Savannah & Geocaching

Savannah
Scott and I decided to take our motorcycles to Savannah for a weekend of geocaching (more about this later), people watching and good food. Savannah is one of many places we like to go and relax. The streets, buildings, and especially the cemeteries are full of history and beauty. It is a wonderful place to just wander around on foot or bicycle. If you go to Savannah, here are a few of the dining places on the river that we recommend.


Tubby's Tank House


One-eyed Lizzy's


Spanky's


Riverfront

Geocaching

Scott and I found several caches in Savannah. Many times caches are hidden in cemeteries and that makes Savannah a great place for the game.


One of the beautiful places geocaching took us this time.

Have you ever been Geocaching? Geocaching is a world wide game that is played by using your GPS unit to locate a specific point on the globe where something is hidden. It is a lot of fun and can be done anywhere you travel. A typical (traditional) geocache is hidden in an ammo box or rubbermaid type container to keep the contents from the elements. They can be hidden anywhere and pretty much are everywhere. Here are a few examples.


Typical hiding place for a traditional cache.


I found it, finally.


We found several geocaches in Savannah and the fun didn't stop in there. When we got back home we found a few more within 5 miles of our house. During one of our hikes looking for a cache in a state park right down the road we were treated to a beautiful set of waterfalls that we never knew were there. After we did a little rock climbing to get to the cache we climbed back down to the falls and since the temperature was 100+ this 40 year old grandmother didn't hesitate to take a dip. The wet clothing made for a fabulous ride home on the bike.


Me


My partner in crime and geocaching.

Miami, Daytona & Motorcycles

Coming Home
Another thing that Scott and I like to do is go to sporting events. These include, but are not limited to, all major league sports, minor league baseball, and college sports of all kinds. We planned this trip so that we could catch a Florida Marlins vs. Houston Astros game in formerly "Joe Robbie" stadium. This is a stadium that I have always wanted to visit. It was so hot during the game (mid-day game) that we left after about the 5th inning. You can see from the photo that 90% of the stadium was empty right from the beginning of the game. Heat and a "not so good team" were probably the main reasons for this, but we enjoyed the game none the less.


Dolphin's Stadium

After we left the game and went back to the hotel to freshen up we found a little place on the ocean to eat dinner called O'Mallys Ocean Pub. The dining was outside, with a live band and the tables were about 50' from the crashing waves. Magnificent!

While we were on our trip to the keys we decided to get serious about finding Scott a bike so we could ride together. We decided to take the "scenic" route home to Alabama through Daytona in order to pick up new bike bells for each other. There is a legend that goes with these bells and they are supposed to be given to a rider by a friend. We picked out our bells in Daytona at a place called "Hot Leathers" (hmmmm) and purchased them for each other, had a spectacular lunch at Johnny Rockets overlooking the ocean (one last time) and then it was back on the road for home.

Scott's Bike
After arriving home we wasted no time in finding a bike on eBay for Scott. We picked it up the next weekend and have been riding together almost every day since. Here are some photos of the proud new owner of a Honda Nighthawk 750 in the rare blue color.

Snorkeling, Dining & Shopping Key West Style

The trip to Dry Tortugas National Park
Scott and I love to snorkel and there is a wonderful place to do this in the Keys called Dry Tortugas National Park . Our day began early with a half day trip out to the park for some snorkeling and sun. The last time we went out to the park we took the Fast Cat boat. This time we decided to take the Seaplane through Seaplanes of Key West. This turned out to be a great decision. We were treated to an aerial view of Key West and other keys as well. On the way to Dry Tortugas and back we spotted sharks, sea turtles, shipwrecks and even passed a biplane with rider. If you ever have the chance to go the seaplane is our recommended mode of transportation to get there.


Fast Cat


Our plane on the right. (yes, the little one)


Aerial view of Key West


Dry Tortugas National Park

The outermost wall that surrounds the moat is where most of the snorkeling is done. You are allowed to snorkel outside this wall about 200 ft out into the ocean. There is no snorkeling within the moat, but there are some very happy, super large fish that live there. When you are at the fort you can also take a tour of the fort itself. We have taken the tour before so this time the trip was all about the water.


