On The Road Again

Tuesday - Hilton Head

Lee — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:07:00 +0000

Tuesday a huge storm system swept the first coast.

We spent the morning being unimpressed with Hilton Head, which is pretty, but boring. We much prefer Fernandina Beach.

In the afternoon we went to our target development, Sun City. The community is awesome and there are three models which we like quite a bit. Sassy found a some relaives in one of the model's bathrooms.

Monday -- Amelia Island

Lee — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:54:00 +0000

On Monday we checked out of the Castillo Real and began our northbound journey.

We went to Betty and Tom's lovely house in Amelia Island (Fernandina Beach) and they took us to their club for lunch.

Tom was kind enough to take us on a tour of Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach. We saw (and learned) much more on his guided tour than we ever would have on our own. Thanks Tom and Betty!

When we reached our lodgings in Bluffton SC the manager was having a bit of a reception which included beer and pulled pork. That, then, was dinner.

Next up

Lee — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:31:00 +0000

We leave Castillo Real in the morning. We've a lunch date with Lee's friend, Betty, and her hubby in Fernandina beach. Then we're off to Hilton Head.

The plan to return to Raleigh has been scrapped in favor of Myrtle Beach.

So, starting tomorrow, we're northward bound. Usually at this point the season's major Nor'easter hits Philly.

St. Augustine - revisited

Lee — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:06:00 +0000

Back at the Castillo Real we got a different room. This one has a pool view.

Hank has been playing tennis just about every morning. We re-visited Coquina Crossing where we have seen some houses we quite liked. On Saturday evening our Realtor, Dave Andersen, threw a wine and cheese party (seems there's a theme with this vacation) where we met some folks from his complex in which we are also interested.

We had another meal at the on-site restaurant, La Cocina, which is quite good. Lee had the pork Osso Bucco. She persuaded Norberto to give her a few tips about making it.

We have one more full day at St. Augustine. In the morning, Dave is going to show us the newer units at his complex.

We leave for Hilton Head on Monday where we want to have a look at the Sun City development there. Lee has aready done the priceline thing and gotten a Holiday Inn (that has a rack rate of nearly a hundred dollars) for fifty bucks so we're settled for our lodgings for Monday night.

Looks like we missed the first big storm of the season in NJ. We just might stay down here a bit longer than planned.

Psychic Town

Lee — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:53:00 +0000

Last Wednesday, on the way back to St. Augustine, we stopped at a little town known for psychics.

We went to the restaurant in the hotel there called "Lost in Time".

They had menus.

If everybody is psychic, why do they need menus?

Thursday: Wine tasting

Lee — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Rainy went to work while Hank and I went to the local winery for their tour and wine tasting. We bought two bottles of their offerings. I learned that many folks who used to get headaches from red wines no longer do because more and more wines are aged in steel rather than in oak casks. It's the tannins produced by the red grape and the oak that cause headaches.

On the way we stopped at the Visitors' center where there was a vintage chevy on display.

I made the shallot mushroom cream sauce and overcooked a turkey breast to go along with it. That, some baked potatoes, and a salad were our evening meal. Then we all watched while Omorosa and Piers duked it out on Celebrity Apprentice.

Wednesday - Orlando to Leesburg

Lee — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:01:00 +0000

Two years ago at Rainy's we kept trying to spot the resident Sand Cranes- with no success. This year we had no sooner entered the development than there one was.

My plan had been to cook dinner - chicken breasts with a shallot mushroom cream sauce that Chef Pasche had taught us. But Rainy had already put a roast in the crockpot, so dinner was set.
We ran down to the Publix for a few things then unpacked and hung out until she got home. Then we had a good visit and watched some tv.

Hilton Grand Vacation Club

Lee — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:39:00 +0000

Our Unit

Tiny kitchen with no counter space and ugly view of back of microwave.

Bedroom is fine except there is very little storage and no mirror.

Cramped living room - furniture too close to tv

Bath has no stall shower - small jacuzzi tub has very high sides one has to climb over to take a shower. (how is that a handicapped bathrom?)
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A regular one bedroom unit

large kitchen - lots of counter space

Nice living area

jacuzzi in bedroom - and mirrors

stall shower

Turns out we aren't where we should be

Lee — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:58:00 +0000

I had a laundry list of things I dislike about the one bedroom units here. At the time share dog and pony show we learned that we are in one of the handicap units. The regular one bedroom units are quite nice. We'd have been a lot happier with our stay had we been in one of them.

