Birthday Week(s)- Part 1

Wow, have I got a lot to catch y’all up on!  Ever since my retirement ceremony in July, two of my good friends (who also happen to be military retirees) decided we needed to take a warm weather vacation in January for my birthday.  We settled on a beach vacation down at Fort Meyers, FL, so I started the drive last Thursday to meet up with them for our adventure.  Little did I know that the weekend would turn into a 2000-mile, 10-day excursion around Florida!

I haven’t had a chance to sort through all the photos yet, so I’ll just get you started with a few pics from the first stop.  The drive to Fort Meyers is about 12 hours from my home, so I decided to break it up with an overnight stop at Mayport, FL.  I’ve been to Jacksonville before, but I had not been to Mayport, so I made a reservation at the Navy Lodge on base since it is right on the beach.  What a hidden gem!  The accommodations were basic, but very clean and spacious.  And you couldn’t beat the views.

After a great night of sleep, I took a chilly stroll on the beach in the morning to catch the sunrise before heading southwest towards Fort Meyer.

I didn’t do much at this first stop other than walk the beach and catch some zzz’s, so that’s it for now, I’ll share more about the trip in upcoming posts- stay tuned if you’re interested 🙂