Aren't we cute?


Me


Fish


Sea Turtle


Sea Turtle close up (Yes, we were that close and he was that BIG!


Scott, having a discussion with a Grouper


Tony & Maria Valles (our seaplane companions)


Here we are, sunburned and smiling.


Dry Tortugas Lighthouse


Cuban "boat"


Cuban refugees

As we took off from the park to head back to Key West our pilot informed us that there was enough time for us to do a fly by of the light house which is out on a separate island. When we flew by the pilot noticed a boat (if you can call it that) on the shore that he hadn't seen the day before. We circled around again and the pilot told us all to be on the look out for any people waving from the island. We were able to see several men waving shirts at us and after a few more passes we were able to count at least 6 Cuban refugees. Since this island is located so close to Cuba many refugees end up on this uninhabited little island and have to be picked up by the US government.

The pilot made one last pass over the island after calling in the situation on the radio to the proper authorities, waggled the wings of the plane back and forth as if to wave at the men and then we were off headed back to Key West.

This experience especially touched Scott and I because we once again realized how amazing it is that we live in the country that we do and how privileged a life we actually live here.


Shipwreck


Biplane with rider

We arrived back at the hotel for some quick showers and a little rest then it was off to Duval street for some food and fun. Our dining experience for the evening was at a place called the Tree Top Cafe. The food was fabulous and the restaurant is indeed upstairs and nestled among the tree tops of Duval street. We ate a rather early dinner and had the entire place to ourselves. Shopping was next on the agenda and so we were off to walk the length of Duval street going in and out of shops, not looking to buy anything in particular, but mostly just taking in the different characters we met along the way (and there were many). Our evening was topped off by sharing a piece of Key Lime pie at Margaritaville , Jimmy's place.

R & R = Reconnection and Recommitment

This past month has been quite a whirlwind of activity for Scott and me. We have been so busy with work, travel, and other things that there has been no time to blog about it. It seems that the more "blog worthy" activities we are involved in, the less time there is to "blog" about them. Anyway, the house construction has been at a stand still since the siding was installed last month so I thought I would take the opportunity to update our handful of readers, yes both of you, on our latest adventures.

Scott and I took off for a long weekend last month, July 13-17, to do as Jimmy Buffet would say "just to try and recall the whole year". Actually, we did more than recall the past year, but more like the last 13 years of our married life. We took the time during this trip to reconnect to each other as husband and wife and to recommit our lives to each other. It is amazing how disconnected and alone two people can become when living under the same roof. So we treated this trip as a second (private) wedding and honeymoon, just for us. We had a wonderful time, saw and experienced many new things, as you can see in the photos in this post and the ones to follow. We came back home refreshed, more in love than ever and ready to tackle all our future challenges together.

Enjoy the photos and if you haven't already, tell someone you love them today....

The Beginning - Our New Wedding Day

We exchanged new rings on July 14 at the end of the 7 mile bridge in the Florida Keys. This was a perfect setting for our ceremony because it is one of our most treasured places. It is a place that we both love and now a place that holds a completely new place in both our hearts.


Deborah's Ring


Scott's Ring

The Hotel
We arrived at the Key Ambassador on Friday night and were excited to find our room overlooked, not only the pool, but the ocean as well. Throughout the weekend we were able to sit on our private, screened patio where we had long talks and even watched the sun rise several times.

Best Western Key Ambassador

We dined at the Island Dog on Front street just off Duval and around the corner from the famous Sloppy Joe's. The food at Island Dog was good and the evening was complete when we danced alone on the tiny dance floor to the music from the live band.

Krista

Krista has been finished for about a month or so, but we have been so busy that I didn't have time to post a photo. She actually fits and here she is...

Siding

The siding is on the house now and it looks great! Now we wait for the sheetrock to arrive.....