Christmas in Florida - I

We split up for Christmas. I went to Florida with L, G, and their two kids, while Paul and the rest of the French family went to the U.K. to spend the holiday with C, G, and their kids.
First a short report on their trip. They've all sworn never go by car again. It's usually a 5-6 hour trip, half from Nogent to Calais, the channel tunnel, and the other half from Folkestone to Northampton. There's always a delay as we approach the Dartford tunnel east of London and then slow traffic on the M25, before it gets even slower on the M1. But this last trip was interminable on the U.K. side -- both coming and going! Otherwise, it was too short, not enough play time with the kids, nor post-Christmas shopping time.

Christmas day, on a jungle trail on the way to Cocoa Beach

I decided to go to Florida -- a nostalgic road trip. With two little ones, a road trip is not an easy endeavor. They're too big to fall asleep as soon as you hit the road; they are just the right age to fight about who gets to sit where. About who gets to sit next to Maman or Grandma. About whose arm is a millimeter on "MY" side of the armrest - which was a full center seat wide. The fight over Maman was so constant, I got to sit in the front most of the trip, which is a shame, because for G, it was a trip of discovery.

(I think it so strange that all my in-law children are "G": C and G, E and G, L and G!)

We flew on Norwegian from Paris CDG to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). I didn't buy the tickets, but I know that the round trip, for a Christmas vacation, was quite reasonable. I still like CDG 1. There's not as much walking to find where to check in. In fact, for Norwegian, if you come by RER, you come out of the RER station at the lowest level, the boutique level, of the terminal, which is where Norwegian check in is. The boarding procedure is not as well-organized as Southwest's, but since we have assigned seats, that's not really a worry. In France, boarding, even when announced by zone, is a mob scene. Norwegian is a low-cost outfit, so you do pay for checked baggage and the carry-on limit is 10kg. And they may not be around for very long. Our tickets were already booked when this article came out in October. 

The plane was a comfortable Boeing 787. Packed full, but still comfortable. We had assigned seats, but not all together, because they don't allow pre-check-in seat selection. We were split 3 and 2 with just a little squabbling about who got to sit where. We had our own picnics. We ate the first before going through security at the airport and the second on the plane. The meals they were selling during the flight were not appealing and very expensive, so it was a good call by L and G to have picnics. They did come around with water, juices, and coffee. The movie selection was fine. 

On arrival, I zipped through immigration, thanks to an app I had previously uploaded. I did not realize that it meant I'd be separated from the others. As it turned out, I was able to collect the checked baggage and have it all waiting when the others came through. The next step was getting the car. There's a bus pick-up at the OTHER extremity of the airport. There's a centralized, off-site car-rental garage, as in San Diego. The only way to get there is by bus and EVERYONE rents a car on arrival in Florida. We managed to get on the third bus that came by once we got to the line. The bus is packed to the limit, then unpacked when you get to the car rental center. After that, it was a breeze to take the car and head up to the hotel Lantana.
Before going to bed, we just barely managed to get seated at the Old Key Lime House, which used to be, before the 2005 hurricane destroyed it, the Old Crabpot, for Christmas eve dinner. Just like old times! C slept on L's shoulder from the car, through the meal, and back to the car! We were the last to be allowed in the restaurant, had a very nice meal, and were the last to leave. Back to the hotel and to bed. 

3460 So. Ocean Blvd.

Christmas morning, we crossed over to the island and started northward. The motel, the Hawaiian is now a construction site for a new hi-rise. We stopped at 3460, for old times sake and continued up A1A, where Trump was not in residence, so there was no difficulty driving up the coast. We meandered, took a couple of "jungle trails" and got to Cocoa Beach in time for some play on the beach. L had found the South Beach Inn,

L's shot of the South
Beach Inn, beach side

no pool, direct access on the beach, with a two-bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen suite that looked like it had its last renovation back in the 60s. Christmas Day -- the manager was taking the rest of the day off, so he'd left the keys in the letter box outside the office. He wasn't far away; when I needed to get sheets for the living room futon, he was able to leave them off in the room while we were at the beach. It was great -- really. Friendly -- other guests were sitting in the lounge chairs by the dune and it was easy to strike up a conversation. The wifi code was laid back, cool.  It's a shame is was just a one-night stay.
Unfortunately, nothing was open for dinner. The only Chinese restaurant we found, and of course, was open, was fully booked and we ended up in a closed shopping center except for the Chinese take-away. Really -- what are tourists to do? Even Ron-Jon's was open on Christmas day, though, and I found the sandals that E. wanted. 

We got up early -- no problem, considering our jetlag -- to watch a magnificent sunrise on the ocean and went to IHOP for breakfast before continuing up the coast. We stopped for a beach break at New Smyrna Beach on our way to Saint Augustine. We didn't visit Kennedy Space Center, but we drove up to the old entrance to the parking lot, where we could see the launch rockets. As we crossed inlets and the intracoastal waterway, S was particularly attentive to the boats, the yachts. 

It's winter, so even though we were pretty far south, the sun sets early. We did get to St. Augustine early enough to walk around a bit before the sun set. Due to the government shutdown, the fort was closed, but we could, and did, walk around the exterior. Someone was flying a drone over the fort and we watched the drone for a little while. Then, we headed for the town for dinner. It was teeming with tourists and tourist shops. Most of the restaurants were not able to take us for dinner until we found an Irish pub, where they sat us at a tall table outside. I had a crunchy BLT. I don't remember how many slices of bacon there were -- more than usual. It was good. And key lime pie -- real key lime pie.

This platform rocking chair in the lighthouse
living room remindedme of the one we have
that my mother bought at an auction about
60 years ago.

There's a lighthouse at St. Augustine, with a keeper's house. When you see what they started with in 1980, it's incredible. The house is perfectly restored. The upstairs is devoted to the shrimping industry that was so important to the town. The main floor has been partially furnished as it was when the keeper and his family lived there. There are documents from the early 20th century. Downstairs, there is a marine archeology exhibit. All very interesting. I had plenty of time to visit because I did not go up into the lighthouse with the others. There was a bit of a jungle walk, a playground, a boat building area, and the old WWII era Coast Guard buildings. 

We were still early birds at this stage of the trip, so after a stop at a super market, we were already in Palatka for a picnic lunch on the St. Johns river. Palatka was a major port. Big boats could make it up the river from Jacksonville and smaller boats from upriver could transfer their cargo there. After our picnic on the waterfront, we took a walk on the main street. You could tell it was once a major town. There's a courthouse. There are big storefronts. It's dead. There was a beauty salon that was open and that was it. There are mural paintings - maybe an effort to draw in the tourists. It's sad. You can tell that there are still farms with cattle and horses and there are some orange orchard that we passed on the way, but no signs of people. There is a bright spot, the Saint Johns River Center, which is an educational venue for school children. It's well organized, introducing the children to the local ecology. We spent a long moment, there.
From Palatka, it was easy to follow route 17 down to Winter Park.
More to come in part II.