In Search of the Perfect Cup of Coffee

 

Fred and I have had to admit that we are coffee snobs.

We don't need to drink coffee made from beans cultivated on a specific mountain peak picked by virgins during a full moon but we have found that we have very specific likes and dislikes when it comes to our favorite brew.

Stewarts coffee, an upstate New York treat, is our favored brew.

We brought 5 bags of it with us when we started our grand adventure.   Mary and Becky have generously sent us more.

Lissa and Clay have sent of a wonderful  blend from Stew Leonard's  that we have come to appreciate since she has become a Connecticut commuter.
We are grateful to them all.    We have consumed most of it and now down to our last few familiar beans we set out to visit Coffee shops in nearby Ashville North Carolina in search of the perfect cup.

Our first stop was Ashville Coffee Roasters, located at 85 Weaverville Highway in Ashville.

The shop was easy to find and has excellent parking available.

It is a delightful place, very relaxed and casual as a coffee shop should be. We stayed for a while talking to Greg and Andi, comparing New York places and experiences, as well as which Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor was the best.  We could not believe that Andi had never experienced Ben and Jerry's Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz or Pistachio flavors. She is a big fan of Pistachio ice cream so Fred called her later at the store when we found that flavor in a local supermarket.

Asheville Coffee Roaster's signature French Roast called Pitbull on Crack was a little intimidating as we prefer a mild and earthy flavor.   Co-owner Andi  recommended their Sumatran Blend which we found to be delicious and has the benefit of being extremely low acid. We replenished our dwindling coffee supply with a pound.

Greg told us about originating the Ashville coffee shop bus.  He acquired the  bright red 1963 double-decker English bus in 1999 and turned into an Ashville landmark.  The bus is still a coffee shop  and a great place to stop when you are downtown near it's Biltmore Avenue location.  Fred and I enjoyed looking through the photo album that they made to remember the bus by as they moved to their new and much roomier location.

 

We moved down the road to Biltmore Coffee Traders located at 518 Hendersonville Rd. in Asheville.

The shop has a drive through for those that prefer to order ahead.

Biltmore Coffee Roasters is a spacious 2 rooms with plenty of seating and free WiFi. There is a lovely garden in the back.

Biltmore is also a bakery and offers a selection of teas and local crafts as well as their signature coffees.

Laura and Rick Telford pride themselves on their micro roasts.  I had had enough coffee by this time.    Fred spoke with Rick at length about the different beans and Rick made him a robust cup of Guatemalan coffee.

We brought a pound of those beans back to the Behemoth too.

 Coffee Crisis averted we drove the 30 miles back to Marion enjoying the mountain views.

 

Amelia Island Florida

Amelia Island Lighthouse as viewed from Fort Clinch State Park

 

King's Bay Georgia is just over the Florida Georgia line so we took the opportunity to go back  and visit Amelia Island to try and catch a glimpse of the Amelia Island Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse, which is owned by the city of Fernandina Beach, is only open to the public on twice monthly bus tours which did not fit into our schedule.

Amelia Island Lighthouse is Florida's oldest still standing light. It was originally located on Cumberland island in Georgia as a marker for the St. Mary's River which runs between the two islands. Heavy storms caused changes in the channel  and made the light not visible from the water. It was dismantled in 1838 and reassembled on Amelia Island  where it could be used as a navigational aid for the channel.

We were told that the best views of the lighthouse were in a Florida State Park called Fort Clinch.

We entered the park's main gate and drove toward the Fort. There is a well marked Lighthouse viewing area with parking and a boardwalk out to the salt marsh.  We had a great view of the top of the 64 foot tower .  The outbuildings and lower half of the light were hidden by trees.

Fred found a great climbing tree

We did stop and walk the grounds of Fort Clinch, a military installation that was begun in 1847.  The fort was not completed and still had no cannons  in place by the outbreak of the Civil War.  Fort Clinch was deactivated in 1867, its stone and brick design having been made obsolete by the invention of the rifle barreled cannon.

