We passed through some big open water heading to Beaufort, but it was a calm day so easy cruising. Mike noticed that we passed through an area where there thousands of jellyfish floating in the water. We just kept passing through more and more of them!! Later we heard that they aren’t a type that can sting and they are called cannonball jellyfish.
You can see a handful of them in this picture.Tobin gave me this early Mother’s Day picture. I love that I’m covered in hearts!! He used to make everyone bald, so one day I suggested that he add hair. Now I’m not sure hair was the best suggestion. Everyone he draws has crazy hair like this!!
There are 2 free day docks in Beaufort, so of course we tied up to one. Cities that have these day docks are so smart!! What a great way to draw cruisers in to explore and spend money in their towns!!
We went to explore town and found ourselves going on a horse-drawn carriage tour right away. It was a good way to get the lay of the land and learn about the history of the town.
This was our horse Silver. He tried eating part of a tree at one stop sign along the way, and Tobin must have thought that was funny because he wanted to make sure I put it in the blog.The carriage tour was a great way to relax while we saw the town!!
We saw many antebellum homes on our tour and heard a lot of history of the homes and the area. Many of them have been used in and inspired movies. Our tour guide told us that success of island long staple cotton made Beaufort the wealthiest place in the country between 1800-1860.
It was interesting to learn that in the Battle of Port Royal the residents of Beaufort understood that they would be easily overpowered when the Union soldiers came to town, 12,000 deep, so they gave up the town willingly and packed up and left essentially overnight. Only the slaves were left behind (and the residents were worried that all 10,000 of them would revolt and join the union–which many of them did). Union soldiers took over many of the homes to be used as hospitals. Later, when the war was over, the residents had to buy their homes back and many of them couldn’t afford it, so they moved elsewhere.
We saw more of the haint blue paint on the underside of porch ceilings and learned that people from the Gullah culture (mostly southern slaves in this area) did not like large windows in rooms where they slept because they thought spirits would come through them at night. That is why they painted doors and windowsills in the haint blue color.This house had a separate kitchen house that the owner buried his money under before he left town at the time of the Union occupation. The kitchen house was used by the Union as a morgue during the war. After the war, the man came back and found his money under the kitchen house, just as he had left it. He was one of the lucky ones that had enough money to re-buy his home. Nothing too special about this fence, but I just thought the flowers against the wall were so beautiful.
Harriet Tubman was a nurse and a spy for the Union army and worked in one of these houses. She knew the wilderness in the area so well that she led the Union army on several attacks and used slaves along the Underground Railroad as spies to keep an eye on the Confederate soldiers. Due to it’s early Union occupation, many slaves came to Beaufort seeking freedom. The Union granted them emancipation. Some Union gunboats even helped move slaves to freedom in the north.
There was a big fire here in the 1907 that burned many historic homes. This home was burned down, but the owners left the stairway that led to the previous house. After that a historical society was created to save the remaining antebellum homes.
We had dinner in town and played in the grassy park along the river. There are many swings lining the river’s edge and it was a great place to relax and take in the scenery. There was a college graduation happening at one end of the park, so it was a busy place!! We were treated to this sunset from the free dock while we watched a family movie.
There are large tides in this area, too. Check out that low water!
Even though the free dock had a sign stating no overnight dockage, we decided to stay overnight. In other places we haven’t been bothered overnight. Those rules are mostly to keep derelict boats and local liveaboards from staying at the docks for weeks and months at a time. This time our decision to stay came back to bite us when we had a police officer knocking on the side of our boat at 3 am. He was very nice, but was not budging on the idea that we needed to move off the dock or we would be fined $1,000. So we fired up the radar and the engines and moved about 1/4 mile off the dock to the other side of the river and dropped our anchor. The next morning we moved right back to the free dock for easy access for a few more hours.
After we were tied up in our same spot on the free dock, Mike got the bikes off and replaced Tobin’s tube. We rode around the parking lot of the park for a while to help Tobin get the feel of riding again and then set off for a bike trail nearby. Tobin is still using training wheels, but after a few weeks of practice, he will be ready to lose those bad boys. We rode about 7 miles total, with our miles on the bike trail the most comfortable and easy. After ditching the bikes, we went in search of ice cream on another walk through town.
It was a hot ride!! The view from the park. This is the bridge that Forrest Gump ran over in the movie. They simply put up a sign saying “Mississippi River” for the movie.Look at this beautiful walkway lining the river with swings all along the edge. It was a great spot!The little red-roofed building is where we had dinner, and this is the field the kids played in the night before.
We loved the history and relaxed, inviting atmosphere in Beaufort. It was a great stop, but since we couldn’t stay on the dock overnight anyway, we were ready to move on. Thanks for reading and following our adventures!!
Destination: Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort and Marina
Distance: 26.8 miles
Speed: 8.7 mph
Time on the Move: 3 hours and 17 minutes
We had an easy trip into Hilton Head from Savannah and tied up at the RV Resort and Marina after fueling up. We were excited to see that there was a pool right next to our slip, a playground further inside the RV park, and easy biking paths throughout the park.
See INNTW back there, just beyond the pool??
Mike is always up for biking, so he set to work getting all of our bikes off the boat, getting them in working order, and going biking. This is easier said than done because riding on the bow of a boat through saltwater is apparently not great for brakes and chains and other moving parts on bikes.
At least he’s got good helpers!!It turns out Tobin’s tire needed a new tube, so he was stuck in the bike trailer, unfortunately.
Foot races, playgrounds, bikes, scooters, and pools OH MY!!
So have settled on the idea that we didn’t really go to “Hilton Head,” but we did have a fun evening and morning exploring. Some stops are like that when you loop with 3 kids.
Ring toss!The tides are pretty huge here–like 9 feet!! You can see evidence on the piles below.Tobin likes looking for creatures on the piles at low tide.
So we have a new phenomenon with our traveling. Some of the “destinations” we are trying to get to are too far for us to reach in 1 day (or in the time we have available in 1 day). So, we get as close as we can for the day, spend the night anchored out or on a free wall, and then move on to the place we really wanted to get to the next day. I didn’t quite know how to enter those stops because quite honestly, a lot of them are boring. We usually can’t get off the boat and there really isn’t much to report besides “we traveled for 13 hours today, the kids did school, and were either best friends or worst enemies.” So, I guess I’ll try grouping these travels like I did above, with the idea that we had a “stopover” on the way to our actual destination. This blogging thing is difficult for a type A person like myself!!
