Seestas Weekend

11/23/2021

About a month ago, (yes, I'm way behind in my posting...) my sister Barb (from Bloomington) and I took a road trip to Fanning Springs, Florida for a weekend visit with our youngest sister Maria.

We left very early in the morning, thinking the drive would take about 12 hours. But a long detour through the Tennessee countryside plus nasty Atlanta traffic made it more like 15 hours in reality.

It's not good when you're following Siri's guidance and you obediently turn down a gravel "road" only to realize that it is a long driveway... I can tell you that when we saw this sign we had to pause to stop laughing so hard we could hardly even see!

And then, at 10 pm. just a short distance from Maria's house, we had a frustrating incident while getting gas. I was pumping the gas while Barb went inside to use the bathroom and helplessly watched, totally flabbergasted as someone backed right into my brand-spanking-new Palisade! I stopped pumping, threw up my hands and yelled "YOU HIT ME!!!" as the masked woman in the car stared straight into my eyes then pealed out of the gas station!

There's a lot more to the story, but I won't mention the high-as-a-kite gal who witnessed it too, the group of shady cars in the parking lot that were likely making some kind of drug deals, and a not-so-helpful cashier who volunteered to call the county sheriff who was likely as redneck as they get. But we were exhausted from a long day on the road and decided it was a waste of time to call the sheriff to track down an unknown car/driver with unknown license plate who was likely drunk or high and most probably didn't even have insurance.

So we just chalked it up to another of life's aggravating experiences and continued on to Maria's house, arriving around 10:30 pm. I was SO READY for bed, but Maria insisted that we take a stroll around the neighborhood which was actually very calming and nice to chit chat shortly before hitting the sack.

Maria lives in an adorable home in a residential neighborhood that is perfect for her and her kids.

That's my scratched-up Palisade in her driveway...

The area of Florida where Maria lives has lots of state parks and fun places to visit. This one was a new place that even Maria had never been.

Mama would have enjoyed this place...a historical restored southern farm, Florida style.

And Mama would have loved chatting with this nice lady in the gift shop. She even opened a homemade jar of preserves for Barb to taste.

We enjoyed moseying our way around the restored home and its farm buildings...

Maria looked great!

Mama always told us about taking childhood baths in a washtub on the porch. Even on her wedding day, that's how she took a bath to get ready!

And Mama also told us how when she was a child they would set the bed legs in cans of kerosene to keep away the bed bugs...

Barb has a special love for antique weather vanes and it was all we could do to keep her from climbing on top of this tin roof and snatching this beautiful one!