Translation: City of Sacramento Councilmember Lisa Kaplan came to Four Seasons Westshore to meet with residents. Rainy night .. maybe that kept some people at home?

Thank you Terri for coming and keeping me company (and taking this picture).

This was a farewell ride, sort of. Dani and Kathy are moving to Roseville. Today we did one of our favorite rides – around the airport. A rest stop at Teal Bend Golf Course.

After the ride, we had cake and ice cream at my house. And Brenda’s birthday is tomorrow. Brenda, Brad, Sandra, Milan:

Maria, Laurie, BarbaraL, Dani, Kathy:

22 miles.

Councilmember Lisa Kaplan invited four local residents to attend a celebration of Sacramento Advocates for Rail and Transit’s (SMART) first full year as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

Emel Wadhwani received an award for her service. She is a fellow ATCommissioner and serves on the board of the non-profit Sacramento Advocates for Rail and Transit.

Almost everyone left around 9am on the bus with the driver Rick. Five of us had a later departure. Rainy morning, off and on. We were really lucky with the weather. The hurricanes were a nothing-burger. It rained occasionally but never impacted our activities.

We had a private transfer to the airport in Jacksonville and took a late afternoon flight to Dallas then Sacramento.

Home sweet home. This trip was so much fun. We’re already talking about the next trip we might do together.

On the way to breakfast, I noticed the flag being raised – oops. Quickly fixed.

We took a tram tour around the property.

There are “cottages” surrounding the resort. Crane Cottage is a popular wedding venue.

We were able to tour inside Indian Mound Cottage once owned by the Rockefellers.

Next stop, Georgia Sea Turtle Center.

Escape route for turtles caught in shrimping nets.

Sea turtle hospital.

Mid-afternoon, we took a dolphin tour.

Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Luckily, we saw MANY.

In the evening we had a really nice farewell dinner. Very attentive servers. The other three ladies at our table were from Texas and very friendly. Actually, everyone on this tour was friendly and always on time much to the delight of the tour director Dawn and all of us.

This stop was my favorite: Pin Point – home to the Gullah Geechee, the descendants of enslaved people W and Central Africa. Isolated for about 100 years along the barrier islands of N and S Carolina, Georgia and Florida, they developed a unique culture and language.

Inside the oyster factory. Oysters dropped from above, waste went into the chute below. Hard work, long hours.

Next stop: St Simon’s Island, lunch at Barbara Jean’s.

Superb crab cakes, dirty rice, and grits.

We drove on and stopped at Driftwood Beach.

Our hotel for the next two night: Jekyll Island Club Resort.

Drinks at The Wharf.

We were on our way out, then stopped. We couldn’t leave before this quite good band finished “La Bamba”.

Trolley tour first thing in the morning.

A tour of the Mercer Williams house.

A fun different kind of museum.

At the end, we had a drink in the speakeasy.

We walked to River Street

and took a ride on the Georgia Queen.

Dinner at Vic’s – excellent meal.