Weekend Get-A-Way

We had some free nights ChoiceHotel points we had to use before the end of the year, so decided to take off for the weekend. At first we were going to go the Eastern part of Kentucky with lots of twisty curvy roads. But, after seeing how cool it was going to be we decided to head south. Just south of Chattanooga is the Battlefield of Chickamauga. There is a seven mile driving tour that takes you all around it. The visitors center closed at 5 so we weren't able to get a map to be able to tell us what we were seeing, but it was very interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chickamauga Tomorrow we will be taking back roads through the North Eastern Mountains of Georgia.

Shelby's 2nd Birthday Party

Shelby's birthday party was today and all she wanted was a purple flower cake. This has been the easiest cake we have done. The ice cream cones were two different size cupcakes and then you put icing on them and they look like ice cream cones. The party favors were the bowls that Kristin found at Hobby Lobby. They fixed their own sundaes in them.

You could either have a brownie sundae, make your own sundae or the specialty made by Cindy Holland, a good old fashion banana split. This was where you started and then you moved on to......

Oh my, can I say sugar heaven. You add your own toppings to your ice cream. Of course first in line was........

the birthday girl, with her own special bowl. She loves ice cream. Then along came big brother.....

Mitchell and he made his own sundae. Then after all the kids were served...........

they ate outside. All of them getting on their sugar high. Sorry, mom's & dad's.

You could have a 1 scoop, 2 scoop or a 3 scoop boat. Most chose the 3 scoop. This was Danielle's

I think Jonathan's had to be the best of the show. Thank's Cindy for your creative work. And then there was a nice..................................

Fruit tray for the healthy folks. Hmmmmm. Don't look like it has been touched. After the carb high, it was time for Shelby to..........

open her presents. She got lots of dress up stuff. That is her favorite thing to do. Loves beads. She got necklaces, rings, hi-heels.

Books

Cleaning things, because she loves to help clean house. I hope she still likes it when she gets older. I will sure put her to work, because that is my least favorite thing to do.

After opening all her presents, it was time for the...............................

cake. After blowing out the candles..................

she very gently put her fingers in the cake. Unlike the last several that we have made for the boys. and then it was time for a taste. She wanted to share so she gave...............

Grandmother a bite. If Ice Cream & cake wasn't enough, why not have......................

an Ice Cream Cone Cupcake........... It was funny when she took it, because she thought it was a real ice cream cone. She was licking it. And if that wasn't enough sugar for the rest of them, some

others had to have more. Mitchell just made his own sundae in his mouth. And best of all..........

we got a picture with Mom & Dad with all their great grandkids. Baby Garrett is a sweetie and now there is another one on the way for Jeremy & Katie. What a great day.

Our little princess. I hope you had a good day Miss Shelby.

St. Simons & Jekyll Island (Thur-Fri)

Thursday we stayed close by. Around lunch time we drove through Fernandina Beach historic downtown and then we drove by.......
Amelia Island lighthouse. This one can only be toured on certain occasions. Ate lunch at Sliders. Then it was back to the condo.

This guy hung out with us all week.

Friday we went north into Georgia across this bridge to....

St. Simons Island, which of course but what else would I be looking for, but yet another......

lighthouse

St. Simons lighthouse was built in 1872 and is 104 ft tall with 129 steps.

I will never get tired of the views from the top of each of the lighthouses we visit.

Shrimp boat coming in.

This was a coast guard station, but now a Maritime Museum that we toured.

After leaving there we went over to Jekyll Island where the rich and famous use to have houses.

These are single family vacation homes that were owned by the Vanderbilts & Goodyears among other rich and famous

Now that is one big yacht.

We left there and went back and hung out on the beach the rest of the day.

St. Augustine (Wed)

After sitting on the balcony this morning and drinking our coffee & eating breakfast, we decided to take off to St. Augustine. Only 60 miles away from where we were. We dropped the top on the Pony and took off. We always take side roads and today was no different. We drove down A1A all the way down. Well, when you get below Jackson, FL there are some huge houses on the beach. I could only get a few shots of them as we were going.

We then arrived at St. Augustine Lighthouse, which was....

built in 1874 and has 214 stairs to the top (yes we climbed) The light keepers had to carry 30 lb hot oil cans to the top 3 times a day. It took all I could do to carry my body up there.

These cannons were recently found in a shipwreck and they have to slowly get them changed over to the different waters to clean them.

Yep, that's the stairs

The view from the top don't give it justice. It is amazing.

St. Augustine is a very cool old town.

The fresnal lens

Probably my 3rd favorite lighthouse. Hatteras 1st, little Nubble Lighthouse in Maine and then this one my 3rd. We have seen so many it is really hard to pick a favorite.

This is where the lighthouse keepers stayed, which is attached to the lighthouse. It was like a duplex. One family on one side and one on the other.

The front of the house.

The trees just intrigue me.

Headed back to condo, Downtown Jacksonville