The drawbridge entrance to Fort Clinch

Fort Clinch was used by military forces during WW2 as an observation and communication post for the Atlantic coast.

Climbing all over the fort and up and down all those stairs made us very warm. We took advantage of the restrooms at the visitors center to change into bathing suits and drove to the other side of the park to enjoy the beach.

The beach at Fort Clinch State Park, very quiet on a May weekday.

 

Lighthouse Adventure: St Simons Island

St Simon's Lighthouse

St. Simons Island is one of Georgia's barrier islands and home to the St. Simon's Lighthouse.

The island is a short day trip (about 50 miles) from Kings Bay and the Eagle Hammock RV Park at the Navy Submarine Base where we are staying.  It was a lovely drive along salt marsh over bridges and a causeway with great views of waterfront homes and boats on the water.

The St. Simon's Light is one of 5 Georgia lighthouses. It is an active aid to navigation on St. Simon Sound with a beam that can be seen 23 miles out to sea.

The lighthouse tower and keepers dwelling were designed by Great Lakes Chief Engineer Orlando Metcalfe Poe.   He assumed that position after serving as an officer in the United States Army during the Civil War. 

The "Poe Style" tower is a tall brick structure with a gentle taper from bottom to top.  Poe lights are embellished with arch topped windows and masonry corbels. It was his vision that a lighthouse could have the beauty and grandeur of a stately home while maintaining the feel of a government structure.  

View from an arched window in the tower

The St. Simons Lighthouse and it's keepers dwelling have been skillfully restored and are maintained by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society. The keepers home is now a museum that exhibits artifacts of a keepers lifestyle. The Docents working on the day of our visit were friendly and knowledgeable about the lighthouse and its restoration.

We learned that during WW2 when German U-boats prowled the Atlantic Coast the Coast Guard Station and Lighthouse keepers were active in rescuing survivors of the Esso Baton Rouge and the SS Oklahoma after both were torpedoed on April 8, 1942.

The waterfront lighthouse grounds are home to a Gazebo and oceanfront lawn that host a series of music concerts during the Summer months. The beautiful setting was being readied for a wedding ceremony on the day of our visit.

We climbed the towers spiral staircase of 129 steps and enjoyed the panoramic views from the open air observation deck.

129 steps to the observation deck

The climb had us looking for refreshment so we strolled down the beachfront boardwalk to the village and enjoyed a late lunch at the Blue Water Cafe's Rooftop Lounge. We chose the cafe for its water views but were delighted by it's interior design that features signs and sports memorabilia.  It made us laugh to see that hockey sticks and snow shoes were part of the display.

Blue water Café and Rooftop Lounge

 

RV Park review: Eagle Hammock SUBASE King's Bay Georgia

USS George Bancroft on display at the bases main gate

 

Eagle Hammock RV Park is located on the Navy's Submarine base in Kings Bay Georgia.

Fred is a retired Air Force/Air National Guard Master Sergeant.  One of the benefits of his service is that we can stay at Military campgrounds called MWR Fam-camps across the country.

We stayed at Eagle Hammock for 9 days.
It is a a quiet park that is well maintained.   The sites are neat with concrete pads, metal picnic tables, and fire rings. Sites are separated by shrubs that camouflage the hookups for water, electric, sewer and cable TV.

Amenities include  excellent  free wifi, free laundry, clean bathroom and shower areas and a large clubhouse.

Sunset over the lake

The RV Park is adjacent to a small lake that is populated by alligators and a variety of birds including cormorant, wood stork and egret. We never did see an eagle.

There is a fishing pier and small boat launch.  We enjoyed watching the sunset from the pier.  It is a little disturbing  that when you walk out on the pier alligators start swimming toward you.  We came to the conclusion that people must feed them and that they were looking for a handout.

Looking for a snack

The roads in the park are loose gravel, making them difficult to navigate on a bicycle.  Outside the park the base contains 14 1/2 miles of running/bike trails for riding.

