Saturday morning, 19NOV, we attempted to depart Rebecca &
Raymond’s driveway but discovered a broken relay/fuse in the starting
system. With the help of the next door
neighbor, Mr Troy, Dan was able to remove the part to begin a search for a
replacement. None of the auto stores had
anything like it, & all the truck facilities in the area were closed (but they
would dispatch a service truck $$$). Dan
managed to get to the one open truck facility five minutes before closing, to
get the part. Four hours later we were
finally on the road. Meanwhile during
this time, Rebecca started putting up X-mas decorations. Our first stop was the air force FamCamp in
Biloxi, MS, where we have stayed many times.
That evening was dinner at Mary Mahoneys Old French House, last visited
this FEB.
Sunday we headed out The Shed BBQ & Blues Joint for BBQ
lunch. The Shed is nationally known
& renowned. We tried to eat there in
OCT 2013; but mistakenly did not go to the original! So this time we insured we made it to the
original establishment. Very, very goodJ!
Then we headed to the William M Colmer visitor center of the
Gulf Islands National Seashore Florida/Mississippi in Ocean Springs, MS (the
longest National Seashore in the USA).
Question - why are none of Alabama barrier islands part of this National
Seashore?). As usual we started by
viewing the National Park Service film; followed by a little hiking on the CCC
trail to foundation remains of the CCC camp.
Over the years we have seen almost all of the Gulf Islands
National Seashore, even though spread over two states. Back in DEC 2008 we visited Fort Barrancas at
Pensacola Naval Air Station, FL. And in DEC
2010 we visited Fort Pickens, & Naval Live Oaks Area outside Gulf Breeze,
FL. today we also discovered the USA’a first “quarantine”
station was Ship Island off the coast of Mississippi.
Monday morning head to Navarre, FL, to visit our good friends
Chuck & Anneke Guldenschuh. Who we
try to visit whenever we are in Florida.
After setting up camp we head to their house for reminiscing &
dinner (no Mexican train dominoes this time).
Tuesday, 22NOV, we got back on I-10E to drive in-directly to Disney
World outside of Orlando, FL. Spending
night in Lake City, FL. Wednesday we took
back roads to St Augustine Beach, FL.
Our intention was to stay two nights before heading to Disney
World. Our first two choices for RV
parks were full, forcing us to stay at number three – not the best.
After setting up camp we headed to the beach for a walkabout
& driving the Toad on the beach. Our
intention was to have dinner at Salt Water Cowboys, which we discovered back
JAN 2014. Even though website said they
were open, we discovered they were closed due to hurricane damages from Matthew
& Nicole back in October. Most
damage suffered by St Augustine was from high water, not wind; & many
businesses are just reopening (including our RV park)! So dinner was at Mango Mangos – excellent!
Late Thursday (HAPPY TURKEY DAYJ!!!) we headed into St
Augustine for a walkabout. Our last
visit was with wall-to-wall tourists. This
time St Augustine was almost empty & with lots of free parking. First we walked the pedestrian street
completely geared to tourists (can you say ice cream, gelato, fudge, t-shirts,
post cards, etc, shops - one after the other?).
After a light lunch we walked thru the old town. The few businesses there, were closed for the
holiday. (see above BLOG link for many
more photos of St Augustine)
One historical photo we discovered on our walk was at the site
of an infamous “civil rights” picture from 1963 taken at the Woolworth’s lunch
counter in St Augustine. Sit-ins at
segregated lunch counter had started in 1960 & spread thru-out the
south. What was different about the St
Augustine incident, was the participants were high school students. Who were incarcerated in reform school (aka
jail) for six months, before a national outcry forced their release. A local Civil Rights Museum has created a
“Freedom Trail” throughout St Augustine commemorating the civil rights movement
in St Augustine. Now that we know about
the trail, we hope to follow it on our next visit.
Then it was back to the RV & the evening Thanksgiving
potluck sponsored by the RV park. We
were fortunate to sit at a table w/a French Canadian couple Jaki &
Jean-Paul Fafard. It was an excellent
time, with new RV friends madeJ
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