March 2025 – Our Travels

Wedding bells in Alabama

March 26, 2025ssolsen12Leave a comment

After one more beautiful sunset on Cape San Blas off Port St Joe, Florida,

… we took our final look straight down at the seawall that will someday surely lose its battle with the elements.

We then stood in line in the parking lot of the nearby convenience store to buy fresh donuts from Weber’s.

Sufficiently loaded up with sugar, we were ready to make the final leg of our trip to Fairhope, Alabama.

But let’s back up – why Alabama? Well, our dear friends Terry and Lynn were about to gain a daughter, Rachel, as their son Trevor was headed down the aisle to wedded bliss. And we’d been looking forward to and planning this trip for months.

In January, Susie bought a gown in Italy & carefully crammed it in a travel cube

On Tuesday, March 18, we checked in with Terry and Lynn, and it was finally time to get the parties started!

Susie & Lynn stepped into Jill’s traveling spray tan booth

Now that the fancy duds were wrinkle-free and the gals were both sporting a healthy glow, it was time to prepare for the first big event, Rehearsal Dinner.

Lynn and her mother Barbara setting tables

From here, things got pretty crazy with events and festivities. There are very few photos, though. After all, just how the heck is our in-house photographer supposed to fit a camera into her tiny, borrowed clutch (thank you, Brenda!) while celebrating?

Sporting a resort casual vibe for Friday’s Welcome Party

We wish Trevor and Rachel a lifetime of love and happiness!

After all that feasting, we needed a walk, so we hit the trail. Well, in this case, we walked down the street from the rental house directly to the shores of Mobile Bay.

We were to be in Fairhope a week, hence, we needed a Travel Challenge card. We pulled it in fact on the 18th while sharing donuts we’d purchased that morning in Florida. As Susie pulled the card, Terry made a joke about it most likely involving eating as many donuts as possible or something similar.

Now that’s funny!

We are now on the way to New Orleans to visit Gonzo & Yvonne. Yes, we are staying a week. Sure hope the next Travel Challenge doesn’t involve food…

So soon?

March 17, 2025April 7, 2025ssolsen12Leave a comment

We know, a month between posts and then, bang, two in a row! Two things apply: 1) alone; 2) on a beach!

After East Palatka, we originally had plans for Naples and Tallahassee, but the timing wasn’t right for our hosts, so we tabled those visits for another time and crossed the center of the state on the dinkiest road we could find. Once we wiggled across the state, we met up with, you guessed it, US Hwy 98! Think the lowest version of US 1 (most east) or US 2 (most north). Check it out it; it runs literally right along the water for miles!

Once you get “under” Tallahassee, the road swings left to the water and provides a scenic drive along the Apalachicola coast pretty much all the way to Cape San Blas near Port St Joe on the Panhandle.

Along the way, we were curious about this – come on, it’s Tate’s Hell – but didn’t find the referenced Information Center, just a sign to the forest.

We later found the history. Poor fella. Think we know why.

Cruising along the shore was amazing, and we finally made it to the interesting Cape San Blas (yeah, say it) and our rental ON the water. It’s the big blue condo building that’s losing the battle with the Gulf.

The seawall is indeed a disaster waiting to happen

But oh my, the view from the porches on either side of the condo was excellent!

And geez, what to do? Relax. Daily walks. Rode out the series of storms that crossed the country. And well, caught up on writing. 🤓

With our time here almost up, we backtracked a bit today for some sightseeing.

Proof that there’s not a whole lot to see in Apalachicola

A few blocks from the tiny police station, Leon Wiesener (a former art professor from Tennessee) decided to spend a few of his retirement years building structures from old bottles. The results are on private property but remain open to the public.

Challenge Accepted?

Hang on a second. You were there for a week, right? How about that Travel Challenge card?

Glad you asked 😂😇

Well, yes, we pulled a card, and frankly, after our time in the sun, we stopped for an espresso, ready to admit defeat.

Defeat?

Yes, defeat. Utter failure. Come on. “Every fountain…?” Seriously.

If only we were still in Italy! 😢

Son Tate had a great suggestion; it doesn’t say what k-i-n-d of fountain. How about public drinking fountains?

Duh! We set out ready to go with that but didn’t find a single one of those either. (sigh) After drowning our sorrows with double espressos, we stopped at a Veterans Memorial on the Blue Star Memorial Highway in Carrabelle. While admiring the very well-done memorial, what marvelous sound joyfully tickled our ears over the sounds of the highway? Yes!

Yes! Look, down the street between the Golf Car Crossing (it is Florida…) & the town clock! A fountain!!

Hmm. Now we sure could use some small change.

See! It’s the real deal, an honest-to-goodness fountain!

Now we have but one more of these pretty sunsets to enjoy at this rental unit

Terry and Lynn, here we come. You realize we’ll need to pull a card while in Fairhope. You can help, if you’re not too busy with other things… 😉

Seeking warmth

March 16, 2025ssolsen12Leave a comment

It was in the twenties the morning in February when we left North Carolina, so we were looking to go somewhere that we could shed some layers. Idea: Let’s head to the other chunk of family that happens to live down in F-L-A! Two of our kids now live about 40 minutes apart. Warmth of two kinds!

Good target. So off we went, and mile by mile the temperature – and correspondingly, our moods – improved! Even luckier for us, these two live near the coast.

By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea

It did not take us long to head for the beach. Hello sunny, but still too-cool-for-a-dip, Florida!

About town

Our son Tate recently purchased his first home (congrats, Son!) in the pleasant small town of East Palatka, less than 30-miles from his sister in Palm Coast. Naturally, we couldn’t spend all of our time at the beach, and small towns are indeed our cup of tea, so small town exploration began!

Found a nice “fixer upper” near the St John’s River Walk

On the trails

Same thing for gardens and trails, if they’re nearby we want to see ’em. Tate had some good ones in mind, and boy howdy, we need the walks! (A bit too much Italian pasta is still hanging around our waistlines.)

Who would have thought that Florida would have a ” Potato Capital” (Hastings) or anything called a “ravine.” Both were lovely surprises!

St John Botanical Garden in Hastings, FL

Sign. Sign. Everywhere a sign… ha! We got tickled by some of the signs we encountered!

Hitting the field

On March 8, we had the pleasure of joining several of the grandchildren at the soccer fields. Well, it was mostly a pleasure – we did have to wake up to an alarm… (Why can’t soccer games start at 10 am?) 😉

So great day, three different games, and one can only remember the energy one used to have!

Royce was prepared to coach a friendly game

It started to rain right after the last of the games, but after a short drive home – and another snack (man, these kids snack!) – the clouds parted enough for us to walk to the Holland Memorial Park right in the neighborhood.

Alan laughed from a safe distance as Uncle Tate sent the three girls on a head-spinning twirl

The family time was wonderfully warm. And the weeks seemed to pass all too quickly. But these two Olsens had to get moving again. We are on the way to Fairhope, Alabama, for a very special event.

Oh-h-h, wait. Last but not least, “Challenge Accepted”

As introduced in the last post, if we plan to stay put at least a week (which we did), we must pull a Quirky Travel Task while in the area. So, here goes, Travel Challenge #02: