●☆● A Day of FUN! ●☆●

Again Thanks to my newest followers.... Debbie & Rod from Keeping up with the Kendals and MidLiFe CrUiSeR. Thank-you so much for becoming followers.

We loaded up the car with our daughter, grandsons and headed out for a day of exploring and fun. The very first stop was at the Aunt Thelma’s Gift Shop right here in the park. We looked at many items made by the Artisans who visit the park and teach or display their crafts

We then made a stop at the Riverside Cemetery in White Springs. Now some of you may think that is not a great place to explore and gruesome to visit but we LOVE going to them and looking at the different styles of headstones and the dates. It is amazing reading the very old headstones and seeing that a lot of people born in the 1800’s or before did in fact live a long time.

Soon we were on the road again and came upon some horses in a pasture that the boys and my daughter wanted to see… so we stopped and did the horse whisperer with them and then back on our adventure!

We rode and rode down the road and before long we came to an old church that we just had to pull into and explore. Falling Creek Methodist Church was built in the 1800’s as a log structure and in 1880 they replaced it with the present wood frame. When first built it was a Baptist Church but in 1866 it was change to a Methodist Church. The church continues regular church services today and is open for visitors to see.

Right behind the church was a cemetery which had headstones from the early 1800’s…

Just down the road a little further is one of Florida’s fabulous but little know waterfalls called Falling Creeks Falls. On a short walk is a spectacular root-beer colored cascade, which plummets more than 10 feet over a deep lip of limestone and flows away over limestone boulders at the bottom of a ravine. Falling Creek is the site of the first settlement in this area. It has a short boardwalk through lush forest which offers easy access to the falls. There is also a longer trail which extends your walk in the woods past rapids in the creek and where you can see more of the local vegetation in this area. Falling Creek is a hidden treasure which has old building to explore, nature trails, picnic tables and a children’s play area.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

★Stephen Foster Cultural Museum ★

Welcome to my latest followers Merri & Steve from Jammin' Along and Lady Dyna Ryder at DnD 2015. I love it when I meet new people! Go visit them and tell them I sent you!
We went over and visited the Museum and Bell Tower while my daughter and the boys were here. It is such a wonderful memorial to Stephen Foster's Music. It is located right here at the Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center State Park where we are camping. Click here to visit my campground review on this park.

Located only a short distance from the boundary separating Florida and Georgia, Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center fulfills two purposes. Appropriately situated on the Suwannee River, the 247-acre center honors the memory of Foster, whose song "Old Folks at Home," memorialized the picturesque stream. It also serves as a gathering place for those who perpetuate the crafts, music and legends of early and contemporary Floridians. Foster apparently never saw the Suwannee River, but he made it famous nevertheless.

The 1935 Florida Legislature designated "Old Folks At Home" also known as "Suwannee River" the official state song. Foster wrote more than 200 songs, including "Oh! Susanna," "Camptown Races," "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Beautiful Dreamer," and many others familiar today.

The first piano is a Paul Von Jinko Cir:1882 and the second was used in 1850 when Jenny Lind sang.

There are many Dioramas which depict scenes described in some of Stephen Foster's most famous songs are housed in the Stephen Foster Museum and Carillon Tower along with rare pianos and priceless musical instruments.

CARILLON TOWER
The Carillon Tower is also home to the world's largest tubular bell instrument constructed and installed by the J.C. Deagan Company in 1957. The carillon at White Springs, is the largest and the last system to be installed by Deagan, consists of three full sets of 32 bells with a scale range of C to G, chromatic, plus a fourth high G bell. Three bells sound in perfect unison for each note to produce a strong, resonant tone response. Regular programs of many of Stephen Foster's compositions, which number more than 200, are played by specially trained carillonneurs and at other times from the automatic electric player installed with the carillon. The Bell tower chimes on each hour (between 8am & 6pm)and plays a Stephen Foster Song everyday. It is really beautiful to listen to.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

♥ A Day with Aunt Mary & Uncle Tuck♥

Mary is my cousin but we have always been as close as sisters... We both only have brothers so we became very close as kids and continued up through adulthood... My kids consider her their Aunt and her daughter considers me her Aunt... That being said we went over Sunday to spend the day with her & Uncle Tuck (Mary's husband)... her daughter Christal along with her family, My daughter Denise, and the twins. They live out in the Osceola National Forrest near Lake City and it is definately Country Living at its best!