The morning we left Cumberland Island was so calm and still, it was amazing. We haven’t seen calm water like this since we were in the Bahamas. We left extra early, but Colin woke up just in time to see some dolphins come play at our bow.
Our friends on Forever Friday took this great shot of INNTW at anchor in the calm morning.
Within the first short stretch of the day we passed by the Naval Sumbmarine Base in Kings Bay. It is the home port of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet of ballistic missile nuclear submarines. I googled it and that basically means submarines that shoot missiles and are nuclear powered. We have heard that loopers sometimes see submarines in this area, which have tug boats escorting them (and keeping the crazy boaters away). I was really hoping we’d see a sub, but we didn’t. However, if you look at the google map satellite view of the area, there happen to be 2 subs in the area when they took the satellite image.
After that, the rest of our day looked a lot like this:
And this:
With a little bit of this:
And finally this:
We chose to have an extra long first day so that we could get in to Savannah earlier in the day. Plus, if we are just staying at anchor, we usually don’t feel a need to get there early unless we know there is a way to get off the boat. Your average anchorage is not a place you’re going ashore, but that is especially true here where the “lowcountry” is pretty much all marsh, depending on the state of the tide.
The next morning, we finished out our last 20 some miles of the trip early so that we could go exploring. After docking and a quick lunch, we called an uber and were on our way to the city.
Can you imagine being a tourist in so many different southern towns, with GENERALLY the same things to see and do in each town?? While we were excited to be in Savannah, we were not excited about paying for 5 people to join a tour where we would pay out our ears to hear about the history of the city. So we decided to grab the hop on, hop off trolley MAP and do our own little walking tour through the city. That is what I call a cheap way to learn about a place. (In hindsight, I wish we would have paid for the tour, I wish we would have rented a car, and I wish we would have stayed another day in Savannah.)
Enjoying snacks (ice cream and wine) in one of the town squares.Hayley is not always a fan of ice cream, so she picked out this toilet/plunger candy. Of course she did…We watched some local artists work on their paintings.
We visited the Owens-Thomas House and learned a bit about the life of this prominent family from the mid 1800’s. No expense was spared when building this house, so it has all the bells and whistles of a home from this time period.
Backyard gardens.
The carriage house was also the slave quarters where between 10-20 slaves slept. We heard a story about the slave who was a nanny to the Owens-Thomas children and how she had to sleep in the main house with the Owens-Thomas children, on call 24 hours a day, and she couldn’t sleep in the slave quarters with her own daughter. The other slaves looked after her daughter whenever she was with the Owens-Thomas children (which seems like pretty often). This seemed to sink in a bit with our kids and help them begin to understand how sad it is that the slaves weren’t free to make their own decisions.
The ceiling in the slave quarters is painted haint blue which was thought to keep ghosts and spirits away. Many porch ceilings in Georgia and South Carolina are painted in this color, (traditionally, window frames and doors were, too) all stemming back to the beliefs of the slaves from this area. This paint is original and was dyed with local indigo.
After touring the Owens-Thomas home we walked over to the Colonial Park Cemetery. This cemetery was opened in 1750 and full by 1853. It only has a few hundred gravestones, but it is said that over 10,000 people are actually buried here, some in mass graves. I’ve read that it is quite haunted, but it was a beautiful place for a walk, and interesting to read about the people here. Many of the markers were so old, you could not read the inscriptions. I find it interesting that quite often the years, months, and days old the person was when they died is listed. There is a playground in one corner of the cemetery which Mike and I thought was creepy, but the kids didn’t seem to mind one bit (A playground in a cemetery probably beats just walking around a cemetery!).
Next we headed down to the riverwalk where we walked on old cobblestone streets and passed by many shops and restaurants. Do you know how hard it is to keep our kids out of every souvenir shop they walk by?! We’ve stopped going in shops because we know they will beg for everything. It makes me miss the Bahamas where there was nothing to buy, anywhere!!
Loving Savannah! There are several footbridges like these along the river, connecting water level to the main street level, which is elevated quite a bit.Walking up a historic staircase. “Use at your own risk.”
The next morning, we needed to go to Target. Yes Target. We hadn’t been to Target since returning from the Bahamas and it was on Hayley’s list of must-dos when we got back to the US. No, really we needed new shoes for growing feet. Tobin’s second toenails have turned grey and started falling off, and we think it is from the way-to-small shoes he wore when he flew back to Michigan a few weeks ago. Regardless, we borrowed the courtesy car from the marina for a few hours and headed out.
Let me tell you, shopping at Target is not as much fun anymore. The kids just want everything and I can’t even look at what I want because it will be too hard not to buy it. So, we wandered from shoes to underwear to groceries to toiletries and got out of there!!
You can see Tobin wearing his new shoes here (“super fast shoes” he calls them) and I am so over it, I just want to leave!!
We figured we’d head to a playground to help the kids get some energy out before heading on our way. We drove to Forsyth Park which is a huge, beautiful park in Savannah with fountains, moss covered oak trees, playgrounds, and walking paths galore. We could have stayed for hours but we only had about 20 minutes. This is when we realized we really should have planned on staying 2 days.
Look at all those fancy new shoes!! Whew!! And look at that crazy high teeter-totter!! That just doesn’t look right?!
A quick stop at Little Caesar’s Pizza (also on the list of must-dos when back in the US) and we were out of there. We will have to put Savannah near the top of the list of places to return someday. What a beautiful city!!
Thank you for reading and following along on our adventures!!
We were slow moving heading out of Jacksonville Beach after such a long, hot, fun day at the water park. The marina was like a ghost town compared to the day before (Saturday) when it was full of boats. We took care of pre-departure chores and pushed off from the dock about 5 minutes before our friends on The Blessing, who were not far behind us, asked if we checked the weather. Of course we didn’t check the weather?! It was hot and sunny out as far as we could tell.
So we checked the radar and sure enough, there were big storms passing through. We outran them for a while, but this one was creeping up to us pretty fast, moving at 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph, including hail and lots of lightning. We decided to find a spot to anchor to ride it out, but within about 10 minutes we realized that it was going to pass just south of us. It seemed there were bigger storms to the north and to the south, but we were in a calm area right in the middle, so we picked up anchor and set out again. The weather was overcast off and on for the rest of the day, but no other storms came close. Whew!
