Jeff's Journeys: January - March, 2001
Welcome to my journeys page for 2001. I have now traveled to 48 of 50 of our states. I've also toured in Canada, USVI, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ JANUARY
1/22 San Antonio, TX
Departed for travel through U.S.
1/23 New Orleans, LA (River Ridge)
At Aunt Lucille's house, . . . we walked along a levy by the Mississippi River! And, we went to a Mardi Gras museum!
1/25 Metarie, LA
We said goodbye to Aunt Lucille, as we drove off toward Aunt Miriam and Uncle Clarence's house. . . For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant called Vincent's. We actually got to take a tour of the kitchen!
1/26 Metarie, LA
. . . we went to Linear Park on Lake Ponchatrain beacuse of the heavy traffic to City Park.
1/27 MS Gulf Coast
. . .Wow! The Gulf Coast! Since I hadn't seen the Gulf Coast for such a long time, it was extra beautiful! After we drove for a while along the coast, we stopped at a hotel, repacked everything, then fell asleep.
1/30 Meridian, MS
Happy birthday, Amanda!
1/31 Meridian, MS
What a day! . . . We toured the Navy base and saw some newer planes being flown, and older planes being fixed. After that, we played at a wooden playground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FEBRUARY
2/1 Meridian, MS
Today we left Grandma and Grandfather Alan's house to go to Nana's, but first we went to lunch with Great-Grandmother. Then we picked up our trailer and headed to Nana's house.
2/2 Meridian, MS
. . . wrote in my journal, did five pages of algebra, and did the rest of my lessons. Then I swung on the tire swing and saw Uncle John and Aunt Tee at dinner. We ate on a huge table that had to be 30 feet long to seat all of us! Everyone thought that the mildest sauce was spicy! [Not me!]
2/3 Meridian, MS
. . . party! . . . swung high on the tire swing, and rode down the hill in the wagon. . . beat Aunt Trish at Crazy Eights . . .the cake was really moist!
2/4 Meridian, MS
We went to Mass . . . they had a blessing called the Blessing of the Throat! You put two candles crossing your neck and said a blessing. . . . I went back to the Ridge, and rode down the hill in the wagon. Daddy decided to go fishing, so we went down to the lake and fished.
2/7 Jackson, MS
Today,. . . it was off to school with Luke.
2/8 Jackson - Meridian, MS Birmingham, AL
. . .watched Anna, Luke, and Jake leave for school. Then we left their house . . . and we were back in the beautiful town of Meridian. We got directions to Birmingham, AL and said goodbye at Nana's and Grandfather Alan's houses. Then we got to Patrick and Preston's house, and saw their tiny dog, Precious. When they got home from school, we played a game called Snowboarders 2001. . . For dessert we ate ice cream and Patrick's birthday cake.
2/9 - 2/10 Birmingham, AL
While we were at Aunt Joanne and Uncle Steve's house, . . . we said goodbye to Patrick and Preston as they went to school. I got my work done early, and played basketball. The next day we went to Patrick and Preston's basketball games! When we got home, we played a home chess tournament with the neighbors. I won the tournament with a close game; I beat Megan with a bishop!
2/14 Destin, FL
Happy Valentine's Day! We said goodbye as Rachel and Lauren went to school. Then we were promised a boat ride by Uncle Mike! I did my lessons very quickly, and ate lunch. Later in the afternoon, we went out in the boat, and I wore Rachel's life jacket. When we came back, I drove the boat for a while! . . . For dinner we ate fried shrimp and potatoes!
2/16 - 2/18 FL
Some of the things in the last four days were camping in two State Parks, one RV and campground called Clam Haven (which was very smelly), and our current hotel in Clearwater. For our activities, we went to Manatee State Park, and when we saw the manatees, one came under the bridge and it looked like the whole ground was moving! We also went hiking in two State Parks! At the hotel, we went swimming . . .
2/19 FL
. . . everybody got in the car, and off we went to the beach!. . . we played shuffleboard before dinner.
