The Empty Nesters Magical Mystery Tour *1/28* Link to New Girl's TR p141

[MEK]

Sorry its taking me so long to do replies. Ugh. busy couple of nights. Hope to do them tomorrow evening.

 

[annmarieda]

Sorry its taking me so long to do replies. Ugh. busy couple of nights. Hope to do them tomorrow evening.

Hang in there! I for one certainly understand!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry its taking me so long to do replies. Ugh. busy couple of nights. Hope to do them tomorrow evening.

Don't worry. We will all still be here when you come back and have time. We have all "been there, done that".

 

[MEK]

Wow quite an update !!! As or Pink Flamingos they were a status thing in the front yard in the 50"s , from what I hear !! The History of the town is fascinating !!!

Pink Falmingos used to be the tackiest thing ever, but now they have made quite the comeback - complete with their own designer clothes.

Back from our trip to Disney and I'm trying to get caught up with my Dis friends. Your pictures of St. Augustine are gorgeous! My sister and her husband visited the town and loved it.

Welcome back! It sounds like you had a great trip! Can't wait to read all about it.

And thanks - St. Augustine is such a super cool town. It's really beautiful and I felt right at home there.

Oh and by the way, I'm glad that you didn't give up Dising. You'd be missed!

Awww - thanks. I really did have a hard time getting back into it after this last trip. I think I'm OK now. Crisis averted.

I'm so glad you made it to St. Augustine on this trip with your friends. Beautiful pictures!

Thanks! We had such a fun time in Saint Augustine. It was a nice break for the parks and it was exactly the type of town I love to explore.

The picture of you and Denny in front of the Bridge of Lions is really nice.

Thank you!

What an interesting update. The Osceola info made me sad I can't imagine how horrible that time was with all the fighting.

Florida has some very interesting history. It was a sad time. But its cool that Osceola's legacy lives on.

You didn't go in the school house?

Not because I didn't want to, because you know I did, but when you are with three other people you sort of have to go with the flow. That's why I must go back!

Low all the palm pics. Mom has gotten me quite partial to palms.

Me too! that's probably because we can't have them up here and they are so pretty and relaxing to look at. I always enjoy seeing the ones they bring up for the summer to use at the beach resorts, but I always feel bad knowing they will die.

Sorry lunch was not memorable.

It wasn't bad, just nothing to write on the DIS about.

The Denster was so fascinated he needed to read everything twice?

So I embellished there a bit. He didn't actually read everything twice, but he DOES read every word. He really takes his time and lets it all sink in. He has twice my attention span.

 

[MEK]

Very cool tour of St. Augustine. That fort looks pretty interesting.

It really was so cool, so old, and so historic. I'm glad we toured it. Plus the views were amazing.

I'm pretty sure you've seen more FL cities than I have, and I've lived in 2 different parts of the state for a grand total of 10 years.

Somehow I doubt that, but I know sometimes people seem to ignore what's in their own back yard. For example, I am a 2 hour train ride from NYC but I have never gone up there and really explored or spent the weekend. I guess because I know it will always be there. If I ever found out I was moving I would have to do a lot of catching up and plan weekend trips to see all the places I ignore.

Love the picture of you in Denny in front of the bridge. Looks like you both are having a relaxing time touring the area!

We had a great time. It was a really fun afternoon.

I know, right? I was pretty excited to finally make it there!

But please tell me you got fireworks!

In one word - NO! I told you before that Denny is very anti-fireworks, For that matter, the airline probably is as well.

I like how they made everything in the old part of town maintain that architecture.

It's so cool, isn't it? I just thought it was such a visually pretty town. I love all the Spanish architecture and I really loved how quaint the colonial district was.

We all know Glenn collects them.

And Glen is not even here to defend himself because I never see him on my TR anymore. *sigh* Or Anywhere on the boards for that matter!

Yeah - but you were already there once so you had insider information.

Inside, if I remember--I think we have a picture of the same door! The fort is pretty cool.

Wow - you have a good memory because I'm sure I would have guessed outside.

Blah blah blah guns blah blah blah fort blah blah blah Spanish. There you go.

That's about all I remember. Thanks for summing it up so succinctly.