We had a close call with this marker right smack dab in the middle of the channel. We were supposed to keep greens to starboard, but this guy was WAY out of place according to our charts. Ironically enough, we were reading a blog post from a 2018 looper about this EXACT SAME SPOT when we came across this guy. Mike idled for a minute so we could quick read the rest of the paragraph to ensure we knew what to do with this marker. Of course, the general rule is to follow the markers and not the charts. Reading that blog post saved our butts, and I immediately emailed the writer to thank him. What crazy timing!!Heading into Fernandina Beach, Florida, we saw some boats washed ashore near this factory and again had to go way over to the side of the river to follow the deeper water. Sometimes you see the weirdest stuff on the water!! Who knows what in the world this is?!
**Somewhere around here we passed into a new state!! First new state since mid November!! Welcome to Georgia!**
We were excited to see the wild horses that we have heard so much about on Cumberland Island, and we were lucky enough to see them from the boat as we headed into our anchorage. These horses are the descendants of those left behind by Spanish settlers about 500 years ago. I’m not a big horse fan, but it was exciting to see them free and roaming on the beach.
Check out this technology break!! Everyone gets a kindle!! This was the scene just before dinner. We don’t always use the kindles, but when we do, we sure appreciate the quiet!!
After setting the anchor and having a quick dinner, we headed to the island to do some exploring. We were greeted with huge trees arching over sandy pathways–it was beautiful.
We followed this short path about half a mile across the island to the beach. The boys were set on “catching” a horse, so they brought some ropes and homemade traps (grappling hooks, apparently, which we don’t have any, so…). All we saw on the walk across was trees, spanish moss, and nature.
As soon as we made it to the beach we saw these two horses down by the water’s edge and another half dozen or so further down along the sand dunes. Colin wanted to test out his trap, but of course I wouldn’t let him get too close. Hayley was interested in watching the horses, but she didn’t dare get too close.
Though you can see we did creep a bit closer…
We were amazed by our good fortune at seeing the horses again so easily. We weren’t quite sure how comfortable they were with people, so we kept our distance and they let us pass right by as we walked down the beach. We practiced writing numbers and cursive in the sand (Tobin and Hayley, respectively–no cursive pics, unfortunately) and Colin worked on making a corral for the horses out of twigs he found (guess he thought of another way to catch them!).
Boat school!!This kiddo is always building something!!Gorgeous reflection of the sky on the water.
There are cars on the island (there are some inhabitants), but the only one we saw was on the beach. There were several other groups of people on the beach, maybe about 15 total. The beach was huge!! It was very wide and went pretty much as far as the eye could see.
Eventually the horses from along the sand dunes went down to the water to join their friends. We wondered if it was the cool breeze they enjoyed down there. The horses seemed very calm and undisturbed by people walking by at a good distance. There were 2 foals in the group which was fun to see.
After watching the horses for a while, we were ready to head back to the boat because the sun was getting low. But Tobin and Hayley found some friends to roll around in the sand with and Colin was still working on his corral, so we were kind of dragging our feet and I’m so glad we did. All of a sudden, the horses started moving in 2 groups right towards where we were sitting. They actually came uncomfortably close and I moved out of the way, but Mike stuck it out and stayed in our spot. The horses headed straight for Colin’s corral and actually walked right through the thing!! We were all amazed, both at watching them walk by together and at the fact that they knew they were supposed to go in the corral. The foal knocked down part of the walls, which Colin thought was hilarious, and we were all in awe at watching them move so close to us. I thought someone was going to jump out of a horse suit and yell SURPRISE! It just seemed so surreal.
Look at those hoof prints in the sand, especially those tiny baby prints!!
We found some boaters to talk to that wondered if we were horse whisperers, and while we were discussing our boating plans, the kids were hard at work playing in the sand again.
Tobin drew a shark with a stick.Hard at work making crab houses.They are becoming pretty efficient at this and soon crabs all along the coast will be living in these Herbon Houses.
The horses were still hanging out along the edge of the dunes. What a beautiful view with the sunset behind them and an amazing experience for our first time on the island!!
The post-sunset glow behind INNTW on our way back.
The next day we were anxious to head back and explore ruins and nature paths on the island. The island was originally built on in 1736 by James Oglethorpe, founder of the state of Georgia, as a place to hunt. It switched hands several times throughout the years but always kept the original name for the house of Dungeness, which was after Dungeness, England, and it always was held by wealthy and prominent families. Nathaniel Greene was a Revolutionary War hero who owned the home at one time, followed by the Carnegie family from the 1880’s through 1925. Each new family seemed to build on and incorporate the home of the previous owner. The island was turned over to the National Park Service in 1972.
We spotted more horses as we headed for the museum on the south end.
We visited this small museum that gave a history of the island and showed off several artifacts. The pictures of the Carnegie children were particularly interesting to me, as the island seemed like the perfect natural playground for their many children. Later, each of the children had their own mansions built nearby so they could enjoy the island with their own families.
Here we are discussing the irony of saying someone “discovered the island” when really Native Americans had been living here for centuries. The kids were pretty amazed to think about someone just coming in and saying now they owned the land, while at the same time forcing natives into slavery and spreading diseases. So much of our history is pretty surprising when you stop to think about it.We found this salamander on a fallen tree.And this snake in a tree. It gave new mystique to so many knots and holes we see in trees.Entering the gates of Dungeness.Look at how grand and ornate the entrance is. More wild horses just outside the gates to the mansion.Here is what is left of the Dungeness mansion the Carnegie’s enjoyed after it was destroyed by arson in 1959.This picture compares the beautiful estate of the early 1900’s with the ruins remaining today.
One interesting thing to note about this island is how important the women were in the building and decision making. Nathaniel Greene died before his house was ever built here, but his widow built a home on the property regardless. Lucy Carnegie was the driving force behind her family’s purchase of the land here, and after her husband Thomas passed away shortly after buying it, she continued to make renovations and expansions on the property until it was left by the Carnegie’s in 1925. This is interesting because we sure do hear about a lot of widow’s from this time period, but we don’t hear about too many of them having the money or the power to build fancy homes.
This was part of a pergola through the garden area when the Carnegie’s owned it.This original house made of tabby by Nathaniel Green’s widow served as the business office for the Carnegie’s. Tabby is an old fashioned building material made of ground up oyster shells. It is apparently very strong as this house was built in 1803.The boys found a ton of crabs in the mud flats at low tide. At least these guys are little!A view of the horses wandering around in the mud flats from the back yard of Dungeness.A view of the backyard, looking at Dungeness, with the Tabby House in the background.