2/20 - 2/22 FL
In the last three days, we have stayed in a hotel in Ft Myers, a stinky one in Miami, and a perfect resort in Key West! Going through the Everglades, we made a stop and rode an airboat through the swamp!
2/23 Florida Keys
Wow! Today we went out on a catamaran boat called the Macarena. On the way to the reef, we were taught how to snorkel. When we reached the reef, I was the fifth one in, but unhappily, the water was freezing! When I got back on the boat, I drank about 15 orange sodas! When we got back to the resort, we got in the pool before dinner.
2/24
This morning after lessons we went to Key West Street Art Fair then to a market that was mostly arts and crafts. We went to one of the few sandy beaches. At the hotel, we swam in the pool, ate seafood for dinner, and practiced piano before bed.
2/25 Miami, FL
. . .then we went to church . . we packed out. I took a long nap and only woke up for lunch. We saw a ton of parrots just passing by Parrot Jungle! After dinner at Miami Subs, we went to Borders Bookstore.
2/26 Miami, FL (Coconut Grove)
Today we went to Parrot Jungle Cafe for breakfast and watched the trainers put the birds on their perches! . . .walked on a forest trail . . .the first show was about night creatures! A man actually held an Emperor Scorpion! The second show was trained parrots. A cockatoo rode a bicycle on a high wire, and two parrots raced pulling chariots! Yet another cockatoo went to the moon! We went back to the hotel and practiced music, then swam in the pools on the roof!
2/27 - 2/28 Miami - Ft Lauderdale, FL
. . . we went to a FAO Shwartz toy store, but it wasn't as good as the one in New York. We traveled to Ft Lauderdale, ate pizza for picnic lunch, and camped at a County Park. After dinner, Daddy, Emily, and I slept peacefully in our tent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MARCH
3/2 Ft. Lauderdale, FL
I woke up and did some of my lessons at the campsite, and some at the library, and read a few books. ... after lunch I nearly caught a lizard! We also saw a frill-neck lizard! Then we played walkie-talkie tag, and Daddy and Amanda didn't make it back to the campsite before Megan, Emily, and I! I played piano and wrote in my journal, then played The Sims on the laptop, by dim lantern, until very late.
3/6 Ft. Lauderdale, FL
In the last 3 days, we have gone to the library about 50 times and to Kinko's even more times! We've also gone to the beach. We've stayed at a campsite near train tracks, but the trains don't bother me as much. Yesterday, we went to the INS to get our birth certificate (for a cruise), but they claimed they couldn't give us them even after we stood in a long line in the cold for about an hour at 6 A.M.! We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant called Bucca di Becco, and we couldn't eat enough!
3/7 - 3/12 Orlando - Kissimmee, FL
Wow! In the last week, we have gone to Epcot, Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios, and the Magic Kingdom!
At Epcot, we rode Test Track, where you are a test dummy! At Body Wars, you're in a simulator going through the body! There are also presentations from all over the world!
In the Animal Kingdom, we went to the Tree of Life, where a 3-D effect show with bugs took place. Then we went to the dinosaur area where you ride a jeep searching for a dinosaur. On to the dig site playground with neat slides! Then we just poke around.
At MGM Studios, we saw a parade honoring Mulan! And then, we rode the Tower of Terror, which is a 13-story freefall drop! After that, we rode a rock and roll roller coaster that went upside down! We poked around a little more at Magic Kingdom.
There, we first rode a giant carousel. Next, we rode Space Mountain, and it was amazingly fun! The candy shop on Main Street had smells better than any other smells I had ever smelled! On the Thunder Mountain Express, Emily was more scared going up than coming down! On Splash Mountain, Daddy, Megan, Amanda, and I went on a drop this steep \!
Between MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom, we took a day off and swam in the pool most of the day. On our fifth and final day, we rode Test Track, Body Wars, Space Mountain, and saw the Electric Light Parade made up of over 30,000 lights! We then saw a rainbow dazzling fireworks display over Cinderella's castle before we left!
3/13 - 3/15 Orlando, FL
. . . we went all over town getting clothes for the cruise. . . we went swimming a lot, and did our lessons.
