Northern FL - Jan 2024

We returned to our East Coast roadtrip after spending a little over a week in LA and TX.

Miami

We flew from Dallas into Miami and picked up our car where we left it at the Park and Fly.  It was easy to get the car and we were delighted that everything was still in it!!  We drove to our hotel near the airport where we stayed one night at the Element Hotel which was super clean but lacked amenities and was located in an industrial area so not much around it.  But a good place to stay if you just need something for a night.

We were both craving Cuban food but were too lazy to drive very far so we found the Kuban Kitchen which was not far from our hotel and much to our surprise, it was very tasty!  The restaurant is very clean and bright with some cheesy decor.  We shared the churasco steak and friend plantains which were very good.

The next morning, Shawna woke up a bit stuffy and decided to test herself for Covid - unfortunately, she tested positive so we had to cancel our plans to meet up with one of Shawna's colleagues in Stuart FL for the next two nights.  Thankfully, she never felt terrible and got through it pretty quickly so it did not mess up anything else on the trip.  With now two days to replan, we decided to relocate to Titusville and along the way, we stopped to do a few touristy things:

• Henry Flagler Museum - Located in West Palm, this was a beautiful, stately home build by Henry Flagler for his wife.  We did the self guided audio tour which was very informative.

Henry Flagler Museum

• Mar-a-Lago - Located in West Palm, only did a quick drive by to check it out!

• Manatee Lagoon - Located in West Palm, this is a free small museum with a lagoon to see the manatees. Unfortunately, we didn't see any so this was a quick stop.

• Navy Seal Museum - Located in Ft Pierce, this is a very informative museum about the Navy Seals and all of the major missions they have been involved in.

Black Hawk at Navy Seal Museum

Titusville

We wanted to see the Kennedy Space Center and since touring it would take a full day, we decided to drive up the night before and stay at the Courtyard Marriott in Titusville.  This is the best Courtyard we have ever stayed in so far - very new, clean, modern with great amenities.  That night, we even ate at the roof top bar at the Courtyard, called The Space Bar, where we shared a pretzel and yummy quesadilla and had a few beers.

Space Bar Rooftop Restaurant at Courtyard Marriott

The next day, we spent the day at the Kennedy Space Center.  We did all the major attractions as well as the bus tour.  This is a really well done museum with lots of videos, artifacts and a few fun rides to simulate flying in space.  While we did it in one day, it's probably best to do it in two if you want to try everything (there are a few things we missed).  

Kennedy Space Center

Jacksonville

We then drove to Jacksonville where we stayed at the Residence Inn for four nights.  The hotel was relatively new - clean with a few good amenities (e.g. pretty good free breakfast) - we had a studio suite.  Our goal for this part of the trip was to spend time with Kim and Keith who live in nearby Ponte Vedra.  We had so many laughs and you would not even know it that it had been many years since we last saw one another - so much fun!

While here, we did the following:

• Hockey Game - Saw the Jacksonville Icemen crush the Savannah Ghost Pirates.  Our seats were really good - just a few rows up from the ice.  Cool, small arena and the game was fun to watch.  Oh and there were lots of laughs!

Jacksonville Icemen Hockey Game

• Beach Walk - We drove down to Vilano Beach and strolled along the beach, looking for the 'elusive' shark teeth that we were promised we would find!! 

Beach Walk - Vilano Beach

• Tuk Tuk Tour - We did a one hour tuk tuk tour of downtown Jacksonville where we learned more about the upcoming development underway than the history.  

Tuk Tuk Tour of Jacksonville

And ate at the following:

• Cava - Located near our hotel, Keith and Shawna ate here when we first arrived - quick and tasty Mediterranean.  We each got a pita sandwich wrap - both of which were good.
• Lemongrass Thai - Located near our hotel, we had dinner here with Kim and Keith.  Really yummy.  We shared a red curry and shrimp potstickers.  
• Palm Valley Outdoors Bar & Grill - We had lunch here with Kim and Keith. It's a great place located in Ponte Vedra along the inner coastal with outside seating.  We each had a salad.
• Casa Reina - We had dinner here with Kim and Keith in St Augustine.  We sat outside and had a yummy fish dish with black beans and rice.  
• Southern Swells Brewing Co - We stopped here for a beer.  Beer was yummy.
• Treylor Park - We had dinner here with Kim and Keith in Ponte Vedra near their house.  Good southern style food.  We shared the avocado fries and the fried Oreos for the table and Keith and Shawna split a flatbread and shrimp and grits tacos for our entree.  

'Duck lip' photo

LA and TX - Jan 2024

We took a brief one week detour from our five month roadtrip to spend time with Shawna's mom in Louisiana for her birthday and to take care of some doctors appointments in TX.

Louisiana

We left our car at a Park and Fly in Miami and flew to New Orleans.  We then got a one way rental and drove to Shawna's mom's house, arriving on Sunday late afternoon.  That evening, Shawna made a yummy soup.  The weather for the week was predicted to be very cold (below freezing) so we prepped the house to get ready for the polar vortex.

