Sightseeing in my own town...

Downtown, NYC

I find it amazing how much you neglect when you are born and raised in one place and all the things you missed and miss once you've moved.  My sister has lived in Manhattan since she graduated college.  One particular evening, we were walking from her apartment on West Street to the South Street Seaport. I think she knows it  the streets BETTER than the back of her hand!  As we walked and zig and zagged, I was completely taken by the architecture of lower Manhattan and the ages of some of the buildings.  I was so sorry I wasn't carrying my camera and playing tourist.  At that time, I walked the NYC pace which is not slow enough anyway.  (These days I have no choice but to walk slow. 

This is something I didn't do as much, if at all, before I moved to Florida.  But, not on a schedule, no where to be by a certain time, living on beach time, gives me the opportunity to just drive leisurely along and stop when something grabs my attention.  There are still places I want to check out more closely and take pictures, so there's always more to come. 


In the meantime, as much as I can't stand moving, I became okay about the move to Titusville. I was going to be right THERE when shuttles launched!  No more driving an hour to see it and more than hour back (traffic is unbelievable).  I had just moved in and was out trying to find the insurance office and went right past it and wound up on this road under construction and found a spot to pull over.  To my amazement, I was across the river from Kennedy Space Center and was staring at the Vehicle Assembly Building!

It excites me to drive down there.  I find the drive invigorating...

To get there, I still drive east over the railroad tracks where an old train station has been converted for businesses but the inside of the insurance company is still in old decor.  It's funny but you hear the swinging doors and expect an old cowboy to come by, spurs a clicking...do spurs click or do they clack??  anyway...

Instead of turning south to the historic part of town, I continue east and over the Indian River on the new Max Brewer Bridge.  On the other side, to the left and to the right there are cars and trucks pulled over on the side, fishing and sail surfing and para-sailing... I've always said some day I am just going to hang out here and watch.

I am now on Canaveral National Seashore/Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and NASA property.  I'm on the north side of what you would know as Kennedy Space Center.  As I continue to drive, if there is anyone behind me, they are passing me.  I just love the drive and I'm constantly looking back and forth to see what I can see.  Usually a hawk or a vulture for sure.  I pass the Refuge Center.  It's a great place for a walk or just to get maps and information for walking and sighting and/or  a guided drive it yourself ride... that's pretty neat.

But as I get further east, I have to stop at a security booth and show my pass, or you could pay an entrance fee.  Soon we come to these little labeled pull over spots.

There's a sign that tells you about the area;
plants, animals...

This is the first parking lot.
There was a shuttle on both launch pads.

From the Indian River
cell phone

It was a very sad day for the finial launches and then again when Enterprise was loaded on top of the jet to fly to New York and Discovery to Washington, DC.

Photo Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Enterprise (left) and Discovery at KSC

Photo Credit:  NASA's KSC
Discovery's arrival to Washington, DC

Photo Credit:  NASA's KSC
Enterprise's arrival to New York

Bits and pieces of my journey...starting my living room

Well, when you have no computer for 5 days, besides just going with the flow with the withdrawals, you have to come up with something to do... something constructive. 

I started with my bedroom drawers and closet.  I threw out, bagged for donating and put away.  I did laundry; I shopped and did returns Monday.  I finished painting around the kitchen fan and painted the medallion the same color as the table top.

Then I went on to the living room:  The front door was panelled.  I washed it, primed it and painted two coats of Going My Way from ACE Hardware.  Then I decided to paint the wall behind the couch...after washing and priming, two coats of paint...and then the wall to the door. 

This was the plan with up-dates:
THIS  WAS  A SUMMER PROJECT:  It was almost 90 and going to be over 90 this week...with the air on when it is too hot for working outside.  As I've said, every thing has a story, especially my living room.  Where do I start?  My immediate family is all on Long Island, NY and I am here.  I love to get pictures and frame them but I am running out of wall space!  We now have 2 one year olds and 2 more babies on their way.  I need a plan!  For the most part, besides organizing better, this is my TO-DO LIST:

1. Paint walls and ceiling; sea foam walls, ( Going My Way, ACE Hardware) yellow ceiling (do accent wall in coral?)   >  maybe the far wall in yellow to help bounce some light!
2. Possibly, add molding around the windows, and paint (coral) and/or possibly do board and batten
3. Recover the back couch pillows
4. Recover toss pillows
5. Decide on black furniture: book shelves, couch table, small table...to paint or not to paint
6. The 2 sea grass trunks; keep both together or one as coffee table
7. Create a family photo wall
8. Create a NYC  and KSC (Kennedy Space Center) wall on each side of Captiva picture; add shelves under;  I was just trying to keep them the same amount of letters.
9. Decide on curtains.
10. Cut out rug in front of door and replace with tiles.
11. Get another book case for other side and balance.
12. decoupage the small trunk



  My living room is my hub.  It is my everything room right now.  I have a couch table which is doing duty as a desk.  A night table as a printer stand.  I have 2 sea grass chests that right now are pushed together as a very large coffee table.  I have a book case and a decorative open shelf.  A couch, what I want to re-cover the pillows with beach fabric.