3/16 - 3/17 Miami, FL
In the last two days, we have traveled down to Miami, boarded the Carnival Triumph, which is more than three hundred yards long! The dinner for me was Sweet and Sour Shrimp, fruit, and for dessert, chocolate cake with cherries!
3/18 (600 nautical miles from Miami, FL)
For breakfast, I ate an apple danish and a ham and cheese omlette. Then we hung around our cabin, and played games at Camp Carnival, before swimming in all three swimming pools!
3/19 - 3/24
The next day, we signed in at Camp Carnival, and we danced and played games at the Hollywood Disco Club!
When we arrived in Puerto Rico, there was a rainbow over the island! Plus, when we got back, they had actually folded the towels in our cabins, into animals!
At St. Thomas, we spent the morning at Magen's Bay, where the water was clear and aqua color, and the beaches were snow white! That night, I tried quail and Baked Alaska! Most of the rooftops on the island were red, but a few were blue, due to rebuilding after hurricanes. The view from Skyline Drive was so heavenly it was indescribable! (I soon grew tired of shoping.)
In St. Croix, we got a fresh fruit punch at an information service in the harbor, and we set off on foot toward Rainbow Beach after visiting a 1706 fort that was made for defending the island against naval attacks. When we reached the beach, we played in the sand and water before taking a taxi back to the dock. We poked around in souvenir shops, then got back on the ship for dinner. I played ping pong and swam away most of the next day, but then we went on a tour of the ship's kitchen!
3/25
Cool! I ate a continental breakfast, wrote in my journal, and went to the beach. The beach was cool and the waves were huge! I made a guardhouse for the castle at Indiatlantic Beach. We then swam in the hotel pool before changing for church.
3/26
After a continental breakfast, I did all of my lessons on the road. Then we got out at the Kennedy Space Center, and we saw a baby alligator on the roadside! As we neared the entrance, we saw that the lines for tickets were long! When we finally got out of the line, we went to a building where you'd get a passport stamp design in your book when you learned different things at exhibits. We then went to a playground. Following that, we went to an Imax that was about the history of the space center! The rest of the day, we took buses to separate locations. We did another Imax, but it was 3-D, and about a girl living on a space station! We also saw a Saturn V rocket, and it was ENORMOUS! The transporter that transports the rockets to the launch pads is as big as a baseball diamond! But it didn't weigh as many tons as did the fun we had!
3/28 FL (East Coast)
Today was neat! We woke up, did lessons, at a continental breakfast, and hit the road. I did more lessons as we tried to find campsites (no internet access.) Then we found an historic site -- Kingsley sugar mill plantation! Its ruins (burned by the Seminoles in 1809) were cool! You have to hike or drive 1/4 of a mile just to get there! We drove on to St Augustine, and found a hotel on the outskirts.
3/29 St. Augustine, FL
We went to St. Augustine, and were amazed by the sights, smells, and culture! It has a rich history of wars and has been under several flags! At the village, they made a sauce from a pepper that if a jalepeno was rated 53 peppers, it would be equal to 3,000 peppers! I tried a drop of mild sauce (regular would be too spicy) and it was so-o-o spicy it nearly burned off my tongue! We later went to the city gates, and ate some popcorn.
3/30 - 3/31 St. Augustine - Jacksonville, FL
Today was really, really cool! We woke up and went to the Spanish Quarter, and I learned I would have started working learning my father's trade, so I would be starting work as a lawyer! And a soldier would rent part of a house to live in! Castillo de San Marcos was a huge star-shaped fort and the soldiers recorded their journals in the castle's walls!
We hooked up the trailer, and drove on to Jacksonville . . . the next day we went to JAX Beach and made a giant drip castle, and a lady took photographs of our family and castles! We came back and swam in the pool, but the water was freezing. We ate a great Mexican dinner at Chevy's!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ APRIL
NOTE: Please continue with me on my journeys during the rest of the year, by following the links, below.
Jeff's Journeys: April - May, 2001
Jeff's Journeys: J une - July, 2001
Jeff's Journeys: August, 2001
Jeff's Journeys: September, 2001
Jeff's Journeys: Oct/Nov/Dec 2001
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