“I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.”
The area was settled in 1768, when Scottish physician Dr. Andrew Turnbull established the colony of "New Smyrna." The colony occupies a notable place in history by being the single largest attempt by a member of the British Crown at colonization in the New World. Turnbull transplanted around 1500 settlers, from Minorca, Majorca, Ibiza, Smyrna, Crete, Mani Peninsula, and Sicily, to grow hemp, sugarcane, indigo, and to produce rum.
The colony suffered major losses due to insect-borne diseases and Native American raids; and tensions grew due to mistreatment by Turnbull. Due to these complications, the remaining colonists marched north to St. Augustine along the Old King's Highway, to claim mistreatment by Turnbull to the Governor of Florida in St. Augustine in 1777; then a British protectorate..
Soon after, St. Augustine was returned to the Spanish, and Turnbull abandoned his colony for life in Charleston, South Carolina.
The St. Photios National Shrine on St. John's Street in St. Augustine, Florida, honors the settlers of New Smyrna, who were the first Greek Orthodox followers in North America. The historical exhibit adjoining the Chapel tells the moving story of their plight in great detail, with accompanying exhibits.
The area was then only sparsely populated due to the frequent raids by Seminole Indians. During the American Civil War in the 1860s the still-standing "Stone Wharf" was shelled by Union gunboats. In 1887, the Town of New Smyrna was incorporated with a population of 150. In 1892, the arrival of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway lead to an increase in the area's population and a boom in its economy, which was based on tourism, citrus, and commercial fishing industries.
During prohibition in the 1920s the city and its river islands were popular sites for moonshine stills and hideouts for rumrunners coming in from the Bahamas through Mosquito Inlet, now Ponce de León Inlet. "New Smyrna" became "New Smyrna Beach" in 1947, when the city annexed the seaside community of Coronado Beach. Today, it is a bustling resort town of over 20,000 permanent residents, with over 1,000,000 visitors annually.
Like its Spanish partner to the north, St. Augustine, New Smyrna has stood under four flags: first the British, then the Spanish, then the American flag in 1845, followed by the Confederate Jack, and finally replaced the Stars and Stripes again.
Hi my friends, we took a ride to New Smyrna Beach, located close to Daytona Beach - just for fun and to get out of the house for a little bit. It's wonderful warm now, it's really springtime also here. We have visited the beach with all that activities going on. A lot of younger people were there, it must be springbreak-time too.
I hope you'll enjoy the pictures and have a wonderful Friday. Weekend....yeah! Susanne
I don't know what this young lady was looking for, but it was fun looking at her and the play of the waves
splashing waves - and the next one was already building up
Complete peace equally reigns between two mental waves. ~Swami Sivananda~
Was she looking maybe for her complete peace?....*smile*...
Hi my friends,
Thank you for all the visits and for all your wonderful comments. You make my day with every single compliments. I love to share my pictures with you, love to share my thoughts and my little moments in life. Thanks to be my friend on this blog!
I wish you a good day, have a great time - and come back tomorrow. Susanne
It's all emotion. But there's nothing wrong with emotion. When we are in love, we are not rational; we are emotional. When we are on vacation, we are not rational; we are emotional.
It's well known, Florida is pretty and a beautiful destination for your next vacations :)
Thank you so much for all your nice comments and compliments to my recent posts. You all make my day with your kind words.
I'm sending you all the sunshine from the Sunshine State - there will be still more than enough left for us...*smile...
Have fun - Enjoy your day!
Susanne
Please don't forget to check out my shop, because I know, my Calendars 2010 are a wonderful gift to give for someone you love, or for a good friend or just to pep up the gray walls in your office! Thank you!
We are heading back to Florida's Peninsula. We loved the emerald green water of the Gulf of Mexico - and we had a good time there. We were even thinking to settle down in Panama City and went out looking at some houses already. But, we didn't liked anything we have seen. Yep, I know it.... probably we are not that easy people if it comes to living accommodations, we have a certain taste and a lot of expectations for our new future home! But I'm optimistic, one day we will find THAT pretty little house to call it our new home :)
Thank you so much for all your kind comments to my last post. Love you all! :)
Stay with me, see ya' tomorrow in Florida again! Susanne
We left "Apache Springs" in Texas - outside of Fort Stockton - and we drove for hours the 285 North over flat country and farm land with many oil wells and pretty landscape.
We arrived in Pecos, the home of the world first rodeos
Entering now the State of New Mexico - Viva la vida!
The sky was very dark in Artesia but not because of coming rain, it was because of a sand storm building up all over the flat regions there.
The street was straight as an arrow for miles - it seemed like it will never end!
In a little village with the nice name "Loving" was the main attraction this sculpture of a Cowboy on a horse.
Very nice to see were also the already slight green blooming trees against the blue sky on the way to Carlsbad
Or all the Yucca plants, a typical plant in this hot and dusty area
Somebody tried to shoot into this sign - Billy the kid maybe - or just some drunk Cowboys?... LOL.. :))
In the middle of no man's land was "Lake Arthur" - a real lake in this dry desert area
Carlsbad was not a place for me to stay, nothing exciting to see except the only one attraction is a big natural cave outside of Carlsbad, that's it - nothing more. I don't like caves to much! The same disappointment was Roswell for me. All over town you can see all those "Alien" shops, filled with plastic toys and souvenir kitsch about "Area 501". A lot of the business were tuned into that "out of space" and "U.F.O." kitsch.
Like this one very well known Supermarket - and that was surprising for me too.
Also Wal Mart was into UFO's and Aliens etc.... we stayed that night on their parking lot and were shaken nearly brainless by the horrendous desert wind.
