We spent the first morning at the World Golf Hall of Fame. Now, I am not a golfer, but as you can guess, my husband is an avid one. Even so, I still enjoyed the HOF because I knew many of the names of the players and there were plenty of interactive exhibits and even a scavenger hunt with a prize at the end.
One of my favorite things was an old Briggs & Stratton engine that was modified to irrigate the greens. I had that exact same engine (without the pump addition) in my garage as a kid and I used to take it apart and put it back together over and over. It was my favorite childhood toy. Some girls had dolls or horses. I had an engine. It brought back memories, eapecially the smell of WD40.
There was an interesting display on the making of clubs and balls and how it has changed over time. Another cool item in the HOF was a replica of the golf club used by Alan Shepard to hit his shot on the moon. It had to fold up like a tent pole and was assembled for the shot. This lunar seven iron was on the first floor which seemed to be entirely dedicated to comedian Bob Hope. I was also surprised to learn that two U.S. Presidents are in the HOF. I never knew that. Now I have some good trivia for my scouts!
My other favorite part was the Scouting memorabilia. There was a copy of "Boys Life" under glass from 1930, but the best scout gear was Nancy Lopez's Girl Scout sash! I stopped to learn a lot more about Nancy Lopez just because that one piece connected me with her.
The entry fee gives you a chance to hit a ball at the "Challenge" outside which recreates Hole 17 at Sawgrass where you have to hit the ball onto an island. I readily gave Jim my pass and he hit two into the water, but had fun doing it. There is also an 18 hole putting course. This is like putt putt for the serious golfer. Jim beat me of course but we had great fun!
In the afternoon we went over to the crown jewel of the city, the fort known as Castillo de San Marcos. The National Park Rangers put on excellent talks and we loved walking around the old fort and learning about life there and, for me, it's construction. The ranger was a history student from Flager College in town and she did a great job answering all of our questions. It's amazing that during the siege of 1702, 1,500 people from the city had to live inside that fort for 51 days! Hard to imagine.
We walked around the old city afterwards along the pedestrian-only street called St. George. There are lots of shops and plenty of hawkers; one called Jim "my bodyguard". We laughed. He went to Hyppo Popsicles and I had the "Elvis"; a banana, peanut butter and honey Popsicle! Yum! We also went to a magic store, compete with show, and ended the day in a pub called the Rendezvous since it was raining so hard.
We needed this getaway more than we realized, what with two teenagers to raise, cancer to deal with, and the stuff of everyday life. Golf legend Bobbie Jones said it all at the beginning of the tour of the HOF; "Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots, you get good breaks from bad shots - but you have to play the ball where it lies."
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