This year's Florida vacation was typical with golf on most weekdays, weather permitting.
Here are photos of a few activities. They were taken with our Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom
Digital Camera. You can select an activity as listed below, or use your browser's scroll
bars to view them all. The page is best viewed with Internet Explorer 6 at
800 x 600 x 32 bit color or better in full screen mode.
Like last year, we took the non-interstate route down, using I95 only around Philadelphia
on a Saturday morning, down the DelMarVa peninsula, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
to the first night's stay in Kinston, NC. Since we wouldn't be able to get into our condo
until New Year's Day, we scheduled three nights in Charleston, SC. While there, we took
three organized tours, A City Bus Tour, an Afternoon Plantation Tour, and a Black History
Tour. There was also plenty of time to wander around on our own in the delightful weather.
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Charleston's Northern Entrance- 2 Old Narrow Bridges
Over The Cooper River And Towers For Their Eight
Lane Replacement Scheduled For A 2006 Completion.
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| The Aircraft Carrier Yorktown On The Other Side Of
The Cooper River. We Visited It A Few Years Ago.
There Is More Than You Could Possibly Want To
Know About It On
The Navy's Web Site.
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Pat On The Walkway Along Charleston Harbor
Across The Street From Battery Park.
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| Fort Sumter-
Out Where The Harbor And Ocean Meet.
We Took The Tour While Here Many Years Ago.
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| Rainbow Row, 14 Private Homes That Date From 1740.
The Owners Paint Them In Contrasting Colors.
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"The Market"-
A Three Block Classy Indoor Flea Market. Originally
Constructed In 1804, Now Kind Of Touristy
But With A Nice Mix Of Souvenirs, Local Crafts, And Decent Stuff!
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The
Joseph Manigault House, Built In 1803 And Said
To Have An Outstanding Collection Of Period
Furniture, But We Didn't Have Time For A Tour.
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| A Private Home Across The Street From The Battery.
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Emanuel AME Church- The Oldest AME Church In The
South. Denmark Vesey, The Former Slave Who Bought
His Freedom With Lottery Winnings Was A Founder.
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| Barkless Trees In Charleston!
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A Reproduction Of The Hunley-
The First Submarine
In The World To Sink A Ship In Combat. The Recently
Recovered Hunley Is In A Museum Out Of Town
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| The "Old" Citadel, Now An Embassy Suites Hotel.
The Present College Moved Uptown
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A
"Single House" Has A Piazza (Porch) Along Its
Length To Catch Summer Breezes With All Rooms
The Width Of The House- If The Porch Door Was
Open, You Were Welcome, If Closed, Well...
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| One Of Many Charleston Houses With Earthquake
Bolts- Steel Rods And Turnbuckles To Shore Up
The Building After The Disastrous 1886 Earthquake,
The Greatest Ever In The Southeastern U. S.
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Charleston's Marion Square Is Dominated By
John C. Calhoon- Congressman, Two-Time Senator,
Secretary Of War And Two-Time Vice President.
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| It Is Difficult To Remember That It Is Still The
Christmas Season- We Took Our Tree Down Last Week!
Pat Is In The Car Waiting For Clay To Get The Picture.
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Also In Marion Square Is
The Holocaust Memorial To Survivors Who Resettled In South
Carolina. The Bricks
Have Their Names And There Is A 12 foot Bronzed Tallit,
(Prayer Shawl) With A Missing Tassel.
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First Night- Pat Asked If They Have Pre Fixe Wine
Dinners! Sure Enough, The Waiter Talked To The Chef
And They Came Up With A Very Nice Four Courser.
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| Based On A Recommendation From Another Dining
Couple (Who Operate A Restaurant Themselves), We
Went To This Nice French Place The Second Night.
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Seafood Restaurant Recommended By Last Evening's
Waiter. The Interior Is Classier Than The Exterior! Our
Server Here Also Had Nice Words For Mistral- Hmmm!
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| She-crab Lunch Between Tours. It Is Sort Of A
Brewpub, Trucking In Beer From Other T-Bonz
Locations With Brewing Equipment.
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Magnolia Plantation, 10 Miles Up The Ashley River From
Charleston, The Only Plantation Still Under The
Original Family Ownership! This Is The Front And Back Of
The Main Plantation House. It Was Originally Built
Before The Revolution, Rebuilt After Being Burned During
The Civil War, And Has Had Many Additions Since.
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The Main Product Of The Plantation Was Rice, Ground Into Flour
And Shipped To Europe. These Are Two Of
The Rice Fields, Flooded With Fresh Water, Although They Are
Merely Algae Choked Swamp Ponds Now.
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A "Joglety", Now A Tame Seesaw for Tourist Kids,
But With More Flexible Boards In Plantation Days,
A Courting Seat Slowly Drawing A Couple Together!
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| The 150 Year-Old "Long White Bridge", Originally
Spanning A Natural River That Was Later Dammed
To Make Another Rice Field.
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Many Of The Plantation Owners Emigrated From Barbados. This
Walk-Through Greenhouse Is Filled With
Native Barbados Plants And Trees.
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| Our Guide Showing Us The Winter-Blooming Flowers.
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| One In The Line Of The Plantation Owner Families Is Entombed
In The Tree!
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Of Course, Slave Labor Was What Made The Plantations Successful,
And Here Are Slave Quarters. There Were
Over 300 Slaves At The Time Of The Civil War. The House On The
Left Has Been Restored For Tourist Visits.
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Transportation Between The Plantation and
Charleston Was On The Ashley River- To The City
On The Outgoing Tide, And Back To The Plantation
With The Incoming Tide!
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| Most Of The Spanish Moss Was Lost With Hurricane
Hugo In 1989. Here Is A Big Oak Tree With The Moss,
Said To Be Just Now Getting Back to Normal!
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| The Tour Included A Tram Ride Through The Audubon Swamp Garden,
Formerly A Maze Of Rice Fields.
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During The Summer, There Would Also Have Been
A Nature Boat Tour Through The Swamp Ponds.
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| Seeing The Alligator Made The Tour Guide's Day!
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Cypress Knees- The Tree Roots Sprout Up Through
The Ground.
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| A Few Ducks Familiar With The Tourists.
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On A Morning Off In Charleston, We Visited The
South Carolina
Aquarium. The Tour Starts At The Top Of The
Building With Mountain Streams And Continues Down Through The
Piedmont, Coastal Plains, Salt Marshes
And Finally The Ocean. Luckily, We Hit It At A Fairly
Uncrowded Time!
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We Had An Afternoon Bus Tour To Rush Back For And This Was A
Pretty Good Walk, So We Didn't Have A
Lot Of Time, But It Was Plenty Enough To See, (But Fortunately Not
Enough To Read!) Everything.
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A Bus Tour Took Us To The
Angel Oak On John's Island West Of The Main Part Of The City.
Angel Was The Last
Name Of One Of Many Owners, But It Is Now The Property
Of The City Of Charleston. It Is A Live Oak (A
Species, Not A Medical Condition), And
Wouldn't You Need Some Support If You Were Over 1400 Years Old?
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Last February, we went to Blue Spring State Park in Orange City about 20 miles north of
Orlando to see the Manatees, but they had left a day or two previously- not showing us any
consideration at all! We planned ahead this year, and attended the Manatee Festival on a
Saturday morning.
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The Manatee Festival, A
Well-Attended Yearly Two Day Country Fair Without Carnival
Rides, But With Lots Of
Kid's Stuff, Live Entertainment, Loud Recorded Music, And
Plenty Of Food, Craft, And Souvenir Stands.
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Of Course, We Are Nowhere Near The Beach, But
There Was A Big Pile Of Sand For Anyone
Sculpturally Inclined.
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| You Could Climb A Rock Wall For A Fee, Ring The Bell
And Win A Prize. There Was No Age Or Size
Limitations- Thanks, But No Thanks!
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The Festival Admission Included A Short Bus Trip To
Nearby
Blue Spring State Park To See The Manatees.
There Is A Long Wood Walkway Along The Run To View The Spring
And Its Flow To The St. John's River.
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There Were Plenty To See, All Were Just Below The
Surface Of The Shallow Run To The River.
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| Of Course I Won't Touch, But "Adopt A Manatee??"
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We Were There Early, But The Walkway Was Still Very Crowded.
One Overheard Comment- "If You've Seen
One, You've Seen Them All!" The Park Service Counted 101
Of Them On The Previous Day
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And Finally, The Reason For The Manatees- Blue
Spring At The End Of The Run And At The End
Of The Walkway.
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| A Yuk Yuk For The Tourists!
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The Thursby House On The Park Grounds- Only Open During The
Two Days Of The Manatee Festival. Louis
Thursby Was The First Settler In This Area, Maintaining An
Orange Grove And Steamboat Landing In The
Post Civil War Years. We Took The Short Walk-Through Tour
Of The Ground Floor.
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There Was A Big Story About This In The Daytona
Beach Newspaper. There Was Also A Souper Bowl In
Daytona Beach The Same Day.
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| Participating Businesses Were Identified By The
Small Football Yardage Markers And Balloons. There
Were Many Types, Some Very Hearty, & Most Servings
Were Small. Still, You Can't Believe How Quickly
You Can Get Full- We Did About A Dozen!