We stayed in Moreauville for 6 nights and while there we did the following:

• Celebrated Honny's 83rd birthday - we went to dinner with Ginger and Lydia and their spouses at Broken Wheel in Marksville - our 'go to' place when we are visiting there.  We shared the crab cakes and shrimp and grits - both pretty good.  Shawna had baked a pineapple cake so we had that for dessert when we got home from dinner.

Dinner at Broken Wheel

• Shawna had to take her mom to two doctor appointments in Opelousas.  One one of the trips, she and her mom met with Betty (long time friend of Honny's) for lunch at Yamato Steakhouse.  We each got a stir fry with veggies and rice - very tasty. 

• Celebrated Nicole's birthday - we all went to dinner at The Francis in St Francisville.  We picked up Nicole and Hayden and drove together, meeting Hunter there.  We sat upstairs and we shared the crawfish bisque (the gravy was too dark and thick) and the triple tail fish (which was very tasty).  And for the table, we all shared the bread pudding for dessert - very good.  Nicole and Hayden then rode back with Hunter.  We had a great evening.

Dinner at The Francis

The rest of the time, we spent time with Honny at home and worked on some more trip planning and other items on our 'to do' list.  Shawna made a gumbo so we had that for dinner a few nights!

Texas

We drove to TX on Sunday, stopping at Schlotzsky's in Marshall TX for lunch.  We arrived at Keith's parent's house around 3:30.  Al (a friend of the family from the UK) and his business partner Graham were in town so we had dinner with them and Margaret that evening.  Jean made salmon with potato salad and Shawna made an arugula salad to go along with the meal.  

Dinner at Jean and Dick's house

Monday and Tuesday was catching up on doctor's appointments with the big one being Keiths' six week post-op follow up on his left foot, allowing him to finally get out of the boot!  On Monday evening, Shawna made chicken and salad for Jean and Keith for dinner and on Tuesday evening, Margaret came over and we did take out from a local Thai / Japenese restaurant.  Keith's parents had left Tuesday morning to fly to NM to spend time with Graham at NOSA for a few days.

On Wednesday, we flew back to Miami to continue on our road trip.

Southern FL - Jan 2024

Continuing on our five month East Coast roadtrip, we left Grayton Beach to spend two weeks in Southern Florida.  

Orlando

Our first stop was just one night in Orlando where we stayed at the Hyatt Place and met up for dinner with Heather, a Georgetown College roommate of Shawna's.  We met for dinner at Cooper's Hawk where we split a yummy fish dish and caught up on over thirty years from the last time we saw one another! 

Dinner with Heather at Cooper's Hawk

The next morning, we met up with David and Elisa at First Catch for breakfast where we got an omelet and breakfast tacos.  Keith knows David from his time working at Club Corp in DC.  

Breakfast with David and Elisa at First Catch

Big Pine Key

We then drove to Big Pine where we stayed six nights at Chris and Steve's beautiful house.  Shawna knows Chris from her time working at Chase in NYC after undergrad and Chris was also in our wedding. The last time we were at their house was when they were first finishing up the house so we finally got to see it all done!  We stayed in their guest house in a nice and comfy king size bed.

When we first arrived, we got the tour of the house and had a few beers before heading out to dinner to one of their local spots - Kiki's Sandbar - a great place on the water where we sat outside and enjoyed some music, tuna nachos and fish tacos.  Back at the house, we played poker with the kids.

On Saturday, Shawna and Chris went for a walk and then we went to the local farmers market to pick up some cheese and goodies that we enjoyed later that evening.  We also got some yummy sandwiches from a nearby market.  That afternoon, we drove into Key West and had a few drinks and snacks - key lime martinis at The White Tarpon and beer, oysters and fish bites at A&B Lobster House.  On the way back, we stopped to get a bottle of wine and enjoyed that while watching Edie at softball practice.  That evening, we sat outside at the house, drinking wine and eating cheese and bread that we had bought earlier in the day at the farmers market.

Key Lime Martinis with Chris at White Tarpon

On Sunday, Chris made breakfast for us and then a few of their friends joined us at their house in the afternoon for poker and snacks.  Shawna won the whole pot! That evening, we went to dinner at No Name Pub and shared a pizza and wings.

Dinner at No Name Pub

On Monday, we drove into Key West and did the 90 minute trolley tour of Key West.  The guide was not very exciting but we did learn some interesting facts about the town and its history and got to see some of the landmarks.  We hopped off the trolley and went into the Butterfly Conservatory which had some neat butterflies and birds! Of course, we had to get one more key lime martini at The White Tarpon before heading back.  That evening, Shawna made a salad and pasta dish for dinner.

Butterfly Conservatory

On Tuesday, we drove to Islamorada to have lunch with Nicole, a former colleague of Keith's, at Bad Boy Burrito. We shared some fish and pork tacos which were quite tasty.  That afternoon, we took a quick nap and then that evening we went to the local tiki bar to play trivia.

