December 31 -- ring out the old!

The last day of 2014 was chilly and windy in Ormond Beach, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the day! Ann and Jim took us to lunch at one of their favorite spots, Bettys A1A Cafe, where we had Betty's special onion rings as appetizer, followed by haddock and various sides. Dessert was amazing -- coconut cream pie and banana delight.

If you come down Highway A1A from the north, you'll find Betty's on your right on the outskirts of Ormond Beach. We walked away stuffed and very satisfied from the delicious meal.

After lunch, Smoky took this short video of the beach. Did I mention that this was a windy day?

We spent a short while recovering from lunch, and then Ann and I went shopping at Beall's, so I could find some Florida clothes! What fun. We had a buggy stacked up with possibilities and were trying things on right and left when the intercom crackled and an announcement came on -- the shop was closing in 5 minutes! We rushed a little more and managed to get in the checkout line a few minutes after closing time.

Right now it is just a short while before the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. How nice to be able to celebrate this occasion with Ann and Jim.

Happy New Year! --Shann

September 30 -- St. Augustine to Ormond Beach

St. Augustine's oldest house;
view from garden area.

This morning after checking out of the motel, we drove to the oldest house in St. Augustine. The González-Alvarez House has been owned by the St. Augustine Historical Society since 1918, but even before that the residents opened the house for tours.

It was fascinating to see the house and to hear how all the former residents had lived and modified it over the years. The grounds of the house were lovely, with brick walkways around the grassy and garden areas.

There was also an 18th-century-style kitchen, completely separate from the rest of the house. I identified garlic and rosemary growing in the kitchen garden.

18th-century-style kitchen

Inside view of kitchen

One corner of the garden area seemed to have been been designated for something special. Our tour guide didn't mention what it was for, but there was a lovely statue of a Franciscan monk and an Indian boy.

Statue in garden at
oldest house

After our tour of the oldest house, we walked around the area a little. On one of the side streets is a beautiful old home, very meticulously kept up. As I stood on the sidewalk admiring the house, one of the city tour trolleys came down the street announcing that this lovely house is one of the Sears Roebuck kit houses! Interesting.

After admiring these old homes a little longer, we climbed back in the car and headed for Ann and Jim's home in Ormond Beach, so we could visit with cousins Stephanie and Dennis a little while before they left for West Palm Beach and Miami. Jim's sister Cille and husband Ed came by for a short visit, too. We had a nice family gathering!

One of Jim's "pet" squirrels.

Another park squirrel who
loves peanuts!

Before we fixed dinner, Smoky and I went with Jim to walk Max, the cute little peekapoo who splits his time between Jim and neighbor Beth. Ormond Beach Central Park was our destination, and it is a great place to walk, run, bike, or simply stroll with your dog. The trail winds around several lakes. Jim carries raw peanuts for the squirrels. It looked like every squirrel in the park knew Jim. What fun!

Thanks, Steph, for leaving behind the spaghetti sauce and salad greens. We had a delicious dinner, which ended with the four of us splitting a chocolate turtle confection from St. Augustine's Chocolate Turtle Dessert and Coffee Shop with a side of Blue Belle Homemade Vanilla ice cream! If you missed the chocolate turtle picture, check out yesterday's blog entry.

Now we begin a few days of rest and relaxation for all four of us.

-- Shann

December 29 -- Vidalia to St. Augustine

Our room at the Quality Inn in Vidalia, Georgia, last night was very nice. We awoke to rain (again). It had rained on and off since we left home Saturday morning! We drove down to the historic district of Vidalia, not sure what we would see. The town's water tower was quite interesting, so Smoky took a photo of it. On the way out of town we drove past the Vidalia Onion Factory Museum and Gift Shop! We couldn't resist checking it out. I could just imagine what kind of oniony knick-knacks I could find for gifts! Alas, it didn't open till 11, and we didn't really want to hang around that long.

Smoky spotted what looked like an interesting town to travel through -- Santa Claus! We were hoping to take advantage of the post office we had heard about in the town, but the only thing we could find that even identified the town was the Santa Claus Storage Center. Not exactly what we had hoped for. And it was still raining.

We drove on down Highway 1 toward Jacksonville (still raining) and on to St. Augustine (yea, some blue sky and scattered clouds!). It was around 3 when we found our motel, which is located in the historic area of St. Augustine. Smoky and I had thought we would enjoy exploring some of the old buildings and especially the Castillo de San Marcos, construction of which began in 1672. Built of native coquina stone quarried on Anastasia Island off the coast near St. Augustine, the fort is a fascinating piece of architecture . . . and a very popular tourist attraction! We headed there first after dropping our car at the motel, and there were people everywhere. The views from the top of the Castillo looking over the Matanzas Bay are beautiful, especially in the late afternoon light.