 

[MEK]

Thanks for the link. I may be a tad directionally challenged (which really is unlike me) but I thought it was in the other direction and could maybe be a day trip for us from the island. Sadly that won't be the case.

What island? Are you staying somewhere other than Disneyworld?

Maybe you'll be able to get there and visit on one of your trips!

Yeah... me neither. I am just to restless in the sun.

I hear ya. I am exactly the same way. I'm pretty good at a pool if I can move into the shade periodically, but the beach can get boring. Yet I know people who could just sit on the beach all day.

What beautiful pictures! St. Augustine is very picturesque. Looks like you guys had a really nice time.

It was a beautiful city and we had an awesome time visiting!

I am starting to think I need a dress-up mingo for my yard.

Yeah - me too!

I think it is great that you always seem to have enough time to do something else while in Florida. I wish we could take a vacation for that long to have time to do everything we want at Disney and hit a few other diversions as

Well, sometimes we cut Disney short to do other things and THAT is hard to do. But we do really like seeing our friends, K&T, so its a win-win! I'm glad we took the time to go to St Augustine. The other thing is we are fortunate to be able to visit several times a year.

I'm not sure - Is that a YES or a NO?

Because all the rest of them burned. Talk about a fire hazard...

I think you might be on to something!

The one with the best drink special!

And there's that! Definitely a criteria for a dining selection. I'm pretty sure the restaurant we selected had some drink specials but since I didn't take any pictures I can't even imagine what they were.

Why aren't there any pictures of someone with their head in a cannon in this TR? I've come to expect that on the DIS. Or maybe I've just seen too many of Mark's.

Yup - that would be Mark's TR because, well, you know, that's what Mark does to keep things lively. Or perhaps maybe the kids were driving him crazy that day?

 

[MEK]

Obviously Denny needs to step up his game.

Note to self: Next time there is a cannon involved please have Denny stick his head in the barrel. Ok - I think I got it!

You know, if you ever try to leave the DIS again, we well pester you on FB until you have to come back to scold us!

No worries. I'm not leaving. I just had a little trouble getting back into the swing of things after my most recent trip and my computer crash. I am all good to go now!

Oh my gosh! I about DIED laughing seeing you all covered up in your sweatshirt

Hey, What......It was cold that night? Yeah, right, that was it! Cold, I tell you!

Great pictures of St. Augustine. I love that you always seem to venture outside of the World to see what else is out there. I have my blinders on when it comes to WDW. I may eventually venture to the Dark Side at some point, but that's probably as far as i'll get.

I think I am very fortunate in that I get to travel to WDW several times a year. It makes it so much easier to take some time out to leave the bubble. Plus, I want to be a snowbird so its essential that I see all these places. For research purposes and all!

Hi Mary Ellen! I'm finally caught up again on your TR. Things were crazy for a while at work so I was 30 pages behind. I think I should be able to keep up now!

Yay! For getting all caught up. I know that's tough once you get pretty far behind! Thanks for taking the time to read!

 

[MEK]

Hang in there! I for one certainly understand!!!

Thanks! It was a crazy work week and one of those weeks were I had a lot of stuff to do after work. I did manage to run a couple mornings this week, which was nice. But today I just said - Nope - and decided to take a break. I have a parade tomorrow at 9am so I've got to get up early tomorrow and try to get a decent run in before leaving. It seems I need more and more coffee to get going.

Don't worry. We will all still be here when you come back and have time. We have all "been there, done that".

I know! DISing is hard work!

Are you getting excited for your summer vacation???? You must be!

 

[dizneeat]

Are you getting excited for your summer vacation???? You must be!

I am getting "somewhat" excited. Somehow, this being Europe and most of the ports are not new to us I never even got around or attempted to plan much, but the closer it gets the more I am getting into the swing of things. I have a few days of our Med cruise planned and hope to post them on my thread pretty soon.

 

[MEK]

I am getting "somewhat" excited. Somehow, this being Europe and most of the ports are not new to us I never even got around or attempted to plan much, but the closer it gets the more I am getting into the swing of things. I have a few days of our Med cruise planned and hope to post them on my thread pretty soon.

