Sunrise Sunset
Pensacola, like alot of old Florida towns, has a very cute historic district.
Besides the down town historic section, we toured the oldest part of town, which is laid out like a little Sturbridge Village historic museum.
Believe it or not, our next stop was planned to have access to another rv service company (to fix problems already addressed)! We are finding that there are lots of bugs to work out with these big babies (more on that in the next blog post). So, we hunkered in at St. Andrews State Park, on a peninsula close to Panama City, FL, driving Big Red back and forth to service for a couple of days. The state of Florida has a great state park system, with good and popular camping facilities, along with an excellent website with lots of pictures, so you know what you're getting.
Panama City Beach at St. Andrews State Park
We had to wait almost a week for parts to come in to fix Big Red, so we took advantage of the time to try Falling Waters S.P., in Chipley, FL, and is a wonderful, serene retreat. It boasts the tallest waterfall in Florida! We had a wonderful hike through the park and also had time to drive into the little burg of Chipley, another town with some quaint historic buildings. The Florida panhandle has so many beautiful areas.
Our campsite at Falling Waters
The Tallest Waterfall in Florida (not alot of water in January)!
On our hike
A sink hole
After finally getting things fixed up on Big Red, we headed over to the Gainesville/Ocala horse country area and enjoyed a few nights at the Grand Lake Golf and RV Resort. It is a funky little rv park with a cute nine hole course - just our speed!
Horse country
On our way up to check out Gainesville, we came across and were smitten with the adorable historic town of Micanopie. Couldn't resist spending a while swinging in the great porch swing at a cafe in the center of town. There were numerous antique shops, some of which were closed??
Next stop Sun N' Fun RV Resort in Sarasota, FL! It is, just as its name implies, fun under the sun. Huge and filled with fun things for folks of all ages, right down to the bounce house for the kids, we had a good time relaxing by the pool at the full size bar and restaurant. This could be a fun place to spend those cold winter months in the future.
Lots to do in the cosmopolitan Sarasota area. We had the chance to take in a concert by the Sarasota Symphony Orchestra, and were very impressed with the excellent program. Another gem of an orchestra! One of the many other things to do in Sarasota is tour the Ringling estate, of Ringling Bros.circus fame. The location is right on the bay, and is very impressive with the Ringling mansion, Circus Museum and extensive Art Museum.
Mansion
Circus Miniature Art Museum
The Grounds
Heading south after Sarasota, we wanted to check out Naples, but ended up staying on Chokoloskee Island. It's located in the Everglades area called Ten Thousand Islands, and is very similar to the Keys, with thousands of little islands formed by mangroves. We spent a week canoeing, relaxing, and sightseeing one of Everglades National Park's location, Marco Island and Naples.
Naples
Everglades National Park
Our everlasting canoe ride, which started out a 2 hr. rental, and ended up as a 4 hr. marathon!
Our rv site, complete with our own deck on the marina, which was pretty small and quiet and boasted a resident flock of pelicans which afforded us endless entertainment!
Our sunsets
Our next month and a half were spent in the Keys while Carol helped out with the Lent and Easter music at St. Peter Church in Big Pine Key again this year.
St. Peter Church Choir
St. Peter Parish built its own stained glass studio where the parishioners have made all the beautiful windows, designed by Connie Hauk, for the church. (I forgot to take an outside picture of the church this year, and my pictures from other years are in storage!)
The Spirit Window
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