A Day at the Beach...

The following day Debbie and Dan took us on a golf cart tour of Jacksonville Beach, including going to some charming tourist shops....

….and the pier.

We stopped for a delicious key lime martini at the historic hotel Casa Marina, that opened in 1925. I enjoyed seeing old photos of the area along the hallways. 

It was a very fun way to spend a day with two people who really love where they live.
 

Recovering from the Party...

After helping to put the house back in order. we went with Debbie and Dan to a Habitat for Humanity House under construction. Debbie seems to be really thriving working there and it was nice to meet her colleagues. Then we went to Jimmy and Chloe’s house, which was very nice...

…with an amazing yard. Amazing to realize that he’s only four months older than Ashlynn and he’s already married and owns a home. 

Afterwards we went to a nice street market downtown under a bridge, where we grabbed some lunch,,, 

…and that evening Buddy joined the four of us for a traditional fish camp dinner. 
 

Special Guests at the Party...

Roscoe was very well behaved at the party...

…while Rambo was a bit more rambunctious. 

Cornelius the snake also made an appearance.

He seemed to like Aunt Peggy...

…but wasn’t crazy about me... 

…as he quickly went into strangling mode and our nephew Jimmy had to do an emergency extraction.

Cornelius obviously adores Jimmy since there was no choking involved. 

 

Buddy’s Surprise 85th Birthday...

Jimmy and I hung out at Buddy’s apartment for awhile before bringing him to his surprise party that was conveniently on his actual birthday. Debbie did a great job planning the party with delicious food and guests from different phases of Buddy’s life.

He was especially impressed with this incredible gift from a woman who worked for him when he owned Jacksonville Magazine.

He was also all smiles that his three sisters could all be there.

It had been a long time since we had seen them as well...

…and also Missy, who kindly hosted us for a pizza dinner at her place a few nights later.

 

Heading to Jacksonville Beach...

Jimmy was happy that the Florida Welcome Center still gives out free orange juice.

Crossing the St. Johns River. 

When we last visited Jacksonville, Debbie was living along the river. Now she has a great house in Jacksonville Beach with her husband, Dan, and their many pets. 

Although Jimmy had seen them more recently, I hadn’t seen Debbie or Buddy since Easter 2014. 

While Dan and Buddy drove together in a car, Debbie took us to the restaurant in her beach buggy: a decked out golf cart. 

 

Exploring Savannah...

Rather than drive straight down to Jacksonville, we arrived just before midnight to spend two nights with Jimmy’s college buddy Malinda, whom I hadn’t seen since 2009 and he last saw in 2018, and her husband Newman. After retiring, they moved to Savannah, Georgia, where they built a beautiful house.  

Malinda works part-time as an official tour guide and was very happy to show us around downtown after lunch at a popular craft brewery. 

We visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, a neo-gothic sanctuary built in 1876 and rebuilt in 1899 after a fire in 1898. 

What a beautiful blue on the ceiling!

We also went to the Colonial Park Cemetery, opened in 1750, when Savannah was the capital of the British Province of Georgia. 

We had a nice dinner at home that evening. How fun to catch up with these sweet folks!

 

Off to the US...

I’m back! Sorry for the long delay! We finally have reliable WIFI after living for 3.5 months in our new flat, so it’s time for me to recommit to blogging regularly. Now back to January....

After returning from Holland, we spent two nights in a hotel before our next big adventure: flying to the US. This was the first time that we flew there together since 2015, although we had met up in 2016 in California and in 2019 in New York City. I still don’t know how I managed to score Delta Premium Select, which is like business class, for less than economy tickets, but we definitely appreciated the extra space and service. 

We were excited to attend Jimmy’s dad’s 85th birthday party in Florida, but also wanted to see family and friends in North Carolina. We opted to fly to Atlanta and rent a car rather than deal with flying between multiple US airports.