The Guca Life: 2007 Recap - End of October

End of October 2007

So our 1 year anniversary was coming up and we (mostly I) wanted to do something, go somewhere. You see Tom had gotten word that he was going to have to go to Holland for work for approximately 6 weeks and miss Thanksgiving, and his birthday. He was leaving the Saturday after our anniversary, so we decided to take up the long standing offer to visit Tom's aunt and uncle in Florida the weekend before. So we flew to Jacksonville, FL on Halloween, and I was introduced to a state I'd never seen before. Tom's aunt and uncle, Annette and Jim, live on Amelia Island in Northern Florida in a town called Fernandina Beach. What a beautiful place!

This is Jim and Annette's home, it's gorgeous. Our room was on the second floor and it opened up to the balcony you can see in the front. Very nice.

Here is the view from their family room, part of an addition they made to their home to take advantage of the beautiful greenery and wildlife outside their home. I saw all kinds of birds and squirels scampering about.

This is the Post Office in downtown Fernandina Beach. Where are the cool old buildings like this in Phoenix? I loved the old feel and the straight out of a movie type feel the downtown area had, very quaint!

This is a view over a waterway and a golf course, just a couple of houses away from Jim and Annette's home. Tom's grandfather used to fish from the little platform just off to the right at the edge of the water.

Florida Dunes

Jim and Annette took us on a bike tour of the plantation surrounding their home. They live in a resort community, with all kinds of fun things to do near by.

There's my hubby ridin' his bike! It's hard to take pictures while riding a bike and attempting to remain riding instead of crashing! I got yelled at!

This is some of the Florida Marsh on the Western side of the island. Very pretty and serene, a bird sanctuary.

Isn't the spanish moss hanging from the trees cool? Don't mind our un-resort attire appearance, we weren't sure what type of weather to expect and it was pretty warm even though it was the beginning of November.

Here are Jim and Annette, close to the end of our bike tour. We had taken a break from biking to take a nature walk on the eastern side of the island. Jim and Annette are some of the most kind, generous and loving people I have ever met. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we were able to spend with them!

Our hosts had some prior commitments the second day we were in town, but let us borrow their car and gave us a great suggestion to visit St. Augustine, which was about a 45 minute to 1 hour drive south of Amelia Island.

The streets were really alley-ish in size, definitely one way only. We took a trolly tour a few times, which was quite fun. The dirvers tell stories and a bit of history as they drop off and pick up passengers. The weather was a bit dreary and cold the day we visited,but we had a good time walking through the shops and town.

Check out this cool old cemetery. If I had skills in the photography department, or in photoshop, I bet I could have gotten some really cool shots out if this place, but alas, I am an amateur, boo!

Magnolia Street - Supposedly one of the top 10 most photographed streets in the world. Yeah, my skills are very lacking, so this is the best you get from me!

Our 3rd day in Florida we went to a little farmers market in downtown Fernandina, and they had all sorts of fun things to try and buy.

As we walked around the farmers market we came across this cat stalking a butterfly, I caught it mid leap, unfortunately neither the cat or I were able to capture the butterfly in this photo.