Our Time in Florida 2013

It is good to report that the weather just keeps getting warmer!

We started our Florida adventure at the Stephen Foster State Park with Dad & Mary.  It was a beautiful park.  This is the tower that plays Stephen Foster tunes.  You can hear it through the whole park.

Our next stop was our first FAM camp.  We stayed at Jacksonville Navy Air Station.  I didn't take any pictures of the base, but it was fantastic.  This is our campsite.

 

We started this day off with a trip to the American Culinary Federation main office. Lorie McKown, the administrator for the American Academy of Chefs, gave us a tour of the building.  They have a lot of archives and artwork on display. 

 



After the tour we went to old St. Augustine.  We took the trolley and made it a day trip.

We walked around the Castillo de San Marcos.  It is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two of my favorite stops were to view buildings that were built by Henry Flagler. The first was the Presbyterian Church that Henry Flagler had dedicated to his daughter after she died.

 

 



 

 

The second was the old Ponce de Leon hotel that Flagler built.  It is now Flagler College.  You can see that this building was a beautiful hotel.  Now it is a fantastic college.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are random photos I took throughout the day.  Old wrought iron in the cemeteries, flowers, fountains, the 1850 Jolly Roger and food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had dinner outside and it was wonderful.  This is the view we had and dinner.

 

The most special part of the whole trip was getting to see my nephew and his family.  This is daddy being a daddy and me with Declan.  He is a sweetie!

 

 

 

 



Now we are off to Coco Beach so you know there will be more photos to come.



Savannah 2013

So we are heading south. 

One of our stops is Savannah, GA.  So much beauty and history.

Our first night there we ate at Vic's on the River. 

The inside of this place was beautiful and the food was fantastic.

 

 

Then we walked around town at night.  It was wild and spooky.

 

 

 

On day two we took a trolley tour in the daylight.  We will come back here again.

These are random shots during our walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We also went into St. John the Baptist Church.  The wood and marble work were fantastic.

 

 

 

And of course there was food.  This restaurant serves a family style meal that was wonderful.  I am glad I didn't eat breakfast.

 

 

It has been six days since we left Amazon.  We are sleeping better and feeling better.  I think the sunshine is helping.

 

 

We are going to do a lot of traveling in Florida this year so check your email for more updates!

 



Habitat 2013

This page is dedicated to a dear friend who passed away just weeks before the build.  Charlie was a great teacher and I learned so much from him during the three builds we did together. 

God, you took a good one! We miss you Charlie!

 

Due to a huge commitment Pete and Sandee could not make the build this year.  I think Pete would have enjoyed this build because we did a lot of new things.  Can't wait to see them next year!!

 

Then one of our team members had to leave due to a emergency call regarding her mom.  Merilyn flew home and was able to make it home before her mom passed away.  Larry and his son drove the rig home.  It was a very emotional couple of weeks for all of us.

 

So here are some pictures from this years build.  I am sure things will change, as they always do, but this is a great team and we will meet again next year!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Emergency vehicles because the electric company broke the gas line.

 

My three buddies!  the one in the middle Zoe, only likes the other puppy when there are treats.   

Carpenters ball 2013

 

 



 

 This is Joleen



And this is her mom Zoe!