April 11 - 14, 2014. Driving home.

It is not easy to leave the sunny south when friends and family back home say, "don't hurry, the weather is terrible," but there comes a time when one has to go home. There are taxes to be done, appointments to keep and of course the weather can only improve.

All in all, it took about 30 hours, over 4 day to get home. My Pleasure Way, "Precious" can keep up with all vehicles on the interstate, and unlike "Westy"can make the trip without any interruptions due to breakdowns! 

Some of the highways are in need of repair, most notably those in Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Brunswick. The interstates through Alabama, Georgia and Maine were great. As for scenery, aside from the beautiful flowers and the greenery of the southern states, it is the rolling hills of Virginia that appeal to me. 

        

The weather was warm and sunny right through to Maine and we were able to wear shorts up until our last day on the road. Our first glimpse of snow came in Maine, while in New Brunswick we saw snow, ice and encountered fog. The fog lifted as we passed Amherst and it got brighter and warmer as we approached home.

The bikes are unloaded, the van's  fridge and closets are emptied and I am getting reacquainted with my house. This series of blog entries ends here. I will no doubt start blogging again in June when we head to Amsterdam.

April 10, 2014. Alabama Museum of Wonder and Desdamona: A Play About a Handkerchief.

On Poorhouse Road in Seale, Alabama, about an hour from Auburn, there lives a man named Butch Anthony.  At the age of 14 he found dinosaur bones in a creek near his home and since he was already a collector of things and a maker of stuff, he decided to open a museum and named it the Alabama Museum of Wonder. His collecting and making was put on hold while he did a degree in anatomy and zoology at Auburn, where those dinosaur bones are now housed, but he soon went back to his craft and has become a well respected artist of some renown.

You need the exact address and a gps or a good map to find his place as there are no signs to guide you there. I had emailed him to see if he would be around on Thursday and the reply I got was simply, "yes, thanks".  We drove up the long curved driveway and honked the horn, which I learned from his website, is the way to let him know that you have arrived. We were greeted by three dogs and two peacock...all friendly. 

First of all, he invited us into his home where he showed us the paintings he was working on. He answered our questions, said that we could take pictures of anything we saw there and then led us to the museum. Wow! What stuff....wall to wall pieces of art. Much of it looks like folk art, while others are curiosities. He paints over existing pieces, mostly outlining people's bones, and adds text. He puts, what I would call random prices together to from pieces of art. For example I saw a piece that included a globe, toy dinosaur, yellow chick, bottle containing a turnip root, an animal skull much more. 

             

All of his work is for sale, ranging in price from $125.00 to $500.00 or more. We didn't purchase anything but did leave a donation in the wooden box provided. There was certainly no pressure to do so, no was there any indication that we were interrupting, although he was at work when we arrived. Butch is a very humble man. However, I did find out that he is on a TV show called "American Pickers" and that PBS was coming by the next day to do a special on him. 

       

As if all that wasn't enough, as we were leaving he suggested we visit his drive through museum up the road. Of course we stopped and not only drove through, but got out of the car to look more closely at this one of a kind museum, made of five containers; the kind you see on big trucks and at container piers. There were some very cool things here too.

          

On the drive home we couldn't stop talking about this unique man and his art. I am so glad we visited Butch Anthony and his Alabama Museum of Wonder. You should go!

We got back to Auburn in time to grab a bite to eat and take Jackie for a short walk before it was time to go to the Telfair B. Peet Theatre at Auburn University to see Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief. From the playbill: "This play is a raucous reimagining of Desdemona's (Othello's wife) last days. Vogel upends the simple caricatures given the three female leads and gives each a fully formed character - complete with opinions on sex, power and class." 

The play was exactly as described...lots of humour amid serious topics, all relevant today. 

Wow...what a full day. Thanks Jessica!

April 2-8, 2014. Auburn.

Since arriving in Auburn about one week ago we have been enjoying our visit with Jessica, Nolan and Jackie. Jessica and Nolan are busy people; Nolan is a full time student, while Jessica is a full time professor.

