Florida

Life on a Deck at Siesta Key

  1. This past February, we went down to Siesta Key to avoid snow, ice and cold in general.  Siesta Key is a great place and I hope to write more about it, but first I just want to tell about the great time we had on the deck at the back of the house.

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The house sat on the edge of a canal and the deck gave a great view up and down the waterway.  Every morning I would start my day with a cup of coffee on the deck.  It was amazing to see the fish jumping and swimming in the water.  I tried to get photos of them but was never lucky enough to time a jump or to get anything besides the top of the water.  We did however, have other visitors.  Everyday I would see a bald eagle fly over going to the gulf to hunt fish.

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One day I saw him returning with fish and an army of sea gulls following behind trying to get him to drop it.  We also had lots of other birds visiting us and I wish I could have gotten photos of all of them.

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One of our more interesting guest was a manatee.  The large animal didn’t get real close to us, but it did keep bringing its head up out of the water to look at us.

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There was another special guest who made everything even more special.

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My grandson came down and spent a few days with us.  Looking back over our time in Florida, I can think of lots of wonderful things we did, places we went and great food that we ate.  The deck however, still stands out.  I sat there with coffee in the morning, I read several books as well as spending time writing.  I watched wildlife, I fished, I grilled several nice meals and ate them there.  Most of all I got to spend time with my family and made lots of memories of us together.

Next year as people look for resorts and amusement parks, I think I will look for a nice deck overlooking a canal at Siesta Key.

Kentucky Railway Museum Christmas Train

On December 19th my wife and I joined my daughter and grandson for a ride on the Christmas Train.  The Christmas Train is an event hosted by the Kentucky Railway Museum, which is located at New Haven, Kentucky.
Me, my wife and grandson

Riders on the Christmas Train travel North to the North Pole to see Santa’s house and to give Santa, Mrs. Clause, Rudolph, and an elf or two a ride back to the station at New Haven.

As we  started our your trip on the Kentucky Railway Museum Christmas Train the conductor walks from seat to seat punching your ticket.

 

Conductor

After having the ticket punched, we were served hot chocolate and cookies.  When asked about the refreshments, my grandson gave them a thumbs up.

Thumbs up

Meanwhile as the Train reached the North Pole, Mrs. Santa walked through visiting with everyone telling them what to watch for at the North Pole.

Mrs. Santa on Christmas Train

After picking Santa up, the Train began its journey south.  As we traveled south, Santa and Rudolph visited with everyone.

Rudolph on Christmas Train
Rudolph at the Museum

When we stopped again at the New Haven station, the children got to visit with Santa and his elf.

Christmas with Santa

 

Elf with grandson
A Christmas Elf

The Kentucky Railway Museum at New Haven is great place to visit.  They have different events throughout the year which affords people the opportunity to ride the old train cars.  While many of the things they do are aimed at children,  I however enjoyed seeing the old cars around the station.  We found a visit inside the station is also fun for children of all ages.  They have a huge HO scale model railroad as well as old photos and memorabilia.

When you go you also have to take time to talk to the people who work there.  If you do not, you will have cheated yourself.  The conductor in the photo with my grandson talked to us on and off the entire trip, telling us little things about the train and the car we were riding in.

Go visit and take trip.