 

Figuring we were going to be competing with the thousands of people milling around this historic district for a place to have dinner, we left the Castillo a few minutes before it closed and strolled down some residential streets. It was amazingly quiet and calm here, and we saw some most interesting places. One gentleman (who resembled Santa himself) came out on his porch to chat and told us he thought the house we were photographing next door got more attention than the oldest house in St. Augustine!

We crossed San Marco Avenue and headed down West Castillo Drive to Barnacle Bill's Seafood Restaurant, beating the crowd by maybe 5 minutes! The Caribbean Mango Mahi Mahi was wonderful, and the sides were surprising -- baked sweet potatoes, collard greens, field peas, butter beans, fried okra, broccoli casserole, steamed squash. Apparently the list of vegetables varies from night to night. And the desserts were homemade. We tried their key lime pie and rated it very good! I'm sure there will be some other pieces of this pie on our menus before this adventure ends.

After dinner we walked across the gathering area in front of the Visitor Information Center and were astounded by the number of people lined up to take a trolley, one of which was labeled "Ghosts and Graveyards"! Past the Visitor Center, we headed down Cordova Street in search of the Chocolate Turtle, a dessert and coffee bar recommended by one of the Visitor Center guides earlier. We got our selections -- one chocolate turtle and one chocolate hazelnut torte -- to go, but every single item in the shop looked wonderful. 

We wandered around some more, marveling at all the shops and eateries and people, and headed back down St. George Street toward our motel. Then we spotted an ice cream and gelato shop, Whetstone Chocolates, and couldn't resist going in. They had some interesting flavors of sorbet, one of which really caught our eye -- pineapple basil. One small sample and we were hooked. So we added a small cup of this amazing sorbet to our already very full stomachs. But it was worth every bite.

Tomorrow we'll explore a little more and then head for Ormond Beach.

-- Shann

December 28 -- We land in Vidalia

Did I mention how much I dislike traveling on interstate highways? Today was not my favorite travel day since we needed to get from home through the north and center parts of Georgia and into the southeast quadrant. Guess what that meant? Yep, we spent most of the day on interstate highways.

Our travel day began around 11 (it takes a while to get going at our house!). We started on one of our favorite "back country" roads to Chattanooga -- Highway 27, picking it up in Rockwood and following it almost to Chattanooga. At least our trip began on a great road with really nice countryside to watch and not very much traffic.

Once we hit Chattanooga and picked up Interstate 75, that changed! Lots of traffic. At one point we asked each other if everyone might right now be headed back home after the Christmas holiday. I suspect instead that this was pretty normal traffic for north Georgia on I-75. Using cruise control was out of the question; we were constantly braking and then speeding up. The closer we got to Atlanta, the worse the situation got.

Actually, I can't complain about I-75 through the middle of Atlanta. That was pretty reasonable, considering where we were. Once we joined back up with the bypass and one other interstate, traffic slowed to a crawl. About one-third of the way between Atlanta and Macon, we gave up and found a secondary road, Highway 23, to take us toward Macon, returning to I-75 for a few miles before it intersected with I-16 in Macon to head southeast toward Vidalia. Unfortunately, we were out of Macon before we realized that we should have looked for a place for dinner.

Very few options other than fast food turned up on the exit signs, but we finally found an Applebys in Dublin, Georgia, using the iPhone app "Around Me," recommended by Debbie, a quilting friend. We elected to eat in the bar area, and luck was with us because we found an empty table in Marshall's area. This very nice young man said he was just out of training, having only been in Vidalia for a few months. He served us very well and shared a little of his story with us. If you end up in Dublin, stop by Appleby's and ask for Marshall.

Onion statue outside Quality Inn
in Vidalia, Georgia.

Another 45 minutes more driving time brought us to Vidalia. I was wondering whether we would have some delicious Vidalia onions on our pillow. Instead, just outside the motel we found an onion statue, so I was not disappointed!

Before we leave town, we'll drive through the historic district. I had been wondering which came first, the onion or the town. Mystery solved by Smoky: he read on Wikipedia that the onions were named after the town. There are apparently several different varieties of onions that carry the name "Vidalia," most of them sweet, due to the low amount of sulphur in the soil where they are grown.

Tomorrow we head toward St. Augustine!

--Shann

The Keys are Calling!

