A Travelers Log: 8-1 to 8-31-2017 August in the States

After our weekend in New Orleans we returned to Florida to finish our business, then we hightailed it back to Indiana. We packed a lot in during August, and following are some highlights.

August 4-6, 2017 Indiana Paddlers Rendezvous:

Two nights of camping, and two days of canoeing/kayaking fun on Wildcat Creek. We have missed this great event for the past few years, so it was good to see our paddling friends again and get out on the river. Some of our other good friends came with us, and that was really nice.

Items for the auction to benefit the Wildcat Guardians (river protectors).

Garry's famous chili is served on Saturday night.

Bald eagle

August 8, 2017 Indiana State Fair:

August 11-13, 2017 Wedding Reception and Wandering Fort Wayne

A friend's son was having a wedding reception in northern Indiana, and we went there for the weekend with two other couples. The reception was Friday night. That left us all of Saturday to explore downtown Fort Wayne, which was near the incredible 100 house we rented for the weekend. We were also able to meet up with some of our friends from town one evening.

August 17, 2017 Visiting Eric's Family

Business was taking us back to Florida for a day, so we stopped in southern Indiana on the way to visit Eric's family briefly. After meeting up at a restaurant to play trivia, we relaxed at his brother's place in the countryside, where his family has a goat, dog and several cats. The goat and dog are best buds and do everything together. In fact, if the goat is eating leaves (one of his favorites), the dog will eat them too.

August 18-19, 2017 Visiting Cara's Family in Saint Simons Island, Georgia

After an overnight drive to Florida, we took care of our business quickly, then headed over to the Georgia coast to visit Cara's Uncle and Aunt. They showed us around St. Simons Island, as well as the nearby area. They also took us to Jekyll Island, which had its heyday at the turn of the century and into the 1920s, was populated by the rich oil and railroad barons, and is where the Fed was formed. However, the wealthy drifted away, and eventually the entire island was sold to the state and became a State Park.

We found a farmers market and interesting boats at the Mary Ross Waterfront Park...

Uh oh...

Jekyll Island State Park...

Horton Pond at Jekyll Island State Park

babyAmerican Alligator

Florida Softshell Turtle

Driftwood Beach at Jekyll Island State Park...

Clam Creek Fishing Pier at Jekyll Island State Park (at low tide)...

Jekyll Island Club Hotel...

"Cottages" in the Historic District of Jekyll Island State Park...

Fort Frederica National Monument on St. Simons Island...

Playing games with the family.

August 20, 2017 Savannah, Georgia

After leaving Cara's Uncle and Aunt we headed an hour north and spent a couple of hours walking around in the historic district of Savannah. Then we continued our journey back to the Midwest.

We found a lovely little restaurant called Goose Feather, where we had a very good lunch.

We took refuge from a brief but heavy rain in the lobby of the Jepson Center for the Arts.

August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse in Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Friends of ours from Belize were at a family home in Hopkinsville, KY, one of the places in the USA that would experience the longest duration of the total solar eclipse (none of our pics turned out). They invited us to meet them, so we did. They told us of the nearby Kelly Little Green Men Festival that we ended up attending for the eclipse. Apparently, on August 21, 1955, aliens visited a family in Kelly and a fight ensued. But, this is the story that was the basis for the movie E.T.

Darkness during the eclipse

Heading north from Hopkinsville the Pennyrile Parkway was backed up and very slow, but our navigation routed us on the
frontage roads, and the traffic wasn't so bad.