The highlight of our vacation was getting to go to Haulover Canal and see where Grandma spent some of her childhood before moving to Palmetto Street in New Smyrna Beach. The tiny town is gone now, replaced by trees and a small ruin, but it was neat to stand there and listen to stories Grandma shared of her memories.
In true Grandma form, she came completely prepared with picture boards, trinkets for the kids, and even a pirate costume for everyone to wear! The kids all thought this was really neat!
She made these adorable bandanas for the girls! Lexi and Lily loved that they were rainbow dolphins.
Teaching us the history of the Haulover and how her family came to live there.
My favorite part was listening to her stories. The reason the kids all got pirate outfits has to do with a story she has where her mom would tell the Grandma and her sisters that there were pirates on the canal and they would take them and put them on their ship if they caught the girls (in reality, it was drunk fisherman, but Nan was worried what they might do to the girls, so she invented this white lie to make sure the girls ran inside if they heard any men coming at night).
After listening to her stories, we walked along the canal to see where the "pirates" would dock their boats.
It was a lovely place, even if there were clouds of mosquitos. (Grandma said when they lived there, she could stick her hand out the door and catch several in one snatch!)
Look out for pirates!
Testing out the water
Love the bling, Jude! The kids all got to pick some prizes from Grandma's treasure box.
Chad and Darnell made it, too! It was so good to have them there!
Checking out the horseshoe crab
Here is our group, standing in front of the only piece of building left from the entire settlement:
We drove a little ways down the road and got to see several manatees playing in the water.
And on the way home, we stopped by Grandma's old house on Palmetto Street. The lady there was very kind and let us take a picture in her front yard. Grandma gave her one of the books she wrote about that house and the lady has subsequently posted about it on her blog! She even made one of the recipes Grandma mentions (Tomato paste cake) and wrote about it!
And we went and visited Grandpa. We miss you, Grandpa!
The rest of the day we spent at the beach and pool!
This little peanut is the cutest thing in the world. She was so brave in the water, it scared me that she would just walk right into the waves and keep going!
It had been a fun, long, very full day!
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