Tuesday and
Wednesday, January 10-11, 2017
70 F
Fairfield
Inn (St. Augustine) and Hampton Inn (Cocoa Beach)
Our trip
from Rock Hill to St. Augustine was uneventful, a little dusting of snow in
South Carolina, but the temperature was quickly warming, to 68 F. We met up
with my friend since 1967 when we went to school in France. Six weeks ago Judy,
a retired school administrator, packed up her house in Nebraska, sold it, and
moved to St. Augustine where two of her daughters live. Her new home is very
comfortable and she is getting acquainted with the area. She drove us to Clark’s Fish Camp outside Jacksonville,
“a seafood shack where stuffed wild animals preside over this popular eatery,”
a very interesting restaurant with great atmosphere that overlooks a bayou. www.clarksfishcamp.com We were Judy’s first out of town visitors!
Clark;s Fish Camp near Jacksonville, Florida
After much
conversation with Judy, TK and I headed back to the Fairfield (note to Donna and Lawrence:
TK now owns two more TB shirts J)
This morning
Judy picked us up for her “tour” of Old St. Augustine, now celebrating its 450th
year. TK and I have visited before, but
we had never toured the Spanish fort, Castillo
de San Marco, now part of the National Park Service. I was most intrigued by the very thick walls
made of coquina stone—there are over 400,000 blocks of stone, all cut and set
by hand. Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed almost entirely of the shells
of mollusks, trilobites, and other invertebrates. One can actually see the
shells in the wall’s blocks.
Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida
Block of Coquina stone
We strolled
the streets of the old town, its small shops stocked with interesting jewelry,
handbags, hats, shoes, and tourist items. Gelato and ice cream stores are
numerous.
Two educators at the first schoolhouse in America
New Tilley hat
We enjoyed lunch at Harry’s Seafood, Bar, and Grill. We sat outside
in a terrace area. Judy introduced us to green fried tomatoes, which TK and I
had never tried before. We are sold on that as appetizer!
TK at Harry's Seafood Bar and Grill
After lunch
we left Judy with a promise to return, perhaps we will see her on a July cruise
to Bermuda, but we will visit her again in St. Augustine!
We drove to
Titusville, Florida for dinner at Dixie Crossroads,
definitely a seafood favorite, then went on to Cocoa Beach to the Hampton Inn
and our annual visit to RonJon’s. www.dixiecrossroads.com
Dixie Crossroads!
In
Titusville we stopped at a Staples Super Store for advice on technology. As I
knew, the laptop needed to update Windows 10, but the Internet service at the
hotels is very poor. The tech person told me if I had good Wi-Fi I would have
no problem with the download. Tonight the Hampton Inn assured me their Wi-Fi
was strong, and so it is. I think I also resolved the Yahoo problem—I am a
guest author on the blog with my gmail account (for one month). I am sure that
R and B are so relieved that the blog lives! What can I say?
TK's Takes:The
shrimp in Florida tastes better than the shrimp in back home. The stone blocks
of coquina are pretty cool. He was very pleased to go to the car wash and near
the Outlet Mall and they hand washed his truck. He likes his truck to be very
clean and polished.
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