Trip To Orlando and Georgia (Posted March 8, 2009)

We recently returned from a trip (by car) to Orlando to see Amy, Mark, Laura and Olivia when they came down on vacation to see Amy's grandmother and to visit the theme parks. From there we flew up to Chattanooga to go visit with Linda's sister and brother-in-law, Sally and Jim.

In Orlando we went to Sea World and Disney World with Amy, Mark and the girls. Olivia had been asking to go to Sea World for a couple of years! We all enjoyed the whale and dolphin shows and other attractions. Laura and Olivia liked Sea World better than the Disney parks and they went back for a second day after we left.

While we were there we also visited with Phyllis (Amy's grandmother) and her boyfriend, John, who live in Kississmee during the winter.

After four days in Orlando we flew to Chattanooga, TN to go visit Linda's sister, Sally, who lives in the mountains of Georgia a couple of hours from Chattanooga. Sally and Jim and some of their friends and Jim's brother all moved there when they retired. We had a great time visiting with them and seeing the area. Obviously it was too cold for us in the mountains being the "winter wimps" that we are! (We are, of course, rather proud to be "winter wimps") :-). But, we could see how beautiful it must be in the summer and fall and look forward to visiting them again some summer.

Sally is into quilting and, since Linda enjoys sewing so much, she took Linda to a quilting guild meeting and taught her a little about quilting and making handbags while we were there. I am afraid that Linda is now seriously addicted as we had to stop at several fabric stores on our way back to the Keys and she immediately started making canvas tote bags, children's bags, etc. as soon as we returned to the boat! I believe the addiction is known as "Quilter's Pox" and I am told that it is incurable!

We flew back to Orlando and drove back to the Keys. We had a great trip but are happy to be back at home on the water. Our traveling will now be by boat as we only have a few more weeks before we head north for our six months of summer cruising.

Our plans are to sail up the coast to Stuart and then across the Okeechobee Waterway to Fort Myers and then up the west coast of Florida to our "summer home" cruising the waters around Anna Maria Island, Clearwater, Sarasota, etc.