Hi my friends,
thanks again for all your visits and kind compliment. You're right, this country is beautiful and it changes its landscape so often and in such a wonderful way! You all can be very proud of your country!
I will show you tomorrow from our trip today from Roswell trought real desert areas with white sand, yellow grass and high mountains. We are arrived tonight here on a nice campground at almost 6000 feet high and we drove since our start in January more than 4000 miles!!
After leaving Titusville FL and spending a night on a parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Florida-City, we arrived in the Florida Keys. And this is now the breathtaking, turquoise color of the Gulf of Mexico in the Keys! Every time I see it it's more overwhelming for me - it is so beautiful and the colors are real my friends and no Photoshop at all! It IS that beautiful!!!
Driving over the Seven-Mile-Bridge is always very impressiv, to the left the is the deep blue Atlantic and on the other site the turqouise blue Gulf of Mexico. To the right you can see some of the old Seven-Mile-Bridge.
After a 150 miles drive from the mainland you'll arrive in Key West and you will see this welcome sign entering the island.
And of course, our first stop was on Memorial Beach to "suck in" the beauty of this carribean island! :)
The next morning we got up early again to see the stunning sunrise in Key West. And we were not the only one there. As you can see it in the picture, there were some "love birds" already enjoying each other in the rising sunlight. :)
I know now how beautiful sunrises are!
Morning has broken.... what a beautiful morning!
And there were also "other birds" enjoying the warm sunbeams.
We are now visiting good old friends here in Key West, that's why I'm able to post some pictures again to share with you all the beauty. Thank you Susan (my best friend in Key West!) for your great hospitality!!
I will show you later maybe more photos about this little crazy island Key West - I did a lot of them....LOL... they will be good picture material for my next book. :)
And this is the bad site of camping: the rain! In minutes is everything a big mess around your RV and no chance to get out until it stops - maybe in an hour, maybe in two or three. Yesterday it was raining in the afternoon, the whole night long and it's still raining this morning. Where is the sun gone...?
In a weather like this, people stay in their metal boxes and play with the computers - like me - or they play cards or call up family members, or...or...or...whatever... Any other, more creative ideas what to do on a day like this?...LOL...
Normally we do eat breakfast on this table, feeding the squirrels who are coming very close to your plates. Today they are also hiding somewhere up in the trees. Let the sunshine have back again please...! :)
I thought I do show you some of my photos in a collage now. This one shows you a kaleidoscope of the RV Park's environment.
This is a collection and my impressions of "life is good" on a campground itself :)
On the shore of the Indian River Lagoon, this 26.45 acre campground is a well shaded and quiet hammock of pines, palms and foliage providing habitat to squirrels, birds, and tropical creatures. The river offers shoreline fishing and a perfect view of space shuttle launches at Kennedy Space Center. Campers also enjoy access to a recreation hall with a small swimming pool and reception grill area, a fire ring, a mid-sized pavilion, two shuffleboard courts, and a horse shoe pit.
Offering a secluded oasis with easy access to urban amenities, Manatee Hammock is a perfect launch pad to area attractions such as The Enchanted Forest, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Canaveral National Seashore, and Kennedy Space Center.
My laptop will be disconnected today, stay with me until I'll be back a.s.a.p. Susanne
Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends. ~ Richard Bach ~
Once upon a time...like a little over seven years ago, a married couple had a dream. They wanted to travel the U.S. in an RV from the East coast to the West coast and everything in-between. And wherever they liked some place a lot, they planned to stay for a while, exploring and documenting everything with pictures and videos. But as sometimes happens, even in fairytales, bad situations come up that almost win out over the good: unplanned, serious health problems came up to indefinitely postpone the couples’ dream and to delay their beloved plans. The journey had to be put-off more than once to a later day in the future.
If you haven’t guessed already, the couple is me and my husband. And after being in this country for almost 8 years, that dream of ours never died! We kept on dreaming with imaginary trips over Route 66 to California, to the Rocky Mountains, to Arizona, where we visited in our minds the biggest fry pan in the world, the world’s largest ball of string, slept in tepees and saw Yogi Bear in Yellowstone National Park and of course all the other interesting landmarks in our great country. Then, recently everything began to become more of a reality.
And now, after 2575 days the dreaming is finally over!! The dream comes true for us when on the 20th of January, my husband and I, will start our adventure journey "Across America" and we are soooooo excited and proud, not have had given up our dream. Believe in your dream and it will happen, that was our "guiding spirit" and it really works, people!
First, we will drive to find some "warm up days" in sunny Florida and will wait for more stable warmer weather conditions before heading West. If we come your way and if you have interesting places to recommend that we see, tell us about it - we will blog about it and of course you'll get a link back to your site! And if you have space and are open to let us park in your yard for a night, tell us that too....LOL...in return for your hospitality maybe we could do portraits of you and your family or your dog, sit your vacation home or just cut your grass...whatever it will be, name it...just drop us a note. It's always a pleasure to meet "old friends" or make new ones. We are very flexible in our time and ready for all kinds of good adventures :)
2009 will be a year of big changes, not only in the Whitehouse, but also for us too. I will blog about it here and of course there will be a new website made just for this journey. As long we have an Internet connection on the road we will provide you with all kind of exciting stories in the form of photos and also videos.
So stay tuned - don't miss anything!
And don't forget, we do love to hear from you with recommendations, tips and invitations...LOL...
Susanne and Dave susanne2049@gmail.com
P.S....we also could use some sponsors for our "dream trip".... let us know if you have connections with someone or a business related to travel, RV trips, photography or fine arts, etc. who wants to invest in a "dream-team" and get great exposure all over the country?