King's Bay is a full service base with Commissary, Base Exchange, Mini Market/Package Store and gas station.   It has its own Post office and a recreation area that offers a bowling alley, large gym, 18 hole golf course and a pool.

We would definitely stay here again.

The location gave us easy access to Jacksonville and to Florida and Georgia's Barrier Islands.

My only disappointment  is that the submarines are off limits and so carefully guarded that we didn't even catch the glimpse of a periscope. The only sub that we saw was the USS George Bancroft, a  static display at the bases main gate.

 

It was nice to enjoy a campfire after the burn bans in Florida all Winter.

Butterfly Rainforest

My favorite mosaic moth named Charaxes brutus

Fred and I made a trip north to Gainesville last Thursday to visit the Florida Museum of Natural History.
The museum is on the campus of the University of Florida at Gainesville and is in a complex that includes a Butterfly Rainforest, a Florida Wildlife and Butterfly Garden, the Harn Museum of Art and the Phillips Center for the Performing Art's.
UF Gainesville is a beautiful campus that welcomed us with both ample parking and outdoor art exhibits.

Outdoor art exhibit

We spent some time wandering through the exhibits which included Florida fossils, Waterways and Wildlife and Calusa and Seminole native peoples.

We even met a traveling T. Rex named Sue!

The crowning jewel of the complex and our reason for visiting was the Butterfly Rainforest. The rainforest is an outdoor screened in enclosure that is beautifully landscaped with walking paths waterfalls and trickling streams.

Butterfly gate in wrought iron

It is planted with lush foliage and flowering plants to provide a rainforest environment for the hundreds of butterfly's that call it home.

 

Common Birdwing



Atlas Moth, the largest in the exhibit

Fred was a butterfly magnet. Several landed on him and visited for a while.

Tree Nymph

Cream Spotted Tiger Wing

 

To see more butterfly's you can visit our Flickr Album.

Paynes Prairie at Sunset

Sunset over Payne's Prairie

We made it back to the overlook on Highway 441 in Micanopy yesterday evening to watch the sunset over Payne's Prairie.

There were about 10 cars there so we were not the only ones to realize that Sunset over the prairie would be a beautiful thing.

The light of the evening sun on the prairie grasses was beautiful.

There was also a rising moon.

To see more photographs of this beautiful Florida State Park visit our Flickr Album Payne's Prairie.

Outside Portable Clothes Dryer/Hanger

One of the problems with moving from a 2800 sq. ft. house to about 400 sq. ft. motorhome is having space for everything.  
The problem I had was a place to dry wet swim wear and towels. 

At most campgrounds you can't have a clothes line on your campsite.
Some people have clothes line units on the back of their TT off of the bumpers. We do not have a bumper on the back of our motorhome.
So when we stayed at Space Coast RV Park in Rockledge, Florida I saw this great idea for a portable/part time clothes hanger for swim wear & towels, and I just had to make it and have it.
 

This is a very easy little project to complete.
First you need to have a ladder mounted on the back of your RV. 

Start with a standardized pine board 3/4" x 4" x8' in size. 

Measure the distance between the ladder mounted on your MH.
At the end of the pine board cut a small slot in the end of the board to fit the size of the ladder. Then mark the size/distance of the ladder mounting on the board and cut the second slot.  Will look like this.
 

When the cutting is complete you should be able to slide the board on to the ladder and lock it in place o your MH or TT. 

Next take the board and drill holes about 6-8inches apart for the size of the cloth hangers. Only make the hole just bigger than the end of the hanger to fix thru the hole. That way the wind will not knock the hanger out of the board. 

Lastly just sand, stain, and poly the board to protect it from the weather. 

And you have a nice hanger for the back of your RV for under $15 bucks. 

The cloth hangers are the "skirt" type costing about $1.50 each. 

So the cost of the this Cloth Hanger Board with Hangers is about $29 bucks

When you are set to travel, just remove from the ladder and put it away in storage till you are at your next campsite. 

Thanks and enjoy camping. 

Fred