Today is December 27, just a few days away from the beginning of 2015, and we are packing up for our next Excellent Adventure!

We're headed for Florida to visit my aunt and uncle Ann and Jim in Ormond Beach, Florida, for a few days, then on to Miami for a short visit with cousin Michelle, and on to Long Key for a week. While we are there, we will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary!

One day during our week in the Keys, we are planning an adventure at the Dolphin Research Center. Another day we take a ferry from Key West to the Dry Tortugas. Stay tuned. I'll try to keep you posted of our adventures.

Our first stop is in Vidalia, Georgia. I can't wait to see what that town has in store.

Day 34--Missouri Star Quilt Company

Missouri Star Quilt Company

We stayed in Cameron, Missouri, last night because it was the closest city to Hamilton with a motel. And those of you who are quilters know about Hamilton, right? Home of the Missouri Star Quilt Company, a small-town success story.

Inside MSQC

I happened on their website a year or so ago when I was searching for some quilting "must-have" or other, and I signed up for their daily emails because of the really great "deal of the day" they have every day of the year. Those emails peaked my interest in this company, so I looked more closely at their website. I read about how the company began in 2008 as a local quilt shop and how it grew from there to one of the most successful on-line quilting businesses around. I watched some of the YouTube video tutorials posted by this family featuring Jenny, aka Mama Doan, and I loved reading the stories that Jenny posted each day with the daily deal. I was hooked.

Beautiful fabric

When we planned this western adventure and I saw that we were going to be driving very close to Hamilton, Missouri, I told Smoky this was one place I really wanted to see. Today was the day! I wondered what I would find. I've visited quilt shops everywhere we have traveled. Some are good, some are just OK, some are a real disappointment, but rarely have the shops been great. This one was great!

MSQC Mercantile, for reproduction fabrics

Actually, what started as one physical location in Hamilton has now grown to several--the original shop, the warehouse (from which internet orders are shipped), the Mercantile Shop (where reproduction fabrics are available), Penny's Quilt Shop (for solids, chevrons, and marbles, and named after J.C. Penney who opened their 500th store in that location), a Seasonal shop, and a gorgeous new retreat/class center. This last building just opened last fall. We went for a tour of the facility and found a huge room for lectures and sewing, a complete modern kitchen available for participants to use, and rooms, mostly upstairs, to house participants who are attending retreats. This facility is available for quilt clubs who want to plan and hold their own retreats or you can sign up for one of Jenny's retreats. 

Penney's Quilt Shop, for solids, marbles, chevrons 

Obviously these people are doing something right! It was apparent to me when we first went in that Missouri Star Quilt Company employees are focused on the customer. Their service was excellent in all the locations we visited today (and we went to each one except the storeroom). Each shop was bright, full of cheerful colors, and extremely neat and clean. And there were lots and lots of absolutely beautiful, high-quality fabrics. I could easily have spent hours here.

Inside Seasonal Shop

Inside Mercantile Shop

We arrived before 10, not too long after they opened. There were already several customers in the store. By 10:30, the number of customers had grown significantly, and before we left around noon, the main store was full. This is Hamilton, Missouri, folks, where there is one main street and the Missouri Star Quilt Company is the largest employer. Quilters from all over the country were in the store. 

Smoky says the next building they need is a "man cave" for all the spouses who are there with their quilting partners. I asked him what the man cave should provide. Here's what he suggests:

One corner should have comfortable chairs for those people who want to just rest.
One corner should have large screen TVs for sports fans.
One corner should have DVDs of old movies (like John Wayne classics).
And in the last corner classes for learning to repair sewing machines should be held.

These sound like great ideas. Missouri Star, are you listening?

We had lunch at Poppy's Bakery and Cafe just down the street from the quilt shop. Most of the visitors to this lunch place and a small hamburger and ice cream shop next door were people like us who had come to the quilt shop. The food was great!

Statue to Mark Twain

After lunch, I waved goodbye to Missouri Star and Hamilton and we headed for Hannibal, childhood home of Samuel Clements. We said early in this excellent adventure that crossing the Mississippi River was the real beginning of our journey. Now we were back at the Mississippi, and we are considering today to be the end. Sparky and Lucky were happy to get out of the car and have a chance to breathe in some good ole river air. 

Purple martin, most wanted bird

Purple martin condo with 562
apartments, Griggsville, Illinois

Our next stop was the small town of Griggsville, whose claimed to be the purple martin capital of the nation. We've tried for years to entice some martins into houses on our property, and Smoky was hoping to get some tips on how to accomplish this. Plus, he had heard they had a purple martin condo in town.

