Note From Bekah

Hey Everyone!
I'm not sure how many people are getting on here to read the latest travel reports from Priscilla and her friends, but as you probably noticed, there have been no updates for a while. It is all my fault. :P Sorry. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to get this caught up. I'll do my best to get Georgia finished before too much longer.

Now, I would like you to help me. If you read this blog and enjoy the posts, please leave me a comment and tell me so. If no one is really interested in reading about Priscilla's travels across the U.S. I'd like to know so I know if we should keep going with it. So please, take a minute and let me know.
Thanks!
~Bekah aka. Miss Smith aka. Priscilla De Silvosa :)

Day 52 - Georgia

Day 52

Dec. 2

Tybee Island, Georgia

Dear Miss Smith,
     I've been having so much fun today visiting Tybee Island Lighthouse and Museum . Do you know that it was rebuilt three times?? The first time it was rebuilt because storms took its toll on it. While the new one was getting  rebuilt a storm swept the old one away! The second one was rebuilt because after two years of it being done wind erosion had removed a good part of the sand underneath it and the sea was beginning to go right up to door. The third one was rebuilt because the Confederate troops had to set it on fire so that way the Union troops could not use it to guide there ships into the the harbor. And that is how it is today. It has 178 stairs and we had to climb them all to get to the top. Once we got to the top we could see a long way so it was worth the climb.
     Miss Priscilla just told me I should go to bed so I have to stop writing.

Till later,

-Christian

Day 51 - Georgia

Day 51

December 1

Midway, Georgia

My Dear Miss Smith,
    Here we are in Georgia, and it is the first of December and no snow. What was I thinking when I planned to spend fall and the beginning of winter down south? I’m longing for cold, brisk air, cheery fires - not that we have a fireplace in this wonderful RV - hay rides, pumpkin patches, snow storms, sleigh rides and such like. Ah me. Perhaps when this trip is over I shall turn around and head the other way to experience autumn and winter up in the north. But should it be spent in the New England states or out in the northwestern states or perhaps somewhere in-between? But that is a long way off. I must stick with the here and now.
    As Levi has no doubt told you in his letter, we camped near Fort King George Historic Site. A fascinating place along the coast, it is the oldest English fort remaining in Georgia.

Though not on the sea coast exactly, this fort was built in 1721 along the Altamaha River. The fort, the most southern outpost of Britain’s North American Empire, was abandoned only seven years after it was built due mostly, we learned, to disease, a harsh, coastal environment and the threats of Indian and Spanish attacks. However, General James Oglethorpe (I seem to connect John and Charles Wesley with the name Oglethorpe for some reason.), and a group of Scottish Highlanders arrived in 1736.

Officers' Quarters

    A settlement, which they named Darien, became a center of lumber export until as late as 1925!

I am not certain about when reconstruction was begun for Fort George, but now they have officer’s quarters, a blockhouse, a guardhouse, barracks, museum and even some cannons along the palisades. Levi and Christian enjoyed pretending they were soldiers.

Inside Barracks

    It was fascinating to wander about and try to imagine what it must have been like for those first soldiers stationed here, so far from their homes and everything they had known.


    We didn’t spend more than a few hours there before we loaded up to head farther up the coast to visit another fort.

    When we arrived at Fort Morris, the first thing we did was to eat a picnic lunch. The dogs thoroughly enjoyed being outside with us, and the boys, especially Levi, kept us amused by a steady flow of talk about anything and everything.

    Unlike Fort George, Fort Morris was built by order of the Continental Congress and first manned by 200 patriot soldiers. Guarding the Medway River at Sunbury, Fort Morris is known for the defiant words of its gallant officer, Colonel John McIntosh who, when the British demanded a surrender, replied, “Come and take it!”

The British, however, decided that they must hurry back to Florida right then and only returned later with a vastly superior force and took the fort.

    During the war of 1812, the fort, then named Fort Defiance, was again used to safeguard the harbor.

    There was a lovely nature trail there which we enjoyed exploring late in the afternoon before returning to our home-away-from-home.

    After eating our supper of lasagna, salad and french bread, we all agreed to drive the rest of the way up the coast to Tybee.

    Now we are relaxing. Allow me to clarify, Amy is busy on the phone. Since her older brother, I don’t recall which one, is getting married, she has been rather busy and distracted. She has even talked about going home. Perhaps she should. The only problem with that, Miss Smith, is that I would be alone when we reached States where no one is joining us. Perhaps you could check around for me and see if there is anyone who could join me. It may be that one of my relatives or friends could come.
    The boys are heading up to bed now and Amy is off the phone. I should head to bed as well.