Isn't it funny how things in your own backyard don't create the same enthusiasm as other places you travel to. And yet I am convinced you can discover all kinds of delights in familiar places. This summer I vowed to plan day trips to local spots and really try to revisit them with a fresh eye. Enjoy your planning!

 

[khaleesi]

You know - I never noticed that before, so thanks for pointing it out. I wonder why they designed it that way!

According to my book (which is how I knew it existed), during the Colonial Period, the IIII was used instead of the IV and they wanted it to be authentic. Apparently there is a similar clock with IIII in the American section of Epcot

Great pictures of St Augustine! The fort reminds me a lot of the Alamo. That schoolhouse looks charming!

 

[MEK]

According to my book (which is how I knew it existed), during the Colonial Period, the IIII was used instead of the IV and they wanted it to be authentic. Apparently there is a similar clock with IIII in the American section of Epcot

I did not know that. How interesting. I will definitely be paying closer attention to both those clocks in the future. Very cool little factoid.

Great pictures of St Augustine! The fort reminds me a lot of the Alamo. That schoolhouse looks charming!

The Castillo was super cool and the views were beautiful. I really wish we had had time to go into the school house. oh well. *sigh*

 

[GoofyFan1515]

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record but..........

Wow, when you do an update..........

Great sidetrip to St. Augustine. It has been many, many years since I was there. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and as usual, you always have a great eye for picking things to take pictures of that make your updates so interesting. I don't remember a whole lot, but I do know we went to Castillo de San Marcos.

So share your secret........how did you know that was the Entrance to the Wooden School???

You know - I never noticed that before, so thanks for pointing it out. I wonder why they designed it that way!

I actually had a discussion with a CM in World Showcase about this a couple of years ago. When they were using Roman Numerals on the clocks like this, they were concerned as you approached the six o'çlock hour that there would be some confusion between the IV and the VI and how to turn it on the face, so they decided to use the IIII instead of IV to hopefully eliminate that possibility. Of course in my mind, would anyone really confuse where the 4 and the 6 are on the clock???

 

[annmarieda]

What island? Are you staying somewhere other than Disneyworld?

Anna Maria is where we will end up staying. (WDW has a 4/1/3 split and then we end with 2 nights down on the island) It is definitely too far.

Maybe you'll be able to get there and visit on one of your trips!

We will have to attempt it on another trip!

I hear ya. I am exactly the same way. I'm pretty good at a pool if I can move into the shade periodically, but the beach can get boring. Yet I know people who could just sit on the beach all day.

My husband is a sit on the beach all day. I get bored. A pool is ok, I can be there a while and not feel too bored. Course, I guess with a pool there is always the option of leaving at any time. Maybe the fact I feel stuck on the beach doesn't help me.

Thanks! It was a crazy work week and one of those weeks were I had a lot of stuff to do after work. I did manage to run a couple mornings this week, which was nice. But today I just said - Nope - and decided to take a break. I have a parade tomorrow at 9am so I've got to get up early tomorrow and try to get a decent run in before leaving. It seems I need more and more coffee to get going.

Finding time to balance all those things is really hard. Kudos to you!

 

[Ravens girl]

I just finished reading your TR and I loved it. It seems we have something in common. My DH and I will also be celebrating our 25th anniversary in October in Disney. When will you and Denny be there? Maybe we can meet up?

 

[MEK]

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record but..........

Wow, when you do an update..........

I had more update written but I didn't want to go past four entries. That's what I have planned for tonight too! That's what happens when you take too many pictures.

Great sidetrip to St. Augustine. It has been many, many years since I was there. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and as usual, you always have a great eye for picking things to take pictures of that make your updates so interesting. I don't remember a whole lot, but I do know we went to Castillo de San Marcos.

It's such a cool city. I'm glad I jogged your memory. Sounds like it might be time for you to head back!

So share your secret........how did you know that was the Entrance to the Wooden School???

I actually don't know that for a fact since I didn't actually go in. But I hope the sign was accurate.

I actually had a discussion with a CM in World Showcase about this a couple of years ago. When they were using Roman Numerals on the clocks like this, they were concerned as you approached the six o'çlock hour that there would be some confusion between the IV and the VI and how to turn it on the face, so they decided to use the IIII instead of IV to hopefully eliminate that possibility. Of course in my mind, would anyone really confuse where the 4 and the 6 are on the clock???