There are many other large houses in this area of the island. Most of them are probably Lucy Carnegie’s children’s homes that she had built for all of them; however, they weren’t open, so we didn’t get to walk through them.
Next we headed to a boardwalk over the mud flats. We watched lots of crabs scurrying down below and enjoyed the calm peace of nature.
Next we continued on our walking loop towards the beach. We were met with a surprise along the way!! This armadillo was foraging in the grass for things armadillos eat. It was interesting to see him–what strange animals!!
Armadillo sighting!!Take me to the beach!!The tide was low so the beach was so wide, it seemed to go on and on. And of course, we saw more horses!!Colin wanted to walk ahead and think about robots.
We ended up back at the same area of the beach where we saw the horses the day before. Colin was desperate to climb some trees he saw on the trail here so the kids and I headed that way while the captain got in a beach workout.
I have to admit–these trees are pretty amazing for climbing!!Tobin found a very interesting caterpillar.Heading back to the boat. We got quite a lot of exploring in today!!
We enjoyed the beautiful nature on Cumberland Island and the rich history as well. What a great adventure!! Thank you for reading and following along!
We left our mooring ball nice and early to get a start on the day. We wanted to go at slack tide, we had to time the bridge, and we needed to wait until it was light. I think we ended up heading through the 7 am bridge opening which was before slack tide, but without having to do much maneuvering, it wasn’t an issue.
Adios, view from the mooring ball…Adios, fort…
As soon as the kids were up, we let them know that we were headed to a marina and we wanted to get there early because we were going to a WATER PARK for the day!! Mike happened to find a groupon for a water park that was right next to a marina, and since the kids were such troopers with all the history in St A and we knew there would be a LOT of history to come, we figured why not spend on a day on water slides!? I have to give Mike all the credit–he found the groupon and pushed for the idea when I said it wasn’t necessary. He is a great fun-planner!!
Boat school is a pretty easy sell when the reward is a water park!!
We got tied up at the marina and made a quick lunch, then we were off to the water park. The place looked huge and had so many fun slides and play areas!! Plus, the day was perfect–sunny, humid, and mid 80’s.
A quick pic before we got started. Mama didn’t want to carry her phone around all day, I wanted to play!!!Thank goodness for all those swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School!!! This kid is a fish now!!Whew!! We were tuckered out, but the kids were still playing!
The kids were such troopers, going down a bunch of water slides, waiting in lines, and having tons of fun. It was definitely worth the planning, cost, and hassle to arrange this stop after seeing how much they enjoyed it.
We finished the day off with a round of putt-putt golf.
Hay girl jabbed her putter into her throat on accident and then immediately got a hole-in-1, showing that putter who’s boss!!C really enjoyed it and seemed to be a bit more serious and competitive than before.Tobin will make a great hockey player!!
Around 7:00 we headed back for the boat. It was a long day of fun in the sun and we were tired and hangry. Plus, we had groceries and laundry still ahead of us that night. Luckily, I ordered the groceries from instacart, so a very friendly lady did our shopping and delivered them right to the marina. I used to think grocery delivery was genius at home, but out here it is almost essential!! I’m still thrilled every time it works out!!
Mike and I also tag teamed 3 loads of laundry along with dinner, putting away groceries, showers for the kids, and bedtime. It was a long, exhausting day, but we had lots of play time and most of the chores were done, so we slept well.
Off to new adventures!! Thanks for reading and following along!!
Leaving New Smyrna, we thought we were heading to another free wall in Palm Coast, however, after we got there we saw there would be no way off of our boat and there were actually signs posted saying no mooring. It was more like a fishing pier. We were already tired of traveling, but we had to go 8 miles or so to get to a good anchorage, so we decided to go all the way (20 more miles) to St Augustine.
Playing games. It’s so cool that Colin made up this great card game!!
From what we’ve heard, the St Augustine marina can have a lot of current and sometimes boats even get swept into the bridge next to the marina due to the heavy current. That didn’t sound like anything we were interested in, so when we did the calculations to see when we would get there if we just kept going, we were relieved to see we would arrive right at slack tide. Moving another 20 miles (or 3 hours) wasn’t exactly what we wanted to do, but we would arrive at slack tide and be all set for a full day of exploring the next day, so we chose to continue on.
Hayley’s entry in our “Things you’ll see on the loop” drawing contest. Sea creatures, of course!Tobin’s entry was a hammerhead shark and things they eat: squid, fish, crab, shrimp. There is also a shark tooth on the bottom left that must have fallen out of the shark’s mouth.Colin’s entry was this sweet manatee. It was hard to judge this one, but they were posted here in winning order. Can you tell we had a lot of time to keep ourselves occupied on this travel day?!
The current was still moving a little bit when we got there, but we didn’t have too much trouble docking at the fuel dock to take on water and then getting off the dock to head to our mooring ball. Hayley helped me catch the mooring ball like a boss, and we enjoyed our view of the beautiful (huge!) homes just north of St Augustine.
The next day we wanted to get out and explore St Augustine, so we decided to start with the hop on, hop off trolley to check out the town. We ended up spending a few hours right away at Castillo de San Marcos which was actually walking distance from the marina, so we skipped out early, planning on going back the next day. What a cool place to explore!!
Riding the hop on, hop off Trolley.Look at that moat! AWESOME!
Crossing a drawbridge (actually 2 of them!!) and a moat were new and exciting adventures for us!! How cool. We learned all about how the doors work, with heavy weights and gates counteracting the weight of the drawbridge. Also, the fort was built several times unsuccessfully with wood, but it was finally rebuilt with coquina, a local stone made of squished together coral that occurs naturally in this area.
History is so much more fun when you get to walk over drawbridges and moats!Hayley peeking over a lookout.
The fort changed hands several times between Spain, Britain, the Confederacy, and the United States since it was built in the late 1600’s. Pirates were also a constant concern (including privateers, which are government sponsored pirates). There are even smaller forts at different inlets nearby that worked as lookouts or outposts for this one. It was interesting to think about enemies of all kinds sailing in and out of the harbor. Soldiers that worked at Castillo de San Marcos usually had 2nd jobs to support their families that they actually lived with in town. At night, just the night watchmen would be left behind and the rest of the soldiers would lock up the fort (pull up the drawbridges) and head home to their families.
