Florida Road Trip, January 2017

A wedding invitation was the motivation for this January road trip. Who can resist a Florida beach wedding in January?

Day 1: We left Madison on January 1st (a Sunday) hoping to get far enough south on day one to avoid a coming Midwest storm. We made it to Paducah, KY. Great city, but of course everything was closed on New Years day (Sunday) and the day after. Oh, well.

Day 2: On to Nashville to visit Parnassus, the bookstore owned by Ann Pachett one of my favorite authors. Great space. Bought a couple signed books, but was disappointed that there were no dogs under foot. The weather was warm. Pansy's in planters.

My first destination: Ann Patchett's Parnassus bookstore in Nashville.

Drove on through North Carolina but chose not to stop in support of the bathroom boycott. Made it to South Carolina in the dark and rain. Long Day. [Travelers note: always have box wine with you.]

Day 3: Pushed on to the Georgia coast and serendipitously stopped to explore the Harris Neck Wildlife Area. Tested out my new lens on birds and alligators. 

Baby alligator!

Crossed a spectacular bridge near Brunswick, GA. Stopped near the border of Florida in St. Mary's.

Day 4: Drove down the east coast of Florida. The Florida rest/welcome center serves samples of orange- and grapefruit juice. Nice touch. We got off I95 to cruise A1A for part of the trip south. Had good coffee and "Ausie Pies" at the Kookaburra in St. Augustine!

Made it to Dania Beach, Florida around 4:30 where we checked into our rooms at Sheridan Suites Apartments. We meet up with Sharon and Gary (parents of Andrea the bride) and Tom and Susan. We walk to Publix for supplies for our 6 day stay. Snacks by the pool. Andrea and Jonny stop by for a visit. They seem happy and confident.

Day 5: Slow Thursday morning. Drive to the boardwalk to people watch and soak in the sun. It is HOT! We eat Mahi tacos for lunch. In the afternoon we pick up Heather and Greg at the Ft. Lauderdale airport (Terminal 2). Dinner is at Giorgio's and our table is right on the water. I had the special: seafood over pasta. Loved it!

Day 6: Did some wedding errands on Friday. Visit the nearby Anne Kolb Nature Center. It's a lovely area with great boardwalks for viewing the intercostal birds. It's raining a little. 

Greg got pretty close to this one!

When we get back to the apartment we learn of the shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. It is happening at Terminal 2 where Heather and Greg were just 24 hours before, and close to where Sharon and Gary are RIGHT NOW! picking up Juan, their son. They get caught in traffic but arrive back safely with Juan.

While the wedding family goes to the rehearsal dinner, our family seeks out another local restaurant. We find Jimbo's Sandbar also on the water. Live music. I have catfish tacos. No one falls in the water. Fun place, weather is changing.

Back at the ranch, we learn that Jonny and a couple of his groomsmen, who work for the police dept. were not able to leave their work responsibilities because of the shooting at the airport. (But he will get his wedding day off!)

Day 7: The wedding day was cool and overcast. A morning rain passed through. Heather and I paint our toenails blue to go with our "Beach Formal" dresses. 

The wedding was dry, but windy and filled with laughter and love. The posed shot I missed was Jonny holding Andrea above his head! (They are both crossfire junkies!) The reception and dance turned cold and wet, but not before people had plenty of time for fun. The pictures tell the story.

The venue: Dania Beach State Park, Florida. 

The newlyweds: Jonathan and Andrea!

Mom, brother and dad share a post wedding moment.

It's what mom's do.

Becca was there, of course!

Jim as "beach fancy" as he gets!

Paella for everyone!

Andrea makes the rounds.

Heather gets a salsa lesson from Juan.

Day 8: A post-wedding brunch at Ana's house (mother of the groom) gave us a taste of Florida living.

Yes, that's a boat behind the palm trees. We're not in Wisconsin anymore!

Sister and Brother share some time and laughs.

Later that day we find a restaurant for watching an evening Packer game on a large screen. They win. We are not popular. (I can't remember who they played.)

