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7th Dec - The launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis was delayed yesterday due to problems with the Shuttle and they are attempting to launch it again in Florida tomorrow.Ralph is therefore excited as he has realised that we can drive to Savannah today and then drive to Florida tomorrow for him to catch the launch.So we started our 4 hour drive to Savannah and crossed back into the Eastern time zone so we are once again 5 hours behind UK time.Straight away we can tell we are heading to the hotter weather as the sun is streaming through the car windows and we are using the air conditioning in the car - and it works!We checked into the hotel and headed into Savannah.Savannah is a beautiful place and is supposed to be French in style.It certainly has lots of cafes where you can sit outside and watch the world go by, together with squares filled with benches, trees and fountains where you can do the same.It has a lovely riverside area where cute little boutique shops vie for business.They are all so different and unique that it's a great place to do some Christmas shopping.We went to a square our guidebook told us had the bench Forest Gump sat on in the film. Although the place was beautiful there was no indication as to which was the bench in question, so after enjoying the sun we went to look at the oldest African church in North America and then headed back to the hotel.
8th - Woke to find that the Shuttle launch has been delayed again until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.We therefore packed our lives back into our suitcase headed for the beaches in Jacksonville, Florida.We have decided to keep checking the websites every morning for news of the launch and if the launch gets delayed we keep on our normal schedule, which is heading towards Cape Canaveral where the Shuttle will be launching from anyway.This just means that on the day the launch actually happens we won't have as far to drive.The drive to Jacksonville from Savannah is about three hours but its now officially hot and its beaches all the way from now until the New Year and beyond.On the way we were reading USA Today which told us that US TV station ESPN (a sports channel) shows contests for dominos, competitive eating and rock, paper, scissors - we love this country!! We got into St Augustine, which is such a lovely old Spanish place that we were surprised that we'd never heard of it. It was St Augustine Day, by good luck, and there was a Christmas regatta going on, so we watched the boats and ships sailing under the Bridge of Lions over St John's River (which our guide book tells us is the only river, other than the Nile, which runs from south to north) before heading off to watch the boxing (unsporting yank and biased referee is all we'll say on this!).
9th - Took a stroll onto St Augustine Beach which is beautiful with a lively fishing pier before heading into St Augustine proper. This place is beautiful, having been owned by the Spanish, British, Spanish again, the Confederates and then the current Yankees, with a few pirate invasions along the way. The influences give it a very European feel, with a giant fort, a few mansions and lots of olde worlde streets, shops and manicured squares. We then headed off down the coast road towards Daytona Beach stopping at the other little beaches along the way (the Floridian beaches are already starting to look the same - we're not complaining, you understand). Daytona is far bigger than we thought and while we waited for our hotel booking to register we headed off to Walmart for some vital supplies. I got some fishing gear and a football and Kirsty got a Christmas gingerbread house hit and a basball bat (decide for yourself what she wants the bat for, suffice to say, she's not had a day off from me for 10 weeks now!). We got back to the hotel and it was a stinker, we checked straight out and Kirsty did us proud with a hotel for £60 that has a spa, log fire pits around the pool, which is ten feet from the beach, and sumptuous four-poster beds. A great seafood dinner later and we were enjoying our luxurious oasis - Kirsty was making her gingerbread house in her cowboy boots and I was tying fishing rigs and learning a few knots in the hotel's bathrobe. Oh yes, the shuttle has been cancelled until January but we don't care because we're in Florida with nothing to do for two weeks, when we catch up with AC & UJ in the Keys. We are officially still living the dream!
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