Don’t they look so excited about drawbridges?!
Throughout the rooms there were etchings in the walls, sometimes covered by plaster, of ships, allegiances, and even the alphabet. A placard described how many soldiers didn’t know how to read or write, or they were just learning, so they would etch the alphabet in the wall. The kids got a kick out of that, especially since many of the letters were backwards. It was good perspective for them.
We didn’t want to spend all of our trolley time here, but it was so interesting, we promised to come back the next day.
Our next stop on the trolley took us past this 600 year old oak tree right in a hotel parking lot. It was huge and it was a tree.
Personally, I thought the tree covered streets were more picturesque with their Spanish moss hanging down. This street led us to the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park which seemed like quite a racket. After visiting the fort, the displays here didn’t impress us much, and apparently there is no actual evidence that this is Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth. It is just a park commemorating where Ponce de Leon landed in what is now Florida. A lady opened this tourist attraction in 1909 and started selling water out of a well dug in 1875 saying it was the Fountain of Youth. Apparently the ACTUAL Fountain of Youth is in Bimini, Bahamas and we totally missed it!! Bummer!! We were more impressed with the peacocks all over the property and this sneaky snake we found slithering past.
Peacocks are very loud!!Look at this amazing albino peacock!! It looked so magical.Guess who found this snake sneaking past us?! YEP!!
Our next stop was the St Augustine History Museum. This fun stop was very kid friendly and had all kinds of information from Native Americans through early settlers called Crackers, from pirates to slaves. The history of the area has many layers and you can tell we have learned about many of them time and again!! There were lots of cool artifacts and displays here that made it a fun stop…plus it was FREE!!
These kids know more about pirates, explorers, and treasure than any kids I know.HA!! (He did actually wash his hands…)
Our next stop was at a winery because when there is a winery on the hop on, hop off trolley you MUST hop off!! The kids were very patient sitting through way more talking than is necessary to taste wine.
Mike and I imagined wine tasting to be like this….when in fact it actually was a bit more like this… The kids did get to have some juice and crackers, so that kept them occupied a bit.
Because we usually subscribe to the “something for you, something for me” theory of sightseeing, we headed to a playground after the tour ended. We passed this playground on the tour, but unfortunately it wasn’t a built in stop, so we had to hoof it back a ways to get to the playground. Luckily, we happened to pass by an ice cream and popsicle shop on the way, so of course we stopped there, too.
I don’t actually have any pictures of the playground because I spent most of the “playtime” walking Hayley to the bathroom that was quite far away. Then, by the time we got back to the playground, it started pouring so we walked all the way BACK to the bathrooms where we bounced a tennis ball back and forth with each other for an hour under cover from the rain. Ya just can’t make stuff like this up. Luckily everyone was a good sport.
Eventually the rain stopped and we made it back to the marina. What a day!! This egret was waiting on the dinghy dock to welcome us back.
The next morning we hoped to see our friends from Livin the Dream, but it was supposed to storm for a good part of the day, so plans were up in the air. Eventually, we decided to make the most of it and made plans to meet back at the fort mid-morning. The kids were excited to see their friends again and do some more exploring, and so were we!!
Tobin treated me to an early morning wake up call saying “Mom, hold still, I’m going to float down next to you with this parachute.” Yeah, right. Somehow our boat has turned into a jungle gym and this kid climbs, jumps, and hangs everywhere.We made it just in time to hear them shoot cannons at the boats in the mooring field.Buddies, planning to take over the world with their creativity and robots. Always robots.
Being at the fort with friends was amazing. The adults stood around and discussed boating and life and future plans and the kids roamed and explored. I love this free roaming community of learners I have found (or created?!).
Hangin with old copper cannons. Do you know why the cannon is green? Of course you do!!The girls even took it upon themselves to become Junior Rangers by answering questions about the fort. Initiative!!We headed down into the moat to walk the perimeter. Apparently the didn’t usually have the moat filled with water here. Sometimes it was filled with animals. Interesting.
We all found our way out of the moat, but Tobin, marching to his own beat, missed that step and couldn’t figure out how to get out. It was so cute hearing him yell “Hey!! How do I get out of this moat?!” That is learning through real life experiences, right there!! Boat school for the win!
Finally we got Tobin out of the moat and took one last picture of the fort. What an amazing place!
The girls are so proud of their Junior Ranger badges and the boys didn’t stop talking about robots even for the picture!!
Next up was a delicious lunch and wandering around the nearby shops until the thunder got so loud that we were sure the sky would open up and dump buckets on us. It didn’t though. We made it all the way back to the boat surrounded by thunder, with barely a drop.
As it worked out, I wished we would have stayed out longer because we had to say “goodbye for now” to the Zeeffs. They finished their loop and are moving on to a slower pace of travel while we still have a few thousand miles to go in the next few months. These kiddos met each other just about 10 days into our loop and have traveled the Great Lakes, the rivers, around Florida, through the Bahamas, and back around Florida together. We have created lifelong friends with many unique shared experiences. Goodbye hugs are always bittersweet.
The next morning we were set to leave St. Augustine heading north, but we sure loved our time in this city. There was so much to see and do and so many amazing things to learn about the area.
EDITED TO ADD: Remember the rocket that was supposed to take off eaaarrly in the morning on Friday, May 3rd?? Well I set an alarm to get us up in time to see the 3:44am launch. Sure enough, we were all up on the flybridge, watching the countdown clock, looking in the sky, but we saw NOTHING. After a few minutes of looking at the dark sky and wondering, I searched for something updated regarding the launch and found that they delayed it with just 14 minutes to go before liftoff. Apparently the drone ship in the ocean where the booster was supposed to land had a problem with it’s stabilizers, so they went ahead and delayed.
Fast forward 23 hours and we were all up AGAIN at 2:48am on Saturday, May 4th watching a live feed from SpaceX on my phone. We heard all the pre-liftoff chatter, watched the final countdown, and saw that baby streak right through the sky with our very own eyes. We got to watch the rocket take off, watch the booster break off, and then watch as the booster came back down and land on that unmanned drone ship located 12 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean (that would be a wild sight headed back from the Bahamas!!!).