Griggsville is hot and muggy in the summer, which means lots of mosquitoes. One enterprising resident realized that Griggsville was on the migration route for the purple martin, who was reputed to be able to eat 2000 mosquitoes a day. He converted his antenna factory into a factory for building bird houses and the community placed lots of houses in the area in hopes of convincing the martins to stay for the breeding season. Sadly, we learned that the bird house factory was recently sold and moved to Chicago, leaving Griggsville without one of its main sources of employment. The martin houses, including the condo, remain.

We crossed the Mississippi into Illinois and then followed the Illinois River south for a short while on Highway 100, crossing it at Hardin. From there we followed River Road into Alton, where we'll be staying several nights and visiting with Smoky's mom and other family.

--Shann

Day 33--Dodge City to Cameron, Missouri

Enid's homemade pastries, Boot Hill B&B, Dodge City

Kurt and Enid at their Boot Hill B&B, Dodge City

We said goodbye to Kurt and Enid at Boot Hill B&B today after we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast. The large bowl of fresh fruit that started us off contained strawberries, blueberries, several kinds of melon, kiwi, pineapple, and grapes. 

Kurt promptly brought out pots of hot tea and a plate of Enid's homemade pastries. Today we had turnovers filled with mixed berries and apples and cinnamon roll muffins topped with caramel and icing. Both were wonderful! 

Instead of eggs and bacon today, we opted for oatmeal with cream, pecans and brown sugar. That oatmeal reminded me of the "porridge" we loved so much in Ireland many years ago.

Thanks, Kurt and Enid, for your great hospitality and the wonderful food. We enjoyed your lovely home very much!

On the way out of town, we stopped at the scenic overlook Kurt told us about. Ron had questioned him about how there could be an overlook in an otherwise flat location; Kurt chuckled as he told us what the overlook looked over. A cattle feedlot! Appropriate, I think, in that cattle really brought Dodge City to life.

Sparky & Lucky ride a horse
at Dodge City scenic view

Note to Susie: tell Steve his prediction about Dodge City was not true!

We pointed the Prius east and headed across the rest of Kansas. Our destination for the night was Cameron, Missouri. Before we reentered the larger cities, however, we had one more park to visit: Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Kansas Flint Hills. This area is part of the remaining 4% of natural tallgrass prairie in the United States. 

Milkweed

Butterfly weed and butterfly

This is a truly lovely place. We took a short hike up to a high point that looked out over the prairie in several directions. It's not hard at all to imagine what it might have looked like 250 years ago, when the bison still roamed the area. I was amazed at the number of wildflowers and butterflies in this beautiful grassland. There are a number of springs in the area and rainfall has been good so far this year, so plant life was abundant. We heard lots of birds singing, and we even saw one that was new to us--the dickcissel. This small bird had a beautiful song. We saw a pair that were apparently nesting. You can read more about them at this Wikipedia site.

Scenic view of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Dickcissel

Colored lizard

We also found a flower that was new to us--the catclaw briar or sensitive briar, which has beautiful pink powderpuff style flowers. It looks like it could be an invasive species but it is actually a native to the central United States. It reminded me of the mimosa tree in Mattie's yard (Mattie was our favorite neighbor as I was growing up).

Lower Fox Creek School, Tallgrass Prairie

There are a number of historic buildings on this site. Right now all are under restoration and not open to the public, but you can read about them at the park website. The main house was built by Steven Jones in the 1870s. It is truly a mansion. Because there was lots of sandstone on the property, he added stone walls around the property, about 31 miles of them! The walls are amazing themselves, but you would have to see the other buildings to really appreciate them. I'm hoping we'll be in that part of the country again after the restoration work is done.

Jones mansion, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Jones barn, which has three stories. On the back side of the barn are ramps
that provide access to the top floor!

After the tallgrass prairie, we had more driving in store for us. We both commented that we knew we were getting closer to home today--we have been in much more traffic, there are lots of billboards along the roadsides, and we found a Cracker Barrel! And we enjoyed our dinner there also!! 

I'm headed to bed. Tomorrow is a big day for me. We're stopping at the Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, Missouri! 

--Shann

Day 32--Dodge City

We're in cowboy country!

Fruit compote at Boot Hill B&B

Homemade pastries at Boot Hill

Charlie's badge

Breakfast this morning at Boot Hill B&B was delicious, and the service provided by Kurt and Enid was top notch. We were seated on the enclosed sun porch, where we started with a fruit compote, followed by a tray of homemade cinnamon rolls and other pastries. They were delicious! After that, Kurt brought us a plate of bacon, eggs scrambled with cheese, and potatoes cooked with herbs (Smoky didn't get the potatoes; his loss!). Hot tea, orange juice and a pitcher of iced water completed our feast.

