A Beautiful Day at Surf Club 2

Started out the day with a workout at the Fitness Center- 3 miles on the treadmill is starting to come a little easier!!  After I was done, I joined Terry, Sue, Mary, & Chuck who had gone down to the beach for a walk.  Pretty breezy-- didn't have a camera to take a picture of Chuck rescuing Terry's hat from the ocean.  After breakfast, we headed to the pool.  First time we've been there this week.


Cabana Boy serving up Bloody Marys at the pool



 The pitcher of Pina Coladas that Laurie & I made was a hit.  Everyone enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the idea of getting some color- even if it was "red".

The guys went to hit some golf balls in preparation for their golf outing tomorrow.  So the girls decided to take a walk on the beach.  It was beautiful.  Very peaceful.



Searching for unusual seashells.




Laurie spotted her first sea star.



Mary goes all out searching for her most unusual seashell.

After the beach, Chuck, Terry, Laurie & decided to get some late afternoon tennis in.  Let's just say Laurie & I are still undefeated! 

Finished the day by going out to eat at Finn's. 

A beautiful day in Florida with awesome company!  Tomorrow looks like it will be equally wonderful!

Off to See the Manatees!

Today 's forecast was for clouds with afternoon thunderstorms, so we decided it was a good day to go to see the manatees.  Of course, the first stop on this trip is always the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Pancake House in DeLeon State Park where we make our own pancakes for breakfast.

 Then outside for our first sights of the manatees and walking around the grounds.



The Old Spanish Sugar Mill Pancake House



Standing in front of the historical Fountain of Youth



The girls!

  Next stop, was Blue Springs State Park on the St. Johns River.  There's always a sign when you enter the park saying how many manatees are there so far that day.  They actually get in a canoe and go down the river and manually count the manatees they see that day. Today's count was 148.



There's actually manatees in this picture, but more impressive today were the alligators we saw. 

  


Baby Alligator





Much discussion was made of why Mary would take a picture of this stump which was in the middle of the boardwalk, so I took a picture of it too.  Isn't it awesome!




The Guys

  On the way home we stopped at the Harley Davidson Store which was huge!  Terry informed us he could stay there all day, but we limited his time to the purchase of 3 t-shirts.

What Mike wants for Christmas



Terry found a bike like the one he already has

  Another stop on the way home was Finn's along the ocean in Flagler Beach for beer and appetizers.



John's favorite drink!  If the sign is gone tomorrow, check out his condo!




We tried to burn off the calories we just consumed at Finns!

Back at Surf Club the guys grilled brats in the rain.  I served my now famous "Day at the Beach" drinks.  Finished off the day by playing our adapted version of Couples Scattegories!  Ask Gordy to demonstrate his version of Pirate language that begins with R.

Needless to see, we love our company!!!!



They're Here!!!!

Off to Orlando Sanford Airport yesterday to pick up the group---Terry, Sue, Laurie, Mike, Chuck & Mary.  They were so excited to be in Florida!!  Then we rushed back to Palm Coast to watch the second half of the Bears-Packers game. 

 The girls decided to go take a look at the ocean.



Looking for sea shells.




Our amazing shoreline!

After the game we enjoyed grilled hamburgers and played some cards.  A fun first day!!

Today after a workout and breakfast out on the balcony, Chuck & Terry took on Laurie and me at tennis.  Needless to say, the guys are demanding a rematch tomorrow!!!

The off to St. Augustine, about 20 miles north of here.  St. Augustine is a fun place about 20 miles north of here.  First stop:  San Sabastian Winery for some wine-tasting.





This is "the group".




Bottoms up, Betty!

Then off to the quaint little shops in St. Augustine.  The girls enjoyed the shops.  The guys enjoyed the bars!


Laurie getting a demo of some pretty neat hand soap- first of several purchases!




Sue, Laurie & Dee in from of the oldest schoolhouse in the USA!




Having fun at The Mill!



Mary, Sue, Dee, Betty, & Laurie in front of The Mill



The 3 Bros--Terry, John & Chuck



Today was our sister, Kathy's birthday.  She's coming to visit in 3 weeks, but we wanted to let her know we were thinking of her.  So.....we called her while we were at the Mill and had the singer sing her "Happy Birthday."  He was an awesome singer.  So this picture is for you, Kathy!!!!

 After leaving St. Augustine, we stopped at Beachcombers to eat supper.  We love this place!


Eating alligator tail!




Terry loved the alligator tail!




Great burgers and chicken sandwiches.  Gordy got his onion rings!

Back to the condo for dessert and a few hands of Euchre.  Then to bed!!  More adventures tomorrow!

Where Did the Week Go??

A week has gone by since my last post--makes me realize how fast our time is going here :(

Early last Monday morning, we took off for a 2 day stay in Orlando with Karen, Colin & Blake.  After checking in at Shades of Green, a disney hotel for military people only, we took off for Sea World.  It was pouring down rain!!!  I know I shouldn't complain cuz of what all my family and friends are going through up north, but it did rain most of the day.  We still had a great time tho, and found Sea World had changed alot since we had been there many years ago.

Looking from underneath at the stingrays.

Look like they are smiling from underneath1



Look closely to see the lacey looking sea lion,



Petting the sting rays



Stingers are removed!



Up close at the dolphin pool.



The Shamu show was awesome!




The rain stopped for part of the day!

  Our favorite show was the dolphin show "Blue Horizons"- unlike any dolphin show I've ever seen.  It was beautiful-- not only with dolphins, but divers and acrobats in beautiful costumes..  You didn't know what to look at because there was so much going on.  A must see if you go to Sea World.

"Clyde & Seamore take Pirate Island"



A wonderful day at Sea World!



 On Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom- a great place to take kids.  We loved it.

Blake & Colin in front of the Living Tree



The Living Tree up close.



 One of our favorite rides was in Africa - the Safari Ride where we took a trip on a land rover thru the grounds and saw every kind of animal native to Africa.

Baby giraffe



The Upside Down Tree



The ostrich came right up to our vehicle!



The Festival of the Lion King Show was awesome!




Eating Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bars

  The boys' favorite was DinoLand.  They are both quite the experts on dinosaurs so they loved this area!

The Parade



Back at our hotel.

On Wednesday, our vacation with the boys and Karen had to come to an end as we took them to the Orlando Airport.    It was a fun-filled week.  We did and saw so much- loved their time with us.  We missed them as soon as they took off.
But now, we are on our way to Orlando to pick up Laurie, Mike, Terry, Sue, Chuck & Mary for another great week here in Florida!!!!