Castle fireworks

Castle fireworks
Originally uploaded by thelinkels

It rained all night on Thursday night. We are not talking a peaceful soothing drizzle, we are talking 2 – 3 inches per hour kind of storm. We woke up to find drips coming from two places in our overhead cabinets and one where the overhead bunk and truck cab meet. Our salesman at the RV dealership got an email from me before eight AM on Friday morning and by the time we were riding Buzz Lightyear’s Spacespin at 9:30 I had a message saying that we were the first appointment on the list for Monday morning.

Of course it was a beautiful morning and the sun was out and who doesn’t forget all their troubles in the happiest place on earth. We rode everything, the crowds were fairly light and the temperature was perfect. We went back out to the Disney parking lot and hopped into the camper for lunch and a little time to lie down before heading back into the park for the rest of the night. We closed the place down after the fireworks and the kids were so exhausted that they fell asleep in their clothes on the 10 minute drive back to the campground. We were exhausted too and headed straight to bed.

We got a late start this morning sleeping in until about 7:45 and we didn’t get on the road until 9. We all slept great, I think it was due to not having rain!! Our first stop after a two hour drive was a place on the scenic highway in Marineland. This was apparently THE place in Florida to come before Seaworld and Disney came along. There was a beachside picnic area where we ate lunch and then played on the beach. While we were climbing on the rocks the waves came in and Scott’s feet got wet but luckily he saved princess Lorelei from near disaster. If her feet had gotten wet that would have been the end of all of the fun.

Up the road from Marineland is Fort Matanzas National Monument. This pays homage to our nations’ Spanish heritage. It was probably one of the best places we have been because they have these volunteers that dress up and talk about what life was really like and some of them are making crafts or cleaning guns just like they did in the 17th and 18th centuries. I loved when I told Lorelei that we had to go on a Ferry to get across that she remembered that we had to do that at Fort Sumter. Scott and the kids got a cannon lesson while I learned about the British uniforms. We were the last people to leave from our boat.

Next we headed 15 miles up the road into St. Augustine and Castillo De San Marcos. The guys at Fort Matanzas told us about the firing of the cannons that they do and we were itching to make it by 3:30. Of course St. Augustine is a cramped “old” town and parking a 28 foot RV is a total bitch!! We finally found the RV lot which of course was not close. We were sure we had missed the firing but arrived just in time!! They actually fire pieces of bread as their blanks. The kids loved it. Then we hammed it up around the Fort and checked the exhibits and movie out.

It was nearly 5 o’clock by the time we left and we still had an hours drive to our campground. We originally planned to stop at Fort Caroline & Timucuan near Jacksonville but our late start, enjoyable lunch and time at Matanzas added to our decision to skip it (in my head I am already planning a trip to the Florida Keys with several stops along the way at Christmas time).
I know this was a long post but I had to sum up two days. We have had a good trip and the laughter has far outweighed the irritation. When we are rolling down the highway and the kids are telling horrible jokes or laughing at something silly, it makes it all worth it. Enjoy the pictures!