Unique Cemetery

                         

Gerri and I went to one of the most unique cemeteries we have ever seen while we are in Cedar Key. This is an old cemetery that dates back to the mid 1800’s and the locals view this as more of a park than a cemetery.

            

           

The cemetery actually sits right on the gulf and they have a boardwalk on the back side of the cemetery to walk out on. The cemetery has hills with graves on them and randomly scattered throughout…some were just giant stone mounds or slabs up to ten feet large. Some of the graves were surrounded by iron fencing that is starting to fall while others were simply covered in sea shells…WOW!

    

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Basically this is a sea captains cemetery and fishermen along with those that died in storms and pioneers to the area. This is probably a main attraction for most amateur ghost busters who come here after their conferences to look around. It is said to be one of the most haunted cemeteries in Florida and we can see that by the way it sets. There are many large oak trees with moss hanging down almost to some of the graves.

  

  

  

Gerri and I drove and walked this cemetery several times and were amazed at the uniqueness of this place. While there, we sighted a rather large bird perched high in a tree and upon taking pics and looking at them, we discovered it to be an Osprey…wow.

           

          

          

              

Looking further, we saw its nest on the outskirts of the cemetery in a DEAD tree top. What an awesome nest it is!

         

For us, this was a truly neat outing and experience/adventure.

Cedar Key, Florida

                             

Off to Cedar Key, Florida!  That is where we headed Wednesday morning.  The trip took us a little longer than we thought but we enjoyed every mile!!
It has been too long since we have been able to “hit the road.”

                  

As you know, we haven’t purchased our “downsized” RV yet so we were destined to stay “sticks and bricks” style.  We reserved a cottage at Pirates Cove….sounds nice doesn’t it??  The pictures were nice as well…..the reality not so much.  Our cottage was rather small and uncomfortable with the A/C not doing a very sufficient job.  We decided to go ahead and stay the night since it was getting late and regroup in the morning.  Oh how we miss our wheels!! 

        

This morning we located a very nice place called The KingFisher where we were able to get a really nice rental.

                     

We have a one bedroom with a nice kitchen and bath complete with a new tile floor and a lovely dock overlooking the Gulf!  It comes at an affordable price and best of all….it is pet friendly.  Everything worked out very well.  Did I mention that we really miss our wheels???

Once we got settled into our room we made our way to Dock Street….the main street that runs adjacent to the Gulf where we found a great place to eat lunch.

                             

                             

                            

                            

  We always ask the locals to recommend places to eat and Coconuts came highly recommended. 

                      

                   

We pretty much had the place to ourselves and a nice table overlooking the water.  Mike had a pulled pork sandwich and I had the coconut shrimp.  Both plates came with coleslaw and french fries. 

                  

I must say my coconut shrimp was crazy good!!  It came with a zesty orange sauce that really tasted wonderful. Not only was the food excellent but the local dolphins put on a pretty neat show for us.

                  

They were swimming and jumping a pretty good ways out.  Mike tried to get a good picture but it isn’t easy from such a distance. 

                            

                           

                           

After getting our tummies full we decided to walk off lunch and explore the Cedar Key area.  We walked through many of the stores on Dock Street and enjoyed the awesome water views.  Before going to Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge and other birding spots we stopped by our “cabin” for an afternoon siesta!! 

More to come!!

Lazy Days of Summer

                         

Lazy days of summer!  Without a doubt it has been one of the hottest summers I can remember.  The humidity has been high almost every day which makes it seem all the more hot when you step outside.  It is hard to get motivated to do much of anything except stay inside where it is cool.  We don’t like staying inside!!

Earlier this week it felt like there was a tiny (very tiny) bit of fall in the air.  In actuality it was the absence of humidity I was celebrating.  Whatever it was it sure did feel great!!  It is amazing how a little cool air just lifts your spirits and gives you more energy.

              

Our dogs have even lost their energy….well, what little they had to begin with.  Eat, sleep, go outside and start all over again.  Needless to say we are all looking forward to FALL!!

              

              

We have a trip planned next week!!!  YAY!!  Mike and I will be traveling down to Cedar Key, Florida, that is pending Tropical Storm Irene.  This is a neat little island nestled among many small keys on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  A quiet piece of “old” Florida.  There are several wildlife refuges in the area among many state parks and reserves.  We hope to do some birding and photography and REST!!  After staying put and going through all the medical issues it will feel great to explore again.  We are excited!!

                     

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Auburn University

                  

Yesterday afternoon Mike and I decided to take a short trip over to Auburn, Alabama.  When you think of Auburn, Alabama you just naturally think Auburn University.  In fact the city of Auburn is mainly the campus itself.

                  

Auburn was founded in 1856 as a male college.  It wasn’t until 1872 that it became the first land grant- college in the south and was called Agriculture and Mechanical College of Alabama.  It was also once referred to as Alabama Polytechnic Institute and wasn’t known as Auburn University until 1960.

                 

The last enrollment number (that I could find) was for the fall of 2010 of 25,078 students.  There are 140 degrees offered with 13 different schools and colleges for undergraduate, graduate and professional levels.  It is quite large and in this part of the country….quite well known. 

When you go there you immediately are met with the orange and blue colors and very large paw prints on the roads and store fronts.  You know immediately you are in “Tiger Country.” 

                   

It was a beautiful day with an every so very faint feel of fall in the air.  Maybe that was just the absence of humidity I was feeling but whatever it was it felt great!!  There were many folks just taking in the campus “feel” and of course there were the students that will call this awesome place their home for at least 4 years, some may be on the five year plan.

