Friday, August 19, 2016

Fly On The Wall In St. Augustine

   
    Welcome to another Fly On The Wall group posting, hosted by Karen of Baking In A Tornado. Today, 10 bloggers are inviting you into their homes for a peek into their private lives.

     For years, I have wanted to visit St. Augustine, Florida. I'm a native Floridian, and believe it or not, I have never visited one of oldest cities in the U.S. even though it's only a five hour drive from my home. Say What?? Yeah, I was too busy carting the Family to Disney World a gazillion times over the last 30 years. I've traveled all over the country, and after college, did the whole student tour thing in Europe where they cram 20+ countries into four weeks. I think I might have slept on the bus through a few of them.

     With my husband's birthday looming on the horizon, I thought it might be a good time to seize the moment and book a trip to St. Augustine...... Best. Decision. Ever. So much to do and see there! We stayed at a cozy little B&B and pretty much ate and drank our way through the city. Incredible seafood dishes and the best handcrafted cocktails I've ever had. For those of you familiar with the city, here are the places we visited during our four days in St. Augustine: St. John's Jail, Potter's Wax Museum, The Fountain of Youth, The old wooden school house, the old Drugstore, and both the Tolomato and Huguenot cemetery. We also did the ghost tour, plus the Old Time Trolly Tour; visited the oldest Museum store, the history museum, all the shops on St. George Street (the historic walking mall district), the Cathedral Basilica, Flager College, Lightner Museum (and we ate in the famous cafe in the old swimming pool area), San Sebastian Winery, and the Castillo de san Marcos fort. We also ate at all the yummy restaurants that were recommended to us: O.C. White's, Harry's, The Columbia, A1A Ale Works, and the Raintree.


     There were a lot of funny conversations going on during our trip, but I can only remember a handful of them (I was too busy stuffing myself with lobster and pomegranate martinis). If you had been a fly on the wall during out vacation, here are a few snippets of conversation you would have overheard:
     

"Those figurines in the wax museum look younger than me, and they've been here for over 100 years."

"This ghost tour can't be the real deal. How are we supposed to believe in this stuff when we have Casper the Friendly Ghost as our tour guide?"

"As many bars as there are in this town, no wonder so many tourists see ghosts in St. Augustine. I just saw a pink elephant float by on St. George Street."

"On the outside I'm older, but on the inside, I'm still 33 and living in the moment. Which means I mentally do everything but physically do nothing."

"If I was a soldier back in the 1700's in this fort, I would have gone AWOL because there was no A/C and they had to wear wool uniforms, even in the summer."
"Thank God none of them were menopausal in this heat. Then they would have really had a mutiny on their hands."

"For us, the saying 'Ride or Die' is the equivalent of sitting in a motorized wheelchair and pretending we're Peter Fonda reliving his role in Easy Rider."

"The food here is incredible, but this B&B needs to have a midwife on call because I'm so full I think I'm birthing a food baby."

"This reminds me of our trip to St. Petersburg when we went to the Titanic exhibit. I'll never forget those gorgeous first class staterooms."

"If my family had been on the Titanic, we would have been in the third class section because we were so poor. Actually, we would have been the ones working in the boiler room. In other words, we would have been dead."

ME: "I know you thought it was a good idea to walk to the Fountain of Youth from our hotel because you thought it was just a few blocks from the fort. But we've been walking forever and I still don't see it."
HUBS: "It's just around the corner, I swear."
***THREE MILES LATER***
ME: "We're still walking, and its been almost an hour, in 96+ temps with only a drop of water. Even the drivers are laughing at us because we look like stupid, sun-baked tourists. I could kill you for this!"
HUBS: "No worries---I was already contemplating jumping in front of one of the tourist trolleys."
ME: " Good, because at least then I'll get a free ride back to the B&B."

"Isn't it cool to think we're staying on Aviles street---the oldest street built in the U.S.?"
"As old as you are today on your birthday, I would think you'd recall watching them build it."

     It was a great trip folks, and if you are ever in the area, I highly recommend a trip to St. Augustine. Just be sure to bring pants with elastic waistlines.....unless you plan on hiring a midwife for your food baby.


Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado                   http://www. bakinginatornado.com/
Menopausal Mother                    http://www.menopausalmom.com/        
Spatulas on Parade                     http://spatulasonparade. blogspot.com/                        
Searching for Sanity                    http://singlemumplusone. blogspot.com                         
Never Ever Give Up Hope             http://batteredhope.blogspot. com                         
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy         http://dinoheromommy.com/                      
Southern Belle Charm                   http://www.southernbellecharm. com
Eileen’s Perpetually Busy               http://eileensperpetuallybusy. blogspot.com/
Molly Ritterbeck                              http://mollyritterbeck. com/        
Go Mama O                                    http://www.gomamao.com       



17 comments:

  1. I've heard St. Augustine is a beautiful city, never been there myself. I have to admit that stuffing yourself with lobster and pomegranate martinis is the perfect excuse for forgetting . . . well . . . pretty much anything!

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  2. What a fantastic idea! Just the two of you and all the food, drink and sights you can stuff in! Perfect!
    And happy birthday, Marcia's Hubs! :)

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  3. I actually didn't know that St. Augustine, FL was such an old city. I would love to spend more time in FL, preferably in February:) Great to feel you've had a fun time and that your vacation time was well spent. Your husband is hilarious, btw. Such a fun couple!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, Florida is brutally hot in the summer. February is a nice time to visit.

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  4. Thru instagram and FB I was following your St. Aug trip. Looks like you guys had a blast!

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  5. Marsha, I'm so glad you and your hubby enjoyed your trip. We have a beautiful little province PEI... my youngest just went there for camp... I have yet to see it... one day soon I hope.xox

    I like that line about your hubby being so old he should remember a road built so long ago... lol

    Haha... and threatening to jump in front of the bud and you saying at least you could get a drive back... priceless ♡

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  6. I've given up on having food babies, but St. Augustine is a place I've yet to cross off my bucket list.

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    Replies
    1. Visit it----I promise, you'll LOVE the history there!

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  7. It sounds like you guys had a ball. I bet anyone within earshot would have loved listening to you too.

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    1. Maybe that explains why I kept seeing people giggling at the tables next to us.....LOL!

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  8. I had been following you on your trip on Facebook and each time you look so relaxed. But needing a midwife to have a food baby -- that got to me. LOL

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    Replies
    1. I really was enjoying myself---food baby and all.

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  9. St. Augustine sounds like fun!
    I'll update my list of places to visit!

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