Spring 2018 Southern Trip: St. Augustine, Florida

Thursday 4/12:  172 miles and parked at Stagecoach RV Park in St. Augustine, Florida 

Finally, after driving 1500 miles south, we have T-shirt weather and need to run the AC.  It was sunny and 77 here in St. Augustine today.  We're going to hang out here for 3 days and then head west toward New Orleans.

Stagecoach RV Park, site 35

Friday 4/13:

Today was the second beautiful sunny day in a row with a high of 80 degrees.  We came to St. Augustine to meet up with long time friends, Mark and Charmaine Gabel.  Charmaine used to teach with me at Potsdam High School.  As northern Florida residents now, they agreed to act as our tour guides.  Mark and Charmaine picked us up about 9:30 at the campground.

First we headed to the "Old Town" section of St. Augustine.  St. Augustine has the distinction of being the oldest city in North America.  We walked old town, visited the City Gates, and saw the oldest wooden school house in the United States.  Interesting, Judy's parents brought her to see the oldest school house some 55 years ago on a family trip.

We went to the Ice Plant for lunch.  This farm to table restaurant and bar dates back to 1927 and is actually a restored ice plant.  Very "cool" place.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at Ancient City Brewing.  Judy and I are fans of craft breweries, and this was another great one.  In fact, we struck a conversation with a couple of the brew staff, and come to find out, they both graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.  Judy worked for many years in Poughkeepsie, and so the three of them shared stories.  It was a fun time.

Charmaine and Mark dropped us off  back at the camper by 3:30.  First it was a nap, and then we sat outside and had a glass of wine.  After having a big lunch, dinner was a simple homemade salmon salad.


Saturday 4/14:

Wow, a third beautiful sunny day in a row, and 80 degrees at that.  Meanwhile, back home, a brutal weekend of snow, sleet and freezing rain.  That's why we bail out of Northern NY in April.   :-))

Mark and Charmaine picked us up again, this morning about 10:30, and we headed to the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park.  The park was interesting.   Now, unlike in the past, the Fountain of Youth is powered by a water pump.  The water table has dropped so much that the the spring is no longer artesian.

Then it was on to the San Sebastian Winery for lunch.  Rod and Cheryl, our friends back in Myrtle Beach, turned us on to the winery and its port wine.  First we had lunch on the outdoor rooftop deck.  We followed that with a tasting tour of the winery.  We ended up buying a couple bottles of their delicious port wine.

After the wine, we did a drive-by of the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  After lunch and wine at San Sebastian, we were too cheap to pay for admission, so we settled for outside views.

Mark and Charmaine delivered us back to the camper by 3:00.  We said our "good byes" and promised to stay in touch.  Charmaine has been a long time friend, and a visit with her is always upbeat.  After some down time, we pan seared  tuna for dinner.

Tomorrow we head west toward Gulf Shores, Alabama.