The Adventure Continues...in St. Augustine!

As promised, I will give you an update on our Ghost Hunt last night.  It was quite possibly the best money we have spent since we left Muncie!  Definitely worth the $40 for the whole family.  But, truly, yesterday was just about perfect!  I have already told you that we enjoyed the fort at St. Augustine immensely.  It was really cool to think of standing in one of the oldest cities in the United States. 

The fort at St. Augustine

But I digress.  I am supposed to be writing tonight to give you an update on our Ghost Adventure!  I worried, a lot, about Drew.  I just wasn't sure if he was old enough.  I didn't want to scar him for life!  What if he got so scared that he didn't want to sleep?  But he does watch Ghost Hunters on t.v.  I really thought he would be okay...

And I was right!  He loved it!  Almost as much as Indira did.  She really enjoyed it!  Let me give you the details...

So we made a reservation for the Ripley's Ghost Tour for 8:00 pm last night.  We paid about $40 for all four of us and met this lady at 7:45 to give us our "gear."  (This consisted of a disposable camera and a K-II meter.)  At 8:00 our tour guides gave us our instructions for the K-II meter.  Evidently, it measures electromagnetic frequency, which "ghosts" give off!  It all seemed kind of funny to me, but in a weird way, kind of real?  I don't know.  Not sure I am a believer, but not positive that I am not either!

We boarded the trolley and the tour guides told several "ghost stories" about St. Augustine.  Some were pretty interesting.  Definitely entertaining!  We made several stops to do our own investigating. 

Indira & PJ following our tour guide through the streets of St. Augustine

One of the graveyards we toured.  My picture caught "orbs."  But I am pretty sure it's just dust!

After our tour of the various places throughout town, the tour guides brought us back to the Ripley's Museum for our final investigation.  Apparently, the museum is the former house of two ladies who died there years ago.  You can guess how the story goes, I am sure!  This actually was a little scary.  I was worried that Drew would get really scared in

this part.  But he enjoyed it!  We did go into one room that was rumored to be haunted (where the ladies died) and he was watching that little meter pretty closely!

As we were walking out of the museum, when the tour was over, I could tell that the kids had a great time.  I wish we could do it again!  Drew had one comment, in particular, that was pretty funny.  "Mom, my legs are shaking!"  And they were.

This will probably rank up there at the top of our little family adventures.  We have had a great time in St. Augustine!  I am looking forward to coming  back again sometime!

One more full day and then it is back to reality.  That saddens me a little.  As eager as I am to get to sleep in my own bed, we have had a lot of fun.  Almost so much fun that I have forgotten about the shuttle launch!  Not really, but close!

Until next time...

The Adventure! (That didn't happen...)

So, as trusting and naive as I am, I can't seem to plaster across Facebook the fact that we are traveling.  I figure the only people crazy enough to read my little blog are not interested in my house full of junk and wouldn't likely go and rob my house.  However, I don't know my friends' friends, so I will leave our travel updates to blogspot.

Recently, my dear hubby came to me and requested permission (as if it was needed!) to go on a little adventure with his buddies to see the shuttle Endeavor launch it's final voyage from Kennedy Space Center.  I obliged, but  not without a mental tally mark for a future girl trip for myself!  I was a bit jealous but even more so excited for him, knowing his love of all things NASA.  It was a trip of a lifetime for him and he was "stoked."  I prepared for my few days of the insanity of single parenting, which I will never feel I am capable of, and listened to his countdown to the adventure.

Then, the inevitable.  One of the guys had to cancel.  What do do?  Find a replacement?  Or "offer" to make the terrible, daunting trip to Florida with him?  Of course I did the latter.  Oh, and we could take the kids.  I mean, after all...it is a trip of a lifetime and something I am sure my kiddos will remember forever.  He had already made the arrangements for missing a couple of days of work, and we had not planned a summer vacation.  So that was the plan.  We were planning our adventure to see Endeavor launch on April 29th.  Tickets were bought from E bay, as well as a parking pass.  Checked in with school to make sure the kids were allowed to miss.  Reservations made for a condo in St. Augustine, because after all, we were going to be in Florida.  Might as well have fun and use it as a vacation!