15 feet long by 8 feet wide
3 feet x 4 feet by door to tile



So back to what I did accomplish.  At this point I have 3 walls painted. 

I started with the door



Then went to the wall that goes back to the door



I love the color and I love how it brightens up the room.  I took down the vertical blinds again and have yet to figure out what I'll do there and on the opposite window, but I like the blinds down... just not my style.

That's as far as I got.   I'll share as I go but I am hurting after I have not had much of a break.

I am liking the colors that just brighten up this space.  I want to be surrounded by family photos, especially the little ones that make me smile.  There are certain photos that take me to a place, usually by the water, that bring back memories and all my beachy finds.  And I want my books close by.  I want to walk into this space and feel the outside came in and comfortable enough to almost feel the sand under my feet.  And if you come in, I want you to feel just as comfortable and enjoy my vignette around the room.

Beach Memories ~ My Bath Room

This is MY beach!  This has been as far as you can walk. 
If you look in the distance, there is a shuttle on the launch pad.

I have yet to live more than a half hour away from an ocean, with a brief year in Orlando, Florida, on a lake.  Cocoa Beach is Orlando's beach.  I grew up and lived my life on the south shore of Long Island, New York, and could walk most of the time to a beach.

Bar on the pier
at Cocoa Beach

Besides the local town beaches there were a few favorites with great memories.  I don't know why I remember, but I do.  I used to go to Hot Dog Beach, which is on Dune Road in Hampton Bays, NY, with my Grandmother. (It is now Tiana Beach.) She was a swimmer in her day and by today's standards she would have been an Olympic swimmer.  She loved the beach.  For a while as I grow up I thought maybe I just called it Hot Dog Beach because we got hot dogs for lunch and ice cream too.  It was a fun time to build sand castles with Gramma.

Hot Dog Beach, NY

And of course the Hampton's are now known
for ABC's "Revenge"!

My Dad's mom lived in Port Washington, NY.  It's located on the north shore of Long Island.  If you drove through the gates into Sands Point, you could get a good look of the New York skyline.  Sands Point is know for the 1920's Gold Coast Era (Great Gatsby).  Every summer the Park would close for a town family beach party.  All kinds of food and drink, music and races and just general beachy fun!

Beach at Sands Point

When I was young, we were in Sayville visiting my aunt, uncle and cousins.  It was winter and we were out in the snow when my cousin decided he could walk on water!  He fell through the ice on the Great South Bay and somehow I managed to carry his limp-ish body back.  He was fine.

Great South Bay

There is Jones Beach.  My cousin and I decided to take the bus there.  We had bus fare for there and back, but we spent the "back" money at the refreshment stand.  We decided to walk back until this car pulled over and offered a ride.  Like two inexperienced young girls, we accepted.  Dumb move.  We got into the back seat of a two door car, with two older boys blasting heavier rock than we listened to.  One pulled out a pretty large knife and started keeping the beat and drumming the knife on the dash board.  That was it.  After we got over the draw bridge we started yelling to pull over, let us out!!  We finally got out and started walking.  With that another car pulled over.  The window came down and a woman told us, in no uncertain terms, to get in.  Just as we did, those boys came back.  She wound up driving us back to our grandmother's house (because we were too afraid to go back to her house).  The woman had seen us walking and then getting out of the car when she was dropping her daughter and friends at the beach and came back for us.  As I remember it, she told us all the reasons why we should never do that again...I never did!  I did get one heck of a sun burn that day.

Dunes at Jones Beach
(taken by my aunt)

Then there's North Captiva Island, Florida.  This is where I knew and decided I was moving back to Florida.  It was 2005 and I spent my sister and her husband's 25th wedding anniversary with them and their family there for a week right on the beach.  It was absolutely peaceful and beautiful.  Sunrise and sunset was beautiful but the very best was at those times the dolphins and their babies were at the beach eating and playing.  Of course we went to Sanibel too and learned the Sanibel Shuffle!  We carried on (the airplane) more shells home then luggage.

via North Captiva Island FB page

My poster size North Captiva photo in living room.

Beach Memories is actually the name of the bath accessories by Croscill, that I bought when I knew I was moving.  I have some beach pictures in there, but I realized I have more of the dogs in the bathroom.  I'll have to work on that.

BEFORE



PICKED UP THIS TABLE FOR $1.00
BUT EVERYTHING LOOKED MESSY.

after-ish

 

right side

left side



and the top...with my NASA ash tray.

the "Beach Memories" have
photos of children on the beach.

Nate Berkus Candle Stick filled
with shells.

a North Captiva photo
taken by my brother-in-law

I love the bathroom however after posting some of these pictures, I've decided to print some and frame for the "memories".  Hope you enjoyed.  Have a great day! ~ pat