Memorial Day visit
I had a special treat for memorial Day weekend - my friend Katherine visited from Los Angeles. We met as a grad students at UCLA where she is currently wrapping up her PhD. She was only here for a short time, but we managed to make the most of it.
On Saturday evening we grabbed dinner at a great Latin restaurant (Mi'Apa Latin Cafe) and saw the new Indiana Jones movie (good, but not as good as any of the first three).
We were up bright and early Sunday morning to go tubing at Ichetucknee Springs. This place is unbelievably gorgeous (video here) and is so different from the typical Orlando/Sea World tourist spots that people associate with Florida. I am very pleased that I was able to share it with Katherine. The leisurely float down the river was a great opportunity to relax and chat.
When we were done tubing, we had a great picnic lunch and went back to Gainesville and to visit campus. We toured the lab that I work in and then visited Lake Alice so Katherine could see a gator in person.
Then we drove over to St Augustine, which was especially exciting because Katherine had never seen the Atlantic Ocean.
After our trip to the beach, we checked out the famed St Augustine Lighthouse - and even climbed the 14 stories to the top of it. Then we headed over to historic St Augustine to visit the fort, grab dinner and make several impulse purchases involving seashells and/or chocolate. We had a fantastic time. Then sadly, Katherine had to fly back to Los Angeles on Monday morning. It was all over way too fast and Sheba and I were very sad to see her go. There are more pictures here.
On Saturday evening we grabbed dinner at a great Latin restaurant (Mi'Apa Latin Cafe) and saw the new Indiana Jones movie (good, but not as good as any of the first three).
We were up bright and early Sunday morning to go tubing at Ichetucknee Springs. This place is unbelievably gorgeous (video here) and is so different from the typical Orlando/Sea World tourist spots that people associate with Florida. I am very pleased that I was able to share it with Katherine. The leisurely float down the river was a great opportunity to relax and chat.
When we were done tubing, we had a great picnic lunch and went back to Gainesville and to visit campus. We toured the lab that I work in and then visited Lake Alice so Katherine could see a gator in person.
Then we drove over to St Augustine, which was especially exciting because Katherine had never seen the Atlantic Ocean.
After our trip to the beach, we checked out the famed St Augustine Lighthouse - and even climbed the 14 stories to the top of it. Then we headed over to historic St Augustine to visit the fort, grab dinner and make several impulse purchases involving seashells and/or chocolate. We had a fantastic time. Then sadly, Katherine had to fly back to Los Angeles on Monday morning. It was all over way too fast and Sheba and I were very sad to see her go. There are more pictures here.
posted by Laura at 8:06 PM
2 Comments:
So glad that Katherine got to visit but envious that she got to see an alligator during her visit and I did not see one during my visit. Mom
Ichetucknee Springs? Are these the same springs we kayaked on? If so, I'm jealous! I loved that area.
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