St. Augustine

Becky said that one of her favorite places in Florida is St. Augustine.  So dad and I made a reservation at Anastasia State Park and made our way down there.  It's only about 1 1/2 hours from here just south of Jacksonville.

We walked around the cobble stone streets and checked out some of the shops.  I didn't realize it when we decided to go but Monday was Veteran's Day so some of the State attractions had free admission.  St. Augustine is the oldest city in the U.S. dating back to 1565 and the Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort dating back to 1695.  So there is your history lesson for today.  You know I love all the old stuff and it just amazes me how generations of people have survived and even thrived.

This was the treasure room where all the good stuff was kept but somebody beat me to it!

When we first arrived the ranger said they are about to shoot the cannon off so if you hurry you might be able to catch it.  We had just gotten into the fort and we heard a boom.  So we missed it.  We walked around and looked at everything and just after we had left the fort we heard another boom.  Missed it again.  Anyway....nothing like pointing the cannon at the million dollar homes across the bay.  😁 I know, I know, it's all fake.

Then we made our way to the campground which is on Anastasia Island.  We found our campsite which was really beautiful.  

Drake's little tent worked perfectly.  After set up we went and explored the beach.  This island is great for shelling.  They were everywhere.  At first we were picking up every shell we found but it only took about 5 minutes to realize that there were a ton and we could be a bit more selective about size, shape and color.

Hey look, I am getting better at the selfies!!!!!

We stayed on the beach until it was almost dark.  Even though the sun was setting behind us, the colors of the ocean were amazing.

So back to the campsite.  Believe it or not this is the first camp fire dad has had since the fire at Darien and Jon's before we left.  

So while we were sitting at the campsite talking, we heard a rustling in the woods directly behind us and a growl.  We both heard it and I am not going to lie, it freaked me out.  So I shined my head lamp into the woods and there was a pair of green eyes up in a tree staring at us.  Still not sure what it was, squirrel, chipmunk, raccoon but I swear I thought it was a chupacabra coming to get us.  

So the next morning we got up early so we could see the sunrise.  I posted a couple pictures on FB already.  It was beautiful.  

What made it all the more perfect was a sail boat shooting across.  Could not have planned it better.  

So after the spectacular sunrise we went back ate some breakfast took down the tent and pretty much spent the rest of the day hanging out at the beach.

Dad dug a hole.

Dad crawled into hole.

Mom buried dad.

Dad escaped!

Love and miss you all!