2022 Spring Southern Trip: St. Augustine

Easter Sunday 4/17:  158 miles,  Stagecoach RV Park,  St. Augustine, FL

Hot, sunny and humid 85 degrees.

Site 26 at Stagecoach.

I-95 to 295 to I-95 to exit 318.

We were on the road from Savannah just a few minutes after 10:00 this morning.  It's a short drive today at under 200 miles and about 3 hours on Interstate 95.  As I have said before, Interstates are not the most scenic way to travel, but in most cases, they usually allow you to get from point A to point B the fastest.  Plus our present Solitude 5th wheel is 13-5 tall, and I have nightmares about meeting a low underpass.  That's not a problem on the Interstates.  I do subscribe to an online app that warns of low underpasses, and that takes a lot of the stress away.  Today's route was I-95 to I-295 East bypass around Jacksonville, then I-95 again to St. Augustine.  Stagecoach RV park is just a mile off 95 at exit 318.

We are parked on site 26.

We arrived to a sunny and humid 85 degree afternoon about 1:00.  We were sweating up a storm by the time we finished the 20 minute setup and settled down for our traditional after setup beer.  Is it too soon to complain about the hot and humid Florida weather?  😉  After all, back home there were occasional snow flurries last night.  But, 2 hours later we were in the midst of thunder, lightning, and rain.  The dogs were not happy.  But I guess that's typical Florida weather, sunny one minute and thunderstorm the next.

Stagecoach is a very nice park, with lots of trees and it is immaculate!!  The sites are large and it is quiet here.  We have been here once before, way back in 2018.  The only change is a HUGE townhouse development going up across the road, there is some construction noise while that is being built.   In a way, it's too bad about the development, because the last time we were here, it was only forest across the road.

Townhouse development construction across the road.

Monday 4/18:

We are meeting friends Mark and Charmaine at 11:00 at the D'Fontana in nearby Green Cove Springs for lunch.  Mark and Charmaine are another couple who we have known a long while and used to live in Northern NY.  They "saw the light" and moved south some 20 years ago.  Charmaine taught at Potsdam High School with me when I taught there. 

Lunch was excellent!!  D'Fontana is a very small "pizza joint" specializing in Italian cuisine.  The current menu is very small, but they did extremely well during the COVID pandemic specializing in take out.  After lunch, we walked to the City Park to look around and enjoy the nice weather. Mark and Charmaine had to be on their way to care for their pets, and we were back to camper by 2:00. 

 

Judy's daughter Christl arrived a little after 7:00, and is visiting for the rest of our stay here.  She is an elementary reading teacher north of Albany, NY and is on Spring Break this week.

Tuesday 4/19: 

Mark and Charmaine are coming to the camper this morning for waffles and homemade maple syrup we brought from NY.  

After our camper brunch, we went to see the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is the 7th tallest in the United States.  Mark and I decided to climb the 219 steps to the top, and the view from the top was worth the effort.  We were told later that we came just at the right time, as the lighthouse is closed starting next week for renovations.

219 steps to the top.

After 219 steps up.   Now 219 steps down.  😀

Two Potsdam High School Teachers enjoying retirement.

After the lighthouse visit, Mark and Charmaine had to leave, so we said our good byes.  They have commitments tomorrow, so we won't connect again until next year.  It was much too short of a visit with them.

From the lighthouse, the 3 of us went to check out the St. Johns County Ocean Pier.  We walked out to the end and watched the fishermen.  It was a beautiful and sunny day, but the wind was fierce,  In fact, there were rip tide warnings out for the beach goers.

Christl, Judy and I then went to the Salt Life Food Shack for a late lunch.  Then it was back to the camper for naps and eventually leftovers for dinner.  We were exhausted!!

Exhausted mother and daughter.

Wednesday 4/20:  Judy's Birthday!!!!

Today is Judy's birthday.  Christl brought a banner with her, so we put that up early before Judy got up.  We also had her cards and presents piled up.  It turned out to be a very nice birthday morning for her in our "home away from home".

We wanted to visit the historic Old Town St. Augustine and so to beat the crowds and find parking, we arrived at the visitor center parking garage by 10:00.  There were lots of spaces at that time, and the price is right: $15.00 for 24 hours.  We spent about 2 hours walking up and down St. George Street which is pedestrian only and is also very touristy.  Not much history but lots of shopping available.  

Entrance to historic St. George Street, now pedestrian only.

We beat the crowds by going early.  By noon, it was
wall to wall people and school children tour groups.

Shortly after noon we went to the Ice Plant for lunch.  Judy and I had grilled shrimp with white bean ragu and it was excellent!  Christl chose a very good strawberry panzanella salad.  

After lunch, it was back to the camper for a mid afternoon break.  About 5:00 we went to a nearby outlet center to pick up a few things and then to checkout the "famous" Buc-ees convenience store and gas station chain.  

Tomorrow Christl is getting a 5:00 AM Uber ride to the Jacksonville airpot.  Then later that morning we pack up and make the 4 hour drive to Carrabelle Beach RV Resort for a 5 night stay.

So, stay tuned.  For the next 2 weeks, no old friends to visit.  We are on our own.  As always, we enjoy the company as we travel!