A Flock of Snowbirds

On Monday, our flock of Snowbirds grew from 2 to 4 as we picked up our friends Jimmie and Keri from the Atlanta airport.  From there Tim drove the 6 hours down to Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville where we were to spend the evening with Jimmie’s dad, Buck Shell.  

Buck spends his winters at Mayport’s luxurious RV park that is set aside for Naval veterans.  We arrived after dark but Buck still met us to escort us through the base gates. We then took a nighttime tour of Mayport before settling into Buck’s spacious RV for a nightcap and to chat. By 10 pm we were all exhausted after early mornings and long drives so we returned to Frank where the 4 of us took our bunks and fell asleep. 

Navy Vessels

Next morning, we woke to

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and the National Anthem as a Naval destroyer sailed from port.  We then convened at the Roost, the RV Park’s gathering spot until Buck joined us. I had a full day of FIT so I stayed behind to putter on the computer while episodes of Gilligan’s Island and Beverly Hillbillies played and the ladies of the RV park brought in their sewing machines from their RV’s (yes from their RV’s) to make cloth baked potato pockets.  (I can’t tell you what a cloth baked potato pockets is exactly, but it did seemed complicated). 

Buck Meets Frank

Meanwhile Tim, Jimmie, Keri and Buck toured the Naval Base, viewed the ships in dock, learned about the traditions of the naval flag, ham radios, and Buck’s Naval history.  Tim even got a Naval buzz cut at the Base barber. They wrapped up the morning with some real Florida seafood at the Seafood Kitchen. 

Jimmie and Buck Shell

By 3:30 we said goodbye to Mr. Shell and then began the last and longest leg of our trip South. Florida is one of those states that goes on and on and on and on. Then when you get to the bottom, there’s another 4 hours of driving to make it through the Keys. We are ending our night of driving at the southmost tip of the mainland, Florida City.  

Tonight we’ll be in a Walmart parking lot before we head to our campground in the Keys.  We chose Florida City for three very important reasons: 1. free Walmart camping, 2. proximity to tomorrow’s final destination 3. Cracker Barrel where we will use our Christmas gift certificate from Ann and Scott for some Hash Brown Casserole and Sausage Gravy for breakfast.  Sure we may need to be in bathing suits for the next month, but it’s impossible to pass by the southern most Cracker Barrel in the States without dropping by!