Tom’s brother Todd turned the big 4-0 and we wanted to help
his beautiful wife Sherry make it something really special and memorable for
him - plus on a completely selfish note we wanted to see them both. A few
conversations with Sherry, and some scheming we were able to
assist her and help concoct a grand affair for Todd. Leveraging Skymiles, Tom
and I were able to pitch in with plane tickets while Sherry took care of
everything else. Sherry planned everything, including conspiring with Tony and Diane (Tom and Todd’s
parents) to take the kids for the weekend,
while they came out to St. Augustine to celebrate. I am pretty sure Sherry
succeeded in bowling Todd over and then throwing in one more surprise as they
boarded their connecting flight in Atlanta to St. Augustine - Tom was there
waiting for them on the plane to fly the rest of the way to Florida on his way back from San Antonio.
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| Tom and Todd heading out to body board |
The majority of the weekend was spontaneous and completely
centered around the ocean. Days where spent lounging on the beach, taking to
the waves by body board, Todd and Sherry taking complete advantage of the
proximity to the sea during their visit and hopefully enjoying every moment of
it. In fact one of my most cherished memories of our stay in St. Augustine
happened while they were visiting and involved the four of us sitting on the
beach one night after a storm had moved out over the Atlantic Ocean. All of us
sipping on wine as we sat in awe, watching as lightening ricocheted across the
sky, giving us our own nature driven firework show! The power and energy that
illuminated the sky while listening to the snap of thunder and the soothing
sound of waves, all creating an amazing ambience to just sit, marvel and catch up on
life. A memory I will never forget and they company made it a perfect moment in
time!
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| Strange encounters on the beach |
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| Todd raising the main sail |
We had one event planned for Todd and Sherry’s stay, a sunset sail which didn't disappoint. The sail started perfectly, we put Todd to work assisting the crew with raising the main sail to
mast as we set out to sea. The crew kept our wine glasses full. They were exceptionally
friendly and fun to talk to, and the Captain even let Miss Ethel man the wheel for a bit. We all sat back, took in the scenery and marveled at the well-oiled
machine that was our crew, watching them move sails, run across the boat as the
wind would shift and learning what it takes to sail a schooner was quite a
learning experience. Then there was that magnificent sunset, creating an ambiance
of magic as she highlighted the historic St. Augustine in front of her and left
a trail of golden streaks to dance across the ocean. Our sail was a perfect
start to a crazy and fun filled night. Poor Ethel was such a trooper and
went along the entire night, although I am pretty sure she slept through the
bulk of it.
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| Sunset Cruise |
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| Todd and Sherry taking in the view |
All of us tipsy and starving as we disembarked the boat, we immediately
set out in the search of dinner and ended up at a fun outdoor place on Aviles
Street. Good food, great conversation, a dog passed out on top of my feet and
the most interesting server I think I have ever experienced. At one point she
was Brazilian and had no voice, later she sounded like New Yorker with a voice
and at another point she changed her clothes. To top it off she kept bringing us
free food and wine and then she graciously kicked us out; our response “if you
want us to leave, quit bringing us food to eat!”
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| Sunset Cruise with an outline of St. Augustine |
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| Me stealing kisses from Tom |
After being kicked out of the restaurant, we stumbled down
St. George Street looking for more fun and happened to meander into this crazy,
eclectic wine bar; enticed in by a bobble head, a one man band and the fact that they let Ethel come hang out with us up at the bar made it a
perfect landing spot. I vaguely remember ordering a drink and getting some
strange concoction and then learning later by some bar friends that
the bar was technically not a bar, but by some weird Florida law they can sell
fermented alcohol without a liquor license. So the vodka water I had was fermented,
hence the weird taste. Hind sight, had I known this, I would have gone with
wine and not the weird Florida moonshine I ended up with. We happened
to close down yet another place, we got the boot and this is when we all
learned pretty quickly that St. Augustine isn't really night town because
everything was pretty much shut down by midnight. I am wondering if during peak
season in the summer months if it’s a little different? Although, it suits
me, I am such a morning girl, being out past ten is kind of a big deal for
me and St. Augustine made me feel like party animal, it was good for my
ego!
