Scintillating St Augustine, FL

June 13-16

Mom called this bridge, a bowtie bridge; just for fun

Mom and dad promised me a quick drive from our last camp. They didn’t disappoint! They had us in our campsite and eating lunch by 2:00 PM. Hope they can find more pull through sites! 

We walked around and found a dog park with some fun "doodles" playing. I had so much fun, that I crashed afterwards! 

Next morning after a long walk with mom, we eventually meandered into St Augustine Historic District. 

Mom and dad wanted to eat again at the Maple Street Biscuit Company. They loved this cafe when they came on the Loop.  It’s still incredibly popular! The good smells alone made me crazy! While we waited, the storm clouds were chased away by the sun. Yeah! While they ate, thanks to Facetime; they ate brunch with our son & granddaughters in San Diego. Here's Elise having her cinnamon toast. We love Facetime and Zoom!!!

Clara has discovered how to "Blow Raspberries or Bubbles." She takes it very seriously, as you can see here...

Since it was pretty & cooler with gentle breezes; we walked around the waterfront historic area. 

A new downtown parking garage and visitor's center, very nice!

Looking into St. Augustine's historic area

Mom loves these old clapboard houses with all the gingerbread trim

Many have been turned into Bed and Breakfasts

One of the many shopping streets filled with bars and restaurants too

Notice, they call themselves the first wax museum

Across from the fort is an example of the old city walls 

Looking out to the Marina where we stayed with Moondance and Lily

It's a very popular marina; as you can see here.

Love the pair of lions that guard this lift bridge

The crowds were getting bigger, so we decided to go checkout the lighthouse and beaches. 

Dad was the photographer because we weren't sure if I was welcome.

Our afternoon here ended with a downpour, so we headed back to our trailer for a rest.

We enjoyed Meehan’s Irish Pub and Seafood House Backyard for dinner. 

Mom again shared her seafood and green beans. I’m really loving this part of our trip!!! 

We walked around the area and up towards Castillo de Marco, the Spanish fort that is now a national monument. https://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm 

The fort's currently closed due to Covid-19. We just walked around outside and enjoyed the boats out on the marina, before heading to “Sleeping Around” to accomplish just that…

Mom and I were up early; walking and playing ball before coming home for breakfast. We made it to Vilano Beach around 10:00 AM. I discovered that my new favorite activity was playing fetch in the ocean. Little kids kept interrupting my game by recovering my ball for me. It was frustrating because I loved trying to figure out which direction the waves were taking my ball. 

They made me occasionally rest

Yep, I managed to get mom wet too!

Melissa, my dog trainer taught me, "Place" on this cot and Mom and Dad practice "Place" with me...

It was a great beach just to walk along. After about three hours we headed to our campsite for lunch, showers for all; and rest.

Off in the distance is downtown St Augustine

If you look hard in the middle, you will see the lighthouse

Dad took me into the waves too...

For dinner, mom found another wonderful restaurant in a shopping center called "Black Molly’s Grill". Delicious!!!

I get help from dad proofing my blog before publishing

Just like my predecessor Lily, I never get tired of playing with my ball!!!

Mom and dad did a bunch of inside & outside cleaning before loading up the truck to leave. Mom told dad she only wanted to have to drop the trailer; and empty the refrigerator when we got "Sleeping Around" back to its hanger. That plan turned out to be very fortuitous...

As you look on the right side, the cable that connects all our electronic systems to the truck: braking, lighting and so forth came undone from it's ties, and started dragging on the roadway...

We kept getting these confusing electronic messages, along with our back view camera dropping offline. Scary!

We stopped at a Raceway to check the truck/trailer plug connection & it was secure. We failed to notice the rest of the cable dragging...UGH! We had already called Camping World in Tampa, where we purchased our trailer; to tell them we would be stopping by to have them look at it...When we got there, dad saw the problem. YIKES!!! 

Thankfully, it didn't turn out to be an outrageously costly fix; but we had to leave it... We will drive back to Tampa in a week or so to pick it up. The entire drive was beautiful, but it definitely got hotter as we went South!

Always good to be home again!