Jackie is a dog who loves going for walks, checking the kitchen floor for crumbs and lots of attention. We have enjoyed our daily walks with her and although she likes to bark at other dogs it seems to be a "let's play" request rather than anything malicious. Jackie responds to a few commands including sit, down, stay, and what does a good girl do? (lie down and roll over). The power of a small dog biscuit is amazing.

        

Auburn is a true university town. The school colors of orange and navy blue are everywhere: buses, stores, restaurants, cars, and particularly on people. The Auburn campus is very pretty, particularly at this time of year when so much is in bloom. 

University sports are very much a part of life in this town. We had hoped to go to a ball game but both teams are playing out of town. We did attend a track meet where we saw the 100, 200, and 400 meters. We also saw some pole vaulting and high jumping. The event was an invitational and so we saw some great athletes from all over the US. 

We played golf at Indian Pines, went to a movie and had dinner with some of Jessica and Nolan's friends. One of the best pars of this visit was visiting the site where Jessica and Nolan are building a house.

         

March 30 -April 1, 2014. Weeki Wachee, Rainbow Springs and Auburn.

Leaving Florida to head north is what snowbirds do at the end of March. We are no different except that our north, until sometime in April is Auburn, Alabama where Spring is warm and sunny. 

We wanted to make two stops en route to Alabama; both state parks: Weeki Wachee and Rainbow Springs. Weeki Wachee originally belonged to a movie studio with its main attraction being a mermaid show. Apparently the girls used to stand out by the highway in their bathing suits to try attract people to the show. Today, you need to line up at least 45 minutes before show time in order to get a seat for the  30 minute show. 

                                  

             

We experienced just about everything Weeki Wachee had to offer. We took the 30 minute boat ride where we saw manatees and an enormous eagle's nest; watched the 30 minute reptile show (two snakes, two turtles and one alligator) and saw the mermaid show. All well worth the $13 admission fee. It is not a large park so we were glad to have gotten there early and left before it got too crowded and the lines too long.

         

Rainbow Springs State Park is a relatively new park and so the campsites and the facilities are very modern. There are several hiking trails with one in particular that leads to the Withlacoochee River which is a 141 mile long stretch of water. We did a bit of biking and although we enjoyed the park, the absence of Wifi is a strike against it.

On Monday we continued on north through Georgia, enjoying the countryside once we left the Interstate. Horses, cows, peanut and pecan farms along with gorgeous spring blooms made for a pleasant drive to sunny Auburn, Alabama.

March 26 - 29, 2014. Baseball, Golf, Biking and Gourmet Vegetarian Dinner.

Our last Spring Training ball game saw the Jays defeat the Yankees in front of a sold out crowd. The atmosphere in the park was electric especially when the Jays made some great defensive plays.

       

There are lots of golf courses in the Dunedin/Palm Harbor/Tarpon Springs area. I looked up some and decided to try a course in Tarpon Springs. We walked nine holes and enjoyed the mostly par 4 and par 5 course on a cool, cloudy, pleasant Florida afternoon.

                                        

We have biked on the southern part of the Pinellas Trail and wanted to check out the northern end. Starting at Well Springs Park we biked the 8 miles to the end. On our way, we passed behind The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary. Hearing some strange sounds, we stopped and watched two apes grooming each other, two  sleeping and some others making screeching sounds. The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary Foundation is a non-profit organization which provides these animals with a safe haven to spend out the rest of their lives in peace and with dignity. Many of the animals are retired from the movie business.The Sanctuary is run entirely by volunteers and relies on the generosity of the community and local businesses.

          

Today was a stormy day. Rain, thunder, lightening and strong winds continued until late this afternoon. Some of the lightening seemed very close. Since we spent the day working on Volunteer Awards stuff, we rewarded ourselves with a gourmet, four course, vegetarian meal at a Dunedin restaurant. It was delicious.

March 21 - 23, 2014. Honeymoon Island, More Baseball and Pink Martini.

