Consider the Possibilities! This Is Waiting For You!

This morning, Mel left bright and early to drive to Jacksonville to pick up our friend, John. Jackie had her training to attend so we decided to have John go along with us to hang out in St. Augustine. Our first stop was in Old City, the section of St. Augustine that is still preserved from the 16th century. They must not have thought about the possibilities of automobiles as the streets were barely a donkey cart wide. The explanation for this was that the streets would be easier to defend and since there was no air conditioning, the narrow streets would serve as wind tunnels to direct cooler air to the buildings that lined the streets. This area is all very charming and well preserved. They like their history in St. Augustine and they do a great job of preservation. John and Jackie's daughter, Megan, has her degree in historic preservation and I wish she'd been along to see all of this. Anyway, once we walked out of the Old City area, it was much cooler so I don't know if those earlier theories were working too well.

From that area, we walked to the Intracoastal waterway and discovered that a tour boat was getting ready to cruise so we quickly hopped aboard. John learned a lot about how Mel and Nancy operate. We had no plans to take a boat ride but when the opportunity availed itself, there we were on board. We have come to so enjoy these narrated cruises on water. They are stress-free, laid back and informative. The photo was captured as we cruised by Anastasia State Park. I was intrigure by the lone chair on the beach with no hint of ownership anywhere close by for miles.

After the cruise, we took a brief walk to the Santa Maria Restaurant that is out on a pier well into the Intercoastal Waterway. It was one of those old salt restaurants with sailing ship motif. While we were dining, suddenly two dolphins came in to the bay to feed so they put on quite a show for us. The restaurant provided baskets of bread so you could feed the gulls. We had a lot of laughs doing this. I don't know who was goofier us or the gulls. It was fun to watch the little ones trying to feed the gulls as soon as the gulls approached the kids would go screeching away.

After lunch, we continued our tour of the area. We stopped at the Castillo de San Marco, the fort built by the Spanish to defend the area. Then, we walked through another old section of the city, again much appreciative of the preservation efforts.

We moved on into the late 19th century buildings, built by Henry Flagler, co-founder of Standard Oil Company. He built two hotels for rich northerners to escape to from winter's ravages. One of the hotel's is now Flagler College, a private college opened in 1968. These students are in absolute luxury attending classes and using the dining hall. The other hotel now houses St. Augustine City Hall and a museum. It also boasts the first indoor swiming pool. Both hotels were wired by Thomas Edison and have their own generators to provide electricity.

The "boys" dropped me off so I could tour Memorial Presbyterian Church, built by Flagler to honor his daughter, who had died giving birth. He so loved her that the church is designed like St. Mark's Church in Venice, Italy. Not only did he commission the marble from Italy but he brought the Italian craftsmen over to build it. He offered them a bonus, if it was completed in a year. They finished in 360 days. However, it took 12 years to complete the stained glass windows that relate to the Apostle's Creed. Flagler and his wife are also interred there.

From there we drove to Anastasia Island to the Conch House Marina so Mel and John could inqure about deep sea fishing. It cost $550.00 for a half day. Yikes! So we had a drink at the pier bar and watched the fisherman, cleaning the catch of the day.

Then, it was time to meet Jackie at Vilano beach for our dinner at Fiddler's Green. The setting was beautiful as we gazed out over the Atlantic Ocean.

We returned to the RV, full and exhausted from our day's adventures.