And no, we didn't buy into their plan - although it is a lot more flexible than buying a timeshare it's still a very expensive deal. If you want two weeks worth of points it's over thirty grand plus a grand a year in maintenance and fees.

It rained like the dickens yesterday and there was a tornado warning for the area. We're all packed and the car is mostly loaded but I woke up early and can't get back to sleep. I made the mistake of running the dishwasher and it's noisy as heck so here I am on the computer.

We leave for Rainy's in Leesburg this morning. It's about an hour away.

Somebody STOP ME!

Lee — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:21:00 +0000

In exactly one hour we have the preview of this vacation resort (read 'timeshare').

I am afraid that my first words to the sales rep are going to be "I hate this fucking place. I loath detest and despise it. You would have to pay me real money to return."

Of course, I also hate the state of Florida (except for St. Augustine) so that doesn't help.

This morning, we went down to the tiny fitness center. There are several televisions. One was on, turned to a news channel. I got on a treadmill that was right in front of a tv which was, blessedly, off. A woman who was too stupid to work the remote herself but had to have her hubby do it got on the tradmill beside me and turned the channel -not to the news channel which the other tv was on, but to a different channel. Hell is having two competing tv's only four feet apart.

Worse, the channel she chose was a Christian broadcasting station with some brain dead female preacher who was clearly a Floridian, She had NO command of grammar nor syntax even though English was her native language. Yet this imbecile had the unmitigated gaul to tell us how to live our lives.

I punched the off button on my treadmill and stormed out of the gym, determined to walk back to our buuilding, which proved quite a chore as there is a useless lake in the center of the property. I finally called hubby (who by that time had had enough of the fitness room himself) and he came to pick me (and my steaming ears) up.

I now have in my pocket a list of all the things wrong with this place.

But I do hope I can wind down enough to sound rational rather than like a cast member from the Sopranos.

I keep repeating "I am an well educated person with a reasonably high intelligence quotient. I can be rational to a fault. Nothing will be served by going ballistic. I should rely on my Mr. Spock persona."

Please wish me luck.

Failing that, there is a roll of duct tape in the car.

Left behind

Lee — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:01:00 +0000

Yesterday we emptied the room at Castillo Real and check it TWICE. But when we unpacked our tech stuff at the Hilton Vacation Club I was missing the charger for my cell phone. I reckoned I had left it plugged in to the recepticle next to the bed and the cord had slipped down behind the night stand.
I called the hotel and explained the problem to the desk clerk. She sent a woman from housekeeping off to look but I think something was lost in the translation because houswekeeping came back with the information that there was "nothing left in the room".
O well, Easily enough replaced.

This morning we went out in search of a Radio Shack to buy replacement charger. We took Sassy. Hank stopped at the fountain in front of our building to take a picture. (Sassy loves fountains.) He set her on the fountain's rim for some shots.
We found the Radio Shack and then went for lunch at a Golden Corral. At dessert I reached into my purse to get Sassy. She was gone.
Hank had left her back at the fountain.
I was far more upset than one should be about a rubber duck, but Hank wasn't far behind me.
We scarfed down our dessert and rushed back (8 miles) to the Hilton. We pulled up to the front where we could see the fountain. No Sassy.
I ran to the fountain to see if she was in the water -- and there she was, happily floating in her element.,
It's amazing how attached one can get to a rubber duck.

The beer tasting evening

Lee — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:33:00 +0000

This evening, at the Hilton Vacation Club in Orlando, there was a beer tasting. Five beers. Two were very good indeed.

We toasted Greenie and Lesley who have recently bought a pub, The Eleanor Arms on the east end of London, in Bow.

Hank - the peanuts are making him thirsty.

Back in the room.

Speaking foreign tongues

Lee — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:49:00 +0000

This morning, after the gym, I went down to the first floor to get a cup of coffee (two cups, actually). Hubby was still in the gym.

When I got to our room I found that housekeeping was just finishing up next door. I asked him, in sort of sign language, if he were going to our room next. He was upset that he was not. He showed me he had a list. He must go by the list.

I tired to explain that it was okay. No problem. But how do you say "It's fine. If you wanted our room I would have taken the coffee down to the lobby but now I'll just have it in my room as I had planned," in Hungarian?

Friday - afternoon and evening

Lee — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:47:00 +0000

We spent the afternoon with Jeff Kern looking at homes in Coquina Crossing. It's a manufactured home community a few miles from downtown St. Augustine. We liked it quite a bit. There were several floor plans which we both liked, but could not decide between our two most favorite. *sigh*

Then we met up with Charlie and decided to try a diner in town called George's. It was quite good.

