BLACK SHEAR, GEORGIA TO TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA

Janie at Dixie Crossroads in Titusville, Florida

We spent the last two days with cousins in Black Shear, Georgia. The weather just gets warmer and sunnier as we drive south! I can barely remember the cold weather in Erie!

There are 7 different homes in this "subdivision" owned by family. I like the idea of a getaway in the south inhabited by so many cousins! Some live here year round, but most come down in the wintertime.

Black Shear is a pleasant area, sandy soil, palms, tall Georgia pines, usually temperate weather (60s-70s most every year we have stopped by in January/February), a few restaurants, a hotel, a few stores, population about 3200, in Pierce County (in Georgia each county has one school district-the Pierce County high school is near my cousins' homes). The town is about 80 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida and is the end point of Florida's hurricane escape route. I think the town will grow a lot in the future. We smelled turpentine being manufactured in another area of the town. We were also told that Eggland's Best eggs and Egg Beaters are made here.

On Monday night we drove to the Jacksonville airport to pick up my cousin arriving from Toledo. On the way we ate at St. John's Seafood restaurant in Hilliard, Georgia. The fried shrimp was very fresh and tasty.

Tuesday morning we headed for Cocoa Beach and Titusville, Florida, some of our favorite areas in Florida. We found the shoe store we always stop in at Ormond, Florida-I can always find the best fitting shoes there and this time I bought a pair of Finn Comfort sandals-better than sneakers for my feet!! We also stopped at RonJon's to see the new beach fashions for people a lot younger than we are!

We had dinner at Dixie Crossroads, one of our favorite seafood restaurants of all time. Hush puppies in powdered sugar, "Fried Krabbie Bites," fried shrimp (again), and TK had rock shrimp (a little sweeter), scallops, and shrimp, all very fresh! We are near the Atlantic Ocean and this is shrimp fishing time.

I am getting excited about our upcoming cruises and have read about 1/3 of the book Path Between the Seas about the building of the Panama Canal. The section I read was about the French attempt to build the canal and I have been absolutely astounded about the cost expended, the conditions under which the attempt was made, and the loss of life (estimated to be at least 20,000 during the time the French were working on it).

I wanted to reflect on the tragedy in Haiti at this time. There is a terrible loss of life, injuries, and destruction because of the earthquake. We have spent a great deal of time in the Caribbean and we are very sorry for the suffering. As we travel we have seen many efforts to collect money for the American Red Cross, today at Publix, grocery chain. We can only hope that our contributions can help these people.

TK's Takes: Today he wore shorts!!