Drive to St. Augustine

We had a quiet morning and enjoyed eggs with the leftover pork steaks from yesterday. It was just as good as the day before. After breakfast we started to pack for our trip to St. Augustine and the Space Coast. The morning was very cool again in the mid 30s with a breeze. Packing was complicated because the next two days will be cool and rainy then the weekend will be back in the 80s. 

We left the house at 11:30 to make the two hour drive to Sanford airport to pick Mary up from her Allegiant flight from Lexington. Her friend, Itchy, dropped her off at the airport so she wouldn’t have to leave her car there. 

We were disappointed that our EZ Pass didn’t work on the Sunshine Parkway so we needed to pay the $10 in tolls along the way. There was rain on and off on the drive but was otherwise uneventful. We picked Mary up at the terminal and made the 90 minute drive to St. Augustine where we checked into the Day’s Inn. We talked to the desk clerk about the trolley and tickets for area attractions.  

Based on TripAdvisor reviews we selected Sunset Grille for dinner. It is about 5 miles from our hotel in nearby St, Augustine Beach. We were surprised that the parking lot was empty but there was music playing at the restaurant. The lights were off and the doors were all locked. We later learned that they were closed for the day for cleaning and repairs so we consulted TripAdvisor and went to Panama Hattie’s which was only a block away from Sunset Grille. 

Steve ordered the shrimp dinner but Marcia, Mary and I had the fish and chips. All our dinners were huge and delicious. Everyone enjoyed the meal. The food and service were both excellent. We saw another couple there that we met trying to get into Sunset Grille earlier. Our only criticism was that the upstairs room where we were eating was very noisy. The open room with vaulted ceiling made it difficult to have a conversation at the table. 

After dinner, we made a quick stop at a Winn Dixie grocery store to get food for breakfasts and lunches this week. Unlike most Day’s Inn motels, this one didn’t appear to offer an included breakfast, probably because there is a Denny’s Restaurant in the motel. We got cereal, milk, yogurt, fruit, peanut butter, bread and crackers. 

We returned to our rooms at the Day’s Inn and unwound watching television before turning in for the night. We are looking forward to exploring St. Augustine tomorrow. 

Tons (literally) of manatees

Since we had turned in early on Saturday night, we awoke early at the Days Inn in Deltona.  Although we hadn’t taken breakfast or showered, we left for Blue Springs State Park before 7:30.  The park was a short drive from our motel but was closed the evening before because of the number of guests.  State parks in Florida close when all of the parking spaces have been taken and only reopen when adequate parking is available.  

We were second in line to enter the park and paid our entry fee of $6 per car to enter the grounds. We walked along the boardwalk and saw increasing numbers of manatees as we neared the stream’s source, Blue Spring.  The large spring puts out over 100 million gallons of water at 72 degrees all year.  In winter, the manatees swim up the St. Johns River over 150 miles to the warm spring.  The manatees stay at the warm spring during the night then venture out into the river to feed each day but may return to the warmth of the spring as desired each day.  

There were close to 300 of the manatees there today ranging from 3000 pound adults to young manatees with their mothers.  We enjoyed walking along the spring and the runoff water watching the manatees in the clear water.  Since the spring water came from underground, it is very lacking in oxygen which is not a problem of the air breathing mammals like manatees.  The only fish that we saw in the stream and spring were those who are tolerant of low oxygen levels like gar, topminnows and the invasive tilapia and carp. 

We spent over an hour at the spring watching the manatees swimming until our hunger and need to shower overcame us so we drove back to our motel.  The temperatures were up into the mid 70s and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  It would be impossible to imagine a more beautiful day.  It was tempting to stay out in the beautiful Florida weather but we needed to check out of our room by 11 am.  We spent the morning packing and preparing for our return back home.  We finished our cereal that we purchased earlier at Publix in Holly Hill then packed our bags to fly back home.

We took the short drive to Sanford as we made our way to the airport.  As we were driving we saw a hawk flying low just over the height of our rental car.  Turned out that the hawk had a large live snake in its talons and the snake was still writhing as the hawk flew away.  It was quite a site but since the cameras were already put away we were unable to get a snapshot.

drove to Sanford and spent some time at the Riverwalk where we read the signs on the history of the area as a citrus and vegetable farming area.   We learned a great deal about how the exceptionally cold winters in the late 1800s caused the orange trees to die.  After that, the area grew celery very successfully.  As we walked along the riverwalk, we found a few geocaches and took advantage of the sunshine.  We were surprised to notice that the redbud trees there were already in bloom in mid January.  Redbud trees in our area don’t typically bloom until mid April.  Although the temperatures were in the mid 70s, the wind off the river was sharp.  We cut our walk short because of the wind and drove to a nearby Subway for lunch were we split a meatball sub.  Along the way to the airport, we topped off the tank of the rental car with $1.99 gas.

Although we were early, we drove to the Sanford Airport and turned in the Nissan Sentra rental car.  The Sentra was a good choice for us this week.  The car was large enough to accommodate our needs but small enough to get great fuel economy.  The weekly rate on the car was quite affordable as well.

We had no trouble at checking since our bag was slightly under the weight limit at 39 pounds.  We sat with a couple at the terminal who sat on the airplane behind us last week.  They enjoyed their time at Cocoa Beach.  Our flight left on time at 4 pm and we arrived at Huntington Tri-State Airport before 6 pm.  We got our bag from the carousal and drove home to get ready for the coming week.

As with our prior Florida trips in January, this one was interesting and relaxing,  We saw from beautiful areas and learned about the history of the region.  It would be difficult to say which part of the state we found to be the better visit.  Each region has merits in their own right.  We hope that we can get low cost airfare to Punta Gorda next winter and seeing some of the Gulf Coast that is south of Tampa Bay then perhaps going east into the Everglades area.  We have some time to plan for that trip in 2016.

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