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!
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!
Sign. Sign. Everywhere a sign… ha! We got tickled by some of the signs we encountered!
No problem!
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!
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.
Bottom row: Tate, Pop/Todd, Nana/Susie, & Braelynn
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:
This has to be the place
Our Travels 