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There Were 28 Businesses Serving. Restaurants Provided The Soups
Of Course, But Most Not In Their Own
Places. There Were Clothing Stores, Furniture Stores, Art
Galleries, Florists, Even A Golf Shop! It Was Very
Well Attended With Proceeds Going To A Local Charity.
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All Servers Were Very Gracious, Identifying The Soup
Being Served, Making Small Talk, And Sometimes
Offering You A Sample Menu From The Restaurant
Providing The Soup.
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| Larry Thomas, The Soup Nazi On Seinfeld, Receiving
The Key To The City From The DeLand Mayor! No, He
Didn't Serve Any Soup, But Held Court In One Of The
Stores, Selling & Signing Books, Photos, T-Shirts, etc.
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Like last year, Mike Deneen and Judy Huro were gracious hosts for a Super Bowl party at their
South Beach condo a few miles north on A1A in Flagler Beach. Also like last year, they put on
a wonderful affair, this time with a very interesting football game, and everybody was having
such a great time that no one saw The Halftime Show Revelation!
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| Co-Host Mike Deneen, Charlie Ebel
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| Appropriate Napkins, Cups, And Other Stuff
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Pat Stahl, Ellie Steadman
Ellie's Patriots Made It, Pat's Iggles Didn't!
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| Ken Costello, Thane Nicely, Jim Munsinger
Ken again did a super pool job
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Pat Nixon Foster, Dip
The Dip Is In The Front, Pat Is Not Dippy!
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| Charlie Smith, Jeanne Munsinger
Like Most Teams, The Packers Didn't Make It
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| Sue Smith- Sorry, The Jets Are Also Not Playing!
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| Charlie, Thane
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| "The Thinker" Vidya Perseaud
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| Sue, Football Game, Mike Perseaud
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| Jim, Mike P
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| Linda Costello, Bill Baird, Jim
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| Edie Hawkins
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| Jeanne
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| Ro Baird, With A friendly Wave
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| Co-host Judy Huro, Gwen Sarzen
Gwen Just Arrived With A Potent Potable
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| Lilli Chisolm, Judy
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| Joe Chisolm
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| Ilse Kreuger, Ted Kruger
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| Johnny Lynn Making A Point
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| Dick Kartcher
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| Regina Karcher, Terry
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| Bill, Joe, Clay Stahl, Mike D
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| Charlie, Dick Foster
Dick Is Straining To See An Overhead TV!
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| Pat S, Lilli
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| Pat F, Jeanne
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| Charlie, Dick, Pat F
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| Fooood, Ken, Thane, Mike D
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| Sparky (Costello)
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| Sue, Jim, Ilse, Sparky, Ted
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Linda, Taking A Break
Linda Was The Food Coordinator
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| Charlie, Getting His Big Pool Winnings From Ken
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The LPGA Golf Course is in Daytona Beach and is the home of the Ladies' Profesional
Golf Association. Although there are no LPGA tournaments, a lot of the lady
professionals have (real nice!) homes here.
We again spent a couple of hours in downtown Daytona Beach on a weekday during
Bike Week. See
Last Year's Bike Week Photos. This year, there are more photos of motorcycles and many that capture the
feel of the event. Why is the "cycle" in motorcycle not pronounced like the
"cycle" in bicycle?
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| Main Street, Downtown Daytona Beach
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| There Are No Stop Lights, It's All Volume!
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| Bike Week Activities Are Spread All
Over A 50 Mile Radius From Here,
But This Is The Center Of Gravity
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| Lots Of Chrome, Very Few Are In Their Original Factory State
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| "BY OWNER"? Of Course, How Else!
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| These Boots Are Made For Ridin'
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| Colors (Christian Motorcycle Association)
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| Comfort (Hog's Breath Saloon- Key West)
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| They Come From All Over, But Many Are "Trailered" Here
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| Obviously Parked For The Day!
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| Parking: Bikes- $5, Cars- $10 (And A 6 Block Walk)
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| Some Are Highly Customized
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| There Are Other Activities, But Both
Bike & People Watching Are The Main Ones
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| "Free Bibles"- A Religious Forum On A Bike
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| Wherever Two Or Three Are Gathered Together
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| There Are All Kinds Of Three-Wheelers
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| And Four-Wheelers!
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| But What Is Still Considered A "Bike"?
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| A Wheelchair On The Back!
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| A Group of Rice-Eaters (Non-Harleys) On A1A
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| Pat & Sue Taking A Break
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| Daytona Beach, A Few Blocks From The Action
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| Free Parking On The "Boardwalk"
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| Can You Hear Me Now?
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| Sue Has Store Souvenirs, Pat Has Dancing Souvenirs!
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There Is Still Plenty Of Noise In Front Of Our Ormond
Beach Condo On A1A, 30 Miles North Of Main Street
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