Florida Carriage Museum and Paintball

Today we split up and some of us went to play Paintball:

and the rest of us visited the Florida Carriage Museum in nearby Weirsdale, Florida.  I don't know much about the paintball fun beyond seeing the battle scars and hearing talk of a return visit but I got the impression they had a blast.  We had our own version of fun at the museum.

I didn't know quite what to expect when I read online that it was a carriage museum.  I was very pleased with what we did find there.  The collection was even more extensive and interesting than I'd suspected might be there.  

The tour guide did a good job of sharing the history behind many of the carriages they had there and the general history of carriages and driving.

I especially enjoyed being able to share the visit with Brittany.  This is the first museum we took her too and I probably should have warned her that this will be the first of many museums she will see if she is a part of the family.  She said she really enjoyed it, so hopefully that is a good thing for her too!

The Ringling Museum of Art

I have not been keeping up on our blog at all this summer.  I still take lots and lots of pictures but when it comes to moving them from my laptop to the blog, I admit my motivation just has not been there.  For the most part, I am so deeply immersed in our lives here, I just don't even think of the blog at all.  Then we will go and do something like visit an art museum that we have been to before and I remember the blog and remember how nice it is to have the blog there as a record of the places we have visited.

Last weekend, we were grateful to have Aric come and visit us.  He and I went to The Ringling Museum together.  He came back to visit again this weekend and we took another trip over there, this time bringing Nathan and Lee with us.

I was able to do the Ca'D 'Zan tour this time.  I have been on the bottom floor for a self-guided tour but have never been on the top floor.  It is such an interesting place with an interesting history.

 My favorite part of this beautiful place is the Art Museum.  Each time we visit, I end up thinking I wish we had more time there and this time was no exception.  I truly love this museum.

We bought a membership so I'm guessing we'll be back a few more times over the next year.  Hopefully I will remember to take pictures and maybe even blog about it!

Living the life in S Florida!

Pirates of Nassau Museum

We can't seem to visit any place without hitting at least one museum during our visit, so it is no surprise we had to do the same here.  This little museum was lots of fun, starting out with the hilarious tour guide.  Here he is encouraging me to take a picture of his "booty":

The museum was a little pricey for what it offered ($12 for adults) but we did learn a lot about pirates while we were there so I'd still recommend it.

From their website:
The Golden Age of Piracy lasted for thirty years, from 1690 to 1720 and Nassau was at its heart. Here was a tropical pirate paradise which attracted the greatest concentration of pirates ever seen in the New World.
Nassau was well suited as a pirate base of operations, its waters were too shallow for a large man-of-war but deep enough for the fast shallow draft vessels favoured by pirates. From their snug harbour they could employ their hit and run tactics to full effect; they devastated merchant shipping that plied the trade routes just a short sail away. Their pirate gold and goods formed the basis of a thriving community that attracted rogues, merchants and wild women from far and wide. 

 It was said that when a pirate slept he did not dream of going to heaven but instead to return to his favourite port of Nassau on New Providence Island.
Now you can join them when you explore Pirates of Nassau, an new interactive museum of Piracy in the heart of this historic city.

My favorite part was learning about female pirates.  They sounded pretty fierce.  It was a fun visit and added to our already interesting day.

United States Astronaut Hall of Fame

Day two we visited the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.  This place was very touching to me.  It is a strange thing to visit a place that has such significance in our history and know that I was alive during part of it, yet too young to really remember it.  It was a really neat place that we enjoyed a lot.

From Wikipedia: The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located just south of Titusville, Florida, honors American astronauts and features the world's largest collection of their personal memorabilia, focusing on those astronauts who have been inducted into the Hall; as well as Sigma 7, the fifth manned Mercury spacecraft. It is operated as part of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east on Merritt Island.

 

After spending time here, we headed out for dinner and ate at the same place that Rich and Donna introduced us to.  Nathan had the giant calzone again.

We headed back to our hotel, and tried to get a good night's sleep so we'd be fresh for our cruise.

