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 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.

Day 42 - Florida

Day 42

November 22

Perry, FL

Dearest Miss Smith,
    Here we are in Florida. This will be our last southward state for a while, as after this we are heading north. What a thing, to be heading north as winter comes along. Ah well, we would have to spend the winter somewhere and it might as well be up north where we can hopefully enjoy at least a few good snowstorms, whereas down in the south one may forget what season it really is.
    But I digress from our adventures. I must start with last night at the airport.
    Having watched the airplane carrying Susanna and Elizabeth leave the runway and disappear into the sky, Amy and I decided to go to a little cafe there at the airport for a light snack since Mikayla and Grace’s plane wasn’t scheduled to arrive for another hour. To have a conversation with only the two of us was rather a novelty since we have had so many traveling companions. Lest you get the wrong impression, Miss Smith, let me add that they have all been wonderful and we’ve been delighted to have them along. However, there we sat sipping our cups of hot chocolate and munching on delightful pastries while we chatted about everything: how the trip was going so far, what plans we had for upcoming states, what you might be doing at home, how Amy’s family was surviving without her and things of that sort. Suddenly I happened to glance at my watch and then sprang up exclaiming, “Oh, mercy me! Those poor girls!”
    At that, Amy, who had stared at me in astonishment, looked at her watch and said, “Their plane came in half an hour ago!”
    With that we rushed away. Arriving at the waiting area, we found the two girls talking with a man from security and looking rather worried. When they caught sight of us, they rushed over to us and we all talked at once until the security man came over and said, “I’m assuming you are not in need of my assistance anymore?”
    We assured him we did not and then hurried away to the RV.

    But that was last night. This morning we got up early; well, let me clarify, Amy, Grace and Mikayla got up early. I slept in.
    We arrived at the beaches of South Walton mid morning. Did you know that there are fifteen different “towns” in South Walton? We drove through every one of them, stopping here and there to shop, wander along the beach, eat or even get our bikes down and take a bike ride on some of the
paths. I’m not sure which place was my favorite, but we stopped in Blue Mountain,

  Grayton Beach,

 WaterSound

 and Alys.

 The weather was nothing like back home in late November. The water was glorious! We all went wading. I wore my Lady Diane hat along the beach and Grace told me all I needed was a long white dress with pink ribbons about it and I would look as though I had stepped from a history book.

    Oh, I must mention that when we were shopping, the first thing Grace bought was a purse.

Grace's purse

I’m not sure why she is obsessed with purses. Now if it were hats she was interested in I could understand, but purses? As for Mikayla, she bought some postcards to send back to her parents and brothers.
    One time we just had to stop was when we saw Charlie’s Donut Truck parked in Alys Beach. Oh those freshly made donuts just melted in our mouths! We talked about saving a few to send to you, but by the time we finished talking about it, we had eaten every one. Dreadfully sorry, Miss Smith, perhaps another time.

    Amy just reminded me to tell you of our bike ride. I know I mentioned that we took one, but I neglected to tell you about it.

We rode the Timpoochee Trail. It is an 18 mile long trail which was named after an Euchee Indian Chief who was very influential around here.

Don't you just love this Cafe name?

The path was perfect and everyone greatly enjoyed it.

Of course the dogs loved every bit of it since they got to be outside with us.

 Mikayla and Grace made it the 18 miles but weren’t up to riding back. Amy, wanting to give Timber a chance to really run, volunteered to ride back and pick up the RV. To this I agreed at once. The girls and I, along with Penelope, rested and shopped. Penelope was such a good dog, she stayed outside of the shops and watched our bicycles for us.

    We were planning to leave about mid afternoon, but it was late afternoon before we actually got on the road again heading for Forest Capital Museum State Park, which is near Perry, Miss Smith. Sometimes we could see The Gulf from the road.

We talked the entire way. The girls told us about home and mentioned how much they had enjoyed reading about the last two states on the blog. That was such a charming idea. I’m delighted to know that the others can learn about our marvelous adventures as they wait for us to arrive in their state.
    But now I must close, for it grows late, and so much being outdoors in the fresh air off the sea has made us all tired.

Good Night,

~Priscilla