Sugar Sand 4 Wheeling! Great Eats!

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Pulling into North Beach Camp Resort, 4125 Coastal Highway, St. Augustine, Florida always feels like coming home for us. We've stopped here for a few nights on our way into Florida (October or November) for the past 9 years. If we don't take the Panhandle heading home; we stop again in March or April. Full hooks up, nice staff, indigenous plants between sites offering more privacy, nice beach across the street, heated pool, and two restaurants (one on the Atlantic Ocean; one on the river side) all add to the attraction.



We're always on the lookout for something new. This trip, we discovered that we can drive the Jeep on part of the beach. Often this is a privilege reserved for Florida citizens and comes with a hefty fee. Not so here when during the "off season" the beach was ours! The sand at North Beach, is a bit grainy, which is quite typical of beaches where restoration takes place. In that process, sand is suctioned up from the ocean floor and then blown back on the designated beach. It's a great way to recover from hurricanes and erosion; but the quality of the sand is a bit inferior. The sand where we went with the vehicle was soft as 10X sugar! We had it to ourselves except for a few fishermen. Some were using casting nets to catch schools of mullet, some were rod fishing, their children were frolicking in the warm tidal pools. Real estate wise; this is quite high end and limited to single family residences. Like so many places that we like in Florida; moratoriums have been imposed on high rise complexes. Whatever, took a beach stroll, chatted with fishermen, and gawked at the homes. Nice morning well spent!

I wonder if Ponce de Leon was bombarded with tourism publications when he discovered St. Augustine. This town might well be the world leader in tourism guides, many of which have coupons for restaurants and attractions. We were steered to Barley Republic Public House by Andrea, a transplanted New Yorker now living in the Jacksonville area. She was spot on in recommending our appetizer - "the soon to be world famous" Irish eggs. The hard boiled egg dish is similar to Scotch eggs, but involved a surrounding of corned beef hash and light batter coating before being fried. The restaurant is at 48 Spanish Street and we sat on the deck watching hansom cabs pass as we enjoyed a few beers and a great late lunch. Because we spent over $25; we got a free ($6 value) cranberry bread pudding with a coupon. We couldn't use a 10% coupon (not valid Fridays through the weekend); but we loved our lunch at Kingfish Grill on the Water, 252 Yacht Club Rd., Camachee Island Marina. Great view of the Intercoastal Waterway, some great yachts, and a few guys pulling oysters into their buckets. A jazz trio, pitcher of sangria and a nice meat & cheese platter were delightful on the roof n of San Sabastian Winery on Friday night. It was "Art Night," and downtown was hopping. We had a few great meals at The Reef, 4100 Coastal Highway A1A, Vilano Beach and a wonderful sunset dinner at Aunt Kate's on the River, 612 Euclid Ave, Vilano Beach; both are adjacent to the RV Park and owned by the same folks. They are in every coupon book with a 10% discount. We caught happy hour bands at The Reef on Friday and Saturday nights. The trio, Swamp Flower, was fabulous. I just read that Barley's has "sessions," like in Ireland, on Thursday evenings. Next time we'll make it!





Our only retail stop this trip was to the Cotton Ways Boutique, 56 Hypolita Street. It's a sister to the Gauze Shop in Stuart, Florida. Love this fabric and these styles for tropical travel.



So it's on to Fort De Soto in the Tampa Bay area. Probably won't get back to St. Augustine until October of 2014 as we are already planning a Pan Handle exit with stops in Nashville and Lexington in April. But, don't miss the photos after the "jump!"





























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Photos

Jeep on the Beach
This was a new experience for us. Definitely needed 4 wheel drive in places.

Irish Eggs
Hardboiled eggs, wrapped in corned beef hash, lightly battered and fried. Served with a spicy mustard. YUM! Great appetizer. We were advised - "order two" - too good to share!

Aunt Katie's Sunset
This is the river on the opposite side of the campground from the Atlantic Ocean side.

Netter
Looking for a school of mullet!