2/10/08 Touring St. Augustine

Where in the world is Hakuna Matata ?

Last we saw she was being towed under the Bridge of Lions at St. Augustine, FL.

She's tucked in between two boat friends at Oyster Creek Marina in St. Augustine, Florida working out repairs. That's a story all in itself. But it's a great place to be.

The view off our transom is interesting and wonderfully entertaining. We're looking at a marina off our stern so we get to watch marina activity, channel traffic and to the right US1 road traffic. All that activity can be interesting.


The most interesting is the bird activity. You must click and enlarge these pictures to see the variety of birds we get. The Alligator Farm is not too far from us and that's where many of these birds come from. They like to muck it up at low tide. I have so many bird pictures to share that I'll create a listing just for them for those that might be interested.

There's a well known restaurant located right at our marina, called Hurricane Patty's.

After our long day we decided to eat there, wandered in and were lucky to find a little table to sit at. During conversation with the couple next to us from Tenn, Connie & Bill, we mentioned we had boat problems and had been towed in. Bill said "Oh were you being towed by a red boat? Because we were held up crossing the bridge because it had to stay open. We got out to see what the problem was and a yellow sailboat was being towed by a red boat. We thought... 'What an idiot!' That was you??" A funny coincidence that made for a fun evening. Who would have thought we would be sitting next to eyewitnesses to our embarrassment. That's what we get for having a yellow boat, people remember us.
www.hurricanepattys.com/



















There's a little yellow bus that runs right by our yellow boat. How nice.






We took a ride .50 each to walking distance of a beach.

The beach size depends on the state of the tide.
We were lucky, lots of beach area being enjoyed by bikers

Dog walkers

friendly dogs

Surfers

splashers

and tired relaxers.

but no one playing volleyball....guess it's not summer yet??

Historic St. Augustine was about a 20 minute walk from the marina.
There is always something to do or see there.

FLAGLER COLLEGE

The 12 frogs represent the months of the year and the 4 turtles the seasons

The student dining room ceiling is elegantly painted and has the largest collection of Tiffany windows ($$$). Not your usual school cafe. You are allowed to venture in and we found one of the original chairs from when it was the Ponce deLeon Hotel, so of course we had to sit.

Across the street is the Lightner Museum which was once
the Alcazar Hotel that provided entertainment for the many visitors to St. Augustine.
Interesting reading - Henry Flagler.
also look up www.lightnermuseum.org/main_lightner.html

We had lunch in the restaurant that is actually the bottom of a giant pool - the deep end.
During lunch we read about the pool activities including exhibitions with trapeze acts.
Yes, lunch was very good.

One Sunday many of the churches opened their doors in the afternoon for tours.

There's a lot of history and beautiful stained glass, many by Tiffany in these old churches.

I can't help but wonder how Tiffany created all the windows
and art objects that are in this town?

This colorful building is right next door

Villa Zorayda - Architectural reproduction of the Alhambra castle of Spain.



Ximenez-Fatio museum is a historic boarding house from 1797.

Of course there are present day bed and breakfast homes to stay in.



There's lots of shopping to be done and shoppers to do it.

Bob's in the background....looking for Ovida who keeps ducking in stores.
How come she never moves this fast any other time?




Many of the streets are paved with old bricks.

follow the brick road to more shopping, bright shops, gardens and music around every corner.

There's actually car traffic on some of these narrow streets and parking!!

Now this is the size car that works good on those streets.
They can be rented. Looks like fun...or are they praying?

There's marinas and anchorages along the waterfront that you can see from Highway A1A.

There's also a great place to eat called A1A where you can
try local brews.
Walk the distance from our boat and we were likely to stop by.

The fort, Castillo De San Marcos,
one of the landmarks that comes to mind when you think St. Augustine.

Just a short walk from there is a park
where a Festival is frequently in progress.
Crafts, Entertainment, and Food
This one has a few pirates wandering around.

We crossed over The Bridge of Lions to Conch House for Happy Hour Entertainment, and Happy Fishermen cleaning their catch of the day

but not so Happy looking fish.

There's also lots of activity dockside at Oyster Creek Marina

Friends gather in and around Hakuna Matatato to swap sailing tales

We seem to be the only boater with cats.





But there are many seafaring dogs,

Some new to the game and just getting acquainted

This little pooch isn't a boater, he's a biker.

It's Bike Week from St. Augustine to Daytona
the streets are filled with bikes.

Bikers and Boaters - all waiting to eat at Harry's.
Different travel choices but same food tastes.

With the assistance of a diver, Bob has put the new propeller shaft and coupling in; only to discover that the engine needs to be aligned and has a broken motor mount! As if that isn't enough to keep him busy the outboard motor on the dinghy stops!!


THIS IS NOT A HAPPY MAN
ahhh... BUT IT WAS A QUICK REPAIR
WE WERE OVERDUE ONE OF THOSE.




Time for a change....
We've rented a car for a short trip to see the shuttle launch. Planned to be there by boat but plans change. Have we said that before?

HAKUNA MATATA