Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!! Our first camp in Florida is the Suwannee Music Camp....we are in the northern part of Florida right on the Suwanee River, it has been sunshiney and warm, and we are having a great time. JJ has been inspired in the atmosphere and practicing his guitar. He even wrote a song for you all, coming soon if I can get the video to upload! so here we are, JJ the cowboy, Josiah and Shayna snorklers, mommy was Bahama-mama and Daddy was a Mariner fan (huh). We started off the night with visiting the bat house...
(enter cool video here)

We dressed up Winnie with lights and paper pumpkins... went trick or treating (to two RV's: the first one had no candy, so we gave them some of ours. The second one gave us three big handfuls and we called it good.) Then we went off to the park Halloween party, it was a local country singer/band that started off with "you know I love my chicken fry...." and we were off to a jolly good time!! After much dancing, we ended the night with the Gator Chomp and the kids said it "was the best Halloween ever!"

It would be the best blog ever if I could get our videos to upload. Chomp chomp.

Savannah, GA

Heading south... right when we were getting used to being in the "south", we came into Georgia... it was hot, and humid. We had been loving the cool fall breezes, especially at night... when we crossed the bridge into Savannah, I think we had already started to swell and had icecream on our mind!!

Savannah is the largest and oldest city in Georgia, it is on the coastline right across the Savannah river. We stopped at Forsyth park, where the live oaks are covered with Spanish moss and the police ride on horseback. We had never seen Spanish moss before, it was amazing... it draped across all the trees throughout the whole city and I surely looked like a tourist taking pictures of it.
Savannah was designed in squares, with wells at the center of each square. They have kept the original design and put fountains where the wells used to be. This fountain in Forsyth park is one of the more popular ones (its on a lot of postcards.)

We were also quite amused by the Spanish moss, until a nice passerby told us the moss usually carries mites...

(oops)

During the Revolutionary war, Savannah was held by the Brittish. During the Civil war it was under the confederacy. The above monument is a memorial for confederate soldiers.

We were surprised by all the butterflies roaming the park!! Evidence of the tropical climate, for sure. We were also intrigued by the wealthy display of architecture, below is one of the many houses you can find along the historical district.

Adios, Savannah!!

some facts about Georgia:

named after King George II of England

Nickname: Empire state of the South

State tree: live oak

Capital: Atlanta (also home of Martin Luther King Jr.)
4th state admitted to the Union

Greensboro, NC

Our time in North Carolina was short but sweet.. especially memorable were the Carolina Blue skies, moonlit nights, vinegar based "Lexington style" BBQ, southern hospitality, pickle ball, tennis, our neighbor "Larry," and more pickle ball. Oh, and the hushpuppies. That and the fact that they serve sweet tea by the pitcher, its probably a good thing our visit was short and sweet!!

Each place we "settle in", it really does feel like home for that time. We usually feel a little sad to leave. That is, until we get to the next place....

Shenandoah National Park

Wanna come along for a drive??!!

seriously, the air is cool....and you can see off the side of the ridge in both directions!! there are little patches of fog... and the Kaler dogs say it smells like maple syrup!!

Thanks for joining us for the ride!! Wait I think there's rain in the forecast....We're heading south now..... HUGS

Natural Bridge

Our next little stop along the highway was at the "Natural Bridge." It is a limestone rock formation that rests above more caves like the ones we saw in Pennsylvania. Apparently it was once part of the caves, then part of it collapsed, then Cedar Creek made its way through and now rests as this natural bridge/limestone river bed. They say its stronger than any man made creation, by far, and it is 155 feet tall (50 feet higher than Niagara.) A freeway runs over the top of it, but you can't hear or see it from below. Check it out!

It was originally surveyed by George Washington back when he was a land surveyer, he carved his initials half way up (bad boy). Then the land was purchased by Thomas Jefferson, and it is supposedly still run by his descendants. The park has the bridge, caves, an Indian village, and a hike back to a waterfall.

At night they showed a dramatization (with lights, music, and reading) of the 7 days of creation, the lights went right up and around the natural bridge and a booming voice with orchestral music came down from above. It was a very unique outdoor theater experience. We were a little surprised that they had a nightly biblical show, so we ventured to ask the family in front of us if this kind of thing was more common out here. They replied, "well you do know where you are, doncha? Right in the buckle of the bible belt!"