Love,

~Priscilla

Day 50 - Georgia

Day 50

November 30

Darien, Georgia

Dear Miss Smith,
  There’s a lot of stuff we did today. First we went to Okefenokee Swamp Park. We went on their train tour.

 The train was called the Lady Suwannee. We saw many animals. We saw a white tail deer,

an otter,

and a water moccasin. Amy didn’t like the snake.

Then we saw some alligators. Christian saw them first. We were almost done when we heard Pricilla scream. We looked to see what it was. It was a black bear.

We all laughed. Once we were done, we went to the shop. Priscilla wanted to look at the hats!!!! But there weren’t any hats.

     Once we got out in the RV she put on her hiking hat. Then we went to the Okefenokee trail. After that we went to an RV park really close to Fort King George historical park site.

     Well, Christian is reading. Amy is putting mouse traps out. Priscilla is writing her journal.

Love,

Levi

Day 49 - Florida

Day 49

November 29

White Springs, FL

Dear Miss Smith,
          Today we spent a whole day at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park near the Suwannee River. We almost got lost trying to find our way there, we all tried to find where we were to go but soon we had to admit that we were lost, I will tell you this though, we really enjoyed trying to find our way there.

Suwannee River

 Anyway,  we did arrive and we rented some bikes and took the dogs with us down the trial. The trail is not more 70 miles, but as you can guess, we did not go all the way there and back. We enjoyed the splendor of it all, the trees full of chattering squirrels, and the birds calling to one another.   It actually wasn’t that cold and it wasn’t that hot, with a gentle breeze brushing our faces.


 We decided to go the Stephen C. Foster Museum hisorical place and see the desk where Stephen C. Foster finished writing the song, "Old Folks at Home." He actually never saw the Suwannee River, but he needed a two-syllable word, so a friend told him to use the Suwannee River.

Bell Tower

            We then listened to a concert of bells playing some of Stephen Foster's songs. It was actually quite lovely. 

            Also we went to a gift shop with one-of-a-kind things inside, like baskets, purses, children’s toys, jewelry, Leather works, and a few blacksmith stuff. Grace exclaimed that the purses were exquisite, Amy admired the artwork of the many workers, and I ought a beautiful woodwork with wolves. Personally, I like wolves, so it fit me. Grace bought a pink purse with a gold chain. Priscilla decided that she didn’t need any more hats so she didn’t buy anymore. I couldn’t believe that some many things were handmade, though, many of the workers there were experienced and stuff, so I guess, they could make such lovely things.

We are heading for home now, We have said goodbye to Amy and Priscilla, and they promised Grace that they would ship her six purses to her. The things I bought weren’t many so I just packed them into my bag. I can’t wait till I am home again!

Sincerely yours,

Mikayla

Day 48 - Florida

Day 48

Nov. 28

Orlando, Florida

Dear Miss Smith,

Today was an exciting day for me. We got to go to the Kennedy Space Center.

Priscilla, Amy, Mikayla and I went to see a film in the I-Max Theater. It was called Space Station 3D. It was a very interesting film. The narrator was Tom Cruise.

Amy and Priscilla took the Cape Canaveral: Then and Now Tour. They got to relive the launch at Air Force Space and Missile Museum. It was America's first satellite.

Mikayla and I couldn't go since we are both under 18. We were dissapointed but decided to take another tour in the meantime.

We took the Kennedy Space Center Up Close: The Launch Control Center Tour.

We got to tour the inside of the Firing Room 4. It is one of the four firing rooms and the one from which all 21 shuttle launches since the year of 2006 were controlled. Mikayla liked that you could see the computer console where the engineneers monitored computerized launch control system's that checks every mintue leading up to the launch. There are thousands. I enjoyed the bubble room where its walls of interior windows through which the KSC management team views all the proceedings below. I must say that I had a hard time convincing Mikayla but after she got there she had to agree that she liked it.

We then met Priscilla and Amy for lunch. I decided to eat lunch with an Astronuat. Priscilla joined me while Amy and Mikayla ate at the Kenneday Space Center Dining Room.

Later that afternoon we went to the Astronaut Memorial. It was designated by President George Bush in May 1991. It is made of Black granite that is 42 foot high by 50 foot wide. Names of astronauts that passed away was incarved in the granite surface. That was a sight to see.


We hung around looking for the rest of the afternoon. I just had to hit the gift shop before we left. I bought all four of us girls a tote bag that says "I need my SPACE". Priscilla still can't figure out why I love bags and purses so much. To me, I can't figure out why she loves hats so much. Hats seem like a waste to me.

