In Nassau

In Naaasu

The Bahamas

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

We woke up at 5 AM in Miami, showered and checked out of the Days Inn Miami Airport North and drove to the Rental Car Center. There we dropped off our rental car at Avis rental. 6:30 AM

Then we went into the American Airlines counter and checked two bags to Nassau Bahamas. We then went through Checkpoint 4 and got into the terminal 7:40 AM. We grabbed some pastries at Au Bon Pain and boarded the flight American Eagle 3495 from D53 at 9:20 AM we left by 9:30 AM and started to decent by 9:55 AM.

We filled the immigration paper work (1/person) and finished out customs check and got out. One of the airport people directed us to a taxi and we took a ride to Nassau Palm Hotel. The charge for three of us was $34 (they accept both US Dollars and/or Bahamian Dollars; they are kept at one to one equivalent. One rarely sees Bahamian Dollar used though).

We checked into the Hotel and went to the room. It was okay but the shower was not good. Soon we changed our cloths and hit the beach right in front of the Hotel.We were there for quite a while and walked slowly toward downtown and ate at the McDonalds.

We ran into a couple who suggested an Indian Restaurant. We went back to the room and changed our cloths and walked toward the Ferry station. We took the 2:15 PM ferry and arrived at the Paradise Island and we spent about 1 ½ hour there. That place looked too commercial and we walked back to the main island and took a taxi back to the hotel

Then we hit the beaches again until about 5 PM. Then we came back to the room changed and walked back to the downtown looking for the Indian Café and found it in Charlotte Street in front of Hard Rock Café. We ate there and met the Indian family from Bombay who owns the place.

We then walked back to the room spending some time at the beach

Bahia Honda State Park

Bahia Honda State Park

Bahia Honda Key, FL

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

We arrived around 11:30 AM and spend the rest of the day at the beach. Bhanu took bath in the water so did VTS. I generally stayed dry except for my pants got wet. There was a fresh water shower and changing station. We all used it to get dry.

From the left hand side of park we went to the right hand side of the park which is the old Bahia Honda Park. We went to the butterfly garden (none were there since it was still winter). We then looked around the sailing section.

We went to the bridge access in Bahia Honda Park and went to the gift shop. We left Bahia Honda State Park around 4 PM

We had dinner at McD in Tavernier around 5 PM and started to drive toward Miami via Route 1 North. It took us about 1 ½ hour to get there.

We arrived at Days Inn Miami North by 6:45 PM. Checked in and put the luggage in our room 311. We got a parking pass and two door keys.

Soon we put the Rental Car Center location in my smartphone and drove to the location. It was about 6 minutes to the location. After checking out the location

We went to bed by 9:30 PM.

Travel to Key West

Travel to Key West

Monday, March 18, 2013
Tavernier and Key West, FL

We left home early in the morning and took American Eagle 3491 to Miami arriving around 8:45 AM. We tried to take the Sky Train to Station 2 to collect our luggage but it was taking too long. We then walked from Gate 60 to 20 and went out to the carousel 27 and collected our luggage. We came out and took the MIAMover to the Rental Center and picked up our car from Avis.

We then drove took 839 W and 829S and finally Route 1 South to Tavernier in the Keys. We checked in at the Tavernier Hotel around 2 PM and we had a spacious room.

Then we grabbed some lunch for VTS and headed to Key West. By the time we arrived at Key West, it was almost 5 PM and it was raining a bit. We went around in the car and finally parking it in the road side lot and walked around to see couple of land marks like Route 1 beginning and ending. We saw the Hemingway House.

We then visited the Higgs Beach. Then around 6:45 PM we took off and drove to Tavernier to rest for the night by 9 PM.

Hailstorm in Tallahassee

Hailstones in Tallahassee

Sunday, February 23, 2013

Tallahassee, FL

Gardens of Weems Plantation

Around 5 PM there was Hailstorm in our neighborhood. VTS went around took some pictures. We returned home to see hails size of a dime.

The hails from this evening's hailstorm around our neighborhood (Gardens of Weems Plantation) on Sunday, February 24, 2013.

Travel to Philadelphia, PA

Trip to Philadelphia, PA

Sat, Feb 2, 2013

I traveled to Philly from Tally via US Airways / United flight. I was traveling to Philadelphia to attend the fifty-seventh annual biophysical society meeting.

I left on the afternoon with okay weather both in Tallahassee and at Charlotte, North Carolina. But the weather in Philadelphia was cold, windy and below freezing.

In Tallahassee airport there is a free wi-fi service and it is called 'Digital Canopy'. I used it to check my e-mail and weather reports. This time I carried by Virgin Mobile USA smart phone too. That came in handy for checking news and weather updates.

I had a 1 1/2 hour lay-over in Charlotte, NC. At Charlotte airport also there was a free wi-fi service. The free wi-fi service was called 'CLTNET'. Once again I checked my e-mails and listened to Internet music on my smartphone.

By the time I arrived in Philly, it was dark, cold and snow flurries started falling. I collected my luggage and from the Terminal B, I went to the SEPTA regional railroad station. Fortunately, there was train within 10 minutes of my arrival. I took the train and got off at Suburban Railway station.

My hotel was a block from the 19th Street and JFK Street in downtown Philly. I called home and went to bed after a shower.

Travel Back home

Back to the US

Saturday, Dec 8 and Sunday Dec 9, 2012

Chennai - Dubai - New York - Jacksonville -Tallahassee

We left late in the afternoon around 5:30 PM from Chengalpattu in Thiyagu's SUV with another car carrying the luggage and my siblings families. We arrived at the Chennai International Airport Departure area around 7:00 PM and Bhanu had just arrived.

We said goodbye to our folks and checked into our Chennai Dubai flight EK547. The flight was delayed by 30 minutes and flew over the Arabian Sea. However, as it approached Dubai we were further delayed due to the unavailability of landing place ended by landing an hour late outside the gates and needed to use a bus to get to the Terminal 3.

We barely made it to our next flight to New York JFK and hoped our luggage would make. The flight EK203 a Boeing 777-300ER was also delayed fortunately since many people were still boarding past the scheduled departure time. We hoped this would be good flight since the duration was 14 1/2 hours long. It was okay due to good entertainment system called ICE.

We arrived an hour late in New York and went through the immigration and customs clearance and rechecked our bags to Jacksonville and waited for another delayed flight to JAX. Finally we left at 4 PM and arrived in JAX by 6 PM via jetBlue.

We picked our car and drove home stopping at a Taco Bell for dinner. By the time we arrived home it was almost 9:45 PM.

Visit Sripuram Lakshmi Narayani Temple

Visit Sripuram Lakshmi Narayani Temple

Sripuram (Malaikodi), Vellore, Tamilnadu

Thursday, December 6, 2012

 

With Thiyagu I went to Vellore to my relatives. We had planned to visit the "Golden Temple of Tamil Nadu" aka, Sripuram Lakshmi Narayni Temple but we were running late when we arrived at Vellore.

 

 

However, our realtive was ready and took us to the temple. We barely made it in time for the regular temple visiting time. The temple, the architecture, the surroundings were very impressive. We spent about 1 1/2 h at the temple.