A neat surprise!

We once again had a big discussion about "the plan", and decided with little left on "the list", that we would head for home, and catch the rest another time. We had hoped to visit some friends at a resort in Alabama to spend a couple of days chilling, but decided we would like to get home and chill!  I think we started this trip tired after a very busy summer, and we are just ready to be home!  So we put in a big day on the road, drove through panhandles of Mississippi ( which we spelled as we went through), and Alabama, talked about what was there, noticed signs and landscapes, discussed the upcoming election, and gave two thumbs up when we crossed the border and saw the big sign welcoming us to Florida!  I pulled into the welcome center, which we had never seen at this particular point, to stretch my legs and see what info they had about the northwest corner of the state, which we have never seen.

A Blue Angel mounted at the visitor center on I 10 as you enter Florida

I noticed as I was about to get out of the coach, that a man was taking a photo of.....us!  I waited a moment and smiled while he got his shot, then went out the door.  A little Japanese man, who smiled when he saw me, and promptly bowed, and stretched his hands wide, and said BIG!  No in Japan!!  Only in America!  I laughed and smiled and agreed....a little too large for his country!  He gave me a thumbs up before another bow, and getting into his car.  Very cute!

We collected some info, had a refreshing glass of orange juice compliments of the welcome center, and headed on to what turned out to be a lovely RV park in Tallahassee. Can't tell you how different this part of the state is!  So many trees, and the road actually turning and rolling up and down hill....very different and pretty.  Our park here is  not fancy, but clean and neat, with big wild oak trees  draped in spanish moss, and two neat long rows of RV's.  As we pulled in and set up, I remarked that I had noticed a car museum I had read about just down the street, and maybe we should go, to which the man next door came out and assured us that we definitely should, as he had been there that afternoon, and it was well worth it.  The owner of the park assured us we could get a late check out and visit in the morning, but in looking over the material we collected, I noticed a mission and a wildlife refuge, and.....here we go again with the discussions......we decided to stay over another night and check them out.  And are we glad we did!

The funny thing about the Wildlife Refuge is that I had noticed signs on the road, and had decided to talk to Clem about adding some of them to our next trip, and here one was!  We set out in the morning for the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge first, found the visitor center, and driving and trail maps.  Woods gave way to marshes, and we soon spotted two bald eagles in a dead tree in the marsh!  But the biggest surprise was on the hike from the historic lighthouse at the point on the gulf, when we encountered large quantities of monarch butterflies, feeding on their favorite bush, and storing up energy for their migration to Mexico!  They were everywhere, and we were both thrilled with the sight of them floating on the currents, and swarming on the bushes.  What great timing!  We met a woman on the trail who said just last week they had not been there!  We reached a bend in the trail with a picnic bench in good view of the water, and just sat and relaxed in the sun, as the day warmed into the afternoon.  Lovely!

Next stop was the Mission.  One does not think of missions in Florida, but this one predates St. Augustine, and the history of the Spanish monks and Apalachee Indians was very interesting.  They lived and farmed very successfully there from the mid 1500's to 1600's, then burned their own settlement and fled when the British were approaching.  Many headed to Louisiana, and decendants have recently been discovered there, though the culture had been thought to have died off.  Archaeologists have found ruins and remains, as well as artifacts, and have been able to reconstruct it, as well as build replicas of their buildings and Council House, which was huge!

Council House  at Appalachee Village

Too late to see the car museum.....umm.....that is why we were going to spend longer here!!......we decided to have an  early dinner in town, and I pulled out the good old Yelp app on the phone.  We found a burger place not far from the Univiersity, and had to wonder if my nephew had been there.  I posted on facebook, and sure enough...soon came his reply!  Great burgers!  They offer a burger with cheese and bacon, and peanut butter and jelly!!!  Oh my gosh!!  Clem was not daring enough to try it, (we knew I would not!)  even though our waiter told us it was so good that we would come back for more!  But we enjoyed a great burger, of which I had to bring half back, and headed back to the motorhome.

Big yummy burgers at Monk's 

The Car Museum opens early, so we will go first thing, and then head out.  Oh well.....the best laid plans!!