Monday, January 6, 2025
Fairfield Inn
St. Augustine, Florida
Sun, 74F
After a good night’s sleep, we were ready
to tackle St. Augustine, the oldest city in the nation. Of course, there was a
brief stop at Buc-ees---the smell of barbecued beef and fresh baked sweet rolls
as you walk in is overwhelming to the senses. We did abstain, except for
coffee.
If you have never been to a Buc-ees, you might not understand the fascination of a gas station with 120 gas pumps and a store that has everything under the sun from Valentine doodads to 20 kinds of fudge, t-shirts, and a bakery with scones. In fact, Buc-ees is known for its BBQ brisket sandwiches, pastrami Reubens, cinnamon rolls, kolache, Beaver nuggets, walls of jerky (Bohemian Garlic, Cherry Maple, Teriyaki, Korean Barbecue, Bacon, Steakhouse, Jalapeno, Pepper, and Sweet & Spicy). By the way, put your orders in for the jerky, we will be at Buc-ees along the way at least two more times—I’m serious!
Ever onward to Bass Pro and Costco, and one of our favorite outlet malls with Tommy Bahama, Chicos, and Travel Pro. A TK swimsuit, 2 Janie pair of jeans, and another piece of luggage later, we headed to historic St. Augustine, we definitely needed some culture!
We walked and strolled and walked some
more, so much so that we could not find our truck when we were ready to leave. Since my Fitbit today registers 7.5 miles, I
think we walked 3 of those miles looking for that darned white GMC. After my feet said they were walking for
hours, we finally found it, right where we parked it—what on earth
would we do if we couldn’t find it? I need to be more observant—TK is very good at
directions, but I don’t think either of us were paying much attention when we
parked—boutiques and shops were calling to us.
In the meantime, we reached out to my friend Judy from Nebraska who now lives in St. Augustine and made plans for dinner, we had not seen her in two years. Her choice of Poppy’s, an Italian restaurant, was excellent, but the best part was seeing her again—we share a friendship of 58 years from when we first met at college in Aix-en-Provence, France. The halcyon years.
Our friends Donna and Lawrence left Wisconsin this morning and encountered much snow in Illinois. Thank goodness they reached Tennessee for their first night. They experienced a “huge rock to the windshield” after they got past the snow, but it did not go through, and they have already made an insurance claim! We are keeping track of D & L and will meet up with them on Wednesday.
TK’s Takes: It was a perfect day—the weather was
great. The Bass Pro Shop is brand new
and they are still working on the exterior.
Aside to Ann: I’m glad we can still keep up because I haven’t walked as much as I should have since Great Britain!! Keep at it, Australia beckons!
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