Charlie Meade, Special Deputy
U.S. Marshall

Toward the end of breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Kurt had hinted last night that someone would be visiting. In walked Dodge City Special Deputy U.S. Marshall Charlie Meade, in full marshall regalia, including spurs on his boots. He spent about an hour telling us about the history of Dodge City, or just Dodge, as the natives call it. We learned about the early cattle drives from Texas, the cowboys who were on those 3-month long drives, and what happened in town when cows and boys arrived. 

Charlie provides walking tours of the city, and he generously offered to provide us with any information we wanted about the town. In case you need info about Dodge City, contact Charlie at 620-225-5165 or 620-253-9231. 

Can-Can dancers

After Charlie left, we drove the short distance to the historic district and visited the Boot Hill Museum, where there were some informative displays on the Native Americans of this area and the early settlers, along with a history of Dodge City. Front Street had been recreated as it had been in the 1870s. Several shops were operating--the Charles Rath & Co. General Store, the Long Branch Saloon, and Beatty and Kelley's Restaurant. Other shops had period furniture and displays. One fascinating one was the State Bank of Dodge City, complete with teller station and vault. 

Fist-fight at Boot Hill

At noon, the street came alive, and a gun fight between some rowdy cowboys, the law, and some bystanders took place before a willing audience. The "cast" did a great job of portraying the scene, and the crowd loved it!

Deputy fires a shot

Everyone gets into the shootout.

At the museum we saw old photos of Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. Matt Dillon wasn't there, since he didn't really exist, but the town is extremely grateful for Gunsmoke and the millions of dollars of free advertising it brought to Dodge City! The Trail of Fame memorializes these characters, both the ones who lived in Dodge City and the ones who portrayed the characters in Gunsmoke. There are also great statues of a longhorn steer and Wyatt Earp.

Longhorn steer at Boot Hill

Statue of Wyatt Earp

Tonight we returned to Bella Italia for dinner.  Smoky had salmon and shrimp and I had mushroom ravioli. Both were delicately flavored. Wonderful!!

Tomorrow we drive to Cameron, Missouri. 

Goodbye cowboys!

--Shann

Day 31--Alamosa to Dodge City

Southeast Colorado

Today was a travel day. We left Alamosa this morning after breakfast and headed out Highway 160 toward Kansas. We made good time--perhaps it was because of the huge thunderhead behind us almost all the way! To say the least, each time we looked over our shoulders and saw it looming there looking rather ominous, we hurried a little more!

I'm in love with western highways. Those of you who know me well probably remember that I stay away from interstate highways every chance I get because I really don't like all that traffic. Out west, it has been like a breath of fresh air not to have so many cars on the road. Granted drivers get out of patience with slow pokes, but with so little traffic, it is pretty simple for them to just pass on by!

Windmill in field, southeast Colorado

Highway 160 today was quiet and peaceful. We took the "southern" route to Dodge City, rather than the one our GPS preferred. We went to Walsenburg and then down I-25 to Trinidad, where 160 headed east again. We stopped outside the small community of Kim for lunch. We ate in the car parked in an unused side road. While we sat there, at least four cars passed by! After lunch we went near Springfield, Colorado, and shortly afterwards crossed the border into Kansas. Continuing to follow 160, we drove through Ulysses until 160 turned south. We continued east on Highway 144 until it intersected with Highway 56, which took us into Dodge City.

Abandoned buildings, Comanche National Grasslands

We started out the day in San Luis Valley at around 6000+ feet, traveled over a mountain range and down into the valley, and finally ended up in the great plains. Mountains to foothills to plains--it was a dramatic change of scenery and environment in one day. Each was beautiful in its own way, even the areas around the Comanche National Grasslands, where we saw many abandoned buildings and very few signs of active life. Once in Kansas, the fields began to look rich and lush, the farms more prosperous.

Verbena growing by road

We arrived in Dodge City at our B&B, Boot Hill Bed and Breakfast, and were greeted by owner Kurt (his wife Enid was busy cooking). We have already enjoyed Enid's cookies, and we're looking forward to breakfast tomorrow! The home is on Boot Hill, right in the historic district. 

We had dinner tonight at Bella Italia. It was eccezionale! 

Smoky had been looking for this photograph for a while. Today was his lucky day!

Rural mail delivery

Tomorrow exploring the area is on the agenda.

--Shann