We are now back to the regularly scheduled programming....
After a short hiatus in blogging and internet accessibility, I took a long weekend to fly to Florida and visit some friends that I haven't seen in a few years. It was a great visit to catch up. I got to finally meet my friend, Tonya's, two adorable, beautiful, funny, sweet daughters as well. And I totally fell in love with them! Great girls!
So, I flew in to Jacksonsville, Florida where Andy and Tonya live. First of all, I have to say that flights from Albuquerque are really expensive. (Food is also expensive here, but that's a whole 'nother subject right there!) And direct flights seem to be few and far between. I had a connecting flight through Atlanta which meant I was in ATL for all of 20 minutes while I ran from one gate to the next! LOL!
According to Wikipedia, Jacksonville is centered on the St. John River and is the largest city in Florida in terms of population and land area. I can certainly speak to the land area - as according to Tonya and I have to agree - places in Jacksonville are 35 minutes from anywhere else in Jacksonville. It is very spread out. It was originally settled by the Timucua Indians, then French, British and Spanish colony rule until it became part of America. The city was named after Andrew Jackson (the 7th U.S. president, if you're counting) and is Florida's third largest seaport.
I have to say that I was in absolute awe of the lush green-ness, the trees and the large expanses of water. As we were driving away from the airport, I just kept staring out the windows and exclaiming over it. After 7+ months of desert living, it was almost overwhelming to see all that green and water!! Besides the Rio Grande river here in Albuquerque and the irrigation ditches, the biggest body of water I've seen in all this time was the mud puddle ringed by caution cones in the park after a rain!
This was a short, weekend trip for me. So picture taking was limited. Sorry, no beach pictures folks. Although I did spend a wonderful time on the beach Friday soaking up the sun, wading in the ocean, running the sand between my fingers and toes. We also took a very hot and humid walk on the Riverwalk (pictured above) at Jacksonville Landing. Friday night we attended a hilarious show at the comedy club in Jacksonville starring Larry XL and Frankie Paul.
Saturday, we decided to head to St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the U.S. It was originally explored by Ponce De Leon. We walked through the old town area - where many of the buildings are originals - and what is now a huge tourist shopping district. We also ate at the Columbia Restaurant - a wonderful cuban/spanish restaurant where they made the sangria fresh at table side. I had the ropa vieja with rice and plantains. Sadly, since we only had one day there, I was unable to do any of the tours or museums. But... it did let me know that I would love to come back to this city and spend some time here exploring. There's an old fort, horse drawn carriage tours, hearse driven and pirate led walking ghost tours, museums, and sailboat excursions - to name a few things I saw and put on my to-do list for next time. It's a beautiful city.
At this point it began to rain - the edges of Tropical Storm Ernesto making his presence felt. Now most people would have been seriously bummed that their vacation in Florida was being rained out on the last day or so. But you must remember - I live in the high desert now. Rain storms are fascinating, wonderful and fantastical for me. I loved it! I even loved the heat and humidity! All in all it was a fun, quick weekend. I miss my friends already! They were gracious hosts!
After a short hiatus in blogging and internet accessibility, I took a long weekend to fly to Florida and visit some friends that I haven't seen in a few years. It was a great visit to catch up. I got to finally meet my friend, Tonya's, two adorable, beautiful, funny, sweet daughters as well. And I totally fell in love with them! Great girls!
So, I flew in to Jacksonsville, Florida where Andy and Tonya live. First of all, I have to say that flights from Albuquerque are really expensive. (Food is also expensive here, but that's a whole 'nother subject right there!) And direct flights seem to be few and far between. I had a connecting flight through Atlanta which meant I was in ATL for all of 20 minutes while I ran from one gate to the next! LOL!
According to Wikipedia, Jacksonville is centered on the St. John River and is the largest city in Florida in terms of population and land area. I can certainly speak to the land area - as according to Tonya and I have to agree - places in Jacksonville are 35 minutes from anywhere else in Jacksonville. It is very spread out. It was originally settled by the Timucua Indians, then French, British and Spanish colony rule until it became part of America. The city was named after Andrew Jackson (the 7th U.S. president, if you're counting) and is Florida's third largest seaport.
I have to say that I was in absolute awe of the lush green-ness, the trees and the large expanses of water. As we were driving away from the airport, I just kept staring out the windows and exclaiming over it. After 7+ months of desert living, it was almost overwhelming to see all that green and water!! Besides the Rio Grande river here in Albuquerque and the irrigation ditches, the biggest body of water I've seen in all this time was the mud puddle ringed by caution cones in the park after a rain!
This was a short, weekend trip for me. So picture taking was limited. Sorry, no beach pictures folks. Although I did spend a wonderful time on the beach Friday soaking up the sun, wading in the ocean, running the sand between my fingers and toes. We also took a very hot and humid walk on the Riverwalk (pictured above) at Jacksonville Landing. Friday night we attended a hilarious show at the comedy club in Jacksonville starring Larry XL and Frankie Paul.
Saturday, we decided to head to St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the U.S. It was originally explored by Ponce De Leon. We walked through the old town area - where many of the buildings are originals - and what is now a huge tourist shopping district. We also ate at the Columbia Restaurant - a wonderful cuban/spanish restaurant where they made the sangria fresh at table side. I had the ropa vieja with rice and plantains. Sadly, since we only had one day there, I was unable to do any of the tours or museums. But... it did let me know that I would love to come back to this city and spend some time here exploring. There's an old fort, horse drawn carriage tours, hearse driven and pirate led walking ghost tours, museums, and sailboat excursions - to name a few things I saw and put on my to-do list for next time. It's a beautiful city.
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