Thomas and I had a really nice vacation last week in Florida. There was a lot of car time involved, but it was well worth the time spent with friends.
We left Saturday, the 5th, and drove to Gainesville, FL. Our friends Paul and Angela live there and we were able to spend the day with them and meet baby Henry. It was quick 24 hour stay, but we really enjoyed getting to see them! Thomas even got to pet an alligator (
wink wink).
On Sunday, we left for Miami. Our friends Meagan and Tripp live in Miami and we stayed with them until Tuesday. Thomas and Tripp both had to work all day on Monday, but Meagan and I enjoyed a little shopping and a little beach time :) I will say- for being in the sunshine state, the drivers in Miami are not very sun shinny!
On Tuesday morning, we left Miami and headed towards St. Augustine (
where we would stay for 4 nights). Tuesday was our only rainy day of the trip- which turned out to be perfect car weather. We arrived around 3:00 and got checked into our airbnb location. It was breath taking, to say the least. We were able to enjoy our own freestanding apartment that had a view of the ocean, our own pool and outdoor lanai, a dock with a great view of the lighthouse and the bridge of lions, and great company (
our airbnb host and his schnauzer, Tillie). I would (
without a doubt) recommend this stay to anyone, except that the owner is selling the property next month and moving to WINNIPEG. Thomas and I both thought he might be short a few marbles after telling us of this move. Thomas travels to Winnipeg quite frequently and it is COLD. We asked how he would make that hard transition and he said - "with lots of medication".
While in St. Augustine, we were able to explore the lighthouse, spend an entire day exploring downtown, and also spend a day at the beach. We were conveniently located to everything so we were able to walk downtown and back whenever we pleased.
I think one of the real highlights of our stay was Tillie. We are obviously dog people- and so is she. She loves being around other dogs and stuck by our sides the entire trip. Only at nighttime did she eventually go home to sleep in the main house. Other than that, she napped, walked, explored, and vegged with us for the entire trip! She was a spitting image of Wendy and had a lot of the same mannerisms- except that she was 6 lbs. Wendy is a whopping 15lbs! Apparently Tillie was the runt and never grew to her full potential. I will say- if Victor had asked us to take her home with us instead of toting her to blizzarding cold Winnipeg, we would of said yes in a minute!
We really enjoyed sitting out on the dock everyday. Thomas was able to fish every single day while I sat with the dogs and watched. He caught so many interesting things- 2 sting rays, an eel, a striped burrfish (
blowfish- like), lots of cat fish, a couple sharks, and a few red drum and blue fish. We also had several close encounters with dolphins that came right up to the dock to see us. It was very cool to see!
Wendy was a good little kayak dog
Victor, the homeowner owned another property that was located on St. Augustine Beach and we were able to park there on our beach day. It turned out to be very convenient because it was easily accessible for parking and had a pool and restrooms to use while we were at the beach! Pregnant ladies pee a lot.. or so I've been told...
On our last full day, we explored town. Traditionally, we buy an ornament on each vacation so we went out on a search for that. We also packed a picnic lunch and were able to picnic right next to Castillo De San Marcos. We didn't pay to go in, but we did get a great viewing of a cannon demonstration :). We also walked out onto the Bridge of Lions, which was fun!
Overall, it was a great vacation. We didn't have a busy agenda, but that was perfect and exactly what we needed!
So long for now St. Augustine!
