After Christmas we drove to Washington with a couple places in mind to see. One was the 1 year old Museum of African American History. We heard that we could try to get reserved tickets near the beginning of Dec. but when Jim logged on he learned that those tickets were starting in March, 2018!
So, we had to hope we could snag some of the tickets released on the day we would be there.
The drive from upstate NY was painful through New Jersey- as it often is - but Maryland and DC traffic were bad too. It took about 8 hours when around 6 was expected. We had dinner at a very good restaurant to which friends had taken us to last spring.
The next morning we went off to the museum to see if there was anyway to get tickets. We went up to the door and a group of people who had tickets was just entering. When we asked the guards if we could get tickets they acted like it would not be possible. The group going in said they had extra tickets so they gave two to us and 3 or 4 more to the guards to give to anyone else! So we got in just fine! We did not realize that a substantial part of the museum is on floors below ground level until after we had gone to the top and worked our way down to the first level below ground where we saw large numbers of people lined up. Because we were tired we did not see those other levels but found the above ground levels to be great enough!
Jim wanted to visit the textile museum and Janet wanted to see an art museum so we parted after lunch. It turned out that the textile museum was closed- this was not stated on their web page that gives open hours but was later found on another page about visiting the museum. Frustrating! Jim later joined Janet at the Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery to see an exhibit on Buddhas.
We took a taxi to good restaurant near the river and met friends for dinner that we had not seen in 20 years! It was fun and a nice dinner, but it was turning colder outside. It snowed a little in DC overnight.
The next day we drove to Virginia to get on the Auto-Train that takes people and their cars to Florida. In general it was not a bad process but there was a fair amounti of just waiting. We got on the train and left and enjoyed a little daylight sightseeing through part of Virginia. We got a sleeper cabin which was ok for sitting and even a short lie down, but it was really too small, noisy and shaky for much sleep. However, we arrived the next morning near Orlando and got off the train and waited for our car. We were lucky that ours was in the first 50 or 60 to come off so we did not have to wait too long. The first 30 paid extra for priority unload.
We then drove to Disney world where we had booked a room for just new Years Eve, but had to pay for two days of entry fees as well. We were in the Animal Kingdom Lodge and were very pleased to get into our room early and then go over to walk and walk around the animal Kingdom. It was busy with people but fun to see. We had been to Disney world around 1983! The weather was cool, but sunny.
On New Years' Day it was rainy and chilly so we decided to leave without seeing any more of Disney World. the highway traffic was fairly light in the morning but built up later as we headed south toward Sarasota. We stopped at a mall in Sarasota to have a nice lunch at a very good restaurant - they welcomed us as the first customers of the new year! We walked around the mall and had coffee before heading off to the house we had rented- arriving just after 3PM.
On subsequent days we visited the Ringling Museum and The Ringling Mansion to see it decorated for Christmas- something we missed last year by 1 day! We also visited the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and found it a bit crowded, but enjoyed seeing the art. We also saw the Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg and found this a much greater pleasure to see.
The weather in Sarasota from our arrival until Jan. 7 was unusually chilly, so that took a lot of the pleasure out of being outside those days, though it was much better than the sub-zero temperatures in New England!
On other days we decided it was time to get new cell phones so we spent a couple hours doing that. We walked around Sarasota one day.
On one day we drove to longboat Key, then to Anna Maria island. These were not so enchanting to Jim but there were some interesting stops. Near the end of the day we went to state nature preserve that had nice paths, but they were long enough that a bicycle would be a good way to go. We later met people from back home for dinner at a good Italian restaurant.
Jim returned home on Jan. 12. Due to bad weather in the northeast, the flight could not leave on time and had to circle a bit at the end, but finally landed about 2:30 hours later than planned. The next day Ziggy and Zoe were retrieved from "jail" and brought home. They don't like being away from home, but they require some medications that are not easily given them by non- professionals!
