We took the slip for a week since the rate was a lot more economical, plus we just wanted to hang around St. Augustine for a while. We walked to the historic area (about a 20 minute hike) and got acquainted with things. We found a nice bagel / pastry shop and had coffee and bread pudding as our lunch that day. The remainder of the day was spent lounging around the boat and marina.
Friday we again walked to town and had breakfast at the pastry shop – the special was a croissant with fresh baby spinach and feta plus two eggs. We decided to try out the local bus system so we found a schedule and learned we could ride for 50 cents per person each way. We found the terminal stop for the Blue Line and rode out to the WalMart on Rt. 1. After picking up a few items we caught the bus right in front of the store and it dropped us off about 50 yards from the marina. Since the weekend was upon us we checked with the local Enterprise rental office and they had a week end special – half price rate for 3 days. So, for $66.00 we had the use
of a BRIGHT yellow V-W bug until Monday noon.Saturday AM we picked up a local tourist map and headed south on scenic A1A to Fort Matanzas National Park.
What a gem it is – while small, the fort dates back to the 1500s and is actually located on a small island.
Visitors are ferried to the island by a park operated pontoon boat where costumed guides present a very entertaining history of the fort. We headed farther down A1A from the fort, to a state park called Washington Oaks Gardens which is a display of gardens, plantings and water features including ponds with large fish that you visit by way of groomed walking trails. 
The entire site is set amongst mature trees and is situated along the ICW. We remembered seeing folks strolling along the shore when we transited the waterway north to St. Augustine. 
On Sunday we bought a tool (a hole saw) and some trim hardware items at Home Depot and routed the wires to our TV set through the side of the cabinet it is mounted on. This allows the set to be connected to the cable box and power outlet all the time and eliminates the need to keep the cabinet door open when we want to have TV on. After all the heavy work was complete we drove to St. Augustine Beach and walked on the sand for an hour or so.
We also were entertained by several dozen surfers (in wet suits) floating around waiting for the big wave that never came that day. 
Since the WX was to become rainy we arranged to keep the car until Tuesday – we didn’t want to be confined to the boat for the 24 hours of bad weather that was forecasted. The rain held off until Monday afternoon so in the morning we drove north along A1A to Jacksonville Beach. It proved to be a dull and unremarkable trip, nothing at all like the 25 miles of coastal road south of St. Augustine. The rain began just minutes after we arrived at the boat and continued all afternoon. Polly bought the things needed to build a pot of Chili along and with baked potato, made a great dinner. Having the oven on to do the potato also made the cabin nice and comfy. During the evening the rain continued in bucket-filling amounts and we just hunkered down for the night.
After dropping off the car we did some chores around the boat and got ready for a visit with new friends Sue & Steve who were driving up from New Smyrna Beach. The four of us walked to the historic fort on the waterfront and after taking the self-guided tour, we went for pizza at a neat Italian place in the historic district. It was kind of special sharing the Morris’ wedding anniversary evening with them.
We originally planned to leave St. Augustine on Wednesday morning but the forecast was calling for very high winds with gale force gusts, so we extended our departure for a day. The weather forecast proved to be accurate, it was extremely windy and much colder all day. We bundled up and walked to a diner for a real diner-style breakfast which was really great. There is nothing better than pancakes, eggs and ham to fortify you for a cold walk to windward. That evening we dined on left over chili and got the boat ready for a very early departure the next morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment