This was a family trip to visit people and to see baseball in Jacksonville. Pictures were taken with my Fujifilm Finepix HS50 camera, my iPad, my Google Pixel 6a phone, and Cathy's iPhone. Pictures are linked from within the trip report below.
Friday, June 27 - Amsterdam, New York, to I-95 in South Carolina
With this being the Friday before a holiday week, we decided to get on our way pretty early, all packed [2 Pictures] hitting the road at 9 AM. The usual options down through New Jersey/Baltimore/DC seemed unlikely to be a good idea, so we decided right away to take the I-81 option. Our first stop was Chick-fil-A for lunch in Dickson City, Pennsylvania. Most of the day was the long ride down I-81, which generally went well. We got off near Harrisonburg, Virginia, for dinner from a Moe's [Picture], then continued south. We left I-81 briefly around Roanoke as storms were making their way through, and got down the big hill on I-77 just after dark. Passing through Charlotte, we took a loop around the city center on I-277 but otherwise it was just a quick and easy ride. At Columbia, we switched to I-26, and shortly after we reached I-95, it became Saturday. [7 Pictures from the Roads]
Saturday, June 28 - I-95 in South Carolina to Bonita Beach, Florida
The early morning ride down I-95 through South Carolina and Georgia was uneventful. We did make a needed rest stop for over an hour at the Georgia welcome center. This put us into Florida around 5:30 AM. With a gas/snack stop near Jacksonville [Picture] and another gas stop along I-75 [Picture] in Wildwood, we were able to get to the Bonita area before noon. We stopped at Publix on the way in, and moved into our rental house, the Bonita Bliss, early in the afternoon. The rest of the family also arrived, and we took it easy the rest of the day at the beach [2 Pictures][2 People Pictures] and boat rental then joined friends for dinner.
Sunday, June 29 - Bonita Beach, Florida
Easy day with Pub Subs, relaxing [Picture] hanging out at the dock [Picture][4 Pictures], fishing [Picture][12 People Pictures]..
Monday, June 30 - Bonita Beach, Florida
The day included staying around the beach [Picture] and boat rental for the morning, then a trip to Naples. This included a phone repair and lunch at The Dock with Mary. Dinner was takeout from Señor Taco in Bonita Springs and a piece of fish caught and brought over to the Fish House for cooking [Picture]. It also rained hard late in the afternoon [5 Pictures].
Tuesday, July 1 - Bonita Beach, Florida
After a bit of a sunrise from the house [2 Pictures], it was boat day. We headed north [2 Pictures]. On the way up, we made a stop at the north end of Lover's Key in Big Carlos Pass [4 Pictures][9 People Pictures]. We got lunch at Doc Ford's in Fort Myers Beach [Picture]. On the way back, we had to rush a bit to beat the afternoon storms [3 Pictures]. There was some pool time at the house between storms [3 Pictures]. Fortunately, the storms cleaded up in time for our sunset photo shoot on the beach [79 Professional Pictures][24 Pictures with our cameras]. And then the day ended with ice cream.
Wednesday, July 2 - Bonita Beach, Florida
Some of the sunrise was visible from the dock [2 Pictures]. Mid-morning was breakfast at Doc's Beach House, then a little workout at Planet Fitness, and the evening was a get-together with friends at Wilshire Lakes.
Thursday, July 3 - Bonita Beach to The Villages, Florida
It was time to check out from the rental, then we spent a bit of time saying good bye at the boat rental. On the ride up to The Villages, we stopped for Skyline Chili in Lakewood Ranch, and arrived there mid-afternoon. The rest of the day was visiting with everyone there, including a collaboration on a challenging puzzle [Picture].
Friday, July 4 - The Villages, Florida
This was a full day at The Villages, mainly visiting with everyone [4 Pictures], lunch at Huey Magoo's in Lady Lake, and some time at the First Responders Rec Center. Plans to check out the July 4 celebrations in Wildwood didn't work out, as storms cancelled everything.
Saturday, July 5 - The Villages, Florida, to Jacksonville, Florida
We were on our way from The Villages [8 Pictures] late in the morning, and checked into our hotel in Jacksonville by mid-afternoon. Soon it was time to head into the city for the Jumbo Shrimp game for our latest attempt to watch Amsterdam's Dale Stanavich pitch. We were able to watch the game with his family, but he didn't pitch [22 Pictures]. We did get to see him on the field after the game [4 People Pictures]. Then there was a BK snack on the way back to the hotel. [Picture] [8 Pictures from the Roads]
Sunday, July 6 - Jacksonville, Florida, to Folkston, Georgia, back to Jacksonville, Florida, and on to Yemassee, South Carolina
Since Dale didn't pitch, we decided to stay for the Sunday game in hopes that he would. But that wasn't until late afternoon, so we took our time in the morning at the hotel [Picture]. When we checked out at 11, we first went up to get some lunch and do some visiting in Folkston, Georgia. We enjoyed both our lunch at the Black River BBQ, and our visit after [2 Pictures]. Then we made our way back to Jacksonville to meet up with the Stanavich family to go to the game. When we arrived, it was clear that they were planning to wait out some incoming weather which led to a fairly lengthy "it might rain soon" delay. Eventually, that became a genuine rain delay as the storms moved in with a lot of heavy rain and lightning. By the time it ended, the field had taken on too much water and the game was postponed [4 Pictures]. So we went down to say good by to Dale and got on our way [Picture]. The Stanaviches stuck with us for the first part, and our first stop was to check out the brand new Buc-ees in Brunswick, Georgia [3 Pictures]. And then it was on into the night on I-95, and we made a stop for the night at an old style Best Western in Yemassee, South Carolina. [13 Pictures from the Roads]
Monday, July 7 - Yemassee, South Carolina to I-87 in New York
We got on our way in the morning by 8:30. We stopped in Santee at a Food Lion in search of some Mr Pibb Xtra (unsuccessful). Lunch time came around Fayetteville, North Carolina, and we made our way into the city for food from a Cook Out and a Moe's. Later on, we made a stop in Mechanicsville, Virginia, to pick up some Publix items to take home, fought through some annoying DC rush hour traffic, and got dinner further north in Laurel, Maryland, at Chick-fil-A. We also stopped at an Aldi there to get some good rolls for cheesesteaks when we got home. From there, we continued north along our usual routes, entering New York a little before midnight. [12 Pictures from the Roads]
Tuesday, July 8 - I-87 in New York to Amsterdam, New York
The rest of our ride was an easy one up the Thruway, getting home at 1:45.
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