The boys had so much fun ... First they got to feed the fishes in the pond, then they went & checked out the grapes on Uncle Tucks grapevines (he makes a yummy wine with them), Then they went to the chicken coop to gather eggs. Aunt Mary gave them the eggs so we could have them for breakfast the next morning and we did ~

Aunt Mary cooked us the best dinner ~ Tempura Shrimp, Buffalo Chicken Balls, Chicken Nuggets for the boys along with mac & cheese, Potato salad, Cole slaw & Macaroni salad... For dessert we had Angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whip cream...

It was outstanding to say the least!

It was a GREAT day and we all had a GREAT time!

Thanks Aunt Mary & Uncle Tuck ♥

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

☁ ☂ A Cloudy Day ☂ ☁

We have been here a week today and had to go to the dump to clean out the Black (sewer) & Gray (shower water) tanks. Even though they are big tanks and they weren't filled, we don't like letting them getting to high. The day started out really overcast and we thought we'd get rain at any time.... so we kept putting off dumping of the tanks. But we soon we realized the rain was kinda stalling and we decided it was now or never. Since my daughter will be here tomorrow with her two boys we knew we couldn't put it off any longer. It doesn't matter if you're going .5 miles or 500 miles the routine is the same. Put everything that could fall off or roll around away, Clean off all counters and secure the cabinets, put down the antenna, bring in the rooms, and take up the jacks... Unhook the water & electric.

Drive over to the dump, drain the tanks, rinse them out, drive back to the site and set up the coach. Same as preparing it to leave but in reverse. So that's our excitement for the day. We are still very cloudy & dreary but no rain... Guess it's a great afternoon for reading and watching old movies. For my honey it would be Gunsmoke reruns!!!

We had tacos for dinner and pretty much still waiting for rain...

Where did it go???
So there you go... a day in the lives of Rvers'
Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

•☆.•*´¨`*••♥ Date Night ♥••*´¨`*•.☆•

Yesterday my honey & I went to dinner, the movies and stopped for dessert...

We started our evening going to one of my favorite restaurants in Lake City Florida, Gondolier Italian Restaurant on Highway 90. Our dinner started with a toss salad with an Italian vinaigrette ~ Then I had Fried Chicken Carbonara which was a super rich, classic 'bacon and egg' spaghetti dish with peas. Ralph had the Tour of Italy which had Mancotti, Veal Parmesan, Lasagna and Spaghetti with meat sauce. Both of these dishes were really yummy! We could only eat about half of our meal so we pack the leftovers up into doggie boxes and took it home to have for another meal. We didn't want to feel to full since we were going to the movies too

I am a huge fan of the Marvel Comic Book Super Hero's so my choice for the movie of the night was the Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds (again YUM). All I can sat is that I loved the movie and they definitely left it open for a sequel but you must stay through the credits to see how I know this. So many movies now give you added scenes after or during the end credits and it is amazing how many people leave and miss them. The funny thing that happened while we were in the movies is a HUGE thunder storm came and it poured so hard you could hear it on the roof of the theater. But the isn't what was funny or should I say weird. The roof leaked and you could hear it pouring into the theater during the show. I am sure glad I wasn't sitting where it was coming in.

After we left the theater Ralph swung in to McDonalds and h e got a vanilla cone and I had the Rolo McFlurry... YUM!!!

So that was our evening and it was really a great one!

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

☜♥☞ I Survived the 4th ☜♥☞

We had a Wonderful 4th of July and even a GREAT 5th!!!

Our 4th of July started out with a great BBQ at my cousin Mary's house. We had the typical 4th of July BBQ... Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Potato Salad, and Baked Beans... with a Brownie Sundae at the end of it... YUMMO!!!

Then after our BBQ we headed off for the Lake City 4th of July Street party and fireworks... We had such a great time and really enjoyed the whole day. They had entertainment, food booths, vendors selling their 4th of july goodies and free watermelon. This is before the crowds got here~

I stayed overnight at Mary's and the next day Mary, her daughter Christal, and I headed out for a day of retail therapy... We went to Hobby Lobby, Kohls, Paddock mall in Ocala and Dunken Donuts for their yummy coffee. Great day for all of us and we each came home with bags of goodies we found.

I hope you all had a safe & fantastic holiday