IMO everyone past the age of 6 probably has the face of the clock memorized to the point where you don't even need the numbers. Quite honestly, I never even noticed that it said IIII instead of IV. And I definitely don't see what's confusing between IV and VI. But what do I know?

Anna Maria is where we will end up staying. (WDW has a 4/1/3 split and then we end with 2 nights down on the island) It is definitely too far.

Anna Maria is SUCH a cute island. We were there in March. We did a day trip and stopped there. Gorgeous blue/green water with the most perfect view of the Sunshine Bridge. The whole little town just screams Jimmy Buffet. I have pictures, but I am waiting to post those at the end of this TR.

I don't know how into history you are but we visited the Desoto Memorial on the way there and it was pretty cool and completely free. The movie was really interesting. It's not far from Anna Maria.

We will have to attempt it on another trip!

Next time!

My husband is a sit on the beach all day. I get bored. A pool is ok, I can be there a while and not feel too bored. Course, I guess with a pool there is always the option of leaving at any time. Maybe the fact I feel stuck on the beach doesn't help me.

That definitely doesn't help, plus I am one of these people that gets sand everywhere. I could sit perfectly still and still have sand in places I don't want to think about.

Finding time to balance all those things is really hard. Kudos to you!

It's going to get really hot here this week so it will be interesting to see where I fit the running in. I am off on Wednesday but I have a packed day so its almost like a work day. *sigh*

I just finished reading your TR and I loved it. It seems we have something in common. My DH and I will also be celebrating our 25th anniversary in October in Disney. When will you and Denny be there? Maybe we can meet up?

Ravens girl and thanks for joining in! Very cool that we are anniversary twins. We will be there mid-October. It's partly a WDW trip and partly a cruise trip. What are your plans?

 

[MEK]

More Time With a Saint

I think my Saint Augustine update is going to be at least three separate updates. I hope I don’t bore you with all my pictures. I just have SOOOOOO many!

In my last update we were touring the city. We left off here. We were in the lobby of a hotel. Looking back I wonder if it was the Casa Monica.








The Spanish influenced architecture in this city is just so lovely.



We passed the Lightner Museum (more about this in the next update).














We were across the street from Flagler College. This place looked amazing, so we decided to come back and tour it the next day as all the tours were done for the day.






Flagler College was once the Ponce de Leon hotel. Once again, more about that soon. The Alcazar Hotel was also built by Flagler and is now the Lightner Museum.



We walked the perimeter of the Lightner Museum, but decided not to enter today as we would be back in the morning.







You can tell I was absolutely enthralled with this building because I could not stop taking pictures of it from different angles.





By this point, the afternoon sun was getting lower in the sky, so we decided to venture back to our car and go find our accommodations for the evening.

We passed another church and back tracked through the Colonial District



This street was just chocked full of eye candy. It was hard to leave.





Gourmet popsicles?



I loved her. I wanted to bring her home. But she wasn’t cheap and I didn’t think she would fly well. Plus I would have to find a spot for her. But isn’t she cool?



So many cool restaurants and bars. I vowed to return.









Continued In Next Post

 

[MEK]

A map of the colonial district





One more horse and buggy



We got to the car and entered the address for our accommodations. Originally I suggested a B&B or hotel right in the city. Since K&T knew the area better than we did, T went searching on her own and actually found
a VRBO rental for two nights. I don’t recall the name of the condos, but they were on the beach side.

The place was a 2BR with 1.5 baths. That made showering a little awkward, since the full bath was in the master BR, but for two nights I knew we could handle it. The unit also had a washer & dryer, so one of the first things I did upon arrival was some laundry.

We fixed adult beverages and T cooked dinner. T loves to cook and, honestly, K & T would rather cook than go out to dinner. I wasn’t going to say no to a yummy home cooked meal. We had salmon, whole grain rice, and veggies. It was perfect. Before dinner we actually took a walk around the complex to check things out. I didn’t bring my phone or camera as it was overcast and rather cool outside. There were two pools and I was certainly hoping to get in some pool time tomorrow.

We finished the night by watching a movie. I may or may not have fallen asleep.

