Captain & Vanessa approaching the fort

at the drawbridge

Vanessa resting

Ray slept really late yesterday. Vanessa got up and put her bathing suit on and waited for the Captain. I played Spider (and lost) and wrote some. Ray finally got up while they were at the beach. He didn't sleep well. I said, "that's what happens when you take a nap." He and I had breakfast and then went to the beach, after they came back. Beach, then pool, is nice.

Quartermaster's quarters

Then we all went to Fort Clinch. OK, I guess I have to accept that I am something of a history geek. Maybe the combination of history and architecture makes it really fun to visit old forts. They are a lot alike and I've seem a lot of them. Ray thinks we've seen this one before. Old brick tunnels you can wander around in, but not get lost. Tables set with things from over 100 years ago. And a guy in a soldier costume who can answer any question that any of us come up with and seems to enjoy it. He said he had been doing it for 18 years. In a full, long-sleeved uniform no matter how hot it is. There were some surprise cool breezes at certain spots, when you come on a room with two windows to the ocean, for instance. It reminded me of the time we went to the fort at St. Augustine with Gerald 6 years ago and the forts and monastery we visited in Mexico. I really enjoyed it. Not to mention how much I like looking at things in park gift shops. I bought a present for someone. The stuff they sell is familiar--toy versions of civil war items, local wildlife, travel guides (I resisted). It was really fun and the Captain and Vanessa seemed to hold up pretty well and enjoy it too. If you travel with small children, especially more than one, you are bound to have somebody who is tired or hungry or wants to be picked up, but nobody in our group complained at all.

We spent the afternoon pretty quietly at the house. Vanessa generally goes out in the afternoon to sit in the sun, but not the rest of us. Then she can jump in the pool when she gets too hot.

After an early supper, we headed out for more trivia, this time at Karibo Cafe. I had called to determine, yes they were having it at 7 pm. We got there just a few minutes before and it looked like we might not be able to get in, but somehow Ray worked his magic. It was a much nicer place than Beef O' Brady's and the emcee was better. We had sangria, excellent gazpacho and really great onion rings. But somehow the atmosphere was not quite as much fun, more serious competition, fewer kids. We did well at first, the questions seemed pretty easy, but apparently so did other people. We were about in the middle of the pack until the last question, which allowed you to bet up to 16 points, Jeopardy-style. That is, if you answer wrong, you will have them deducted from your score. Put in order by size the following: Australia, India, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia. Mom and Dad and I had one opinion and Ray had another, but he didn't feel strongly about it so let us overrule him. Guess what? No surprise, he was right and we were wrong. We bet all our points and so, lost. We might have placed if we had been right.

Went right to bed when we got home and forgot to call Bonney to wish her happy birthday. So sorry, sweetie.