Under the Star Spangled Banner

Yeeeee Haaaaa!!! The sailors are in the USA. Just to be clear...We took a plane, we didn't sail here! Maybe one day though.

We left Cairns and flew to Sydney and then had a 13 hour flight to San Fransisco. Noah was AMAZING! The Qantas Hostesses gave us a bottle of champagne for having the best baby they had seen on a flight for a very long time. Noah was a gem the whole way over. How lucky are we?!!!

We spent a fun filled, “flowers in our hair” 4 days in San Fransisco , enjoying the city sights - taking a scenic bus tour, visited Alcatraz and enjoyed time down at the delightful Fisherman's Wharf. The weather was a little cooler than we were used to - but we have since arrived in Florida where the temperature has been above 100 degrees F all week. That is above 38 degrees C. Phew! It has been great catching up with Lana's Aunty Tracey, cousin Aaron and great friends Dixie, Gray and Dorry here in Orlando. Noah has been a big hit and has loved all the attention from everyone. He still hasn't stopped smiling.

Always one’s to make the most of opportunity, we drove down to Fort Lauderdale for a couple of days to check out some lovely catamarans that we have been drooling over on the internet. For some reason boats are predictably cheaper in the States and with the GFC “fire sales” have meant an even further reduction. Coupled with the increased punch of the Aussie dollar it would be quite reasonable to consider importing our next “dream”. So we “kicked a few keels” and were driven all around the local marinas by George the Broker.
We took Noah on a road trip up to Auburn Alabama to visit Lana's cousin Josh and his wife Kristi and spend the night with Dixie's family who greeted us again with the greatest and warmest of southern hospitality. A big family Friday night dinner with Dixie's mother Dorry, and brothers Trey and Skip and their families reminded us of sitting around the kitchen table back home on the Gold Coast Qld or Penguin Tasmania, with our families.
From there we travelled towards the coast as we had withdrawals from the sea, via Atlanta to see Lana's cousin Chelsea and onward up through part of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway in North Carolina, through Hendersonville and down to Charleston, South Carolina, which is steeped in "Southern" history. Again we stayed in the historic waterfront district and toured by horse and carriage through the old streets. Savannah, Georgia, was our next stop which is like a smaller Charleston with great history from the Civil War. A lot of people see these states as being "fly-over" states so the locals just embrace tourists, especially when you sound like Crocodile Dundee!!! Again, Noah has continued to be a great hit and conversation starter. He also opens a lot of doors - like being first on the plane and getting upgraded at hotels.
Road trip highlights included:
• Visiting family and friends
• Ashville and the Blue Ridge Mountains (Made famous by John Denver)
• Hendersonville, North Carolina
• A carriage ride through the Old City precinct – Charleston
• Our own private horse and carriage tour of Savannah including where Forrest Gump sat waiting for the bus in the movie. “Life is like a box o’ chocolates!”
• Cruising in Dixies Mercedes convertible
From Savannah we drove back to Orlando, Florida via a port town of Brunswick to look at a cat that we had been following on the internet for a few months. A night back at Dixie’s and then across to a place called Anna Maria Island on the west coast of Florida. We were lucky enough to stay at Dixie’s friends (Paul and Toni Azinger's) beach house - that was just as beautiful as it sounds - a shack on the beach. Paul uses it as an escape from his hectic golf life and it was great for us to relax and chill out. We had dinner with Paul and Toni and their extended family, who were all in town for a funeral. Paul pretended to feed Noah a chicken bone and he thought that was very funny.
Back in Orlando, we again caught up Aunty Tracey, having already caught up with her and Aaron before Aaron went back to college in Dallas. Aaron is on a Golf scholarship and spends most of his time travelling around playing tournaments against other Universities. It's great catching up with family here as the US is probably a place we will come back to as there is so much to see and do and the people are great.
Lana is just a great mum which probably surprises her more than anyone. I suppose the natural instinct just kicks in but I really think Noah's temperament is a reflection of her calm, easy going way with him even in the middle of a storm at sea or a 14 hour flight.
We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on September 3 with our beautiful friends Dixie and Gray . Gray married us by the seaside in Key West (Florida Keys) 2 years ago. Sad to be leaving friends and family in the states but what have we got to look forward to???? Answer – The remainder of the year sailing back south through the tropics, fishing, swimming and taking it easy! Life for us at the moment pretty good – in fact- is just MAGIC!