I started October 30th with a run. I ran along the main highway for awhile (on the side walk, of course). It was a long road with condo complex after condo complex. On my way back I decided to run down to the beach.

It was still a bit overcast



But the sun was on the rise and I felt confident it was going to b a lovely day.









It was lovely and quiet on the beach so early in the morning.



And if I had my real camera, instead of my cell phone, I think I could have gotten some really nice pictures



But there was no time for that. I needed to head back to the condo and get showered and ready for the day.

Our plan today was to take the tour of Flagler College. They offer tours at 10am. Today I think we parked somewhere on the street and walked to the college.

This is the main entrance



And this is the ceiling. Wow!




Here is some background on Henry Flager if you are interested. http://staugustine.com/history/henry-flagler

Short story - he was an industrialist in the last 1800’s and he built this as a hotel for the rich and socially connected. Those individuals would come from NYC via train and stay there about 4 months every winter. You had to be able to stay 3 or 4 months or you couldn’t have a reservation. He actually built a total of three hotels - Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar, and the Casa Monica. The Casa Monica is actually still open and I believe Flagler remodeled it but didn’t actually build it.

Clearly the Ponce de Leon hotel could not sustain itself over the years so it was converted to a college. It became a college in 1968.

Tours are offered on a daily basis and they are given by students. It’s about $10 a person and really worth the price. I think they gave Denny the senior admission discount when we told them his birthday was the next day!

Our tour guide was Carson. I read about him on trip advisor and he got excellent reviews! And with good reason - he was amazing. He did an excellent job. Great speaking voice and very engaging. Hard to believe he was a junior in college.

He took us outside first.







There were a lot of hidden details to the architecture that Flager specifically added. For example, if you look at this picture it looks like a regular fountain, but if you look closer you will see that the fountain actually looks like the end of a sword turned upside down. I forget what the turtles stand for, but they have some type of significance.









There’s a lot I don’t remember, but one thing Carson said really sticks out in my mind. This entire complex of building was built in 18 months. Are you kidding me? That would never happen nowadays! Just amazing!



Continued In the Next Post

 

[MEK]

We went back inside



Carson took us down a long hall that took us to the dining area



This room was absolutely amazing and really difficult to photograph because it was dark yet there was a lot of light glare coming in through the windows.







The ceilings were spectacular











To say all the glass in the room and on the ceilings was jaw dropping is an understatement. Carson told us that Flagler College has the largest collection of tiffany glass in the entire country.







Carson also told us about the chairs




Some are original. Some are not.



Not completely sure which is which, but the clue might have something to do with the face.

T insisted that I take her picture on one of the “original” chairs



Then Carson took us to another part of the building. It was an opulent room where they hold special occasion ceremonies.





Check out the top of that fireplace



Just one of the hundreds of details on the ceiling and the walls



Amazing



Look - a colonial clock (now that I know what to look for)





The tour was a little over an hour long. It was chocked full of factoids, but there is so much I can’t remember. I should have taken notes. Bottom line - I highly recommend it for anyone who loves history and just loves to ogle at really cool places.

Back outside the sun was out and the skies were blue, so I had to take MORE pictures.





Continued In Next Post

 

[MEK]

Some history about the Ponce de Leon hotel which is now Flagler College



Henry Flagler



By Flagler. It’s been real



And Carson - well, if you mention his name of trip advisor it gives him points towards being awarded theme park tickets, so I immediately wrote a review. Way to go Carson!

Looks like we stopped inside a church next







Beautiful



Ah yes, of course, the Cathedral Basilica



We walked passed this building which is actually a home for nuns



Cute pink house





This was one of the inns I was interested in staying in







People in the south take Halloween seriously!









Lunch time!

We found a restaurant recommended to me by a DISer on FB. I honestly can’t remember the name. I’d have to go on Trip Advisor and see if anything rings a bell.

Anyway - we arrived here for lunch



How cool is this place. Of course we had to eat outside









Looking towards the entrance



My entree.

Fish tacos and collard greens. Yup - some low country cooking here. The greens must have been flavored with bacon fat or ham. They were so yummy and I couldn’t even finish them. Notice the big chunks of ham in there. The fish tacos were pretty darn good, too!




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