Friday, February 28, 2014

Escaping the Cold

I've been playing hooky again from my blog.  We decided to celebrate the husband's retirement and escape the frigid winter here at home.  Florida is just about the only place in the states where you can be fairly sure to have warm weather this season!  We set out on a driving trip to visit a few fun spots and to visit my sister and her family.  They moved last year and we hadn't had a chance to visit yet.  My brother joined us from the colder and snowier state of Indiana, so it was a bit of a mini family reunion. 

We started out in historic St. Augustine on the east coast of the state.  There is plenty to do there and we only skimmed the surface.  They claim to be the oldest city in the US and it was originally settled by the Spanish.  There is a great Spanish fort to visit and my favorite...a lighthouse:
You can see that the day we visited the lighthouse (actually on our return trip) was our only cloudy, rainy day.

From St. Augustine we crossed to the west side of Florida and spent several days on Sanibel Island.  This area is known for its great shelling.  They also have an abundance of birds and a great bird sanctuary that you can drive through.  And the sunsets are awesome.

From there we went to my sister's house (also on the west coast).  She lives in a great community with lots of activities available and that perfect Florida weather.

Then we retraced our steps and came home to our 30 degree weather....but also to our beloved dog and beautiful new grand daughter.

Lots of shells, lots of new baby clothes and some great fabric jumped in our car and followed us home.

I have lots of pictures and more to tell but for now the sewing machine is calling my name....and I must answer. 

3 comments:

  1. How wonderful to be able to drive into warmer weather. For us, it would mean passports, flying, currency, etc; though we're sorely tempted at the moment. I love the photograph of the lighthouse, surely there's a quilt to be made there. I hope the trip has lifted your spirits; spring is on the way too, our spring bulbs are really showing now which is wonderfully encouraging.

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  2. Lucky you, Nina! Did you store up enough heat to get you through the rest of this cold winter? Hopefully we only have a few weeks to go before it starts to warm up. Your sunset photo is gorgeous.

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  3. What a nice trip it sounds like you had? I LOVE the photo of that sunset! What a great photo to draw inspiration from!

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