north carolina weekend...in florida



One of the best things about living in Florida is that our friends want to come and visit us...not to mention that NC State played Florida State at the end of October. (Yes...I'm working on getting our posts caught up before the holidays!)  This game came at a great time for Clay: it was right after his birthday so a bunch of our friends came and stayed with us for the weekend!

 

That was the first time we had a house FULL of guests! Both guest bedrooms, couches, and our air mattress were all packed and we loved every minute of it.   The weekend started out with a kayak trip to the Ichetucknee River with Cody, Liz, and Blake Friday afternoon.  We found a place that rented kayaks and provided transportation for $15! 

 

It was a beautiful day and we were happy to show off one of our favorite places! 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After kayaking, we headed back to our place and Robbie, Aaron, and John arrived.  We went to dinner that night and left for the game in Tallahassee the next morning.  Little did we know the severity of the slaughtering that was about to take place...



 

 

 

 

 

 



Bobby Bowden spearing the field from Osceola.

 



 

We left at halftime...and enjoyed the rest of our weekend together! We were so glad everyone came and look forward to more visits with friends in the future! Come see us!

 



kayaks and candles

Where did October go? 

Time sure is flying by and October was filled with so many fun weekends!  This post is doubled up with our newest kayaking adventure and Clay's 29th birthday festivities.

 

We are always looking for new spots to kayak and we found a place about an hour north on the Withlacoochie River including a beautiful blue spring.  Certain areas around the river has layers of exposed limestone which is something that we've never seen before.  It was a gorgeous day!

seriously beautiful



sorry for the selfie...it's the only way I am photographed while kayaking!

 

look closely - there's a gator head on the bench

the water level on this tree is more than halfway up - that was in March!

 

I love this man.

  limestone:

 

 

 

 

Now on to Clay's birthday weekend which was SO much fun! We decided to go to Jacksonville and celebrate. First we headed to a local brewery, Bold City, to check out their microbrews. When we pulled in, we were surprised with lots of people, live music, and food trucks outside. They were celebrating their 5 year anniversary with a big party - how perfect!

 

 

 

Then we headed back to the hotel, got ready, and walked to dinner at bb's. This place was super swanky, adorable, and had amazing food! It was one of the best meals we have had in a while!

 

 

 

After dinner, we walked to where the River Ferry picks up and takes you across to Downtown Jacksonville for $3. We headed to a music venue called Underbelly to end our evening.  It was a really nice place but wasn't very packed for some reason.

 

 

 

 

The next morning, Clay's actual birthday, we walked to brunch at the River City Brewing Company before going to the Jaguars/Chargers game. They have a ferry pick-up right outside the restaurant that goes over to Everbank Field.  The Jaguars are terrible...but we figured it would be fun to see Phillip Rivers in action AND Clay would finally attend an NFL game!!!

 

 

view during brunch

 

birthday dessert!

 

 

wouldn't it be nice to drive your boat over to an NFL game?

 

Clay's first NFL game!

 

 

 

Ferry view on the way back to the hotel

 Once we were back to the hotel, we drove to Mellow Mushroom for an early dinner before coming home. We had so much fun celebrating Clay's 29th together!