1st trip completed -- We're HOME

We got on 95 North at 9:30 am after fueling up and left Brunswick, GA to head towards home.   Ed decided that he could do the return trip in one shot so we got home and had the RV pulled into the driveway at 5:30 pm. 

1st Trip - 6th Stop - Brunswick, GA

We pulled out of the Royal Coachman Resort in Nokomis, FL a few minutes before 10am after hooking up the car and saying good-bye to Betsy and Rich. 

We started running into some rain and by the time we got to Brunswick, GA and checking into the Costal Georgia RV Resort a little after 3 pm, it was raining pretty good.  Of course, by the time we got the RV parked and hooked up, the rain stopped but it took us a bit to dry out. 

This is a nice RV park with concrete pads, mostly pull-thrus, and close to Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island.  This might be a good place to come for an RV Club trip and we'll scout around the area and see what the attractions are.

After the rain during the night, the cold air moved in and I ended up getting the long pants, warm sweaters AND my winter coat back out from the storage under the RV bed.  We headed to St. Simons Island and checked out the Fort Frederica Memorial site.  We were lucky that they let both of us in under Ed's Golden Age pass since there wasn't much to it.  We did play "dress up" in the visitors' center and that was fun.  We got to walk the dogs on the beach and then found a lot of shops and restaurants in the village on St. Simons.  Most of the restaurants didn't open until 5pm but we did find a little cafe to eat at that was pretty good.

We then drove over the bridge to Jekyll Island and had to pay $6 to get on the island but it's good for 24 hours so we might go back again tomorrow even though that island isn't as commercial as St. Simons.

[CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE]

Saturday we drove back over to Jekyll Island to do some more exploring and used our pass from the previous day that was still good.  We went to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center which was pretty interesting; in addition to information on turtles, it's also a hospital and rehabilitation center.  We then walked around the historical houses which, even though they're big, they call cottages.  This is a great place to take your bike and ride around and you can ride on the bike trail all around the the island.

Catching up...

On Sunday, I left Ed alone and headed for the laundramat...big mistake!  If anyone knows Ed, they're familiar with his "brain farts" and he had one while I was gone.  When I returned, he suggested we go look at one of the units for sale here in the Royal Coachman Park and, easy-going me, said yes.  Now we had something to think about...we like the area (between Venice and Sarasota!) and there's PLENTY to do here at the park and it's dog-friendly with a great fenced in dog park (unlike so many other parks around here).  It's also right down the street from Karen and Jeff and not far from Betsy and Rich. 

Monday we went for a bicycle ride going the opposite direction on the Legacy Trail (biking/walking) this time we went towards Oscar Scherer State Park and rode around checking out those campsites. 

Tuesday (2/5) we went back to look at the unit again and we decided to GO FOR IT!  We signed some papers and then we headed back to Sarasota to Jungle Gardens.  We were back in time to head to Luna's Ristorante in downtown Venice for dinner with Betsy & Rich and Karen and her friend, Linda.  You wouldn't believe the size of the dinners at Luna's...Ed LOVED it there!

Wednesday (2/6) we started to "break down camp" but postponed it because we had a better offer...we ended up having lunch at Turtles on Siesta Key overlooking the intracoastal waterway with Betsy and Rich.  When we got back, we said our "good-byes, see you later" and then resumed the break down procedure.  We'll be pulling out on tomorrow and heading north.

Sarasota - Ringling Estate

 After a rainy night we woke up to a cool morning (as in needing- a-jacket cool) with the forecasted highs in the upper 60's.  We packed the dogs in the car and headed to Sarasota to the John & Mable Ringling Estate.  We spent most of the time in the Circus Museum which houses a lot of circus history.  Also housed there is the Tibbals Learning Center -- the circus miniature and interactive galleries (no, we could not walk the tight rope or fit in the little clown car).  The replica in miniature of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was created by circus historian Howard Tibbals.  It features eight circus tents and 42,000 objects in a 3,800 sq ft exhibition space and replicates the tented circus when it was at its largest (circa 1919-1938).  It was amazing! 

Ed and I couldn't remember if we had ever been to a circus....

In addition to the Circus Museum we checked out the gardens on the estate and the Venetian Gothic Mansion (Ca' d'Zan aka House of John) which was beautiful on the outside but definitely wasn't our style on the inside.  There was also a Museum of Art on the grounds but we were getting tired of walking around and headed out.