Day 8

We had breakfast at the Waffle House in Brunswick and headed home.

Day 7

We left for home. We stopped and bought some oranges and grapefruit. We went to St. Augustine, but got there too late for any bus tours. We drove around a little and probably saw things well enough. We drove over to Anastasia Island and found a lighthouse.

We drove on to Jacksonville and ate Italian (30.217987, -81.554571). We spent the night at a Quality Inn in Brunswick, Ga.

Day 6

Today we toured West Palm Beach. We ate breakfast at a buffet. We toured Singer Island and saw a couple of places A. Nookie used to live. We also drove through the John D MacArthur Recreation Area. Then we drove down to WPB to see other places A. Nookie used to live. The only other place I can remember her living was on 39th St, but that house is gone.

We also saw her church and their Chapel By The Sea. We ate a late lunch at Burger Heaven in Palm Beach. A. Mae had a giant piece of coconut cake and she shared with all of us.

We had pizza at A. Nookie's apt. for dinner.

Day 5

We ate breakfast at the hotel figuring it would be easier than loading and unloading everyone in the car. Turns out, it was good and relatively cheap. What is it about places run by Yankees that want to nickel-and-dime you to death? Really? A charge for a coke refill?

We drove around South Beach. I was afraid we might see the more "wide-open" side of things as we drove around, but thankfully everything was pretty calm. I think everyone enjoyed the architecture we saw. We took a short detour onto Star Island. There's only so far you can go though (gated community). We also took a slight detour when the GPS tried to take us to Key Largo via US 1. Luckily I've made that mistake before, and knew to get on the Florida Turnpike.

We stopped at "THE Wendy's" in Florida City for a drink, and that turned into a snack. That turned into a Double Combo for me because they gave me the wrong order. We drove down to Key Largo to see Marine Lab. We drove through the neighborhood it's in and pulled into the facility, but that was it.

We drove back to Ft. Lauderdale and ate dinner at Primanti Bros. so everyone could try the Pittsburgher. A. Nookie wanted us to see the tunnel in Ft. Lauderdale and then we drove back to WPB. We drove around town for a little bit to see things at night.

Day 4

The first thing I had to take care of today was my homework. I had an assignment due for my last class (Ed.S) and had forgotten to finish it (I thought I'd have more time and opportunity on the trip). It took about an hour to get everything finished and then we drove to Aunt Nookie's apartment.

We ate breakfast/lunch there (sandwiches and snacks). By the time everyone was ready, it was almost 3 PM. We stopped to get two wheel chairs and then left for Miami Beach. We drove to our hotel, which was a Howard Johnsons near Bal Harbour. It was on the beach and we got a good deal. The hotel was older, but well keep. It had that older Miami Beach vibe, so it was a good find.

We headed to dinner at the Lincoln Road Mall where we found a Cuban Restaurant named Dave's Cafe II. The food was pretty good, but the water was spiked. Jimmy and I had Cuban food. Mom and Aunt Nookie had fettuccine and Aunt Mae had chicken fingers.

Day 3

After I checked for bug bites and everyone was ready, we were out of the hotel and ate breakfast at the IHOP which was attached to the hotel. Breakfast took awhile because they were short staffed. Eventually we were back on the road to Kennedy Space Center for day 2. We started out with the bus tour which ended up taking most of the day. We went to the V-39 Observation Area where you could see the various launch pads they've used over the years. We also went to an exhibit on the Apollo Program and saw the Apollo 8 control room along with a Saturn V Rocket and a moon rock. The final stop was a mock-up of the International Space Station.

When we returned to the Visitor Complex we saw a life sized model of the Space Shuttle that you could see inside. It was getting close to 7 (when they close) and that pretty much wrapped things up at KSC.

We got on the road to West Palm Beach, but stopped in Cocoa Beach for dinner. We at at Dogs-R-Us, which was much better than it sounds.

We got to West Palm about 11 PM and Jimmy and I checked into the hotel. It was a Holiday Inn and was by far the best place we'd stayed so far. Then we went to Aunt Nookie's apartment and had sandwiches and snacks. There were some toilet problems and the toilet overflowed, flooding Aunt Nookie's bathroom. There was even water in the kitchen. My shoes and even socks were soaked through trying to get the water to stop. The building maintainence man came and tuirned off the water at the main valve.

Jimmy and I went back to our hotel; but mom, Aunt Mae, and Aunt Nookie stayed at the apartment with no water.

Day 2

I was up early today and so was everyone else. We got a decent start. We ate breakfast at IHOP and then drove to Melrose. We got lucky and found the Eliam Cemetery in Melrose very quickly. We decided to drive through the cemetery, which was a good decision because the grave we were looking for was all the way at the back. We drove right up beside it, again getting lucky and finding it very quickly. We took pictures of PD King's grave and the cemetery and then we were on our way.

We arrived at Kennedy Space Center in the late afternoon and got our tickets. We didn't get to see too much, but did get to do a few of the things right at the visitor complex. The iMax movie about the Hubble Telescope was probably the best thing we saw.

We checked into the Days Inn Titusville and then went to dinner at Cracker Barrel. We found a few dead bugs at the hotel, but nothing alive and crawling.

Day 1

We left Huntersville around 11 AM  and drove to Hartsville, SC. We were able to find both cemeteries pretty easily. We stopped at Westview Cemetery where Aunt Lovenia and Uncle Earl are buried and then went to Magnolia Cemetery where Harold and Little Harold are buried. In between we ate at a local buffet restaurant. We also drove past Aunt Lovenia's old house. I had never seen it before.

Then we drove to Savannah. We were able to get right in to Paula Deen's restaurant. At first they were going to seat us at a tall bar table, but I think Aunt Mae's walker "took us to the front of the line". We ended up at a table even though others were waiting and they had originally told us it would be about a 3 hour wait. The food was good, but nothing outstanding. It was also a buffet, so that's tough to maintain the best quality.

We drove on to just south of Jacksonville and stayed at the Holiday Inn that night.