Georgia/Florida Weekend, St. Simon's Island

Only a 3 day turn-around and we are off again, this time without Boozer but definitely not without booze! We've heard all the stories but never experienced GA/FL weekend at St. Simon's. We decided that it might be too much for Boozer to handle so he will vacation at NOAH. The girls there love him and really spoil him with attention.

The trip down to St. Simon's is pretty boring and seems to take forever. The worst part is when you get on the highway that is like concrete with spacers in between each section. You ride along going ka-clunck, ka-clunck and feel like your tires are flat. We stopped to get gas and I was going to make lunch. I opened the refrigerator door and KA-BAM! The panel on the refrigerator door crashed to the floor. Scared me to death. Hmm...interchangeable panel on the fridge door. This will have to be fixed later. Always something, right?

Since the GPS doesn't locate where we are going our host met us in his golf cart. Well he almost met us as there are restrictions on where golf carts can go. He's on his cellphone giving us directions and HRH gets confused and drives up over a concrete curb. BAM! CRASH!! The overhead cabinet door flew open and eight Corning Ware plates crashed to the floor, four smashed to pieces. Oh, well. Those were old plates that had been recycled from home use to original motorhome use to the attic and then to this motorhome. No great loss. We usually use paper plates anyway. Thank goodness Boozer wasn't with us as he would have been sleeping right there.

Although we would highly recommend the rv site, unfortunately it is not a public venue. We set  up in a grass alley behind the beach house of our friends. Plug in the electric cord and connect up the water hose and we are set for the weekend.

Thursday nite we ate at another friends' house...they had a biscuit cook-off along with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, fruit and more. Breakfast for dinner! We ate at Catch 228 Oyster Bar for dinner on Friday and Brogen's on Saturday for lunch. I've reviewed both on TripAdvisor.

The highlight of the weekend was a trip to East Beach on Friday. It's called Frat Beach on Georgia/Florida weekend because all the fraternities and sororities congregate there. We all set up our beach chairs for the best viewing. In the morning hoards of students start arriving and making their way down the beach. Many are in costume and are quite a sight to see. They have all manner of containers for their booze, beer, etc. We saw laundry detergent jugs, plastic gas cans, coolers of all shapes and sizes including Yeti's which are over $350 and took 2-4 people to carry. What a parade! As more and more students arrive, the crowd at the other end of the beach continues to grow closer to us and the noise level grows also. Finally, we decide to brave the elements and make our way down the beach. By now, several hours have passed and we are getting to see the effects of the alcohol and sunshine up close. You can actually feel the heat emanating off the masses of people and the drone of voices. It is very surreal. There is a guy flying a kite and as we look overhead we discover that he has a camera mounted on the kite string. Will have to check YouTube! We made it all the way in and then back out again. Whew! Fresh air!! What an experience!!!

Here is a video that was posted on YouTube. http://youtu.be/pag6RqyxuJ8

The real highlight of the trip was supposed to be the game. The party atmosphere was great. Most of our tailgate friends were there along with some new ones. The game itself was a disappointment. Georgia won over Florida but there have been better games.

On Sunday we left for home and on the way we talked about how this was probably one of those "bucket list" things. You haven't lived until you've experienced Frat Beach on Georgia/Florida weekend!

Students heading down Frat Beach

We braved the crowds

Girl in center trying to get up...fail!

Coolers, coolers everywhere!

Not even noon yet!

Low-Key Hideaway, Cedar Key, FL

Google map for Low-Key Hideaway

Back when we were still working, I spent hours on different sites looking for the perfect first full week trip to celebrate our retirement. For the last 15 years we have only enjoyed long weekends due to owning our own business. This would be a big deal for us so I wanted it to be perfect. There are a myriad of websites for campgrounds but my favorite was  http://www.allstays.com/. The site says "built to go with you", from phones and tablets to laptops and desktops, by app or by web. So, I found this adults only and 5 star rated place called Low-Key Hideaway. On checking TripAdvisor, there were a number of reviews and all were positive. Not sure I've ever seen that before. The place sounded perfect and only 4 rv sites. 4 ???? No, that wasn't a misprint. We figured that this perfect place was too good to be true. Then we decided to throw caution to the wind and call them anyway. Working around the Georgia football schedule (got to keep priorities around here) we called and booked a week starting 10/21. Amber, the office manager(also a bartender at the Tiki Bar in her spare time) was really friendly and helpful.

That's us in the middle

                                                                      

Low- Key website for  photos. http://everymilesamemory.smugmug.com/CedarKeFlorida/CedarKey0671186_LdHGvm#!i=2596423326&k=WptSL9k. Pat and Cindy are the owners and are professional photographers.Their story is one that elicits envy. You feel like you are part of their family when you stay at Low-Key. They are the epitome of the saying that it's not work if you love what you do.   

The trip down was rather uneventful, making a couple of stops at rest areas along the way. Boozer was a "happy camper" and either slept on his bed or looked out the window. This would be his longest trip that he's been on but it didn't seem to phase him at all. We're driving along and Amber called to check up on us. Yes, we're on our way. We had left a little late to avoid rush hour traffic. She said if she had to leave for the Tiki Bar before we got there that the check in sheet would be posted on the motel office door.

We arrived at Low-Key and people come out and stop traffic for you in both directions on the "highway" (2 lane road to us!) so that you can get your motorhome parked at its site. Looking out the front window I can see the deck right there and then the Gulf...right there...right there!! Amazing!!

View out the front window of the motorhome

Someone had posted about how nice it was to sit on the pier and read a book except she never got very far in her reading because there is too much to see. You end up watching the ospreys and the egrets and the gulls and the fishermen and the crabs coming up out of the sand when the tide comes in and some of the most beautiful sunsets and.... For awhile you have your own piece of paradise.

Hanging chairs at the end of the pier

Long about four o'clock the Tiki Bar opens. As if you haven't suffered enough sensory overload, you now get to walk through the vined arbor, past the unusual gardens and the bottle wall and into the Tiki Bar. Every day you see something new...the frog, the bicycles, the signs, the bottles, the corks, the "pool" with action figures climbing out of the water, the license plates, the bottle caps, the chandelier, the bottle light...and of course, the bar itself with a myriad of mismatched bar stools including one that is a pair of women's legs! On Friday some friends of Pat and Cindy came over to christen Pat's new grill. We were sitting at the bar and the next thing you know someone comes in with a tray of buffalo chicken and we're all eating this great chicken and then along comes a tray of clams and more chicken and more clams! We heard they cooked elk later, too. Locals come there also and there is never a shortage of interesting people to meet. The bar is stocked with beer and wine and an amazing array of liquor. Cindy's special mix makes the absolute best margaritas, if I do say so myself! Oh, and not only are the motel and rv sites pet friendly but also the Tiki Bar. Boozer enjoyed all the attention he got there too.

Tiki Bar

Speaking of the clams...Cedar Key has clam farming. Just next door was one of the places that does this. They also sell retail so you can get clams, shrimp and whatever is caught that day. We got a bag of clams and steamed some in beer on our grill. We put the rest up in the freezer to make clam chowder later. Here is their website. http://www.clambiz.com/

There were many other things to see on Cedar Key. http://www.cedarkey.org/  That was the only regret about our stay. We absolutely will return but hopefully with a toad. This means researching the right vehicle and the right hook-up and being comfortable adding a towed vehicle.

Sadly, on Monday morning, we had to load up and drive home. We had an incredible week and look forward to being able to spend time at Low-Key Hideaway again.