Coastal Commentaries

This is the best thing about living in Cape Canaveral. This is why I moved to the coast. My friend, Samantha and I headed to the beach this afternoon. The sky was clear and blue, the water a nice shade of blue green and sparkling. Despite all the people, although not as crowded as other beaches like Daytona, it was a peaceful, tranquil day.

A beautiful day at the beach!

Samantha suns.

We sat in the surf.

The surfing was good, surfers ranging in ages from 6-65. This surfer was about 65 yrs old.

I’m a people watcher. This father uses a trip to the beach for educational purposes, pointing out the different little fishes and shells.

Look! It’s Bond Girl, Samantha Breezy!

Top rated hotels and resorts by Trip Advisor.

Other hotels and motels in the area from Trip Advisor.

Seriously, if you travel to any place within the U.S. St. Augustine should be one of your premiere destinations.

Ponce de Leon went in search of the fountain of youth.

The Fountain of Youth costs $7. I suggest taking the first part of the tour where visitors are actually allowed to drink from the Fountain of Youth (Ponce de Leon was quoted as saying it was the sweetest water he’s ever drank. Actually, the water is not sweet and tastes like bad well water with Sulfa as the main ingredient)

Sergei Zackovich and Ponce de Leon

Where Ponce de Leon first landed in Florida

Be sure to check out the Fudge Shop, Kilwin’s. Be patient, the line is always out the door but well worth the wait.

There are at least three hat shops in the Old City. This one has a cool red door.

Another back street in the Old City.

Fun with statues at the St. Augustine Public Library

Stop in at the A1A Ale House for a micro-brew. I had the Bridge of Lions Brown Ale. Yummy!

I have two more installments left to do. One will cover Anastasia State Park and the other installment will be about the San Marcos Fort. So stay tuned and y’all come back now, ya hear.

If you know me, you know that I am a lover of history so it’s no surprise that the Old City of St. Augustine is one of my most favorite places to visit. It is an area steep in history. Considered the oldest city in the U.S. St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. That kind of puts it into perspective, doesn’t it?

There is so much to see, do, and experience in St. Augustine that one blog entry with photos just won’t do (actually, only one day exploring St. Augustine just won’t do either.) So I thought I’d separate this into several entries.

We enjoyed many different kinds of architecture. This is an old church in Old City. Read more… »

A few days after Christmas, my friend, Mr. Jamaica, his family and I went camping in Anastasia State Park (more about the park to come.) Now this delicate flower city girl don’t take a cotton to camping, however, the advantage was that we were so close to not only the old city of St. Augustine (the oldest city in the U.S.) but the beautiful St. Augustine Lighthouse as well. The city of St. Augustine is located about 30 miles south of Jacksonville, Florida. From where I live, St. Augustine is about a 2-2 1/2 hour drive north.

The original idea, since we’d spent a fun-filled but grueling day exploring old town St. Augustine, was to walk around the lighthouse and take photos. We went around to a service side entrance, hopped a low gate and began snapping. No one shooed us away. Then Mr. J’s college aged son noticed that no one was standing guard by the open gate in the side yard. So we decided to be mischeivious and sneak inside.

As you can see—A LOT of stairs. Read more… »

Jetty Park is just two miles down the street from where I live. You can see the rocks that jut out into the ocean. It is the barrier for the entrance to Port Canaveral, where shrimp boats and cruise ships enter and exit the port.