St. Augustine Municipal Marina Issue #20 4-3-2018
We spent 11 days at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina, March 8 thru the 18.
Can you see our little Nellie May?
The big red boat in this photo is our neighbor, a 31 foot Ranger Tug. If you look closely we are on the other side of it. Our 25 foot boat looked like a little sister next to the bigger boat. It was fun to meet Amy and Steve and get a tour of their boat. Then we gave them a tour of our boat. It didn't take very long...
St. Augustine Marina has floating docks which is great because the tide changes are about 4-5 feet. The marina had great showers!
Can you see our little Nellie May?
The big red boat in this photo is our neighbor, a 31 foot Ranger Tug. If you look closely we are on the other side of it. Our 25 foot boat looked like a little sister next to the bigger boat. It was fun to meet Amy and Steve and get a tour of their boat. Then we gave them a tour of our boat. It didn't take very long...
St. Augustine Marina has floating docks which is great because the tide changes are about 4-5 feet. The marina had great showers!
Castillo de San Marcos (fort)
One of the highlights of the St. Augustine area is the fort, Castillo De San Marcos. It was completed in 1695 and served continuously for 205 years under the flags of five different countries. It was the focus of many combat actions, mostly between the Spanish and English, including a siege by Sir Francis Drake, who burned the town. The fort is constructed of cocquina stone, which is comprised of lithified sand and shells. The stone is rather soft and instead of breaking apart when hit by cannon balls, would absorb the impact with little damage.
The tour of the fort included a demonstration where the cannon was fired (no cannon ball) out over the bay.
It is the oldest fort in the US and is a real blast from the past.
The tour of the fort included a demonstration where the cannon was fired (no cannon ball) out over the bay.
It is the oldest fort in the US and is a real blast from the past.
St. Patrick Parade ( a week early...)
Saturday, March 10, there was a St. Paddy's Day parade downtown St. Augustine. We enjoyed watching a marching band, a bagpipe band, many pirates, horses and a few motorcycles. And lots of green! ARG, matey.
A fun day at the Celtic Festival
We spent Sunday afternoon at the Celtic Festival. The sun finally came out which made the afternoon delightful. We had a ringside seat for a multitude of Celtic games. Local folk competed in the cabor toss (throwing a phone pole) to launching a burlap bag of straw over a bar to throwing rocks like a shot-put. Interesting bunch of guys in skirts (kilts??). Food booths offered everything from haggis (yuk) to "meat-on-a-stick" to funnel cakes. And beverages of every kind. If you get my drift...
Tim went sailing!
Tim is a sailor at heart. He was one happy guy during his 2 hour sailboat tour on the Freedom moored at the marina. No, he didn't get to drive the boat. Yes, he really wanted the wind to blow harder. A bonus of the tour was they went under the bridge so it had to open for them, twice.
I was on the dock to greet him when the tour was over.
I think I did some laundry and read a book while he was gone. We were both happy.
I was on the dock to greet him when the tour was over.
I think I did some laundry and read a book while he was gone. We were both happy.
The lighthouse on St. Augustine
When we are in a marina that is right in the middle of the action we do lots of walking. We walk to restaurants, grocery stores and museums. This time we walked to the Lighthouse. It was a looooong walk. We debated on calling an Uber to get back to the marina. Instead we decided to NOT climb all the way to the top of the lighthouse and save our legs for the walk back.
This lighthouse had 2 different museums on the grounds with loads of history and photos of the lighthouse over the years. Since we are from the midwest all the history of the coastal area is new to us and very interesting. I love the photos of the women in their big dresses and hats taken on the very same porch where I was standing that day.
Kind of gives me goosebumps.
This lighthouse had 2 different museums on the grounds with loads of history and photos of the lighthouse over the years. Since we are from the midwest all the history of the coastal area is new to us and very interesting. I love the photos of the women in their big dresses and hats taken on the very same porch where I was standing that day.
Kind of gives me goosebumps.
Marilyn Monroe’s dress
It's my fault.
I heard the original Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum was located downtown St. Augustine. I was intrigued. I put it on the schedule. We went.
Oh my goodness. I have never seen so many weird things in my life. And most of it was creepy. And then we saw Marilyn Monroe's dress.
The museum had just purchased the dress she wore when she sang Happy Birthday to President Kennedy. It was in a glass case and had a full time docent/guard at the exhibit. The guard said they purchased the dress for 5 million dollars. That explained the security.
Tim thought it was pretty cool.
I heard the original Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum was located downtown St. Augustine. I was intrigued. I put it on the schedule. We went.
Oh my goodness. I have never seen so many weird things in my life. And most of it was creepy. And then we saw Marilyn Monroe's dress.
The museum had just purchased the dress she wore when she sang Happy Birthday to President Kennedy. It was in a glass case and had a full time docent/guard at the exhibit. The guard said they purchased the dress for 5 million dollars. That explained the security.
Tim thought it was pretty cool.
Flagler College was beautiful
This is a photo of the ceiling of the entryway to the main hall at Flagler College. The building was the former Ponce Hotel. It was gorgeous.