Well I must end this. Take care of yourself and talk to you soon.

Love,

Grace Mae

Day 47 - Florida

Day 47

November 27

Miami, FL

Dear Miss Smith,
            Today we had the fun of our lives! First after we left the Everglades we went to the Miami Sea Aquarium.
            We all wanted to do the Sea Trek Reef Encounter. We were told we were not to wear jewelry if we were going to be going to participate in going into the water. I almost felt disappointment when they asked for glasses, I mean, who would want to miss out on all the fun and only get to see a blurry vision of every thing you wished to have seen. But then they told me I could have my glasses but every one wearing sunglasses were required to not wear them.

Another group in the water.

            All four of us gasped when we saw the helmets we were to use: They looked like an old-fashioned helmet they wear when they go into the ‘deep’, they were white, and suctioned to your shoulders, hooked to a blue hose, and looked like you had a alien antennae on the top of you head.  They had us wear diving suits.
            When we were ready, all of us tourists slid into the water where thousands of fish and rays, quietly and peacefully swam.

            The water was actually very pleasant to swim in. We all gasped as we slid farther into the cool water.  Other people were on the other side of a glass window, looking in on us. I started when a turtle of large size swam right up to where every one else was gathered.

            Amy, Priscilla, Grace and I enjoyed it all, the rays coming up real close and seem to look at you strangely then wander off, the fishes would just look then dart away with their mouths would open with supposed, huffing and puffing.

            After 20 minutes underwater we all had to climb out.

           We went over to a show where a Killer Whale and streaked white dolphins playing together and performing. The Killer Whales name was Lolita she was pretty magnificent. She and her trainer ‘walked’ on water, the dolphins did their own thing too.

We clapped at the end of the performance; delighted at the wonderful and amazing tricks they continued to do till they disappeared into their own little pool away from the people. Also we were given shirts from a friendly tourist who accidentally bought the wrong sizes for his four children. When he noticed that we were about the right size for the T-Shirts he asked us if we wanted them.

            We had lunch at one of the cafeteria’s restaurants, and then walked over to all sorts of different exhibits. We saw sharks and clownfish,

dolphins playing in the water, nosing the glass and ‘talking,' went to the Shark Channel and stared at the shark’s cold blue eyes,

saw manatees lazily float above the water, and visited Discovery Bay. Who knew there were such pretty and exotic things living in the water? God knew of course.

             We were going to spend sometime at Salty’s Pirate Grounds, where you could cool off but we didn’t have the time so we just went to the gift shop.

Priscilla bought a beautiful seaside hat, with a blue flower and blue ribbon. I bought a tote bag with red, white and blue pansy design. Grace got a sea star tan, purse with ‘Cs’ all around it, well they looked like Cs.  We even saw a lovely pen stand in the shape of a heart. I got it for my Mom; she would love it for her next anniversary.  I also bought a postcard to send to my family.

            We had a wonderful time at the Miami Sea Aquarium; I hope I get to see it again someday.

Till next time,

Mikayla

Day 46 - Florida

Day 46

Nov. 26

Everglades National Park, FL

My Dear Miss Smith,
    Oh, what a lovely day this has been. Last night after the girls had gone to bed, Amy and I took the dogs for an evening stroll along the beach. The sun had set and the evening breeze was pleasant. We discussed our day and talked about the coming one. We were both wishing we could have spent more time with the dolphins since we were staying at the only hotel in the continental United States that has real live dolphins, so we began to scheme and plan.
    This morning, as we all sat at an early breakfast, I told the girls that instead of leaving right away for the Everglades, we were going to go spend another hour or so with the dolphins. Grace gave a cry of delight for she loved her time with them. Then Amy informed Mikayla that she would either have to remain on the dry dock herself or join the rest of us in the water. Amy had kindly remained on the dock yesterday with Mikayla since Mikayla didn’t want to go in the water. Mikayla was rather hesitant, but with the combined urging of Grace and myself and Amy’s continued refusal to stay out of the water, she at last gave in and agreed to join us.
    When I first heard we would be in the water yesterday, I assumed we would have to be swimming, but there was an underwater platform for us to stand on.

