7/2/2012
We headed south into Florida. Our first stop was to be the Castillo De San Marcos in St. Augustine; the only “castle” in the United States. While it wasn’t used like a typical castle, it did have a mote and draw bridge as well battlements. Castillo De San Marcos was one of the very first structures built in the new Americas, and it was used by the Spanish to defend the coast of Florida from the invading French and English. We explored tiny crawlspaces and secret chambers, gunpowder storage and barracks, and the star shaped battlements lined with cannons. We even got to see a pod of dolphins playing right off the coast from our high vantage point.
When we had finished our exploration of the “castle” we continued south to Orlando. Our first stop was at Kim’s friend Duncan’s home. He is a good friend from Kim’s high school who she hadn’t seen in a decade, but it was just like old times. Duncan lives with three roommates, all of which were really in to horror movies, so we felt right at home as they showed us their collection of films, year round Halloween décor, and a horror-stop-action film that they’ve been working on for years. The movie includes every classic horror monster and psychopath from Leatherface to Cthulu. It’s gonna be awesome.
We had a really nice dinner with all of them and watched a bit of some good horror movies before going to bed fairly early, because in the morning we were going to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!
We had a really nice dinner with all of them and watched a bit of some good horror movies before going to bed fairly early, because in the morning we were going to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!
7/3/2012
We got up, cleaned up, and headed out the door for a day of rollercoasters and classic movie characters. Our first stop was at Islands of Adventure, where we rushed to “Harry Potter Land” for some breakfast at the “Three Broomsticks”. After some meat pies and butter beer, we were fueled up to go through Hogwarts Castle and ride the ridiculous rollercoaster. (Please excuse the fuzzy pictures...no flash available)
The whole experience was really neat, but the ride had us both a bit woozy. We moved quickly to the comic book themed section of the park and jumped on the “Hulk” rollercoaster, which thoroughly shook up our brains and stomachs…we decided that we were too old and that would have to be that last rollercoaster for a bit.
The wall of rain rolls in
The rest of the day was a lot of fun exploring the parks and hanging out with Duncan. He works at USF and was nice enough to get us complimentary tickets into the studio. Thanks Duncan!!! But it was time to move on to our next destination in Orlando; Jesse’s Uncle Rick’s house.
We got to Uncle Rick’s by 8 and had some pizza and beer while we all got reacquainted after the 6 year absence. It was a really nice and relaxing evening after a day of gut-churning rides.
We got to Uncle Rick’s by 8 and had some pizza and beer while we all got reacquainted after the 6 year absence. It was a really nice and relaxing evening after a day of gut-churning rides.
7/4/2012
THE HOLIDAY!
In the morning we got up and Annalee kicked us out of the house so she could do some preparing. She likes to have the kitchen to herself when she’s cooking and we had no arguments with that! Uncle Rick, Jesse’s cousin Little Ricky, Kim and Jesse went out for a nice breakfast and picked up dessert for the party. When we got back, Annalee had an excess of food well on its way to being prepared. There were burgers and hotdogs with all the fixin’s, and a touch of Pilipino cuisine as well as she had made a mountain of Lumpia! As more of Jesse’s cousins began to trickle in, more food was added to the fair. Jamie and her boyfriend Michael brought beer, really good wine, and MORE desserts. Jennifer brought a delicious bean salad. And Christine brought scrumptious and tangy deviled eggs. Jesse made some sherried mushrooms and borsin cheese, and we were ready to feast!
We all ate until bursting then gambled for nickels and dimes with some dice games. More friends and family began to arrive with more food! Some of the kids set off fireworks in the driveway while some of the adults continued to gamble. Eventually, friends began to trickle out and Jesse’s last cousin, John, arrived after work. We all had ANOTHER helping of food and dessert and settled into our food comas and some “Family Feud”. Many laughs were had and old family stories told. All could agree that it was a great Fourth of July.
In the morning we got up and Annalee kicked us out of the house so she could do some preparing. She likes to have the kitchen to herself when she’s cooking and we had no arguments with that! Uncle Rick, Jesse’s cousin Little Ricky, Kim and Jesse went out for a nice breakfast and picked up dessert for the party. When we got back, Annalee had an excess of food well on its way to being prepared. There were burgers and hotdogs with all the fixin’s, and a touch of Pilipino cuisine as well as she had made a mountain of Lumpia! As more of Jesse’s cousins began to trickle in, more food was added to the fair. Jamie and her boyfriend Michael brought beer, really good wine, and MORE desserts. Jennifer brought a delicious bean salad. And Christine brought scrumptious and tangy deviled eggs. Jesse made some sherried mushrooms and borsin cheese, and we were ready to feast!
