Being Tourist In Our Own Backyard

What a great week this has been. Meghan's dance recital went well, Alan's parents made it here for the recital and have spent the week with us. This is the first time since we moved to Florida that I have managed to be off the during the time they were visiting, so we did "touristy" things.

Monday was the start of Alan' s time off. We attempted to go to Ft Pierce and visit the UDT - Navy Seal Museum. Alan is a huge history (military history in particular) buff. The Ft. Pierce area is recognized as the birthplace of the SEALS. Unfortunately for Alan we arrived only to find that it is closed on Mondays. We decided that we would continue down the coast to the see the Jupiter Lighthouse. Guess what? That is closed on Mondays as well. So we started out the week feeling a little like a scene from a National Lampoon movie. The day was not a total waste since we took a ride along A1A to get to these places. The views from A1A a magnificent; and its a good way to get in touch with all the beauty that is uniquely Florida.

Tuesday we tried again on the UDT- Navy Seal Museum and this time IT WAS OPEN!!! Alan has wanted to go to this museum since before we moved to Florida. He really enjoyed the museum. I found myself pleasantly surprised by the museum. It is right on the beach and while we were there they had a "summer camp" group of kids that it looked like they were going through a mini BUDS type training program. The were many neat displays in the museum and the grounds were covered with boats and sub type devices that were all a part of the UDT, Frogman, SEAL legacy. The greatest thing about this was to read the information on the displays and have it reinforced about how great American ingenuity is when it allowed to flourish and come up with solutions that are outside the box. I believe the reason the WWII generation is remembered for how great it was is because they allowed to simply analyze a need set forth to do what is necessary and without the overwhelming emphasis on being politically correct. The push to follow this dictate hampers our generations of Americans ability to set about solving the challenges put forth to it.

Wednesday the gentleman in the group humored my mother in law and me and took us to Bok Sanctuary in Lake Wales Florida. This was home to the first Carillon in Florida. It was built upon Iron Mountain which is the highest point on the Florida peninsula. They believe that this part of Florida was never underwater when the rest if the area was. This is called the ridge area of Florida which is believe to have been an island chain that existed before the peninsula emerged from water. The gardens were gorgeous. There were lots of places to sit and relax as you strolled through out the grounds. The carillon (Bok Tower) was beautiful. The bells rang out music every hour and then we were able to listen to half hour concert.

Meghan's new Wii was hooked up so we also spent time with Wii sports. I am enjoying the fact that currently I am out bowling everyone else in the family. It won't last long since I really stink at bowling. Alan usually is much better than I am but he has not quite beaten me.....Yet.

My in laws are leaving very EARLY in the morning to go home. We are attempting to go up the coast to see the shuttle land in the morning. We had a really great time being "tourist" in our own backyard.

There is lots around us to enjoy when we take the time to look. I believe we will take several days this summer to do short day trips. It was great to spend time with family without the need to go rushing off to other commitments.

As I have time, I will post pictures of the week as individual post.