Home for the Holidays

Home.  Where exactly do we call “home” when for the past year home has been where we parked it?  Going home consisted of a few different places this year.  First, we went home to Fernandina Beach, Florida where we lived before we started traveling.  Going home to Florida was a strange feeling.  Wandering around our old hometown and driving through our old neighborhood was really weird.  Everything still looked pretty much the same, but felt so completely different.  We visited with our old neighbors and it was strange to look across the street at our old house and realize I can’t just walk over there and go inside like I could have last year.  It really was wonderful though to see some old friends.  I really enjoyed catching up with one of my closest friends Kim over Mexican dip and wine.  I really miss this girl!

We camped at Ft. Clinch State Park.  Another blog post about that park later, but it was a real treat to stay there.  I had tried several times to get a reservation there for weekend camping trips back when we lived just 10 minutes away.  I used to ride my bike there and loved the campground, but it was always booked.  It’s one of those state parks that you must book several months in advance to get in.

This is the beach just beside the campground loop we stayed in.

While we were there we visited Santa’s house because everyone knows that Santa Claus really lives in Fernandina Beach, Florida, not at the North Pole.  We used to visit Santa several times every December when we lived nearby.  I have pictures of the boys with him every year since they were babies.  Santa’s house always looks so beautiful!

Going “home” for us also included a trip to Disney World.  When we lived in Florida we usually had Disney annual passes and would go there several times a year.  My favorite campground has always been Disney’s Ft. Wilderness, and even after all of the campgrounds we have stayed at this year, guess what?  Ft. Wilderness is still my favorite!  Visiting in December is my favorite time to visit because several of the campsites are decorated for Christmas and it’s really fun to ride the golf cart around at night and look at all the beautiful sites.  This was one of the best.  They had a lighted walkway to allow visitors to walk around their site.

The weather was beautiful that week and warm enough for the pool, and not the least bit crowded as you can see by the empty chairs in the background.  I remember coming here when every single chair was taken and the pool was wall-to-wall people.  It’s kind of nice to come when it’s not too busy.  This was obviously in early December before the massive crowds that I heard were there this past week.

Another great thing about visiting Disney in December is the amazing display of Christmas lights at Hollywood Studios.  I absolutely love seeing these lights that dance to Christmas music.  Sadly, this is the last year they will have this display.

After Disney we visited my sister and brother-in-law at their new place in Georgia.  While we were there we went to another really nice Christmas lights display.  We love to take goofy pictures!

And finally, coming “home” also meant home to Charlotte, NC where Chris & I lived before moving to Florida over 15 years ago.  We enjoyed a wonderful family Christmas at my parent’s house.

We had a chance to see Chris’s sister and family that we have not seen in a few years so that was very nice!

It was also a nice treat to visit with old high school and college friends during our visits to GA and NC.  Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of all the people we visited, but here are a couple.

And of course I can’t forget to mention that Fat Cat enjoyed the holidays as well.  She even got wrapped up in paper like a present and she liked hiding under the Christmas tree.   🙂

It was so nice to spend time with so many friends and family over the holidays.  To me, that is what coming home means.  Being at home means being with family.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season and have a blessed 2016!