Now we didn’t see much more than some streaks in the sky, but we got to hear all about what we were seeing on the live feed and then watch a recap of it after it was over. The whole thing took about 10 minutes. Everyone was awake for it, everyone saw it, and everyone was excited. I call that a major win!! If you want to see the launch, check it out here:
Thanks for following our adventures!! On to the next one.
We left Titusville in a rush after hearing the rocket launch was delayed and headed north to New Smyrna Beach.
Heading up the ICW, moving north.Leaving the south behind.
I mention the ICW so much, let me give you some info. The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000 mile protected path along the coast from Brownsville, Texas to Boston, Massachusetts. Some areas are narrow and some areas are very wide–this obviously also impacts the amount of protection we have along the way. Lots of the ICW is shallow and winding which can be a challenge to navigate. Shoaling is always changing, so markers are moved, maps are updated, depth sounders are your best friend, and dredging is always happening somewhere along the route. It has been a valuable path since the early years of our country to increase trade and simplify shipping traffic, but was essential during World War II as a way to protect trade ships from German U boats and allow goods to move easier throughout the country. Between the currents, tides, and varying depths, it can be your best friend or your nemesis. Fascinating, isn’t it?!
We passed several areas of abandoned boats along this stretch. It is always sad to see them and makes us wonder what the stories behind them are.Yikes! That one on the left is sitting a little low!! It’s scary to think what is under the water that you just can’t see.
Mike did some research and found that there was a free wall right in New Smyrna, walking distance from a brewery. The brewery didn’t serve food, but they allowed you to bring your own food in. Luckily, there was a Papa John’s close by, so pizza delivery and a brewery helped to save the day after the disappointment of the delayed launch. I’m not sure why, but the breweries we go to always seem to have a TV on Chive TV where people do all kinds of crazy tricks and stunts. It is so entertaining (crazy, dumb, silly, awesome) that all of us end up glued to the tv. Plus there was a cute puppy there that we got to pet.
INNTW tied up at the free wall.
The next morning Mike headed out on a bike ride. He made it all the way to the actual beach at New Smyrna Beach and even got to ride in the car lanes along the sand. He said it was cool to ride on the hard packed sand.
Next, we visited the playground right next to the free wall to help the kids get out some energy before we continued on. Sometimes I feel like we are on a big tour of America’s playgrounds and ice cream shops. Okay, and breweries…something for everyone!!
Thanks for reading and following along on our adventures!!
We left Melbourne Beach mid-day heading for Titusville which is close to the Kennedy Space Center. There was a rocket launch scheduled for the early hours of May 1st, so we found a perfect anchorage from which to see the 4 am launch.
Boat school underway.
Heading in to the anchorage, we could see the rocket all set up at the launch pad and the large buildings where they build the rockets. The kids were excited to see the rocket with their own eyes. Colin whipped up a similar rocket out of legos and Tobin drew a “Rocket Creation.” I was glad they were so excited about seeing the launch. When hearing that we were planning on seeing the launch if possible, several people asked if our kids are really into space, which they aren’t. Space isn’t a main interest of anyone on the boat, but after an experience like seeing a rocket launch, who knows?! It seems like a great event to expose them to. I have seen 2 launches in the past, one in elementary school and one in high school and I still can picture both of them in my mind.
You can see the building where they build the rockets here, but I can’t quite make out the rocket. We could see it easily with out own eyes, so it must be bad picture taking skills.I love Tobin’s rockets and that he wanted to write “creation.”
Since we didn’t travel until the afternoon, we dropped anchor shortly before the sunset. So the next morning we were anxious to go exploring and learn more about space travel before the launch early the next morning. First of all, we weren’t quite sure where to land the dinghy. We headed to a park nearby that had a dinghy dock listed, but reviews said the dock had been taken out by a hurricane a few years ago. Sure enough, after driving the dinghy around in circles for a while, there was no dinghy dock.
There were some nice docks at a condo complex right by our anchorage, so we thought maybe we could just use those. In the process, we found this “manatee antennae” that is used to track manatees. We followed him or her around for a short bit, but due to the cloudiness of the water, we never got a good look. I wonder how they like swimming around with that big antennae?! After that we realized the condo dock was secured with a locking gate, so we couldn’t trespass very easily on their docks.
Here is the manatee antennae that kept moving slowly around the docks. Wish we got a better peak at the actual manatee!!
Next we headed to the other side of our anchorage where there was a restaurant right on the water. But not before we ran into an underground pile of bricks that made our dinghy prop go CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK. Yikes!! Mike had to row us off the pile of bricks, and luckily it seems we didn’t suffer any damage. We’ll call it Mike’s exercise for the day. Heading to the dock at the restaurant, we tied up and told them we’d be back later for a beer. Sure enough, it is a county dock, so we don’t even have to patronize the restaurant to leave our dinghy there. Would have been easier if we would have known that to begin with. This is what I mean when I say everything is harder living on a boat.
We saw a playground close to the dock, so made the obligatory stop there, first. After a while, we headed toward Space View Park where there are plaques and monuments dedicated to the history of space travel. We walked around and read about missions to space and put our hands in the bronze-casted handprints of famous astronauts. The kids noticed how small many of the astronauts’ hands are, which was interesting.
After a quick lunch (and air conditioning break) at Burger King, we walked down to the American Space Museum & Space Walk of Fame. (It wasn’t Kennedy Space Center, but it was walking distance and only $20 compared to hundreds we would spend ubering and getting in to Kennedy.) The museum had a lot of memorabilia and information about the history of space travel through the current day rocket launches. Mike had a very detailed tour while I followed the kids around in hopes they wouldn’t break anything. Eventually, we gave up listening to the tour and just sat and played at the hands on areas. I don’t think they gained a whole lot of knowledge, but they did get excited about launches and space travel, so I call that a win!!
The kids loved playing at this makeshift mission control center, pushing all the buttons, and talking frantically on the phone. There was a video of a launch and landing playing on a loop, and we sent that baby to space again and again and again. Here Hayley is explaining that rockets don’t go to Mexico, they go to space.Hayley didn’t want to leave her post even to go to the bathroom, in fear she would miss the launch. And look at Colin rocking home row?! We’ve been doing some typing practice in boat school!Space man Tobin helping to land a shuttle.Hayley and her astronaut crew.