The Florida Air Museum

Today Nathan and I visited a museum that I'd been to before, Florida Air Museum in Lakeland.  It was Nathan's first visit and he really enjoyed it.

 The museum has a main building with exhibits and an annex building with bigger aircraft.  From their website: The Museum displays a wide variety of vintage aircraft, ultralights, experimental homebuilts, air racers, military, aerobatic and factory-built aircraft from all eras. The aircraft are supplemented by an interesting collection of engines from WWI to the present day.

My favorite display in the first building was a model of the Spruce Goose because we have visited the real one and it was incredible.

There was some kind of show that was wrapping up while we were there and we asked a gentleman a bit about it  He had driven all the way from Louisiana to see the show.  He restored and flew model planes himself.  He shared some interesting things with us.

 It was a great time, and since I had been here before, I spent a little less time reading signs and a little more looking up close and personal at the planes.

I think we will visit here again, and hopefully catch one of the shows.

Living the life in Florida!

Virginia Living Museum

The last two times we were in this area, we said we wanted to visit the Virginia Living Museum.  We drove over one weekend day just to find out they had already closed by the time we arrived.  Since I was in recovering mode and couldn't do a whole lot of physical activity, we figured today would be a great day.  We were not disappointed in our choice.

I'm not sure how to describe this place.  It is part museum and part zoo would be as good of a description as I can come up with.  The outdoors area has an area with water and boardwalks.

There are many animals out here to see.

The inside area is part museum displays and interactive learning fun and then has more animals too.  Their website says they have over 250 animal and plant exhibits there.  They also have a planetarium which we did not visit.  We loved this place!

On a side note: the pictures are not great in quality or number because I only used the camera on my phone to take them.  I could not bear the thought of lugging the big camera around today.  I stupidly thought when they released me and said no restrictions beyond heavy lifting that it meant I would be up to doing anything but heavy lifting.  Uh...no.  I really was shocked how sore and tired I was after surgery.  So this was a short trip and a laid back trip for us, due to my body telling me it did indeed have some restrictions!

Living the life in Virginia!

Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York

While in Corning, we stopped at the Corning Museum of Glass.

 We were not there for very long, but what we did see was great.  We loved this: 

Jamestown Settlement Museum

Today we went to Jamestown so that Nathan could see the museum part.  The boys and I visited this part before, so it was my second time.  Which meant that I sat out in the truck "finishing up" a phone conversation with Diana while Nathan started his tour.  He was in the last section by the time I made my way in. Oops!

  From their website: The events and environment of 17th-century Virginia are brought to life in Jamestown Settlement's introductory film and exhibition galleries.  

 New 30,000-square-foot gallery exhibits and a new introductory film explore Jamestown's beginnings as a business venture, the impact of European colonization on the Powhatan Indian culture, and the origins of the first known Africans in Virginia. 

 Hundreds of objects from 17th-century Europe and Africa and Virginia archaeological artifacts are integrated into the gallery setting, which features three-dimensional structures and small theaters.

 It is a very nice museum and we enjoyed both our visits here!

More Jamestown~The Settlement Ships

Today we went back to Jamestown, and Nathan joined us.  We had another great day there.  The weather was so much cooler, but it made walking around much more pleasant.

The Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery – re-creations of three ships that brought English colonists to Virginia in 1607 – are moored at Jamestown Settlement’s pier for visitors to explore. Visitors can learn about the four-and-a-half-month voyage from England and take part in periodic demonstrations of 17th-century piloting and navigation.

Try steering with a whipstaff or tiller, climb into a sailor’s bunk and explore the contents of a “see” chest.

The Fort

We also visited the museum and watched a few movies.  We had a great day here!

Jamestown Settlement

Since it has rained the past few days, we have not had much outdoor activity beyond Pickleball.  So we were very excited to have sunshine today, and took advantage of it by visiting Jamestown.

  The Jamestown Settlement began in 1607, which was thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.

 From the website:

"a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America's first permanent English colony.

Today at Jamestown Settlement, the story of the people who founded Jamestown and of the Virginia Indians they encountered is told through film, gallery exhibits and living history. "