We quickly found one of favorites places to eat….The Mellow Mushroom.  The wait was almost 30 minutes….must be a favorite of the students as well.  In any case, the wait was worth it.  The pizza was great and the atmosphere very “War Eagle!”  We walk around enjoying the day and took a few pictures.  One of the pictures we took was of Jordan-Hare Stadium where the Auburn Tiger football team went on to win the National Championship for 2010!  WAR EAGLE!!!!

                   

                   

We had a great day and it was fun seeing parts of the campus and eating at The Mellow Mushroom.

It Arrived Today…

 

                                       

It arrived today!!!  It what….. you might ask??  It is the special “Canadian Prize Pack!!”  Today, when Mike went to the mailbox, he saw the brown package mailed to us from Doug and Sue of Big Dawg and Freeway.  I might add that this is a first for us.  This is the first time we have ever received a package from Canadian friends. 

If you remember, the other day Sue wrote on her blog celebrating the 3,000th commenter and that happened to be us.  We honestly just got lucky because Sue gets lots of comments on her blog every day.  She has a great blog and if you haven’t visited you should.  Sue is a great writer and has a way with the camera as well.  They are working toward full-timing, but in the meantime, they have purchased a wonderful “Little Dawg” camper to enjoy the great outdoors!!

                

                

Back to the package!!  We quickly took a picture (for the blog of course) and rapidly opened our prize.  What did we find???  Sue had chosen a fantastic Canadian cooking apron to wear whenever we are grilling out or cooking in.  Along with this she sent us

            

Canadian napkins….”eh” and a Canadian water bottle cover.  All with the Canadian symbol!!!  We will remember our special Canadian friends each time we use our prize items.

                              

Sue thank you so much for being such a fun blogger!!  We are delighted that we were the lucky winners of the “Canadian Prize Pack” and better than that, we have wonderful special Canadian friends such as you and Doug along with Tucker and Oliver too!!

THANK YOU!!!!

Doug Dubrouillet

                       

I sat down with my computer ready to read blogs and make comments to my friends.  The first blog I came to was Al’s of The Bayfield Bunch, and his heading said it all……Fellow RV Blogger Doug Dubrouillet Passed Away Today.  Needless to say my reading and commenting got sidetracked.  Instead, I went on a trip down memory lane.  We had read and followed Doug and JoAnn (Living Our Dream) for several years but it was the winter of 2010 at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama that we finally got to meet this special couple.  They came to our motor home for an afternoon gathering of friends….Norm and Linda Payne, Don and Gloria Martin and of course Doug and JoAnn. 

         

         

         

We all talked and enjoyed the afternoon as good friends would do.  Later in the evening we would venture to Big Daddy’s Grill for some yummy seafood with fellow Rvers Glenn and Sylvia Avery and of course Doug and JoAnn. 

           

They didn’t stay long at Rainbow but we would see them again in April at FDR State Park and Callaway Gardens.

           

Once again we enjoyed spending time with this very special couple and of course their famous Standard Poodle….Filmore.  We got together for dinner at each other’s rigs and spent a little time cooling off and eating a snack at Callaway in between walking the azalea trails.  It was a beautiful spring and the azaleas put on a fantastic show for us all. 

       

        Yes, we enjoyed meeting this fine couple but more than that we enjoyed watching them live their dream and live their dream they did!!  Never allowing the enemy (cancer) to take their desire to experience and enjoy this wonderful country and its amazing people.   Tonight Doug is at rest, no longer in pain but he has left us all with the challenge to live each day, embrace it and follow your dreams.

"Follow your dream today. Not next year."      Doug Dubrouillet

Dead Pine Tree, and We are the Winners

 

                               

About six months ago, unbeknown to us, lightning struck a very tall pine tree (about 125’) on our property. This tree was on the side yard….thank goodness! We hated to ask anybody to cut this tree down in this horrible heat wave but dead trees just don’t like to wait. So this morning, very early, the tree company showed up to take it down. In order to do this deed the electric company had to disconnect the electrical wires along with the cable lines going to the house. So for about two hours we were without power. I would complain but I stood outside and watched these men do their job and realized how much hotter they were than me. Heat index was 105 by the time they were through cutting and cleaning up.  Even with a “Because the tree was dead….very dead…. taking it down was a little tricky. The main man could not climb the tree so each limb had to be tied and dropped.

                

                                      

              

 As luck would have it they hit a few of the bushes below the tree so now we have a very ugly hole! Oh well, it will grow back and the tree could have caused lots of damage if left to fall on its own.

              

              

Yesterday, Sue, from Big Dawg and Freeway, contacted me to check out their latest blog entry. I always read her blog….love Sue’s writing and views!! So being a little more curious than usual I jumped right over and found out that she had hit a monumental point in her blogging…..her 3000^th comment and guess who that was???? You got it right…it was me!! I am very honored to be that 3000 person to leave a comment on her fantastic blog. We have been following Sue and Doug’s blog for quite a long time and have enjoyed getting to know them (along with Tucker of course). It still amazes me how close you become to fellow bloggers. Mike and I are proud to call them our friends and hope one day to meet in person. We will sit down and begin talking as if we have known each other for years. That is just the way it is with fellow Rv’ers and bloggers.

I read on Sue’s blog today that she has mailed a special 3000^th comment “Canadian Prize Pack” to us and we are excited to see what Sue has sent our way. We will let you know as soon as it arrives. Wow! Feels just like Christmas!!