Just as we were getting really excited about rockets and launches, we heard a rumor spreading through the museum that the launch had just been delayed for another 2 days. What a BUMMER!! So as we’re sitting in the museum, getting all stoked for the launch, we hear this and decide to head out of Titusville ASAP. We really didn’t want to wait 2 more days to see the launch and hoped that maybe we would still be able to see it, just from further away. We were all pretty disappointed, but luckily there were no tears.
This made me laugh because all teachers FEEL like they teach on Mars sometimes!!
Regardless, we had a great time learning about space and about the mission we hoped to see take off. Thanks for reading and following along on our adventures!!
We really didn’t feel like we were in Fort Pierce very long because we actually weren’t. Between having friends to keep us busy and traveling all over the state and the country, we were only on the boat in Fort Pierce 3 nights, 2 of which were whirlwinds, packing and unpacking. I was hoping for a leisurely departure in the morning, however with the tide situation, we either needed to leave at 7am or 1pm. 1 was a little late, so the captain said 7 am it is.
We were out of the marina and headed down the ICW, enjoying the soft colors of the morning sky, even though we were exhausted from all the running around the day before. It felt good to be traveling. Except for those low bridges. I am not a fan of the bridges that are **close** to our height, where we actually have to read the chart off to the side showing the actual depth to know whether we need to have them open or not. We usually know ahead of time, but sometimes it is close.
We just passed the bridge shown above when Mike suddenly noticed his port engine was overheating, so he put the boat in neutral and turned off the port side. We found an anchorage just about a quarter mile ahead of our current location, pulled off the ICW, and dropped anchor. Hmmm….so we left at 7 am and were anchored again around 7:30 am.
Mike got to work in the engine room right away. Mike changed the impeller on that port side while we were in Fort Pierce as “preventative maintenance.” Well it was a pain in the rear end actually. The impeller is extremely difficult to get to and so after hours of sweating it out and battling the impeller, Mike decided to take the water pump out of place so he would have easier access to the impeller. It still was not an easy task, but finally it was completed. Mike questioned the replacement impeller he had, but put it in anyway, figuring it had to be the right one.
After the overheating incident, Mike pulled the impeller AGAIN and put an old one back in AGAIN. He wasn’t sure that this was the answer, but it was his best guess, so we went with it. 3 hours later, we were back on our way up the ICW. Not exactly how we wanted to start our travels, but overall, we certainly can’t complain.
A little later on during our travels for the day, Tobin kept us entertained drawing who knows what in a very snazzy outfit–heartbreaker undies, life jacket, and triceratops bike helmet. Things are rarely boring around here!!
The travel day was quite busy. Being it was a Sunday, the ICW was full of boats, and we realized why loopers rarely travel on the weekends in south Florida. It was a great boat parade and helped pass the time until we go to our destination.
We anchored off of a fishing pier in Melbourne Beach that also has a dinghy dock. There was a playground and a park right there as well. As soon as we dropped anchor, we headed for the playground and to check out town. There were tons of kids at the playground since it was a Sunday and our kids loved all the playmates. After they played for a while, we continued on through town.
INNTW anchored off the fishing pier.These trees are great for climbing!!Hayley made a new friend.We stopped in this surf shop and Tobin wanted a surfboard. No room on the boat!!
We made it to the beach for some frisbee and sand castle building.
These kiddos are getting pretty good at frisbee!! Grandpa Hays would be proud!
The next day we went back to town with the intention of letting the kids burn off some energy at the playground before we moved for the day. We got in some scooter riding, fishing, and used book buying at the library, too!!
This water sure reminds us we aren’t in the Bahamas anymore, mon. Gross!! Who even knows what’s down there?!Monday morning smiles!!Can’t you just feel how jealous Tobin is that Hayley caught this awesome puffer fish?? She almost had a crab on the line, too, but he got away.Gym class before we walked to the library.We saw 3 baby screech owls and their mama resting in a tree right over the playground. The babies were so curious, they just keep looking right at us with their big owl eyes. It was so cool!!
We had a great time in Melbourne beach. What a convenient stop for our family with the playground and community center right there by the dinghy dock. Thank you Florida towns that cater to cruisers!! We’re off on our next adventure…
After sleeping like a rock all night, it was weird to wake to up an anchorage surrounded by tall condos and the smell of Florida (not bad, it just always seems to have a particular smell to me). It was also a bit chillier or maybe just less humid than the Bahamas. It definitely felt different.
We were ready for a marina and some land and some food and some playgrounds so we headed for the marina right across the ICW from our anchorage. Our friends on Livin the Dream just happened to be there which was an amazing twist of fate and would help all of us enjoy our reintroduction to society even more.
The run to the marina was easy, but the entrance to the marina was kind of weird. We had to follow an awkward path through a deeper dredged channel in and watch for the current. Apparently there is a lot of current here and they only recommend you come in at slack tide. Great. Mike did a good job of getting us to the fuel dock and we were thrilled to find diesel for $3/gallon. In the Bahamas we were paying in the $4.50-$5 range, though friends of ours paid over $6 at one point!! Backing into our slip we had a little run in with a center pile and twisted our grill mount on the port side pretty good. Thank goodness we didn’t lose the grill. We hope re-acclimating to civilization isn’t always going to be that tough.
The kids had breakfast while Mike washed the boat and then we were ready to get off of sweet INNTW. She is an amazing boat that has kept us safe and carried us to awesome adventures on great, faraway lands, but we had been on her for 90 hours at that point (the longest time onboard of our whole loop!) and we were ready to stretch our legs. (90 hours on a 500ish square foot boat. Together…the whole time. That’s still crazy to me!)
We roamed around town and checked out the park area near the marina. We were disappointed to find out there was no playground within walking distance, but the kids skipped through the park and threw plenty of pennies into the fountain.
A place called Taco Dive was all we kept hearing about from our friends who had been in the area previously, so we headed straight there. Lunch was amazing–so many choices, cold draft IPA, so many people, and such great service. Definitely a pleasant change from the Bahamas. And we got away with only spending $60 on lunch. In the Bahamas every meal out seemed to cost at least $100.
Tobin is “holding his breath underwater” and that sailfish is swimming right towards him. This kid has a great imagination!!
After the Zeeffs were done with boat school, we visited their boat for a bit and headed to a cider place. We got the flight of ciders which is a lot more cider than you might think!! It was a beautiful night to relax outside. We went over the stories of our crossings, remembered great times we had in the Bahamas, and shared our journey with some teachers who were sitting nearby. I love how the teachers we meet are always so supportive of this alternative way to live and learn. The kids played in the big courtyard, climbing trees, exploring the plants, and even finding a few leftover Easter eggs from the egg hunt over the weekend.