Since returning, Jim has spent a lot of time working on photos from India and tries to enjoy to winter. Janet stayed in Florida, but got to flu or something similarly unpleasant but she is recovering.
So, we had to hope we could snag some of the tickets released on the day we would be there.
The drive from upstate NY was painful through New Jersey- as it often is - but Maryland and DC traffic were bad too. It took about 8 hours when around 6 was expected. We had dinner at a very good restaurant to which friends had taken us to last spring.
The next morning we went off to the museum to see if there was anyway to get tickets. We went up to the door and a group of people who had tickets was just entering. When we asked the guards if we could get tickets they acted like it would not be possible. The group going in said they had extra tickets so they gave two to us and 3 or 4 more to the guards to give to anyone else! So we got in just fine! We did not realize that a substantial part of the museum is on floors below ground level until after we had gone to the top and worked our way down to the first level below ground where we saw large numbers of people lined up. Because we were tired we did not see those other levels but found the above ground levels to be great enough!
Jim wanted to visit the textile museum and Janet wanted to see an art museum so we parted after lunch. It turned out that the textile museum was closed- this was not stated on their web page that gives open hours but was later found on another page about visiting the museum. Frustrating! Jim later joined Janet at the Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery to see an exhibit on Buddhas.
We took a taxi to good restaurant near the river and met friends for dinner that we had not seen in 20 years! It was fun and a nice dinner, but it was turning colder outside. It snowed a little in DC overnight.
The next day we drove to Virginia to get on the Auto-Train that takes people and their cars to Florida. In general it was not a bad process but there was a fair amounti of just waiting. We got on the train and left and enjoyed a little daylight sightseeing through part of Virginia. We got a sleeper cabin which was ok for sitting and even a short lie down, but it was really too small, noisy and shaky for much sleep. However, we arrived the next morning near Orlando and got off the train and waited for our car. We were lucky that ours was in the first 50 or 60 to come off so we did not have to wait too long. The first 30 paid extra for priority unload.
We then drove to Disney world where we had booked a room for just new Years Eve, but had to pay for two days of entry fees as well. We were in the Animal Kingdom Lodge and were very pleased to get into our room early and then go over to walk and walk around the animal Kingdom. It was busy with people but fun to see. We had been to Disney world around 1983! The weather was cool, but sunny.
On New Years' Day it was rainy and chilly so we decided to leave without seeing any more of Disney World. the highway traffic was fairly light in the morning but built up later as we headed south toward Sarasota. We stopped at a mall in Sarasota to have a nice lunch at a very good restaurant - they welcomed us as the first customers of the new year! We walked around the mall and had coffee before heading off to the house we had rented- arriving just after 3PM.
On subsequent days we visited the Ringling Museum and The Ringling Mansion to see it decorated for Christmas- something we missed last year by 1 day! We also visited the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and found it a bit crowded, but enjoyed seeing the art. We also saw the Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg and found this a much greater pleasure to see.
The weather in Sarasota from our arrival until Jan. 7 was unusually chilly, so that took a lot of the pleasure out of being outside those days, though it was much better than the sub-zero temperatures in New England!
On other days we decided it was time to get new cell phones so we spent a couple hours doing that. We walked around Sarasota one day.
On one day we drove to longboat Key, then to Anna Maria island. These were not so enchanting to Jim but there were some interesting stops. Near the end of the day we went to state nature preserve that had nice paths, but they were long enough that a bicycle would be a good way to go. We later met people from back home for dinner at a good Italian restaurant.
Jim returned home on Jan. 12. Due to bad weather in the northeast, the flight could not leave on time and had to circle a bit at the end, but finally landed about 2:30 hours later than planned. The next day Ziggy and Zoe were retrieved from "jail" and brought home. They don't like being away from home, but they require some medications that are not easily given them by non- professionals!
Since returning, Jim has spent a lot of time working on photos from India and tries to enjoy to winter. Janet stayed in Florida, but got to flu or something similarly unpleasant but she is recovering.
