Rewind .... A Recap of St. Augustine

We were having such a good time in St. Augustine that we didn't get the chance to tell you what we did.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and picked up a mooring ball in the harbour just off the ICW. We spent a few minutes getting settled, and then were anxious to get ashore, so we launched the dinghy and set off for the dinghy dock. We had a quick walk around town, along the pedestrian mall and through Flagler College. Now a private arts college, the former Ponce de Leon hotel is a stunning display of Tiffany glass. It was completed in 1887 and was one of the first buildings in the US to have electricity. We were back on the boat by 5:30 for some dinner, noting an abundance of Canadian boats in the harbour.

On Saturday morning we were up early and did some boat chores before heading back into town. Our objectives for the day were to get to West Marine and the lighthouse. We passed by a great bakery, stopped in for some goodies, then carried on with our hike. With only minimal grumbling from the troops, we managed to find 2 of the 3 sets of charts that we will need for The Bahamas. We then decided that we would try to take the bus back to the marina with our purchases. Upon checking the schedule, we noted that we had about 30 minutes to the next bus, so stopped at the grocery store for a few items. We learned early on that you never pass a grocery store without picking something up. Now to the bus .... easier said than done. The buses in St. Augustine are 'flag down' buses, meaning there are no bus stops, you just wave your arms as they approach, and they stop to pick you up. In theory, that sounds great. In practice, not so much. Harder to catch a bus, when you don't really know where to wait. So, we waited for the 'blue' bus outside the grocery store and sure enough, the bus approached, we waved, it stopped, and we got on....the wrong bus. We got on the 'connector' instead of the 'blue' bus. In our defense, we did ask the driver if this bus would go where we we headed. He truthfully told us it would pass nearby. He neglected to tell us that it wouldn't get there for another 90 minutes. To make a long story short, we made it back sooner than we anticipated, and in the end he was very kind to drive a short way off his route to greatly decrease our walk back.
After dropping off our bags at the boat and changing into cooler clothes, we headed back for shore. We walked across the Bridge of Lions, which crosses the Mantanzas River to Anastasia Island. It was then a short walk to the St. Augustine Lighthouse. We all enjoyed the 219-step climb to the top, with a great view of the ocean and the harbour from the top. We could even spot Cee Jem! Lots of information was presented about the lighthouse, including the story of the lighthouse keepers son who designed a parachute which he tested from the top with his sister's cat! (The cat was unharmed, though not too friendly for the next several weeks.) On our way home we passed a little grocer that was mentioned in our cruising guide as having good produce. There we picked up the best oranges that I have ever had.

Sunday morning we set out to get to the bagel shop and do some laundry. On laundry days you try to find 2 errands that will take you about 45 minutes each. In this case the wash goes in, we go for bagels, we put the wash in the dryer and then we take a quick tour of the fort, and come back and pick up the laundry, Well, it almost went like that. We all found the Castello de San Marcos fascinating, so our laundry sat in the dryer for a while before we got back to it. The Castello was built by the Spanish with construction beginning in 1672, making it one of the oldest buildings in the US. The walls are built with blocks of coquina - similar to limestone, but made of seashells. The interesting thing about this material is that because it is quite porous, when struck by a hard object (such as a cannon ball), the walls absorbed them, rather than shattering as granite or brick would. The guide said it would be like shooting bb's into styrofoam. After an attack, the Spanish would go out under the cover of dark and stuff the damaged walls with straw and then plaster over them. By morning they looked brand new. The story goes that the English wrote home saying that the Spanish had discovered a magic stone that healed itself.
While walking back along the shoreline to pick up our laundry, we noticed a group of people watching something in the water. Upon closer inspection, we saw two old manatees rooting in the mud bottom near the anchorage. We thought they would have all migrated south by now, but were told that there are a few 'urban' manatees who stay in the rivers for the winter. As long as they can find 70 degree water they are OK, and there are several warm water springs in the area.
Sunday afternoon the girls had a dinghy driving tutorial. On our tour of the mooring field we chatted with another cruising family who was moving onto their sailboat that day, they were on their 11th, and hopefully last, dinghy trip to get all their stuff aboard. We also chatted with a few other Canadian boats that we had met up with earlier in Charleston.
Once back at the boat, we hauled the dinghy back up to the front deck, had some dinner, reviewed Monday's sail plan, and were off to bed.
St. Augustine certainly ranks up there as one of our favourite cities on this trip!