Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Day One

Sunday between the finals of the French Open and the Ray's Baseball we managed to get most everything packed and much of it loaded in the car.  We checked off the To-Do list and the Packing Lists.  In case of any bad storms while we're gone, we moved the Grill and the Bistro set into the storage area and the patio furniture, wall hangings and plants inside the house. All the outdoor potted plants are moved closer to the house and situated in areas where they will get rain and/or water from the sprinklers while we're away.

And then we had one of those Florida thunder storms.......The wind came up and it rained very very hard.  And we sat on the lanai, as we usually do.....enjoying the beauty of Mother Nature - the wind, the rain, the music of thunder and the light show!


Monday morning we were up bright and early.  Finished packing up the car and did the final check of everything inside, making sure lights were off, air conditioning adjusted, water turned off, security set...... and  at exactly 8:17 we closed the garage door behind us and we were on our way.

We only made it as far as Haines City where, just before we got onto I-4 we stopped at Bob Evans for breakfast.  We both just opted for bacon and eggs this morning, and grabbed some coffee to go.  Rich pulled out the computer and did a quick check on the stock market and we were on our way.  

We travelled I-4 and then on to I-95.  We had not been here before, so I had to grab the camera as we approached the Dames Point Bridge, also known as the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge near Jacksonville.  What a beautiful bridge that spans the St. Johns River.  As we cam off the bridge the traffic was backed up for a couple of miles.  There was a very bad accident in the south bound lanes.


We stopped again  at the Fl/GA border for gas and then once again for about 10 minutes at the Welcome Center entering SC and then for gas a short distance from our hotel.  (The camary is getting great gas mileage - about 30.5 /gal.   We arrived at our destination, the Quality Inn, in Orangeburg, SC about 5:20.  After checking in - we just relaxed a bit and then freshened up for dinner.  We considered going to The Seafood Academy restaurant, which was right nest door next door.  It has some great reviews on Trip Advisor, and was recommended by the hotel - but we were tired from the drive, and the prices were pretty steep.


The young lady at the desk at the hotel gave us directions to some restaurants in the area.  We saw a Shoney's Restaurant.  The first time we were ever in a Shoney's was with our son when he was still in grammar school.........and then those that were located in FL closed.  We had always loved the breakfast buffet and the dinner buffet - so we both agreed we'd be a little nostalgic and give it a try!

The buffet tonight was Wings...........  The variety of food and the quality of food on the buffet was no where near what we remembered.  But what we had was good and we were plenty full when we left.  We had a nice salad and bowl of potato soup, and then filled our dishes with various flavored wings.


We actually stayed up later than planned. The series 24/Live Another Day was on at 9:00 - so we watched that before calling it a night.

Off to Crumpler, NC tomorrow. 

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