Snow Day

Today our plan was to drive to St. Thomas and visit with Laura and Jay and the girls. When we awoke there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground. Where did that come from? We were expecting a dusting, not a dump. This was the most snow we have received all year.

We headed out, but knew it would take a long time to get there. After about 3 hours we arrived safely although the drive was slow. We enjoyed a wonderful day all together.

The drive home went quick and we were surprised to see that most of the snow was gone, either melted or washed away by rain. What a crazy winter.

Valentines Day

Saint Valentine's Day, often simply Valentine's Day,is observed on February 14 each year. Today Valentine's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world, mostly in the West, although it remains a working day in all of them.

The original "St. Valentine" was just a lithurgical celebration of one or more early Christian saint named Valentinus. All the modern romantic connotations were added several centuries later by poets. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to 14th February, and added to later martyrologies. This celebration was deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.

The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines")

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

So how did you spend your Valentines day? Our's started early by going out to see a movie on the Saturday prior to Feb 14. We saw the movie - Safe House, which we both agreed was "ok" but not great. We went home and cooked up a nice dinner and enjoye a relaxing evening.

On Tuesday when I got home, there was a dozen roses, a loaf of bread (shaped like a heart) an a beautiful romantic card waiting for me. I brought home two video's - Ides of March - which we ended up stopping - the language was horrendous and Crazy, Stupid Love. It was a nice quiet evening.

I hope everyone enjoyed Valentines day.

Grove City

It was with great sadness that we pointed our car north and headed back home.  We have had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed every minute of it. We had a nice phone call with Liz today and regret that we weren't able to visit with her this time.  We're currently in Grove City and will be back on the road early tomorrow morning.  We have seen only a hint of snow on our drive home and the temperature has been in the mid 30's.  What a great winter.

Last round of golf - Savannah Harbour

How sad.  We woke up knowing that this would be our last round of golf.  Looking out of the window it was cloudy and cold looking.  Hmmm, I thought.  I better stick my nose out the front door when we go down for breakfast. It looks cold out there!  Sure enough it was colder that what we have been used to. It was in the low 50's when we started out this morning.  It never really warmed up so it took some time for us to feel comfortable with our swing.  Our muscles were stiff and took a long time to warm up.  We virtually had the course to ourelves so we took our time.  The game was fun and the course was beautiful and in nice shape.

After golf we made a quick stop at Paula Deen's store and then came back to the room to start packing. 

We'll be in bed early tonight as we plan an early start for the day tomorrow.

Savannah

We woke up to a beautiful morning.  We took an opportunity to sleep in and got up around 8:00.  John was already downstairs reading his email.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and listened to an on line sermon from RC Sproul on John 2. It tied in nicely with what we are studying in bible study.

We strolled along River Street and took in the sights.  It was a very relaxing day.  Tomorrow we have our final tee off time at 10:03 at The Savannah Harbour.  It should  be interesting. Dinner tonight was a real treat.  We went to the Chart House which was by River Street. It was a nice walk to the restaurant and it was a quiet evening as everyone stayed home to watch the Superbowl.

I am sad that this vacation is coming to an end.  I don't want to put on closed toe shoes and winter coats.  I'll be praying for Sunshine all the way home and for winter to end quickly.

We plan to be on the road early on Tuesday morning so we will pack up the truck tomorrow evening.  This may be my last post depending on how late things get.

Bella Collina - Last day in Florida

We were up early this morning. The alarm was going off at 4:45.  Enough time to shower and pack up.  We had to return the key to the house before heading for our last golf game at Bella Collina Golf Course.  This was a "private" course, which has run into financial trouble.  The owners invested about 30 million in the club house and course but have had difficulty signing up members.  They have about 150 members at this point in time so they are opening it up on Golfnow.com trying to encourage people to try the course.

It was dark when we drove in, but you could see that it was a beautiful course.  It was very challenging and hilly.  Often you didn't know where  you were hitting to, which made it very difficult.  Upon arrival we discovered that they didn't have our tee off time in the system but they we very accommodating and got us out by around 8:10.  It was an amazing day with beautiful sunshine and fun golf.  We enjoyed a glass of wine and a snack before heading for Savannah.

Arriving at the club house.  It is huge with all beautiful brick work.

We are fully loaded.  We had to unpack the car to get our clubs out.

In the entrance to the ladies locker room. Wow it was amazing... 7 rooms - showers, sauna, locker, washroom, kitchen, living room, bath area

Beautiful mable sinks.

The door exiting the woman's locker room.

One of the spectacular views.

The washroom facilities on the course.

Some of the bunkers were so deep that the walls were 3 - 4 times your height! It was amazing and very challenging. They had 7 tee boxes.

A view of the clubhouse.

Inside the courtyard.

Dinner at Belford..

We're staying at the Hampton in the Historic District and enjoyed a wonderful dinner all together at Belford - which was a steak and seafod restaurant.

Royal St. Cloud

It feels like we are in St. Andrews.

A mother crane nesting.

So many cranes - at one point we saw 15 all together.

A beautiful hawk - kept flying over us at one hole. We wondered if there was a nest nearby.

They  weren't even afraid of us!

John called us to show that this bird was in his line of sight for hitting his ball. It wasn't interested in moving - we wondered if there was a nest.

The boys just loved this sign!

An alligator sunning by the water.

The Upro was great to have and I loved the bracket that I bought - it allows you to share it with the other person in the cart.

Today we played at Royal St. Cloud!  What a fun course.  This is a links style course that is full of wildlife.  We saw so many Cranes - at one point in time 15 all together, turtles, alligators, hawks and all sorts of birds.  We had such a fun day.  It was like we were at a zoo with all the animals around us.  The course was very reasonably priced - only $30 for the round.   It was definately a great deal for the money.  We just loved the course.  We did a bit of shopping after at the Outlet mall and now we're packing up.  We'll be on the road early tomorrow as we have to drop off the house key before driving to the course.  We're golfing at Bella Calina which is suppose to be an amazing course.  I'm looking forward to another fun round!!