We all ate until bursting then gambled for nickels and dimes with some dice games. More friends and family began to arrive with more food! Some of the kids set off fireworks in the driveway while some of the adults continued to gamble. Eventually, friends began to trickle out and Jesse’s last cousin, John, arrived after work. We all had ANOTHER helping of food and dessert and settled into our food comas and some “Family Feud”. Many laughs were had and old family stories told. All could agree that it was a great Fourth of July.
7/5/2012
Reunited once again!
We got up fairly early in order to spend as much time with family as possible. Rustled up a few of Jesse’s cousins and headed out for one final meal before heading out of Orlando. Uncle Rick loaded us up with snacks for our trip, we said our goodbyes and took off for Gainesville.
In Gainesville we met up with our friend Sonja. We hadn’t seen her since Korea and it was cool to be able to hangout on this side of the world. She took us to an amazing dinner of corn nuggets and pork belly gnocchi with sage and cream sauce. After dinner we took Sonja home to change for work, then followed her to her bar, “Eight Seconds”(The length of time it took to ride the mechanical bull) and cozied up to the bar for some drink specials and awesome people watching. After a few hours of watching the fine folks of Gainesville line dance, a couple came up to us who were fairly intoxicated and offered to buy us some shots…Tequila it is. We returned the favor and began to feel the results of four hours of heavy drinking. Around two am, we helped Sonja close down the bar and took off for home. Sonja needed to have a couple of drinks to catch up with us, we ate our delicious leftovers, and made it to bed by 4 in the morning…but we soon learn how early 8AM really arrives.
In Gainesville we met up with our friend Sonja. We hadn’t seen her since Korea and it was cool to be able to hangout on this side of the world. She took us to an amazing dinner of corn nuggets and pork belly gnocchi with sage and cream sauce. After dinner we took Sonja home to change for work, then followed her to her bar, “Eight Seconds”(The length of time it took to ride the mechanical bull) and cozied up to the bar for some drink specials and awesome people watching. After a few hours of watching the fine folks of Gainesville line dance, a couple came up to us who were fairly intoxicated and offered to buy us some shots…Tequila it is. We returned the favor and began to feel the results of four hours of heavy drinking. Around two am, we helped Sonja close down the bar and took off for home. Sonja needed to have a couple of drinks to catch up with us, we ate our delicious leftovers, and made it to bed by 4 in the morning…but we soon learn how early 8AM really arrives.
7/6/2012
We made our way to Atlanta for lunch then pushed on to Jackson, Tennessee. It was a long day of driving, but we arrived just after 10 pm. Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Jim were very excited to see all of us. We had a much-needed glass of wine and sat around getting reacquainted. It was just what the doctor ordered after such a long day of driving. We all turned in pretty early.
7/7/2012
In the morning we woke up to the delicious smells of breakfast reaching us all the way in the back of the house! And when we reached the kitchen, we weren’t disappointed! Aunt Jeannie had made us eggs, biscuits, sausage and fruit salad. We had great conversation, great food and great coffee before we decided to head over to their pond to relax by the water.
Uncle Jim and Jesse’s cousin Luke had built a new dock for the pond that year so we were able to hangout by the pond in luxury. Eventually, Luke’s wife and children came over and we all went swimming. The day was hot and the water felt great….and that’s what we did the whole day! Chilled on the dock or swam in the pond. It was wonderful!
As the day rolled towards evening, we started to make dinner plans and Luke arrived after finishing work. We made our introductions for Kim and Sonja, put a beer in his hand, and he got to work on the grill. For dinner we had some fresh grilled fish that friends had caught and grilled goose from this year’s hunting season. Aunt Jeannie prepared corn on the cob, bread and cottage cheese. Just as with breakfast, dinner was incredibly delicious. It was nice to sit around a table and have a real family style dinner, with such well-behaved kids and great company.
