AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA

Saturday, April 6 – Paul's brother has a beach house on Amelia Island, FL, so we decided to put the RV in storage at the Heritage RV Park ($20 for a week) and drive down to the Island for a week.

Looking from the balcony.

Back patio.

We've stayed at his beautiful beach home previously and have always had a wonderful time with family. This time we are the only ones at the house – tough to be retired.

John's street.

Unfortunately, both of us came down with the stomach flu. It started with Paul and soon after Marsha was also barking at the toilet. Yuck, is that an awful flu. Worst either of us have felt for a long, long time.

We eventually got over it (about 48 hour symptoms) and enjoyed the beautiful, nearly private beach.

There was tons of sea foam this morning. Sea foam forms when dissolved organic matter in the ocean is churned up by wind and waves

We never experienced a crowded beach here on Amelia Island. The house is just a short walk over the dunes to the beach.

There is also a private pool, tennis courts, bike paths, and, of course, plenty of strolling and shopping downtown. There, of course, is plenty of golfing for those who enjoy it. Even a Ritz Hotel for the big spenders....LOL

This is our daily visitor. Boy does Bella go crazy when this guy makes his appearance.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR A CRUISE

Thursday, April 4 – Before we tell you about our cruise, we would like to wish our daughter, Kelly, a very Happy Birthday.

Dave and Kelly

With the sun shining brightly in a wonder blue sky, it was a perfect day for a boat ride on the Augusta Heritage Canal. We were joined by Paul's brother, John and Karen, for the tour.

We started the historic tour by walking through the Augusta Canal Interpretive Center and  viewing a short 10-minute film entitled "The Power of A Canal."

The Center tells the story of how a city used its waterways to reinvent itself and define its destiny.

Back in 1840, Augusta was in the mists of an economic depression and on the brink of losing much of its population. Something was needed to turn this mostly agrarian area into more productive region.

Spearheaded by native Augustan Henry H. Cumming, the Augusta Canal was built in 1845 as a source of power, water and transportation, the Augusta Canal is the only intact industrial canal in the American South in continuous use.

By 1847, a saw and grist mill and the Augusta Factory  were built…the first of many that would eventually line the Canal. Mr. Cumming came up with the idea of building a canal to divert water from the Savanna River to be used to power cotton mills. The canal was dug in a year and a half using mostly slave labor. Can't imagine men digging this canal by hand, amazing!

Soon cotton mills began spring up along the canal. These became a great success and provided hundreds of jobs for people in the area. Augusta's population doubled in less than ten years.

Three of these mills remain today. All three are still producing electrical power using hydroelectric turbines. One is still in operation as a small finishing mill for cotton.

Also, stretching along two miles of the canal, the largest southern ammunition factory, America Powderworks, was built in 1880 to provide ammunition for the Confederate States during the Civil War. All that remains of that factory is the tall smoke stack. It is now a memorial to the thousands of lives lost during the war.

The canal ride is in electric boats (their batteries are charged from the turbines in the old cotton mills) built to resemble the old canal boats used to ship cotton along the canal in the mid-19^th century. Each boat can hold about 50 people and has a captain and a historical guide on board. On board our boat today was the four of us and two other ladies with three small children. Nearly a private tour.

The ride takes about an hour and consists of an enjoyable cruise several miles up the canal and back.

See that opening on the far right, that is where we had to carefully maneuver through.

Only two inches on each side. Our captain did a great job in getting us through without any damage or loss of life.

During the ride you pass three cotton mills, the munitions chimney, many of the historical spillways and dams used to keep the water in the canal, turtles, birds, and other wild life living in the waters of the canal.

Beautiful day for catching some rays.

Marsha had to ask the Captain if she could get a picture with him.

We really enjoyed our cruise and highly recommend it to others visiting the Augusta area.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

GREAT EASTER IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

Monday, April 1 - We've been enjoying our time here in Augusta spending time with Paul's brother, John and his family. We had a wonderful Easter with family and enjoyed an Easter egg hunt with the nephews. One forgets the energy young kids have.....what wonder filled years!

Graham found his special egg.

Hudson is so happy to find another egg.

Noah found a big egg.

Marsha had fun giving the kids one egg at a time and having them open it to see what prize was inside.

Marsha wanted to help in the kitchen, but isn't tall enough to see inside the oven. She is actually on her toes looking in.

Thanks for a wonderful, fun Easter, John and Karen. The food was delicious and the company terrific.

We are in a holding pattern here in the South trying to decide when it is “weather safe” to head North. We would also like to remain in the area for the Masters Golf Tournament (April 11-14). Paul's brother goes every year and has numerous tickets available. It would certainly be a memorable experience, one most golfers would certainly not want to miss. The only catch is the campground fees more than quadruple to $100/day. So we are looking for a place to store the RV during Masters Week events, and we'll move in with Paul's brother.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!