Here's Sassy and Charlie.

Sassy in place

Lee — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:50:00 +0000

Any morning that we leave the room with Sassy on the bedside table, our man from housekeeping arranges the bed so that Sassy has a place of honor. He is a very serious fellow, but clearly he has a playful side.

Wednesday Morning

Lee — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:33:00 +0000

The front desk of the Castillo Real as seen from the second floor balcony.

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This morning we had breakfast at the on site restaurant, La Cocina, which is conveniently around the corner from the laundry room. After breakfast and laundry we drove out to Barnes and Noble and had coffee (or frappucino, as the case may be) with Charlie, Bill and Dave. Then back to the hotel where Charlie made protein smoothies for lunch.

We were to have a three thirty telcon with our broker so we hung about the pool reading.

I'm reading "Faceless Killers" which is quite good, though a bit depressing.

My view of the pool.

Searching for digs

Lee — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:30:00 +0000

Dave Andersen, the Realtor that Charlie hooked us up with, spent an entire afternoon driving us around and showing us properties.

Dave is very low-key so it's easy to miss how extremely savvy he is. He's a keeper. We were well pleased.

We learned a lot, not only about the area and the possibilities, but also about our own likes and dislikes. We saw a number of places that almost fit the ticket, nothing perfect, but several definitely do-able.

Now we have a lot of thinking to do.

The Beach

Lee — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:22:00 +0000

Hank and Charlie are doing the tennis thing.

I walked down to the beach (about half a block). Being a water person, I could never understand the California beach scene. What was the attraction of a beach when you would freeze in the ocean?

Now I get it. There are some people in the ocean - surfers with wet suits - but there are also people jogging, riding bikes, walking dogs, meditating, practicing yoga and just generally hanging out.

Beaches are a thing of their own. It's not necessary to get wet to enjoy them

The Castillo Real is behind the building on the left.

St. Augustine beach.

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Sunday was a marathon drive day. I have to say that driving in South Carolina is worse than driving in Boston. They drive crazily in Boston, but they aren't stupid. All the stupid drivers are in South Carolina. Grrrrr.

We checked in to the Castillo Real in St. Augustine Beach about dinner time. We met up with Charlie and took off to seafood restaurant but it was closed on Sundays. ended up at the very nice Sunset Grille which is just down he road. Got back in time to see the underdog Giants beat the Pats in the superbowl.

Monday morning Hank and Charlie went to play tennis whilst I had a bit of a sleep in and then did the necessary unpacking. It's nice to have ourselves settled in for a week.

Carolina Preserve

Lee — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:00:00 +0000

I pretty much fell in love with the Triangle area in NC.

We went to look at the Del Webb Carolina Preserve. The shots above are of the community center there.

Driving Rain

Lee — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:03:00 +0000

We left home at 5 AM, hoping to avoid some of the coming rain. That didn't work. It was the road trip from hell, weather wise. The rain pelted ceaselessly. It sounded like someone was throwing nails at the windshield.
Worse, the traffic was bumper to bumper at 65 MPH.
There was a brief respite in Virginia where we stopped for breakfast at BK. Then the assault began anew.
We stopped at the NC border for directions to our lodgings, but even with those directions, plus the ones from the computer, PLUS a GPS we got all twisted 'round. We did, however, finally make it to the Holiday Inn in Cary - and very nice it is. We flopped on the bed, turned on the tv, and fell asleep for an hour.

At dinner - at the HI because who needed more driving? - we discussed staying another night in Cary to have a proper look around the area. We're interested to see the Sun City property here. At the front desk I was told they could offer only the AARP rate of $82.99. I went twenty feet away to the free internet and logged on to my priceline itinerary where I secured another night for the 45 dollar rate I'd gotten for tonight. So we're here in the Raleigh/Durham area until Sunday.

Packing is done - well, almost

Lee — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:47:00 +0000

The trouble with a road trip is that it involves an automobile.

Automobiles have trunks.

Therefore one can bring about a years' supply of goods on a one month trip.

*sigh*

Our digs for the first night are sorted

Lee — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:16:00 +0000

We decided that we will stop in the Raleigh area to look at housing.

Having had success with Priceline for Chicago I tried again. Scored my first choice hotel (the HI in Cary) for $45. The AARP rate for Friday night is $82. Thought I did rather well.

The hotel has a pool, hot tub and WIFI. Should keep us all, even Sassy, happy.