Saturday, December 4
Trip to the ocean., at St. Augustine. The drive took a little over an hour--I keep thinking I need to make reservations where we want to be so we can stay in place when we get there, but then I remember that I did--or thought I did. Everyone said that Salt Springs was where the manatees where, and other than Crystal River where there weren't any camping spots, we were in the best spot.
And yes, they're here. We just can't see them. Everyone else does! If we only had an inflatable boat....
We passed
the restaurant we ate at yesterday:
Anyway, St. Augustine is a lovely old place. A bit overpopulated like everywhere in Florida. We went to the Farmer's Market first--it was a little like the one at home--lots of shoppers; few farmers. But there was one bit stand with lots of vegetables. Ed left me standing near it while he went to the bath room, and after a minute or so of trying to keep my back turned, I gave in and bought a lovely bunch of turnips. Only $3 and they were deep purple inside. Great.
I wished I'd gotten some citrus just to see if fresh tastes better. But it's best that I didn't--I don't want to ruin my taste buds for life.
The market was near closing by the time we got there, but still crowded when we left. One good thing I'll say about Florida--there always seem to be shady parking areas to leave the dogs in the car. The temperature was perfect for them to have a nice snooze while we shopped, which doesn't happen often.
On the the Beach. It was beautiful, of course, and cleaner than any beach I've ever seen. A good handful of people were hanging out (it was Saturday) and they all seemed very friendly. At least one person remarked on Zack, who was being carried--did someone get tired? And when we first parked, a lady parked next to us and I bitched under my breath. Why park right up beside us when there were empty places all over the parking lot?
But she got out and explained that she didn't want to get sand on her car. Sure enough, we were parked closest to the street and I could imagine that the oceanside spots might get sandy in windy weather. (They weren't, however). Then she remarked that she was from Texas, too--license plate--and had a son who'd just moved to Allen.
The ocean water was cold, of course. But I bet people swim in it in season.
Then we went on to the St Augustine lighthouse. And up a whole lot of stairs to the top. It was cool to the max. And again, there was nice shady parking for dogs.
Then back to the park where I took Molly on a long jog. Somehow, after having done this same route the day before, I missed my exit from the trail and ended up on a gravel road. I knew where I was going but couldn't figure out the best way to get there, so I ended up back out on the highway, circling the park. I don't like jogging along a highway, but it worked.
Lots of crabs at the springs...I counted fifty and I'm sure I didn't see but a fraction of them.
We saw three raccoons on the road to the primitive camping. But no bears. Oh, my.
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