One of the reasons Chrysa and I chose Florida for this assignment was the proximity to family. We often go long stretches without seeing relatives and that can leave us feeling a little detached. In fact, prior to Christmas, I hadn’t seen my brother in a couple years. Being in adjoining states has allowed for long overdue visits. Including one from my Mom. Making her 5th appearance visiting her nomadic son and daughter in law, it’s…Mary!
The last time mom came calling was in Mason City, IA. I have to say, it was a great visit, and very active. We went to a concert, marched around Clear Lake in the heat, and even took a trek up to Minnesota for the renaissance festival. This time we decided to take it easy on my mom. The goal was to enjoy just being together while checking out some cool sites.
The first thing mom and I checked out was the World Golf Hall of Fame. If you have ever looked at pictures of me and said to yourself, “that Jesse, he’s a classy guy, I bet he plays a lot of golf”, you would be incorrect. I know exactly 2 things about golf; you often drink beer while playing, and funny pants are part of the uniform. I own and have owned plenty of funny pants, and have even played golf a couple times with some garage sale golf sticks, but that is the limit of my experience. This trip to the Hall of Fame was suggested by my brother who will, I’m sure, correct me on everything I just said above.
Anyway, mom thought it would be fun, and I’m always up for a new experience, so there we were pulling up to a golf mecca in the middle of Florida. How was it? It was a blast! The Hall of Fame is predictably set on beautifully manicured grounds that proved wonderful picture opportunities. The museum was a surprise. The exhibits were engaging and interactive and showed a lot of the history of the game. The opening exhibit is called, Bob Hope: Shanks For The Memory, and added an element of pop culture that I found delightful. I actually had a great time. Mom and I putted (badly), played a hole of VR golf (badly), and I hit a drive toward an island green and shanked (maybe sliced?) it into the water. Mission accomplished Pat…I enjoyed a golf day.
After the golf outing it was time to do something a little more familiar for Chrysa and me. I’m talking national parks, and eating. One of our favorite places in town is Ravine Gardens State Park. We took mom there for a relaxing afternoon, and so we could offset some of the calories we would be taking in during the rest of the visit. We also took a trip to Silver Glen Springs in Ocala National Forest. After walking to the Boiling Sands we headed over to the main spring to take a dip on a nice sunny day. I think mom was really taken with it. What’s not to like really? The park is lovely, the spring is stunning, and it was a great day for a trip like this. I remember mom saying that she could stay there all day. We didn’t do that though. Instead we took to the road and showed off one of our other favorite places, St Augustine.
After hitting the highlights like Flagler University and St. George St. we decided to get dinner at one of the newer hip spots in the town, Prohibition Kitchen. Chrysa and I had been here before, and we all know how hip and cool the 3 of us are, so we knew Prohibition Kitchen would be a hit. Chrysa and I both got burgers. Boring choices I know, but so delicious. Mom really stretched and got the charcuterie platter. The charcuterie was the real hit. It had a ton of variety, and all of it was fantastic.
Those were the highlights that were really blog worthy. Sure, we did other stuff too. We went to Uncorked a couple times, mom did a solo exploration of the town, and I made tacos for dinner one night, but we mostly kept it simple with as much together time as we could muster. Hopefully it was enough to ensure visit number 6…wherever that may be.
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