St. Augustine, Florida - October 22 - 23, 2015

St. Augustine, Florida - October 22 - 23, 2015

October 22, 2015

It was a bummer, that as we left the RV Park and went around one of the corners in the park, there was a crimp in the frame or whatever, and the wind shield cracked.

Today was an easy drive from Savannah to St. Augustine.  We drove down I-95 all of the way, but a short trip around Jacksonville on I-295. 

We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center on our way to the RV Park.  It was not the type that we have seen in other states that have restaurants, but it was nice.

Once we got to the park, we got parked in a nice pull thru.  We got unhooked and decided to go to Camping World to find out if we could get the oil changed in the RV.  Unfortunately, we could not get in while we were in town. 

We went back to the park to get ready for dinner.  The staff made dinner.  They made salad, rolls and bread pudding.  Yum.  After dinner, there was story time.  We have some great story tellers and a lot of laughs.  Also, Tracko (the traveling stuffed animal) was ready for a new home.  All of us were tense thinking that we might get stuck with the little guy.  Thank heavens, Verna and David decided Tracko was ready to go home – back to Bob & Penny.  We all breathed a sigh of relief. 

We headed back to the RV to watch the Seahawks play.   Yippee – the Seahawks finally pulled out a win.  They beat San Francisco 49er’s 20 – 3.  The last couple of games, we lost in the fourth quarter, so we didn’t want to turn off the TV until we were sure that you lost.  Bev finished her ironing in order to stay awake. 

October 23, 2015

We did a ride share to “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”.  This is when we wish we had a tow car that would hold more than five people.  There were three couples that wanted to ride together, so we had to take two cars.  Bob & Cat Hill, who live in Tampa and know the area, love St. Augustine, and were ready to show us around the area, in particular a winery & a distillery.  We wanted Bob & Caroline to ride with, but they ended up following in their car.

When we got to Ripley’s, the first thing that Bob wanted to show us was replica of the Statue of David, which was behind a shrub on the property.

“David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by Michelangelo. It is a 5.17-metre marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favored subject in the art of Florence. Originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral, the statue was placed instead in a public square, outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence, where it was unveiled on 8 September 1504.”

There was also a “log cabin” there.  Not the traditional log cabin, but a cabin built from a burrowed out large log.  Inside it resembles a motorhome without wheels or windows.

We were picked up by tour buses which took us to yet another lighthouse, the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  Bev walked up the 219 steps to the top of the lighthouse and received a certificate for her efforts.  Stan opted to stay below.   Following the lighthouse, we were dropped off on St. George Street, to have lunch at the Columbia Restaurant.  The décor was wonderful and the food was great.  Stan was presented with a lighthouse snow globe by Bert & Judy, so he would remember his lighthouse experiences forever.  Once again, we ate too much, so when we were able to walk on the street for an hour after eating it was welcomed. 

We were taken around St. Augustine on the Red Train Tour.  St. Augustine is oldest continuously occupied European-established cities in the US.  It was great to hear about the various building and history.  Henry Flagler did a lot to advance the city.  The Flagler College is located in many of the historical building.  They are amazing.

“Henry Morrison Flagler was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway. He is known as the father of both Miami and Palm Beach, Florida.”

He built and donated land for many beautiful churches in the area.  The Memorial Presbyterian Church was built in 1889 by him in honor of his daughter and granddaughter.  This church was built in 360 days because he wanted to have it completed by the one year memorial of their death.  In that time, there was not all of the heavy equipment, so thousands of craftsmen worked around the clock to get it accomplished.  

“The Memorial Presbyterian Church is a historic church located at 36 Valencia Street in St. Augustine, Florida. The church was built in 1889 by business tycoon and St. Augustine benefactor Henry Morrison Flagler and dedicated in honor of his daughter Jennie Louise Benedict, who died following complications from childbirth the same year, hence the word Memorial.”

We caught the bus back to Ripley’s.  Then some of the tour group took their cars back to the RV, but we decided to catch the Red Train again.  We wanted to go back to the San Sebastian Winery.  Friends, Bob & Cat Hill told us about it and wanted us to see it.  We did the tour and had a tasting.  Many of the wines were very good.  Of course, we had to buy a few bottles.  As we were checking out, Bob told us that the train was leaving.  Oops, we wanted to go to the distillery nearby, so we continued to check out, figuring that we would catch the next train.  Some of the others caught the train back to Ripley’s. 

As it turns out, the next train didn’t come for about 20 minutes.  Yikes.  We talked Bob & Cat into taking the car keys, since they know there way around, we had them take the train back, and drive back to the distillery to pick us up.  At 5:00 p.m. Cat called, they had been delayed by the train, but they were on their way.  We had a nice tour of the distillery, and a couple of samples.  We were a bit disappointed that the Bourbon was not ready for bottling.  We did buy some Vodka & Gin and even had the bottles signed.  Very cool!!

When Cat & Bob came to pick us up, we decided to go to the restaurant and have a bite to eat.  We had such a big lunch that we decided to each have a bowl of soup and share a cheese tray.  Just right!!  Of course, we had a glass of wine and margarita’s. 

We went back to the RV and Bev was in bed by 7:30 p.m.  She was reading, but tired.  She got a call from friends, Joanie & Jack Derks, reporting in on their travels back to Minnesota.  It turns out that they are going to drive all the way home tonight.  There is nothing as good as your own bed to be able to rest.  We are so pleased that Jack will be able to get into Mayo Clinic on Thursday to find out the cause of his low blood levels.