Then the real adventure began.  Roughly 900 miles of driving.  Everything went fine.  Until...

Drew realized he forgot his DS.  Now, for some, I am sure this wouldn't be a particularly big deal.  But, for Drew, this was major.  For one, our "screen time" is limited in our household, for reasons that would require another blog post.  Uninterrupted DS time was something to be excited about.  And I reminded him to charge the DS several times, which he did.  And left on the charger in his bedroom.  Luckily his sister offered her pink DS for two whole hours, which was actually pretty generous!

Then, the DVD player in the car broke.  New movies lay in the cellophane, waiting to be watched.  But not by my darlings.  It wasn't working.  No movies.  No DS for Drew.  This may be a LONG 16 HOURS.

Drew, happy to be borrowing his sister's DS!

Thankfully, On Star provided a scenic drive for day 2 of driving, which made for a more interesting ride.  (Day 1 travel was peppered with severe storms the evening before, so this was a welcome change!)

Our scenic drive through the Carolinas.

We arrived Thursday in tact.  We survived periodic shouting matches, bickering, an embarrassing number of pit stops and the same top 20 songs repeated over and over on XM radio.  The condo was nice.  We can't afford luxury and won't pretend we can, so we were pleased with our little modest accommodations.  Our "ocean view" is really a view of a parking lot, THEN the ocean.  But I am not complaining!  I can still sit on the balcony and see and hear the ocean.  The sun was shining upon our arrival and it was a perfect 78 degrees!  Life was good!



After going to bed pretty early, we were prepared for our trip to see the shuttle launch.  Our drive time was 2 hours, but probably less than 100 miles.  Traffic became quite heavy going into the different areas for shuttle viewing.  Our tickets gave us admission to the Visitor Center, which was across the causeway.  When I heard "Visitor Center" I thought of a fancy rest stop type facility.  It was anything but that!  It was amazing, really!  Lots and lots to do!  Hundreds of people of ALL different backgrounds, buzzing around with the same anticipation.  Oh, and it would be awful to forget to mention the feeling of pride that swept over the crowd.  Even in the traffic, we saw kids waving pictures of American flags out of their minivan sunroof!  It was awesome to be there and waiting for such a cool event.

Welcome Sign to the Kennedy Space Center!  We're here!

Then.

Without warning.

The dreaded NASA tweet.

The launch was "postponed due to a heater malfunction" until at the earliest Sunday.

We left the visitor center down, but still hopeful that we would see a launch.  Maybe Sunday?  We would have to "suffer" through a day of Florida fun, I guess.

Then another dreaded tweet later that day.

Maybe Monday?

So Saturday was spent at the beach and pool.  Sand castles were made, a little more bickering and arguing (because it wouldn't be a family vacation if there wasn't any!) and we were having a great time.  Sunday was going to be spent enjoying downtown St. Augustine.  Our plan?  The fort, Ripley's museum, and a Ghost Tour for the evening.  As we were gearing up for the long day ahead of us, we received the final tweet....

At the earliest, May 8th.

We won't be going to the launch.  At some point, we do have to get back to reality, right?

We were so disappointed.  Then felt almost guilty for feeling disappointed!  After all, here we are, taking a great trip with our two healthy kids.  Grateful for the ability to even get to go!  There is no option but to make the best of it and enjoy the blessings that have been given to us.  I am grateful beyond words for the opportunity to do something fun with my family...always!  Its still an adventure, just a different one!

Plugging their ears before the cannon fires!

Right now, I am "resting."  We have had a full day already, and we are going back for more tonight!  The fort at St. Augustine was very cool.  We made it just in time for a re-enactment of a cannon firing drill.  The kids thought that was pretty cool.  I don't know how to review the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, except to say it was a bit overpriced, I thought.  But fun, nevertheless.  Tonight, we meet back at the museum for the Ghost Tour.  I guess, there are many "haunted" spots in St. Augustine, so that should make for some fun entertainment!  Let's hope it doesn't cause any bad dreams!

Check back tomorrow to hear how our tour went!  I am a little nervous and wondering if I am teetering on the line of bad parenting for letting Drew go.  If he is up tonight crying, I guess I will know for sure then, huh?

Ready for more in St. Augustine!