St. Augustine
We had a lovely and busy stay in Titusville and Orlando but it was time to move on to St. Augustine. We had this stop on our “must do” list from the start of this adventure. Justin has family just north in Jacksonville but we’ve only just visited St. Augustine for lunch at Cap’s On the Water followed by a quick drive through the downtown area before heading back to the big city. We were super excited to get to spend some time here. After our 92 nm and almost 23 hours on the water, we stepped off the boat at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina and knew that 1 week was not going to be enough. Since there was a waiting list at the marina, we split our stay here between the City Marina and Marker 8 Hotel & Marina.
St. Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers and is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the US and is full of historic homes, buildings, and museums. We spent multiple days just wandering between the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the US, The Lightner Museum in the historic Hotel Alcazar, and the St. Augustine Lighthouse. We also drank from the Fountain of Youth so that we can continue to not act our age. We shopped on St. George’s St, went to the Pirate and Shipwreck museums and saw a menagerie of animals at the Alligator Farm. There are also 3 breweries, 2 distilleries and a winery all within walking or biking distance from the town center which, of course, we had to visit.
We took a few days off from sight seeing to head to Jacksonville with Justin’s uncle Paul. He was generous enough to allow us to borrow his car to do some shopping, use his washer/dryer, and make us a lovely steak dinner. It was very nice to spend a quiet evening with Paul to catch up and swap stories.
We were also excited for this leg of the trip since we were meeting up with our sailing friends, Craig, Diane and their lovely dog Bonny on S/V Out of Sight. We met them while we were both prepping our boats for cruising at Pelican Rest Marina in Galveston. We had planned on buddy boating together across the Gulf to Pensacola. However, they were ready to go before us, found a weather window at the beginning of December and left us to start their journey. We were sad to see them leave but happy they were underway. We left Galveston almost exactly a month after them and have finally caught up with them here in St. Augustine. We’re going to try again to buddy boat together up the East Coast for increased safety on offshore passages and to have another couple to hang out with while we’re on this wild adventure. And they have a dog!
Our stay here in St. Augustine is soon coming to an end as we head to Savannah, GA with S/V Out of Sight. We’re just waiting for a good window to keep heading north and out of Florida. Skål
Life is a journey that’s not measured in miles or years, but in experiences.
– Jimmy Buffet
