We headed out on Tuesday, November 1st and drove straight through to NS Mayport. With both of us driving, we made it with relative ease and less fatigue on Cass when she has to do all the driving. We love Mayport and always love our stay there. We never cease to be amazed at not only the boat traffic, but the size of the boats/ships that pass us.
We headed out Friday, November 4 to the Ocala area to visit with friends. We stayed at an awesome spot - Southern Oaks RV Resort. While we were driving through The Villages, we found Camp Universe where Cass went to summer camp for seven years as a kid.
And we left on Monday, November 7 for North Fort Myers for a 3 week visit with friends at the Resort on Carefree Boulevard. We spent Thanksgiving there and accepted the wonderful hospitality of our new friends.
We really loved the area. We got to see the Red Sox stadiums, old and new. Now we have to get back for a Spring Training game some day! Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island didn't disappoint and gave us hundred of birds to enjoy and photograph.
We also went to see Sanibel Island and saw the lighthouse there. It was an interesting structure, not what we normally expect of a lighthouse.
From the placque at the foot of the lighthouse:
Sanibel Island Lighthouse
The first permanent English-speaking settliers on Sanibel Island arrived from New York in 1833 as part of a colony planned by land investors. Although that settlement was short-lived, the inistial colonists petitioned the U.S. government for the construction of a lighthouse on the island. No action was taken on that proposal at the time. By the late 1870's, sea-going commerce in the area had increased in volume. The U.S. Lighthouse Bureau took the initiative in requesting funds for a lighthouse for Sanibel Island, and in 1884, construction of the tower began. The station was lighted for the first time in August, 1884. The significance of the Sanibel Lighthouse lies in the regular and reliable service it has provided for travellers along Florida's West Coast. Since 1950, the U.S. Coast Guard property at the lighthouse has been a wildlife refuge.
We headed to Disney on Tuesday, November 29th to stay at Fort Wilderness! It was part of an RVW Rally. We were there until December 4th. Neither of us had been to Disney in years and we had never been together. We were there for Christmas and it was amazing to see how not only Disney decorates for Christmas, but how the campers at Fort Wilderness decorated their sites.We rented a golf cart for our visit so that we could about skip about 30 minutes and one part of the bus service that Fort Wilderness and Disney provides to their guests.
We went to Downtown Disney the first night there and walked the whole park and took a boat ride across the lake back. It's a really fun area with no shortage of entertainment, food and shopping.
The next day, November 30th, we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We walked the whold park, did the Hollywood and Vine shopping, went on The Great Movie Ride, saw the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! and had lunch at the 50s Prime Time Cafe.
That evening, we took the boat ride from Fort Wilderness to The Contemporary. We walked around The Contemporary and went through all the shops. Then we rode the Monorail ALL around Disney! Of course, Cass is thrilled with another boat ride.
December 1st and we are off to the Magic Kingdom! I seperated the above photo albums because if you know Beth, then you know she takes a lot of pictures!
We walked down Main Street USA to see Cinderella's Castle. We went to Liberty Square where we went to lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. We saw The Hall of Presidents, The Haunted Mansion, through FrontierLand to see Tom Sawyer Island and The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and The Enchanted Tiki Room. Off through FantasyLand where we quickly walked by It's a Small World with its 75 minute wait so the song would not get stuck in our heads. On our way out, we stopped for ice cream and were able to watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade.
December 3rd and we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Neither of us had been here and it most certainly did not disappoint. We walked around and saw SO many different animals. We saw Discovery Island Trails, "It's Tough to be a Bug" inside the Tree of Life, Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, Flights of Wonder and Habitat! Habitat!. The "It's Tough to be a Bug" is a 3D show and was hysterical, check out the movie posters outside the show.
The Kilimanjaro Safari Expedition was absolutely incredible. Disney is so very clever in ensuring that the animals are near the "trail" that we are driving on. At one point or another, animals were close enough to the vehicle, that I just know we could have touched them! We saw animals in a natural-type habitat that I honestly believe I never would have seen.
And that night, we went back to Disney's Hollywood Studio for The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. It's really something to see... a city block full of lights all choreographed to Christmas songs. And yes, it does snow!
No comments:
Post a Comment