St. Augustine, December 28-29, 2018

Karen and I decided to take in the sights and lights of the season as presented in St. Augustine, Florida.  The actual traveling was mundane as we motored by car and stayed in a motel, but the sights brought back great memories of my stay there in the month of December 2014 when I was still cruising full time aboard Kelly IV.

I loved this view from my boat as
the lights were doubled, reflecting off the water.
From December 2014, St. Augustine Nights of Lights

We arrived Friday late afternoon and walked the streets of old St. Augustine enjoying the many sounds, sights and sensations including numerous temptations for delicious-smelling ice cream, fudge, pastries and drinks.

With many of the buildings dating to the early 1700s, the architecture is highly varied, often beautiful, and always interesting.  Although it is highly commercialized, there is plenty of real history to make the city a grand place to visit.  As dusk fell we drifted into a second story pub to listen to live music from a talented guitarist and sip a local brew.  By the time we grew hungry for dinner the sky was dark and the Nights of Lights were on full display.

A panorama shot with my mobile

We enjoyed a dinner at my favorite spot in St. Augustine, Meehan's Irish Pub.  Yep, I swilled draught Smithwick's while Karen and I enjoyed our first Irish fare in some time.  The video may do a better job of presenting the lights as we saw them.

The next day we drove through the rain for a brief visit to Anastasia State Park to consider camping there in the future.  It struck us a very nice campground with reasonably private sites, a great spot for Kayaking (on Salt Run) and paved roads for comfortable bicycle rides.

We took our lunch at a fun little bistro called the Gypsy Cab Company Restaurant.  It was gaily decorated and the food was excellent.