Florida 2014

 In January 2014 Norbert and I took our first winter vacation to Florida. It turned out to be a wonderful idea and one we continued for several years.

A number of photos have disappeared but there are enough to give you an idea of it.

We flew to Miami and spent the night in a hotel near the airport. The next day we drove south to Homestead, and then on the Everglades! 

To be honest -- we liked it but no more than that. I know that the Everglades are technically not a swamp but a "river landscape". We had just visited the Okefenokee Swamp the May before, and had fallen in love with it.

Anyway, we love to see nature in all its variations. This was our first time to see mangroves, and how fantastic they are! 

We spent the night in Homestead and the next morning drove down to the Keys. Our first stop was the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. We had hoped to take the glass bottom boat tour, but the first one was one cancelled and we didn't want to wait 2.5 hours for the next one. So on we went.

This trip was so long ago that I really can't recall everything we saw or did, or when, so this will be more of a "highlights" report.

We stayed at the Sea Shell Motel in either Marathon or Islamorada, I don't remember, directly on the ocean. We had a waterfront "apartment", three small rooms, and an absolutely wonder patio where we spent a lot of time. Perfect for morning coffee and evening drinks. Unfortunately it was later damaged by a hurricane, and then later by another that was bad enough that it had to be torn down.

One day we drove down to Key West. So chic, so in, so quirky -- so NOT our thing! But frequently amusing. 

This bar happened to be next to the Hemingway House, which I had to visit. (Norbert skipped it.) But mainly to see the kitties! 

After the Keys, we headed back to Homestead for a night. On the way, we stopped at the Everglades Alligator Farm, where we took an airboat ride (not really worth it), and admired all the alligators.

We then continued north, spending the night somewhere along the way. Our next and final destination was Cocoa Beach, where we stayed at the Sea Aire Motel. It was an old-fashioned place, like we used to stay at in the Outer Banks in the early to mid 1960s -- two double beds, a kitchenette, and chairs and a table. Loved it!

It is still there but all modern and updated as the Salt Aire Oceanfront Inn. No doubt still very nice, but no longer has the charm for me.

One day we visited the Jungle Adventure Park in Christmas, Florida. Lots of fun! 

The highlight of our tine there was the Kennedy Space Center. We had last been there in 1999 with Lucas, and not suprisingly, it had changed massively in 15 years. The bus trip through the grounds, the space shuttle film and exhibit, the moon landing experience and exhibit -- fantastic!

We opted to also visit the VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building. Good thing we did, as it was closed to tours very shortly thereafter. A gigantic building, where they literally assemble the space ships! It is basically empty inside, and one whole side of the building opens to let them roll it out on train tracks. For us it was a fascinating look at the technical aspects.

We loved this visit and in fact returned to KSC several times in the years to come.

We drove to Orlando, probably spent the night there, and then flew home, happy with our nex experiences,

Upper Franken and Bavaria, September 2024

 We took off again about the middle of September, heading towards Upper Franken and Bavaria. Over the weekend there would be the annual gathering of Norbert's antique radio group, but our first stop was family -- Norbert's cousin Anja.

Norbet's mother and Anja's grandmothers were sisters. We have viisted with Anja, her husband Wolfgang, and their daugher Lisa off and on oer the years.

Anyway, our first stop on the long journey was a break at an Autobahn rest stop for this delicious (?) lunch.

 We then headed to the Braunen Ross (Brown Horse) in Weidhausen bei Coburg. It started as a butcher, expanded to a restaurant and pub,and then joined with a hotel to add nice modern hotel rooms. This is the front of the establishment. 

You go around the corner and find this. 

We were very pleased with our room. 

We then drove about 15 minutes to the Loeffler's. It seems like it had been such a long time since we last saw them! As usual, though, there was no lack of conversation, and there was lots of good food!

The next day we explored the area with them. A highlight was the Glass Museum in Lauscha, Kreis Sonneberg, in Thuringen. Glassmaking and glassblowing have a long history in this area, Since the 12th Century! Conditions here are perfect for glassmaking as all the needed "ingredients" can be found here in high quality and quantity. The museum is fascinating, as are the views of the workshop and of course the sales area.

We all went out to dinner that evening.

The next morning we headed south, skirting around Munich, and heading west to Erharting, and the Landgasthof Pauliwirt  -- a German-style hotel (established 1880) with restaurant, beer garden, and so on. 