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| More Sunset Cruise |
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| Bridge of Lions Drawbridge welcoming us back to port |
The long weekend with Todd and Sherry went by way too
quickly and it was hard to say goodbye to them, but I am sure their kids were
very excited to have them home, even if we didn't want them to leave. Getting
to celebrate with Todd for his 40
th almost felt like being home
again and it was nice to be around familiar faces and family. Lucky for me, my
sister-in-law (my brother’s wife) who is also one of my dearest friends, Staci, was
coming out to play the following week while Tom was working. So although I
had to say goodbye, I still had another hello coming my way, which helped ease
the pain of letting them go.
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| Fun family shot from our sail |
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| Water Reflections |
Staci flew in on a Sunday and we had five wonderful days
with her, packed full of fun adventures and of course lots and lots of beach
time! But when we weren't of playing in the sand or rescuing live
starfish that had washed ashore, we were off doing something crazy,
like zip lining over alligators or exploring the haunted side of St. Augustine!
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| Charm in sailing |
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| City view from the marina |
One day, cloud covered skies with rain on the horizon, Staci
and I had the need to move, so we opted to explore our adventurous side and headed over to the Alligator Farm to attempt the zip line. Little did we know
that it was a full two hour obstacle course that included 9 zip lines with
obstacles sixty feet from the ground; ground that was covered with very large
and very hungry alligators! Besides zip lining over large ravenous beasts, we
also walked across high wires, rickety old bridges, log jumps and then ended
our adventure with a forty foot free fall! Talk about endorphin's running wild,
such a fun and spur of the moment thing and one of my favorite memories. I am
so glad I got to do this with her and didn't read all the details online before
driving over, I might have decided against it!
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| Shots from Staci and I's obstacle course |
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| Ghost tour fun |
Staci’s last night in town we headed out to dinner and then
for a walking ghost tour of historic St. Augustine. Were we scared? No. We did
however learn a plethora of history about the city that I wouldn't have
learned otherwise, so on that account, I have to say it was 100% worth the time
and money. St. Augustine is America’s oldest city, so to say that there isn’t
paranormal activity, would just be naïve; the stories, the puns and learning
the overall dark side of its roots was phenomenal! The puns of course coming
from the yellow fever outbreaks and people being assumed dead, but only in a
coma. The wealthy citizens would hire individuals to watch over the grave of
their loved one buried in Huguenot Cemetery by tying a string around the buried finger. This string was then tied to a bell on the surface,
so if they awoke from a coma versus actually being dead they could be “Saved by the Bell” by
the person paid to watch over them from a death of being buried alive. So were
people actually buried alive? Yes! They have actually found caskets with scratch
marks of those that awoke from their coma, to only end of dying of suffocation. I
know, crazy and creepy! What else did we learn? Well the Intracoastal is
connected with the Matanza River, which I knew with my broken Spanglish, meant
slaughter, but learning how it got its name was another fascinating story, but
I am going to leave that one for y’all and your own ghost tour of St.
Augustine; as much as I want to, I can’t give you all the gory history!
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| One of the three starfish Staci and I rescued |
Having family visit was amazing, wonderful and I was just
over the moon to see OUR people! We haven’t had guests since April when Susy
came to see us in DC and I didn't realize how much I missed everyone. And not
to take away from all the friends we have been able to meet up with and see
along the way, or the new friends we have met on the road, but it just isn’t
the same as those you are used to interacting with on a regular basis; those
that know you and still love you regardless of your craziness! Saying goodbye
to Todd, Sherry and Staci was hard. Maybe it is just the hold that family has
on you, that unconditional love, or the not knowing when we will see them
again; but I have been left with that longing and maybe feeling a little
homesick for our people as of late, so dammit, I need more of you to come visit
because I am not ready to come home yet!
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| Sunrise and combing the beach with the beautiful Staci |
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| Sunrise Selfie |