After dinner we cleaned up and it was time to take the kids back home. Jesse went with Aunt Jeannie (so they could stop at the wine store on the way home) while Kim and Sonja stayed with Uncle Jim and got settled for the evening.
When Jesse and Jeannie got back, we all had a hefty glass of red wine and swapped stories about what had been going on with all our lives over the last six years. Once again, we had great conversation and a wonderful feeling of comfort and family.
Uncle Jim and Jesse’s cousin Luke had built a new dock for the pond that year so we were able to hangout by the pond in luxury. Eventually, Luke’s wife and children came over and we all went swimming. The day was hot and the water felt great….and that’s what we did the whole day! Chilled on the dock or swam in the pond. It was wonderful!
As the day rolled towards evening, we started to make dinner plans and Luke arrived after finishing work. We made our introductions for Kim and Sonja, put a beer in his hand, and he got to work on the grill. For dinner we had some fresh grilled fish that friends had caught and grilled goose from this year’s hunting season. Aunt Jeannie prepared corn on the cob, bread and cottage cheese. Just as with breakfast, dinner was incredibly delicious. It was nice to sit around a table and have a real family style dinner, with such well-behaved kids and great company.
After dinner we cleaned up and it was time to take the kids back home. Jesse went with Aunt Jeannie (so they could stop at the wine store on the way home) while Kim and Sonja stayed with Uncle Jim and got settled for the evening.
When Jesse and Jeannie got back, we all had a hefty glass of red wine and swapped stories about what had been going on with all our lives over the last six years. Once again, we had great conversation and a wonderful feeling of comfort and family.
7/8/2012
Graceland!!
In the morning, we were pretty excited (that’s an understatement for Kim) to head over to Memphis and make our first visit to Graceland. We had another wonderful breakfast of biscuits and all the fixin’s before we set out.
The trip only took about an hour and a half and we were parking our car only a 100 feet from Elvis’s private airplane! The girls barely contained their excitement as we made our way through the lines and onto the tour…which was much better than any of us expected. The house was an amazing blend of ‘70’s tacky and Southern homey, but what I think struck us as the most fascinating was how personal the tour seemed. We were able to not only see the house, but recording studios, athletic gyms, stables and, of course, the airplanes. All of which were designed to follow an audio tour that was chock full of information, music and commentary by Lisa Marie Presley.
The trip only took about an hour and a half and we were parking our car only a 100 feet from Elvis’s private airplane! The girls barely contained their excitement as we made our way through the lines and onto the tour…which was much better than any of us expected. The house was an amazing blend of ‘70’s tacky and Southern homey, but what I think struck us as the most fascinating was how personal the tour seemed. We were able to not only see the house, but recording studios, athletic gyms, stables and, of course, the airplanes. All of which were designed to follow an audio tour that was chock full of information, music and commentary by Lisa Marie Presley.
50s Diner
After the actual tour, we had lunch at a 50’s style dinner within the Graceland grounds. They served all of Elvis’s favorites, even a fried banana sandwich. After lunch we stopped a couple of small museums that were close by and got to see some really neat documentaries, both of which really rounded out the trip, leaving us all feeling like we’d definitely got our money’s worth and had become quite a bit closer to ‘The King’.
Kim looks a little too excited about this
When we finished with Graceland, we headed back to Jackson. After telling Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Jim all about Elvis’s abode, Uncle Jim was kind enough to show us his highly impressive gun collection and give us all shooting lessons…and what a lesson it was! We got to shoot a couple of different 22 caliber pistols, a 34 caliber pistol, AND a 44 caliber pistol with four chambers and a rotating piston! He showed us how to load all of them and how to make sure they were all safe and ready to handle. Next, he showed us how to use the riffles. We all took turns with the 22 caliber riffle, but Jesse broke the second riffle with the higher velocity…BUT! Our fun was not over. Last, but most definitely not least, was the double barrel twelve gauge shot gun, which, literally almost knocked us off our feet.
After our shooting lesson, we cleaned up and were treated to some homemade pizza. We all filled up our wine glasses and decided to watch/play some Jeopardy. It was a very nice way to end our busy day and relax before the trip in the morning.
After our shooting lesson, we cleaned up and were treated to some homemade pizza. We all filled up our wine glasses and decided to watch/play some Jeopardy. It was a very nice way to end our busy day and relax before the trip in the morning.