It being lunchtime, we headed to the beer garden for a bite to eat. 

Our meals: I had the cold sliced pork roast platter. 

Norbert had more of a variety.

The weather was ideal and the local oom-pah band (as my father would have said) was rehearsing, to add to the local flavour!

We had relatively large but also relatively empty room. The bathtub/shower was a horror, extremely high to step in and out of, and of course slick.

And here's a look at the grounds of the Gasthof.

That wasn't the end of the day, but it will continue in the next blog. 

OBX and Lakes, April 2024 --Last days and going home

 All good things must come to an end, including vacations.

The hotel webiste said they did not serve breakfast. The sign in the parking lot said they did, at given hours. When we checked in, they said they did breakfast, but at different hours. Whatever. It was a satisfactory hotel breakfast.

We made our way up towards the Richmond Airport, with a coffee stop at a McDonalds. The transfer could not have gone better. We turned in the car, the woman noted the oil light, the tire pressure light which had just come on, and the scratches. "No problem, thanks, pick up your new car upstairs, bye." We dragged our stuff upstairs, were given another auto by a very nice young and were then again on our way.

We drove north up )-95 to Fredericksburg, where we had been invited to lunch with yet another Falls Church High School friend, Pat Powers Gaske, and her husband Steve. We had done the same several years ago. As before, we admired their lovely home, as well as the crab cakes she served, and again, there was no end of conversation.

Pat had baked brownies for dessert and gave us several to take with us. 

From there we headed up to Falls Church and the Comfort Inn Falls Church, at Seven Corners. It was near where I lived way back then, all our out-of-town wedding guests stayed there, and we stay there virtually every time we are in Northern Virginia. We had a nice snack of two of the brownies from Pat. 

Then it was Monday, and tine to start killing time until it was time to check in for our 5:30 flight to Amsterdam. We met my brother Bill and sister-in-law Cindy for a long lunch.

Eventually we made our way to the airport, where the final brownie made a brief appearance. 

Then it was at last time to board our flight back across the big pond. 

We got home safe and sound, after having an enjoyable time away.

OBX and Lakes, April 2024 -- Last Train to Clarksville!

 Saturday arrived and it was time to say goodbye to my brother and the beach, and head on our way. Back to the mainland we went. Our first stop was, once again, the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and Visitors Center. It is so beautiful and peaceful, that we always stop there. 

It also has the advantages of being about 30 seconds off the main road, and has bathrooms.

The weather wasn't the best, as you can see, but that just made it all the lovelier.

There were actually several ways we could have headed off to our day's destination, but we decided to repeat our way to Columbia and Plymouth. Why? 

We had seen several things there on our earlier visit which we couldn't find elsewhere, so we just had to stop and get them. Not the Dr Pepper, though.

We stopped at Arby's somewhere and had a usual wonderful roast beef sandwich. We always try to get at least one per trip.

No, we weren't headed to Music City!

Our goal for the day was Clarksville -- no, not the one from the song! -- just across the state line in VIrginia, and on the shores of Kerr Lake. We stayed at the Quality Inn at the Lake, in, of course, a lakefront room. Unfortunately the swimming pool was between us and the lake, so we had to look beyond that. 

We took a stroll though town, investigating the various antique/second-hand stores and mall. We always enjoy that. 

While walking around we saw several young couples all dressed up and posing for photos. Turns out it was Prom Night for the local high school. 

The lake of course was partially formed by a dam, and we drove across the lake and a bit further to find it, and it was worth the effort. 

A bit further on was a lovely pull-off to admire the view.

We stopped at Food Lion on the way home and bought a rotisserie chicken. We always have picnic supplies (plates, paper towels, etc.) with us, so we sat out on the balcony for an al fresco dinner.

WE had a major worry this day, though. For a day or two the car had been telling us that an oil change would be necessary at some point in the future. This afternoon it said, oil change NOW. This being late Saturday afternoon in a small town, the was nowhere to get an oil change done immediately, or in fact, before Monday.

So I did some research and sat down with the phone for a long call with the car rental company. We finally agreed that we could safely drive the car to the rental agency office at the Richmond airport, and would be given a free exchange. I also mentioned the parking lot accident we had on our first day. They had received the accident report, basically didn't care, and said thanks for letting us know. (In fact, we have never heard from them about it.)