Friday's bike ride was intentionally long as we hadn't had a lot of exercise of late. We left Wall Springs Park and pedaled eight miles on the Pinellas Trail to Honeymoon Island State Park, billed as "A barrier island paradise". The Pinellas Trail which extends from Tarpon Springs to St. Pete's Beach is a spectacular biking trail, used by young and old, bikers, walkers, joggers, commuters, school kids. 

After we paid our park entry fee we stopped to look at the map and in front of us was a sign that made me say something a little stronger than Yikes! 

          

 We rode on, stopping at the Nature Center to take a look at the displays and get some information about the trails suitable for biking. We chose the Osprey Trail where we saw many osprey nests and fortunately, no rattlesnakes. We did meet a guy from NJ who had done the trail before and so we ended up riding along with him, finishing up the trail and winding our way through the beach parking lots and finally to the exit.  Another six mile ride took us to the ice cream parlor in Dunedin where we enjoyed much deserved doubles. The return trip was into the wind and so I am sure the ice cream calories were burned off before we arrived back at our site.

Saturday's ball game was the best we had seen so far with good pitching, strong defense and a solid victory over the Detroit Tigers. We met up with Mick (our NJ biking buddy) and instead of the planned gourmet vegetarian meal at Kelly's we headed for the waterfront and the Annual Spring Dunedin Seafood Festival. It was a relief to sit on the grass under a shady tree after the intense heat of the sun at the ball game. I am not sure what kind of fish I ate but I do know that it was delicious. 

Sunday's adventure took us to downtown Tampa. We had tickets for the Pink Martini concert at 8 but decided to go into the city early to get good parking and explore the area. Parking was a breeze and the downtown cultural district along the Hillsborough River Walk was designed for exploring at a leisurely pace. We watched water craft of various sizes cruise along the river, watched and listened to a group of young musicians performing at the amphitheater, and enjoyed people watching. 

          

Pink Martini is a group of about 12 musicians from Oregon who perform an amazing repertoire in many languages. The lead singer, China Forbes along with the rest of the group put on an incredible show to a sold out audience. If you have never heard if them, you should look for them on YouTube. You won't be disappointed.

March 16 - 20, 2014. Spring Training and Tarpon Springs.

We left Oscar Shearer on the 16th and headed for Dunedin, an easy two hour drive. The Jays game at 1:05 was against Baltimore. Many fans were dressed in green, a reminder that St. Patrick's Day is a big deal here. Even Chad, the beer seller was decked out in Blue Jays green. The game was a good one with the Jays pulling off a win in the bottom of the 10th.

         

After checking in at the RV Park we showered, cooked dinner and watched TV. With a storm predicted for St. Patrick's Day, we planned to stay put and hang out at the park. The rain started very early in the morning accompanied by thunder and lightening that lasted for a full 12 hours. It was a great day to enjoy a good book. 

Our second of five Jays games was on Wednesday when the Phillies came to play. We found a great place to enjoy brunch and then walked down the Pinellas Trail to the game. I am always surprised at the number of Maritimers we meet there. On this day we sat in front of two people from New Glasgow and next to a guy from Dartmouth. We watched Bautista hit two homers to lead the Jays to a 11-5 win over the Phillies.

Today we explored Tarpon Springs, the "Sponge Capital of the World". The first Greek immigrants arrived in this city during the 1880s, when they were hired to work as divers in the growing sponge harvesting industry. Today, Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the USA. Hence, in one brochure I read the words, "Visit Greece without leaving Florida".

          

Sponge shops, Greek restaurants and Greek bakeries line the sponge dock area where you can see strings of natural sponges hanging on the decks of working sponge boats. There was much to see in Tarpon Springs. However, I did consult TripAdvisor so as to avoid the tourist traps and find out what to see and do. 

           

Walking around the town, exploring sponge shops, meandering along the docks, visiting a sponge museum, a cathedral, a shrine and eating authentic Greek food filled the day. We learned a lot about sponges, admired stained glass at the cathedral, and thoroughly enjoyed lunch where we learned that authentic Greek salad has potato salad under the lettuce. Exploring Tarpon Springs is a great place to spend a day.