Day 9: Monday we take Heather and Greg to the airport and then drive to Flamingo Gardens. My personal highlight was watching the otters get fed. I love otters. This is not a zoo, it's a botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary.

Barn owl as an ambassador for the facility.

Do I smell fish?

A sharp turn. So cool to have the underwater perspective!

An otter dock. Life is good.

Day 10 and 11: We pack up, say our goodbyes and drive over to A1A to stay off the freeway and head south. We eventually make it through Miami and head to Everglades National Park. We camp two nights on the edge of Florida Bay. Spectacular sun rises. Woke one morning to splashing, looked out the tent door and saw a dolphin jumping. Great way to wake up! Went to program on manatees. Took boat ride to get to some back country. Hiked along some trails. Great alligators on the Anhinga trail. It's a fascinating area with many challenges.

Daybreak on the Florida Bay.

Lingering with campsite coffee as we watch the morning birds.
(Yes, we drip our  high-test coffee through a filter held by a plastic funnel into a very old thermos.
Almost as good as home. And quicker!)

Crocodile on the canal (salt water).

Alligators on the Anhinga Trail (freshwater).

The moon sets in the west. . .

. . . just as the sun rises in the east.

Day 12: Decided to drive up the center of the state to avoid some coastal congestion. Hmmm. Road construction and lots of cars. Pretty boring day.

Day 13: Goal was to get to Paynes Prairie (recommended by KZ). Got the last campsite. Hiked. Interesting place, but decided not to stay longer. On way north we decided to seek out the path on the north edge of the prairie. Wow! hundreds of alligators, lots of birds, turtles, horses, buffalo and 10,000 sandhill cranes. This is one of their southern stations. It seemed like such a perfect bookend: in the spring we saw hundreds of thousands of cranes heading north through Kearny, NB and here we saw their winter home. They make quite a racket!

No audio to share the cacophony of 10,000 cranes!
And no fancy camera and lens. I was walking light with only my phone.

Bill (our nickname for all great blue herons) was just by the side of the path. 

Day 14: From Paynes Prairie we head east. Drive to Manatee Springs State Park. No room in the campsite, but we walk around. Cool places to dive. (Who knew!) Actually saw a couple manatees. Stayed in Wakulla and ate at a recommended fish shop, Posey's. Jim had mullet and I had a heap of shrimp. (I don't think we've eaten anything but seafood on this trip.)

Day 15: We drive along the Florida panhandle. The beaches are enticing. We get the last campsite at a state park on St George's Island. The white sand beaches and seashells win me over. There's a towhee at our campsite and lots of yellow-romped warblers.

Jim dozes on St. George's Island.

I read my book group book, A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler.

We walk the beach and look for shells.

We appreciate all the park does to preserve this special place.

Day 16: We continue west. The density starts to build and we head north at Panama City. Although it is very congested, there are still public access places to the beaches and the views are beautiful.

Day 17: Our first planned stop on the northbound drive is the civil rights memorial in Montgomery, AL. The sculpture was designed by Maya Lin (Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC) and the park and a museum are operated by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization I've supported for a long time. Their work has just gotten harder.

Civil Rights memorial, Montgomery, Alabama.

Next stop is in Lynchburg, TN and the Jack Daniels distillery. The charcoal filtering most fascinated me. Good tour, good tasting. Jim is driving! It's raining and cool.

A statue of Jack Daniel outside the springs that provide the water for the whiskey.

My favorite on the left (#27). $100 a bottle. I passed.

The tasting is in an area with the single barrel batches. Nicely done.

Day 18:  We stop again at Pahduca, Ky and visit the National Quilt Museum. (No photos allowed.) Amazing works of art. 

And then on to our final stop in Champaign, IL to visit Kathleen a friend from library school. Cool house with William Morris wallpaper. We start hatching plans for future trips.

Day 19: Arrived back home in Madison on Thursday. We have driven over 4,000 miles. Warmish. Grey. No snow left on the ground. Quite ready to sleep in my own bed.