St. Augustine

---

On the road again and a sudden "POP!" On our trip to St. Augustine from Port St. Lucie Friday morning, the passenger side rear tire blew! Glad for the emergency road service membership. Glad for double tires on the rear of the RV. Glad for our own bathroom, snacks, Magellan GPS (so service guy knows our location), cell phones, credit cards (must pre-pay for the new tire), and computers with air card service (to keep us amused) while we wait. After a 2 plus hour delay we are back on I 95 heading north.

We haven’t been to Saint Augustine in several years. It’s great to be back. We are at North Beach RV Park, located on Route A1A North between the Atlantic Ocean and the North River. The sites are separated by lush indigenous shrubs and trees. The beach has recovered beautifully from the serious erosion we experienced the last time we were here.

We celebrated our arrival with one of the best meals of our trip (and there have been great ones) at The Reef, on the Atlantic Ocean directly across from the park. We will try The Reef's sister restaurant, Aunt Kate's, on the North River (sunset) side another evening.

We ventured into town after a relaxing beach and pool day. Dinner at Columbia was fine but the service wasn’t up to that of Columbia at St. Armond’s Circle and Ybor City. Chalk that up to a very busy Saturday night in St. Aug. The streets and shops were jammed with spring break families.

A pageant celebrating Spanish influences was fun to watch as we waited for our Columbia “hostess buzzer” to signal our table was ready. After dinner we headed for the San Sabastian Winery where a band played on the rooftop venue. Thank you Joanne and Rick for suggesting San Sabastian. Great view from the roof, especially of the full moon – the brightest and closest to earth in many years.

Jeeping north to Amelia Island later today after Wes's wonderful bacon and egg picnic breakfast with Barb's homemade strawberry jam on think slices of sourdough bread (not sure we ever mentioned the free bread in Chockoloskee), and black pepper/cheesy grits left over from our Reef dinner.

One drawback here would be poor internet service. Very intermittent; but it's the weekend and this seems to be able to be posted if I hurry.

---

Photos

North Beach St. Augustine
Huge expanse at low tide. Love the smooth reflections. Lots of fisher folk here!

The Reef Restaurant From the Beach
The balcony dining is new from when we were here last.

Pool at North Beach
This pool has a ramp with a rail; right next to the steps. Also, the hot tub and the pool are closely adjacent. The water from each mingles.

Crab in Distress
A passer-by returned this guy to the ocean.

Engarde! Spanish Re-enactment St. Aug.
Pageantry from now until Easter in St. Aug.

Downtown on a Saturday Night
The narrow streets make St. Augustine very busy and very walkable.

Uber Moon
The Moon appeared at its closest to Earth while we were in St. Augustine.

Comments

[Silver Back Cuda]

St. Augustine
Like Ponce de Leon, we are exploring St. Augustine. Where is that fountain he was looking for?

[Silver Back Cuda]

St. Augustine
So, where is that fountain Ponce de Leon spoke of?