On Wednesday, we drove the kids to school and were amazed that they did this trek to Key West every day!  We stopped at Bagel Island on the way home and got a few bagels for breakfast.  Shawna then went for her run and then we had lunch with Chris and Steve at Forks and Stix where we had a yummy tuna poke bowl and spicy salmon roll.  That afternoon, we drove to Marathon and toured both the Dolphin Research Center and the Turtle Hospital which provides medical services to turtles who have been injured or got ill.  Both were very interesting.  That evening, Chris made us dinner - yummy fish and a salad.

Dolphin Research Center

On Thursday, after Shawna's run, we packed up and said our farewells and then drove to Miami.

Miami

We stayed three nights in Miami at the Confidante (a Hyatt hotel) on Miami Beach.  It was a decent hotel but one that is in transition to another brand so the pool area and several of the restaurants were closed.  When we arrived, we relaxed in the room to watch a few movies and then got a quick bite to eat at a pizza restaurant that was across the street from our hotel - we shared a salad and a pizza.  

Relaxing on Miami Beach

On Friday, Shawna worked out in the gym and then we released on the beach that afternoon, reading and enjoying a couple of beers.  It was the only relatively nice and warm day for us to enjoy some beach time in the two weeks we were in FL.  That evening, we had a tasty dinner at Zaytinya which is a Jose Andres restaurant.  We sat outside and had a bottle of wine and shared several small plates -- all of them were very good.  

Dinner at Zaytinya

On Saturday, we met up for a late lunch with another one of Shawna's Georgetown roommates - Mariana - who lives in Miami.  We met up at Regatta Grove which was a great outdoor venue on the water with some fun people watching.  We had a few drinks and ate burgers while catching up.  Since we ate a later lunch, we were not terribly hungry for dinner so we just had a few granola bars in the room and watched movies that evening.

Lunch with Mariana at Regatta Grove

On Sunday, we packed up and parked the car at a Park n Fly near the Miami airport and left all of our stuff in there except our carry on suitcases and backpacks.  We were a bit nervous about doing this but felt better that it was an indoor valet garage where we were parking.  We had to leave the car there for a week while we did a quick detour for a week to Louisiana and Texas.

FL Panhandle Beach House - Dec 2023

Chapter four of retirement is a 5-month road trip up the east coast, with the first stop a beach house in Grayton Beach, just west of Panama City.  We rented a 6 bedroom house with John/Joanna, Phil/Joyce, Kim/Jonathan, and Will/Cindy.  We had found the house when John/Joanna were visiting us in Santa Fe over Labor Day weekend.  

Rental house in Grayson Beach

The house is less than two years old, with a huge open kitchen/living/dining area that open to the pool, and  a master bedroom and second bedroom on the ground floor.  The second floor had three more bedrooms (all of them were king beds) as well as a couple of balconies.  A spiral stair went from the second floor to a 3rd floor deck that has a view of the ocean.  

With our early start from Moreauville, we were first to arrive at the house at 2pm.  We unloaded the car into our second floor room and then drove to Sharkys in Panama City Beach to pick up John/Joanna who had flown in to Panama City airport and were at the bar drinking beers until the Dodds shuttle picked them up.  We joined John/Joanna for one beer before driving back to the house via the grocery store where we stocked up on the basics (beer).  By the time we got back to the house, Phil/Joyce and Kim/Jonathan had just arrived after their 11 hour road trip caravan from Raleigh.  Will/Cindy arrived a couple of hours later.   Dinner the first night was easy - we just ordered pizza from Grace Pizza and Shakes, had a few beers, and enjoyed the hot tub.

Morning walk along the beach

The weather was quite chilly while there so we were not able to enjoy much of the beach nor the pool.  Each day, some of the house would go for walks, often ending at a bar where the rest of the group would join.  Afternoons, we mainly relaxed in the house and used the hot tub from around 4-6pm in time to get ready for dinner.  We rotated who was responsible for dinner each evening as follow: 

• Joyce and Phil hosted the second night with a lovely asian-themed surf & turf.
• Kim and Jonathan led the next night with a 3-course fondue: cheese, then meats/broth, and of course wrapping up with chocolate.
• JoAnna and John had New Years Eve.  We had an early dinner at Down Island where we had some yummy seafood and then went back to the house for hot tub, snacks and champagne at midnight.
• Cindy and Will led New Years day dinner with a fantastic lasagna.
• Shawna and Keith had the second to last night, making Indian.
• Our last night, we just ordered in pizza again from Grace Pizza.

Lunch at Chiringo

Dinner at Down Island

Some other places we went:

• Chiringo: Stopped here for lunch one day and had a few beers.  Cute place with good food.
• The Red Bar: Stopped here for lunch one day - food was not great.
• Bud and Alleys Taco Bar: Stopped her for a few beers and snacks.  Right on the square in Seaside.
• Escapology: Did an escape room on our last afternoon since it was a rainy day. We finished it with only a few minutes to spare!

On the last morning, we drove away to spend two weeks in Southern FL while the rest of the gang returned to NC.