matter of engaging the cruise control and sitting it out. We had a detour between the stateline and Savannah to a one-time millionaire's enclave dating from the early years of the last century, Jekyll Island.  Apparently in the glory days the members of the local club accounted for one sixth of all the wealth in the world; plus ça change!   We managed to miss the turning and lost some time so didn't stay very long before going back on the road North.  The trusty SatNav guided us safely to the door of our Airbnb; in an interesting area which we shall enjoy exploring.  This evening all we managed was a quick raid on the local supermarket, returning a couple of bottles of wine and a pizza to the good.  Might manage some photos tomorrow.  

Today began with the annual 'waffle breakfast' in the Gazebo. We’ve been helping Larry and Dorie with this event every year that we’ve been coming here. Everyone who lives in the apartments here is invited, and this year we had about 40 enjoying waffles, sausages and fresh fruit salad along with coffee, tea and orange juice. David's job is to make the batter for the waffles which Larry cooks, while I stand around looking efficient! We get to eat once all the guests have finished.  In the afternoon we went to see one of the big cruise ships coming into port. It had lost an argument with some mooring buoys three days into its cruise and had to have repairs carried out. Not popular with the passengers I imagine! But no one was hurt, and no doubt the incident will become embellished in its re-telling! Along the way we spotted a sign warning drivers about possible 'Peafowl' crossing. Ha! we thought, until we parked the car and walked to where we’d seen the sign. Low and ...

We spent the day doing not a lot. We set off to go for an airboat ride but were frustrated by a bridge closure on the main road west and had to turn tail and come home.  David, Carolyn and Larry went for a walk on the renourished beach (see previous years' blogs) then David went for a quick swim in the pool.  There were some hardy souls in the sea but the pool is heated!

The four of us celebrated Valentines Day with dinner at a local seafood and grill restaurant. Excellent food and service, but like many popular eating establishments a bit on the noisy side. Still, it was a very pleasant evening. 

The flight went off without a hitch; nothing to this flying!  We flew through the immigration at Orlando too, then had to wait ages for the bags. There threatened to be a hitch with Alamo car hire but it turned out to be finger trouble on the part of the agent and all was well after all.  We decided on a Hyundai Elantra rather than a pickup truck and hit the road east.  We were both pretty tired by the time we got to Larry and Doraleen's so it was beer, supper and bed.  It was cloudy and cool yesterday (55/13) but today is sunny and promises to be warm, which is a bit more like it!

We’re sitting in a very noisy departure area at Gatwick. Screaming toddlers and babies who will probably be on the plane going to Disney World! Boarding should be soon with luck. Fingers crossed when we arrive in Orlando it won’t take us too long to clear security. Luckily the govt shutdown is over for a couple more days. Wish us luck!

We're safely ensconced in the Hilton Hotel, Gatwick South.  The journey down was easy almost the whole way, despite nearly all being on motorways.  Even the M25 was flowing freely.  We dumped the car at Purple Parking and caught the shuttle bus - just the two of us - to the terminal, where it's a short walk to the hotel. Having got the buggeration out of the way today we should have a clear run tomorrow morning.  We both had curry in the Garden Restaurant after we arrived; to remind us that we were still in England.   (Yesterday in the Mason's Arms I was trying to choose between Butty Bach, HPA and Twisted Spire at 3:50 a pint; this evening it was between Coors Light, Grolsch, Caffreys etc at £3:50 a half!)