    Miss Smith, Grace said she told you about our time with the dolphins yesterday, but I doubt if she could share the thrill of holding on to a dolphin’s dorsal fin and being pulled through the water at a rapid pace, the water being cut around you and leaving a trail of waves behind; the fun of splashing and being splashed by a dolphin, the delight of directing a dolphin choir and listening to their wonderful sounds, the wonder of watching the dolphins follow your commands to fetch rings, leap, dive or dance on their tails, the charm of their kisses, or the humor of their laughter. All this and so much more. I begin to realize the impossibilities of conveying what it was really like.

    I know you will think me perfectly hopeless, Miss Smith, but I wore my “ladies top hat” to visit the dolphins this morning.

Ladies Top Hat

I did have one on yesterday, but left it with Amy and Mikayla. This morning, however, there was no one to leave it with so I wore it in the water. At one point my hat blew off my head, for I was in such a hurry this morning that I neglected to use a hat pin. But as I was saying, it blew off and went sailing across the water. I wondered how I could get it back and gestured to it and gave the sign to fetch to the dolphin I was playing with, and would you believe it, Miss Smith? He fetched me my hat! Oh the praise I lavished on him. I fear it made the others rather jealous for they came over too as though to see what the fuss was about and he must have told them, for he talked and laughed at me. The other girls laughed with him and even the real trainer who was with us laughed. I was half afraid Amy would take my hat and toss it back into the water for another dolphin to fetch it, she seemed to enjoy it so much.

The "Real" Trainer

    Later Amy said, “‘Cilla, if you are going to wear hats, you really must make sure they are secure before we venture out for our adventures or you will lose them one by one. If you wish, I can save you the trouble of slowly losing them and just pack them all up and mail them at once to Miss Smith.”
    I assured her I would be more careful, and when we reached the Everglades I made sure “Madaline” was securely on my head. But I am getting ahead of the day.

    It was hard to part with those darling dolphins. Oh those dear dolphins! I know I will always remember my time with them and I have certainly added that hotel to the visit again section of my notebook. And I’m sure it won’t surprise you, Miss Smith, that the addition to my “50-State” hat for Florida is a dolphin.

    At last we tore ourselves away and headed up here to the Everglades.
    It was rather overcast, but not enough to make us think rain. At first we thought we’d go walking on the trails and take the dogs along with us, but since no dogs are allowed on the trails, as it could prove hazardous to their health and to ours, we opted to go on a ranger guided canoe trip. ( Note from Miss Smith: Make sure your sound is on before clicking this link.)

    I didn’t realize until we got here that December though April are the dry season here and with it being so late in November, the wet season has practically ended. We were delighted to discover that since December hadn’t yet arrived, the crowds of the Everglades were only beginning. Thus it was that we had a total of eight people on our tour, making it a pleasant four-canoe trip.
    Our guide was a young man who enjoys his work and who answered questions quite knowledgeably. First he gave us instructions about our canoes. Since Grace and Mikayla had never canoed before, he assigned Mikayla to his canoe and Grace to another older man who had been canoeing for years. Amy and I were assigned to the same canoe for which I was thankful. Amy knows how to paddle a canoe. The next time you see Amy’s brothers, please give them my hearty thanks for teaching Amy to handle a canoe!
    Our guide, Josh, told us that the first rule was to remain seated at all times. For some reason, he said, there are people who, when they see the large American Crocodile (I had thought there were only alligators around here, but Josh told us there are both.) they want to stand up to get a good picture of him and then their canoe drifts closer and closer and what if they were to tip? It made me shudder to think of it. There was no danger of us standing up!

Alligator

    The whole experience was delightful. We saw alligators and yes, Miss Smith, we did see the large crocodile. And goodness, was he large! Believe me, we kept our distance.

Great Egret

We also saw a large variety of birds.

Brown Pelican

Madaline

Since it was the beginning of the dry season, there were thankfully very few insects to bother us. And my hat remained on my head the entire time.

    I neglected to mention that when we arrived, we were told that the vultures in the area liked to attack anything rubber and had been known to destroy windshields and tires, so before we left for our tour we had to take out a tarp and cover the front of the RV. I was much relieved to find everything undisturbed upon our return.
    We were able to take the dogs out right around our RV before supper, which we ate indoors. The clouds had dispersed and the moon was coming out when Amy had a brilliant suggestion.
    “Why don’t we get a blanket or two and climb out onto the top of the RV and lie up there and look at the stars?”
    I was charmed with the idea, so, gathering up a few blankets, the four of us did just that. Oh, Miss Smith, the sky was so beautiful, the stars so bright with no city lights to dim their brilliance, and we could see stars, planets and constellations which, in the city, remain invisible. We remained up there for over an hour just relaxing and talking now and then before everyone was yawning and we came inside.
    The others have gone to bed, and since I can scarcely keep my eyes open and my handwriting is becoming nearly illegible, I will close.