Interestingly enough, our crossing day was actually Easter but somehow our kids thought Easter was in a few days, so we totally went with it and deemed Tuesday Easter. They were totally clueless and it gave us a chance to stock up on some goodies and avoid answering lots of questions from inquisitive minds. The kids on Livin the Dream somehow also thought Tuesday was Easter. I love it when a plan comes together!!
The next morning, the kids were up at 4 am, anxious to see what the Easter Bunny brought. It was waaaaay to early, but you can only delay excitement like that for so long before it becomes pointless. About 6, Mike and I finally gave in to the excitement. Here are the kids with their goodies and their sweet little bunny faces. This Easter loot was in no way what they are used to, but thankfully, we didn’t hear much complaining (only a little–from the middle bunny). It seems they have started to forget the “want, want, want” mindset and instead are happy with what would have been “just a little” before.
After the Easter excitement of the morning and loads and loads of candy, we headed to the Manatee Center right next to the marina. It was a great hands on museum focusing on animals in the area. It was kind of ironic because many of the animals we read about there we had seen plenty of times in the Bahamas, and we actually knew more about than what they shared at the museum. It just goes to show how this trip provides so many great experiences for all of us. We have seen firsthand many things that most people only see on TV.
Colin was brave enough to wear this Rat Snake as a necklace.Tobin built up his courage for a while and finally held the snake on his own. He was so proud!Getting a closer look with the magnifying glass.Look at these cool kids, just hanging out in Fort Pierce.
A little later in the day we saw a mama manatee nursing her baby in the fairway of the marina. It was neat to see them wild in nature. I wish they were easier to get pictures of!!
Next we headed out to a nice Easter lunch at the Sailfish Brewing Company. It was great to drink good beer and eat delicious pizza!! Plus, the Zeeffs brought dollar store toys to keep the kids occupied and that turned out to be the perfect entertainment. How did a brewery not make our list of things we were excited for in the states?! YUM!!
Isn’t this a funny sign we saw on our dock?!
After a little more play on the Zeeff’s boat, we said “see ya later” to their crew again. I’m sure we’ll see them soon, but the next day the INNTW crew was headed on an adventure, so it was goodbye for now.
So thankful for good friends for the kids–and for us!!
We received some bad news a week or so prior that our dog, Madie, who was in Michigan with Mike’s parents, had developed cancer and wasn’t doing well. Mike really felt the need to fly home to see her again before she would have to be put to sleep. The kids each got to choose if they wanted to fly home to see her also. The boys both decided they really wanted to go visit Madie. Hayley didn’t really feel a need to go back home and say goodbye to Madie, so her and I decided to head to Sarasota, Florida to pick up a bunch of stuff we left at my mom’s place in December before we went to the Bahamas. Divide and conquer!!
Here is our sandy pup on her own vacation to South Padre Island, Texas while we were in the Bahamas. She had a full 13 years of swimming, chasing tennis balls, barking at doorbells, and gobbling up dog bones. We will sure miss her!
This adventure took some coordinating, let me tell you!! I took an early morning cab ride to the rental car place (where of course they didn’t have my minivan ready and didn’t actually have minivans…or even have record of my reservation!!) and finally picked up an Expedition. Then, Hayley and I drove the boys to the Orlando airport for a flight to Detroit. Just because nothing can be “easy” Mike got a text exactly 2 hours before his flight was scheduled to take off that it had actually been cancelled. That led to a quick scramble to look up comparable flights and book 3 seats asap. Luckily, they rebooked a similar flight, with an extra stop, on a different airline. Kelly and Hay drove to Sarasota to visit Grandma Hays while the boys flew to Detroit, then rented a car and drove an extra 4 hours up north to visit Grandma and Grandpa Herbon and our sweet Mad dog. Whew. Talk about trains, planes, and automobiles!! Mike and the boys didn’t get to Hubbard Lake until 10 pm or so, after leaving Fort Pierce at 9 am. It was quite a day!!
Hayley and I really enjoyed a relaxing few days with Grandma Hays, visiting some of her friends, taking care of errands, playing shuffleboard, going to pool exercises, and packing up all the stuff we left at her house. I certainly didn’t remember leaving quite so much at her house, but thank goodness for MOM, right?! I’m also thankful we ended up with an Expedition and not a minivan!! There was barely any spare room after we loaded 5 bikes, groceries, our winter coats/hats/gloves, Christmas decorations, boxes of books, 6 loads of fresh laundry, and other who knows what. When I say we couldn’t have fit another thing, I totally mean it.
Hayley reading Grandma bedtime stories.Loaded to the top!!Luckily, she doesn’t take up much room!!May is apparently lovebug month in Florida. Who knew?! We had to stop 3 times to wash them off the windshield. This was the front of our ride at our first washing–I can’t imagine how bad it was at the end of the day. Gross!!
The boys did a lot of traveling, a lot of visiting, some playing, and some sightseeing. Their first day consisted of all travel. The next day they had great weather, so they played outside, caught some toads, took Madie in for a check up with the vet, and made it out for pizza night. The next day was blustery, so they went to a shipwreck museum and spent lots of time cuddling with Madie. The next morning they had to get things together to drive back to Detroit to catch an early afternoon flight. It was a whirlwind visit, but they loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa and they were glad they got some Madie cuddles in, too.
Tobin might have chosen to go back to Michigan just for the plane ride and toad catching.Playing outside in 70* weather!! We haven’t worn long pants and sweatshirts in MONTHS!!Madie was happy to see her boys. She probably wonders where in the world they’ve been!!Pizza at Hubbard Lake Tavern!Tobin here with “rr-rr-rr” the toad. Or maybe this one is “rr-rr-rr JR.” Tobin can’t quite remember.Morning snuggles with Grandma.Visiting the Shipwreck Museum in Alpena.Giving Madie some love.A boy and his dog.Thanks so much to Larry and Cheryl for taking such good care of her.Heading back to INNTW.
We had a late night picking up the boys in Orlando after unloading that mess of a vehicle, getting groceries, and then driving to the airport. We unloaded the Expedition (again) and Mike took it back while I got the kids in bed. We decided to leave early the next morning and get moving up the ICW. New adventures await!!
Thank you for reading and following along on our adventures!!
