2008 FLORIDA VACATION
12/27/08 - 02/27/09
Clay & Pat Stahl
Again we took three days to travel, shunning I95 for RT13 through the DelMarVa peninsula, the Chesapeake Bridge
Tunnel and RT 17, getting a little farther the first day this time to Jacksonville, NC. It was real warm, so we played
golf in Myrtle Beach, SC the second day and stopped in Charleston, SC for the night. We arrived at our villa in Flagler
Beach late afternoon the third day. As last year, we will be here for the two months, driving to Ft. Lauderdale
a day early to board our Caribbean cruise.
Overall, it was a little colder this year, but we played some golf. Here are photos of a few activities during the stay.
You can select an activity as listed below, or use your browser's scroll bars to see them all. The page is
best viewed with a broadband connection and Internet Explorer 7 at 1024 x 768 x 32bit color in full
screen mode and 100% Zoom Level!
The villa is much larger than either of the two condos we were in the last seven years, but the view is a little
disappointing, with the ocean being visible only from the second floor guest room and the balcony, and only a
partial view at that. One plus however, is the (Bright House) High Speed Internet service. The driving distance is
1035 miles.
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| After 7 years in Ormond By The Sea Condos (Leeward Winds and Seabridge),
We Are About 6 Miles North in Flagler Beach
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| There Are 3 Groups of 4 Attached Buildings, Two Stories high. We Are the Second One in
on 18th Street.
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| It Is Very Nice, But We Are a Little Disappointed With Only a Narrow Ocean View From
the Back Deck
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| Some Flagler Beach Neighbors: Quite a Few Houses Are On The Market; No Mistaking
This Guy's Hobby; and The Results of a Killer Frost
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| Some Ornamental Florida Front Yard Plants; Above, Cactus. Below, Aloe
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Jim and Sharon Houghton are from Michigan and we met them playing golf here two years ago. We played a few more
rounds then, and stayed in touch although they couldn't make it down last year. They are back again, staying nearby
at their daughter's house in Ormond Beach. This year, we played a few more rounds and had dinner together. Here
are a few photos of us at Halifax Plantation in Ormond Beach.
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| Sharon and Pat at Halifax Plantation in Ormond Beach
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| Jim and Clay at Halifax Plantation in Ormond Beach
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Our daughters Penny and Sue visited us for a few days and we picked them up at the Jacksonville airport. Since
the flight arrived on time in mid morning, they had researched a few activities in and around Jacksonville.
However, it was a rainy day, so the only activity that was practical was The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens.
Their web site says that it is the largest fine arts museum in Northeast Florida, a home to a highly regarded
collection of European masters and American impressionists, a world-renowned collection of 18th century Meissen
porcelain, and more than two-and-one half acres of historic gardens along the St. Johns River. From a relatively
small collection of sixty pieces that launched the museum, it has grown to over six thousand works of art.
It is right near I95, but we went too far, and had to double back, then finding it easily and spent a few hours
with a visit to the gardens during a break in the rain. The museum was nice, not too big to be an art overload, but
not surprisingly, there were no photos allowed inside.
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| The Museum is Built On the Site of the Home of Arthur and Ninah Cummer, and Opened its
Doors to the Public on November 10, 1961.
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| Trellises at the End of the English (1903) Garden
| The Dominating "Cummer" (200 Year-Old) Live Oak With its 175 Foot Canopy
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| The Reinhold Courtyard Amid the Art Gallery Rooms
| "Gloriette" (Archway) in The Italian (1931) Garden
| Sue (in Front!) and Diana
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| There is a Good View From the Museum Gardens Across the St. Johns River (and of I95!)
| Lunch in an Atlantic Beach Brewpub
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| Here We Are In Front Of Our Villa, With the Ladies in Their Phillie's Shirts, and
Just the Girls Taking their Obligatory Dip in the Ocean (Brr!)
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It was still a little rainy (and still not too warm) the next morning, so we played miniature golf on a course all to
ourselves, drove on Daytona Beach (the entrance fee station was closed) and went to lunch at Crabby Joe's in Daytona
Beach Shores.
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| We've Driven by this Place Many Times on the Way to Regulation Golf.
Each Hole Has a Sentence About a Captain Kidd Event
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| There were Some Signs With Yuks. Deserted Today But Probably Packed During the
Beach Season & Events
| Out on a Windy Pier for Lunch
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There was a story about a play in the local paper that caught our attention. This was the second week for Crowns,
a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the NAACP. The 30 year old Flagler Playhouse is a non-profit organization
that solicits members promising hard work with no pay! This Presentation featured Black Ladies' love of hats,
especially in church.
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| No Photos(!) During the Performance, But Here is the Set Prior to the Start.
We Were in the Next-to-last Row, But the Theater is Real Small!
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| The Playhouse Building Used to be (Fittingly) The Former First Baptist Church.
Snuck a Few Photos at The End And During the Bows!
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| We Went to a Luau With a Family-style Dinner in Daytona Beach,
Reserved the Tickets On-line the Previous Day, So Our Table Was in the Back.
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| The Show Was Tourist-like (Hey, We are Almost Residents!), but it Was Pretty Good.
They've Done This Before a Few Times!
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| Sue Was the First of Five Gutsy Ladies to Get Up On Stage For a Hula Lesson
| Sue Getting a Few Photos of the Performers
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Continuing a tradition started last year, two of my good friends from Schenectady, NY traveled from Jekyll
Island, Georgia to meet us at The Champions Club At Julington Creek near Jacksonville for a round of golf.
Their wives couldn't make it, so it was only the four of us for golf and dinner nearby.
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| Course Just South Of Jacksonville
| Clay, Pat, Graham Mason, Bill Arsenault
| Bill and Graham
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| We Chose This Course Because it is (Nearly) Halfway Between Us.
We played it 11 Years Ago With The Couples, But Don't Remember a Thing!
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| The Course Was Nice, and the Weather Was Nice, Especially When the Sun Was Out.
And There Was Very Little Wind
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We left the villa a day early to stay overnight in Ft. Lauderdale Beach. It was a leisurely 4 hour drive on RT1 to Ft.
Pierce and then 2 hours on not-too-busy I95 through the more densely populated South Florida to our hotel.
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| There Was Beach Access Through This Hotel on the Other Side of A1A.
| The Beach (and Water) Was Crowded
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| A Photo on Ft. Lauderdale Beach Looking North,
A Drink at the Tiki Bar on the Beach, and Back to Reality --
Our Hotel Across the Street!
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| Ft. Lauderdale, "America's Venice" -- A Yacht on an Inland Waterway
| City Park With Beach Access Named for Witty Columnist Earl Lifshey
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| Upscale Section of Ft. Lauderdale's A1A Oceanside
| First Five Books of the Bible on the Side of an A1A Synagog
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Look for photos of our Eastern Caribbean Cruise in a few days.
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