Sweet dreams,

~Priscilla

Day 45 - Florida

Day 45

Nov. 25

Hawks Cay, Florida

Dear Miss Smith,
    Yesterday was Thanksgiving and it did feel a little strange not being with our families. Instead we made each other family.
    Well, today we went to Hawks Cay Tropical Lagoon to swim with the dolphins. First we had to enter the outdoor classroom to get our instructions. That was educational but a little long. Priscilla and I enjoyed swimming, playing, and kissing the dolphins.

We got to spend 25 minutes in the water. I enjoyed splashing with the dolphins while we were in the water. Miss Smith, you would definitely love it here. I could spend all the time in the world in the water with them. Mikayla and Amy though, decided to stay on dry land and play with the dolphins instead.

    The Hawk Cay Resort Lagoon for dolphins was constructed in 1985. The purpose was to serve as a place for the bottlenose dolphins that seasonally preform all over the United States. Now the Dolphin Connection Company is independent under direction of the Messengers, who continue to carry on the tradition of breeding, education, and research.

    We all went on a boat ride where Mikayla and I got to go fishing.

Later, that day, Priscilla and Amy went snorkeling.



    After a nice lunch, we all decided to play tennis. I must tell you Miss Smith that I am not good at the game. It was great fun though. We all kept playing until we realized that it was nearly 5 o'clock. 
    I hope to that someday I can come again. Before we left, I hit the gift shop and can you guess what I found? Another purse! Mikayla was laughing because I couldn't decided between the duffel bag or the small handbag. I ended up getting the small handbag and a change purse for Mikayla. Priscilla found a pin for her hat, while Amy bought some postcards. 
    We all headed back to the hotel for supper. Now I am so tired and need to take it easy and get to bed.

Take care,

Grace Mae

P.S. I am going to send you a postcard soon with a picture from Dolphin Connections.

Day 44 - Florida - Postcard

Thanksgiving Day

Postcard

Dear Miss Smith,
   Have you been wondering what happened to me? Yes, I do still exist, even if I haven't been writing much for a while.
  Today was a little strange being the first Thanksgiving day that I have spent without my family but it was fun going on the bike ride and getting to see all of the wildlife. It's so different here! You might not think so, since we're still in the same country and all, but yes, there are huge differences!

~Amy~

Day 44 - Florida

Day 44

November 24

Florida Keys, FL

Dear Miss Smith,
            Today is Thanksgiving! You would NOT believe the time we have had hiking and all sorts of fun stuff. 

            I guess I should tell you about the first place we went to today, we went to the Florida Key Heritage Trial, which has over 70 of trail! It goes from Key Largo to Key West. Mind you, we only went on half of the trail, also we rode bikes the whole way. It was a splendid time, nice and quiet and beautiful. There were several places we visited on our bike ride though we couldn't spend much time anywhere, Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, Crocodile Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, and last of all, Key West National Marine Sanctuary. The crocs were fun to look at though they frightened me when some of them tried to climb up onto the high wooden path above them. I do believe Amy liked to watch the majestic White Heron’s rise lightly off the water they had been resting by. The Marine Sanctuary was pleasant and we loved watching the fish streak past us. Priscilla just loved to look up at the animals that skittered up in the trees above us and would ask us all sorts of questions, which about none we had the answers to which when we answered them wrong we just laughed and laughed at some of the answers we gave.

            Then we went to a lovely resort, called Hawks Cay; quite different from any I have ever seen.

The kids play area was huge with cannons that blasted water, and a ship slide! We are staying at Marina Village,

one of the three other different places to stay, Sunset Village, Harbor Village, and Sanctuary Village. We have a wonderfully breath-taking view of ocean. The room we are staying in is quite large, big enough for 6 people to sleep in that one ‘room’ if you could call it that. It has a rear porch, and a front porch, 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, and even a kitchen! I imagine that many of who stay here rarely ever uses the kitchen.

             For lunch we ate at Tom’s Harbor House, set up to look like an old fishing village, they had a varied menu, and we enjoyed every moment there. We had ice cream after ward. 

            We spent the rest of the day wandering around, enjoying the ocean’s salty breeze; I even got an evening picture of the sunset. Grace and I even wanted to go deep-sea fishing, while Amy and Priscilla wanted to go snorkeling; but as it is Thanksgiving, we highly doubted that we would be able to so we just relaxed.

Till next time,

Mikayla

P.S. I am sending you my sunset picture.