About St. Augustine / Woolsey Sighting in Daytona

Tuesday, December 2nd: Daytona

On Saturday, after we arrived at St. Augustine, we had a quick lunch and went in to shore to have a look see. St. Augustine Marina charges $10 a day for using their dinghy dock but the fee also entitles you to use their showers, lounge/laundry room and to dispose of your garbage. We paid our fee, got the sticker on our dinghy and set out.

As we rounded the corner of the marina building, it was like stepping into the middle of Canada's Wonderland on a busy day. The trolley tour pick up spot was immediately in front of the marina. Trolleys (actually buses looking like trolleys) were lined up and leaving full one after another with a clang of bells and the sound of the driver's spiel over the microphone. The streets were packed with people. Bob was confused - he'd been to St. Augustine before with his golfing buddies and this was not what he remembered. Finally we realized. It was the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

We walked by historic buildings with stunning architecture and then turned toward the fort - Castillo de San Marcos. St. Augustine was founded in 1565 as a Spanish military outpost. It is the oldest "continually occupied European settlement" in the US and we found ourselves on narrow streets where no cars are allowed and squat buildings running together that point to an earlier time - but on that day, the masses of people everywhere made it all seem a bit "Disneylandish". Nevertheless, we made plans to visit the fort and tour the old Hotel Ponce de Leon (now a college) the following day.

We knew that there would be rain Sunday afternoon, but we ignored the imperative for all good sailors to listen to the weather each morning. Just before noon, when we had finished walking around the fort, we looked over to check our anchored boat. The head sail was showing a triangle of flapping sail that had come partially unfurled. It couldn't be left that way so we walked back to the marina where Captain Bob immediately headed for the dinghy dock and I went to the laundry/lounge room to check on email. When I got there the talk was of a coming storm - high winds and rain. It was no surprise to me when Bob reappeared saying that we had to get back to the boat - there could be no walking about town and leaving it exposed as it was at anchor. Our dinghy engine took a while to start (sound familiar?) - possibly it was "flooded" and while Bob pulled away at the starter cord and I stood waiting, the heavens opened and a nasty rain soaked us both - oh well. By evening, the storm had passed and Sea Change was still anchored where she should be. We'd seen very little of St. Augustine but still we decided to leave next day.

Monday morning we pulled anchor and went through the Bridge of Lions at the 7:30 a.m. opening, stopping at the marina dock on the other side to diesel up in preparation for moving on to Daytona - but when we got to the dock, the sun came out and with unused tour tickets still in our pockets, we thought, why not stay another day? - so we pulled into a slot at the marina and spent the morning taking advantage of marina conveniences. Bob changed the engine oil and was able to dispose of the old oil safely while there. I did laundry and caught up on email. In the afternoon, we went touring again.

What a difference! With the holiday hordes gone, St. Augustine had a completely different look. It was charming and interesting with small cafes and artsy shops of all kinds. We had lunch at the Columbia restaurant which serves Spanish food (in keeping with the city's Spanish history) and then went on our tour of the Hotel Ponce de Leon. The hotel is now Flagler college, named after the man who built the hotel - Henry Flagler. Flagler built several other hotels, among them the Breakers in West Palm Beach where, in our other life, Bob and I attended 3 conventions. Flagler also co-founded Standard Oil with John D. Rockefeller and built a railroad all the way to the Keys. (The Keys part of the railroad didn't last long - it was destroyed by the first hurricane that hit it.)

In addition to educating 1900 students, Flagler College has a mandate to restore the building and, where possible, maintain it as it was during the 19th century when it was an opulent and luxurious hotel. Flagler also built the Alcazar Hotel across the street which had the largest indoor pool in the country (in 1888) and as well as a sulfur springs spa. The Alcazar has become the Lightner Museum and houses a collection of 19th century art and decorative pieces. We toured that building as well. I found the interiors of both buildings breath taking.

We will try to stop by St. Augustine again on the way back. There's a little Polish cafe that sells cabbage rolls, fruit pirogies and waffles with toppings of all kinds where it would be fun to lunch - but this time - we contented ourselves with buying a giant cabbage roll to take back to the boat and perk up our leftovers dinner. We were glad to have had this most enjoyable day - oil change, laundry, tours and all - in St. Augustine.

Dining room of the former Hotel Ponce de Leon - now used by the students of Flagler College

Wednesday, December 3rd: Daytona

Yesterday afternoon, we anchored just outside of Halifax harbour in Daytona. Today we went into town to do chores: haircuts for both of us, visit to West Marine to check on a "dry bed" system, visit to the library to do email, lunch.

The manager at West Marine said that he uses "Dri-Deck" fit together plastic squares to put under the bed on his boat and that they work well. Bob decided that we would give it a try and bought a box of squares which he is now fitting under our mattress. The mattress is up in the cockpit to get a good drying in the Florida sun.

True to form - when you get to the big city, it's hard to find free Web access. Today we had no luck. Even the library charges for Internet access and they don't have wireless at all. We paid $5 and each spent some time doing email.
The Woolseys are in town! They arrived today and we have a date for drinks with them before dinner - but as we were walking back to the dinghy, we met them coming out of the marina. We'll travel with them to Titusville tomorrow.