We came back to the boat by shank's pony...by foot, that is. On the way I found that my left shoe had come 'unstuck' literally! bah! Waz has some shoe stick stuff, so all we need now is a clamp of some kind. I don't think the clothes pegs will do THIS job as they did others.
As I told you yesterday, we had ordered up some diesel for 7.30-8am, this morning. Five mins to 8, Waz noted that the 7.30am wasn't going to happen...and then who should appear around the corner, but the fella with the filler:) Right on!
We filled up with 385 gallons, and they were kind enough to give us a discount for a check! love it...cash talks...sometimes!
All filled up by 8.30, we decided to make our way down the road to The Metro Diner. This is the new restaurant we discovered in the parking lot at the supermarket complex, where we chatted with the owner and manager, last night. They weren't there this morning, but the restaurant was almost full and we waited all of two minutes to be shown to a table. They menu covered two sides of the large card and was one of the most extensive we have seen in a long time...if ever. I had made a mental note of the Crab Cakes Benedict, last night, so that is what I ordered. We liked the price:) even though the taxi driver we spoke to later, thought the prices were expensive, in this town.
The meal came with a muffin under the crab cakes, which I promptly removed. There was no need for them, and the hash browns serving was HUGE. An excellent meal, but I couldn't eat all of it.
Waz ordered poached eggs (like golf balls, the waitress said!) hash browns, crispy bacon and a 12 inch pancake. Not that we knew it would be that large! It came with whole wheat toast. He didn't eat the hash browns or the toast, and left some of the pancake, so huge was the breakfast for $8.99.
All up, we felt it was really good value for money. The 'snickerdoodle' flavored coffee was hot and excellent, and we left there feeling very good about the whole experience. How nice to be able to say so:)
The waitress happily supplied us with the name of a taxi company and gave us the number to call. The cab arrived within five minutes and the driver whisked us downtown to the waterfront for $5.50. Again, good value in this tourist mecca.
Waz had arranged to meet Colin and Dawn at the Municipal Marina at noon, so we had two hours to kill. We walked down to the marina and knocked on their boat, (just in case they were there) around 10am, but they were out and about like us.
Walking back to the Marina entrance, we stopped in the shade of the Red Train stop, and chatted with Tony and Courtney from Ft Lauderdale. They were waiting for their two sons to finish playing mini-golf, and enjoying a few minutes of cool.
I promised that I would post this photo of them...Tony and Courtney...here you are! And thanks for the great chat! Have a great vacation!
They had Red Train stickers on them (see the round white thing on the bottom right of his t-shirt!) and we asked for more information from them, which they were happy to supply answers to. We were directed into the pay booth, and bought our tickets. Being seniors has it's benefits...we got one full price and the other half price:)
The red train ticket was a rather spontaneous purchase, and we were thoroughly glad we had done it. Last time we were here for a week and we biked everywhere...and I mean everywhere, around the Historic District.
This time, we sat in the 2nd to back seat and enjoyed the commentary and the history of the area we had so enjoyed previously. St Augustine has been in our consciousness ever since.
We love the architecture, and hearing the history of the various buildings was great. The first commentator/driver we had was slightly boring, but when he changed over with Scott, the second driver, the tour got really interesting. Not only was Scott a bit of a character and very opinionated, but his commentary was full of delightful asides and history that may or may not have been in the books. I think he took some license with some of the facts:)
We alighted at the town square, and made our way to the Marina. On the corner opposite, and because we had 15 mins up our sleeves...and I might add, were VERY parched, we popped into the pub for a Lemon Lime and Bitters, which we had to instruct the barman in the making of. We had forgotten just how sweet the drink it! Having satisfied our thirst for the moment, we went across the road and met up with Colin and Dawn at the Marina. We went back down to their boat and sat and got acquainted. Being kiwis who have lived in Aussie for the past 15 yrs, we found much to chat about. Boating being the overwhelming theme, of course, and how we each got to be in this part of the country, as well as how we chose our boats and why and the complications of buying a boat when you haven't laid eyes on it in person.
We finally went forth in search of food for lunch and ended up at the pub across the road, but upstairs in the restaurant. Dawn and I had the seafood Cobb Salad, which was excellent, and the boys ordered Grilled Chicken Sandwich (Waz) and a burger for Colin. We all enjoyed the food and the company.
We went in search of a Flat White coffee...which D and C were happy to take us to. They had sussed that out in the morning. The other three ordered their flat whites and I went the whole hog and ordered a Caramel Mocha...ack! With cream on top of course, lol.
It was VERY sweet! WAYYY too much sugar for me today! and the coffee underneath all that sweet stuff was barely warm. Oh well!
As always, we loved seeing the Victorian houses and refreshing our memories about the Coquina (co keen a ) which is:
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically-sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the particles composing it should average 2 mm or greater in size. Coquina can vary in hardness from poorly to moderately cemented. The term "coquina" is derived from the Spanish word for cockleshells or shellfish. Incompletely consolidated and poorly cemented coquinas are considered grainstones in the Dunham classification system for carbonate sedimentary rocks. A well-cemented coquina is classified as a biosparite according to the Folk classification of sedimentary rocks.
Thank you Wikipedia!
Walls all around the old town are made of this, and fascinating to see. We saw this kind of construction in Fort Meyers, some time back, but certainly not this old.
There are oyster beds everywhere and are easily seen at low tide. I don't know if I would eat the oysters, or even if you can!
Our Red Train tour vehicle. Thank goodness for the shade and the cool breeze. Without it, the tour would have been unbearable. We aren't 'tour' kind of people, normally, preferring to discover places for ourselves, but this was a welcome change in proceedings. We are tired, and this was just what the Dr ordered!
As always, the architecture is of importance.
The Bridge of Lions in the background, behind the City Marina.
The yellow stone church Henry Flagler built for the church in order to secure the land he wanted in the middle of town, owned by the churches. He built three churches for the price of the land, apparently. They are all worth a look, and when we come back to St Augustine, we will take the time to go inside and discover further.
It isn't easy to see, but the road surface is original bricks.
It was 4pm, and all things must come to a close at some stage...The 'wench' from one of the Pirate Ships was pushing the cart with the GOLD in it...
We left Colin and Dawn and their boat, around 6pm. How time flies when you are having fun.
On the way home, my camera was giving me some weird signals, and this was the last photo I took with it, even though we saw many more that should have been taken. 300 photos today, so perhaps the camera was too hot and bothered to take any more?
As I said, we walked home...did I say that? Well, we did. It isn't far if you walk down King Street, and then turn onto Highway 1 sth.
It was good to be home and turn the aircon on. We ate strawberries and cream with ice cream for dinner....well, what else would you eat ?:)
We are watching a movie featuring Christopher Plummer and Harrison Ford....Hanover Street....but the reception is not good. Must be time for bed! 9.10pm, and we are a bit sun burnt, (despite the sun screen) and just plain tired.
We are moving on towards Jacksonville, tomorrow. We have a slight tide issue, but the Captain thinks we will be fine. I will trust his opinion.
Night Night!
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