Howdy folks!
As usual, I'm slightly behind in my blogging. You're about to read about a trip that a I took the weekend of November 7th. Yes, today is December 9th......only slightly behind.
This trip started out as more of a convenience than a vacation. My father, who lives in upstate New York, informed me that he would be flying to Jacksonville, Florida, for a friends wedding. He was trying to figure out a way to get to me (3 hours south) for a visit in between all the prep and planning of a wedding. Trevor and I decided that since work was finally slowing down we would find a place to camp closer to Dad so we could spend more time together.
We decided on North Beach Camp Resort in St. Augustine which turned out to be 3.7 miles from the rental house Dad was staying.
Our plan was to arrive on Friday and stay through Tuesday. While Dad was taking care of wedding stuff throughout the weekend, Trevor, Nate and I could explore St. Augustine
(we'd never been there)
Monday would be set aside to spend with Dad and Tuesday morning we would head home.
Sounds easy enough right?
Well, if you know my circle of crazy friends you'll remember Genia. I knew that I couldn't be that far north without letting her know of my plans. (Genia lives in South Carolina) With a bit of planning and scheming, Genia and Tony agreed to meet us there on Friday and leave Monday morning. That definitely added to our excitement of being at the beach and camping in a historical old city with super good friends!!
Oh, but wait!!!
Our other dear friends, Bruce and Lisa, who are now full time RVers were heading south for the winter. I emailed Lisa to let her know of our plans with the hopes that it would coincide with her trek south. Lucky for us, her response was that it sounded great to her and they would be there from Friday to Monday also!
I love it when a plan comes together!
Friday, November 7th we loaded up the truck and made our way to St. Augustine.
Mason went with us, Risky Kitty stayed home with Karissa. Since Mason is a dick and hates to share the backseat with Nate, we rode 3 deep in the front.
*Spoiled-ass dog*
It took about 2 & 1/2 hours before we saw the signs.
We knew our campground was across the street from the ocean and after crossing a huge bridge, we could see the water.
About 3 miles north of this bridge, we arrived at North Beach Camp Resort.
Check in was super fast and easy, everyone was friendly and we were given maps and coupon books to the area.
I had done a ton of research on the resort and read the reviews. I'm always amazed at the things people bitch about.
"Everything is sandy!!"
*Campground is set between the Atlantic ocean and the intercoastal, maybe you should expect sand*
"Things are rusty!"
*Being exposed to salt water for years will do that to stuff, Welcome to Florida!*
"There's a lot of tree cover"
*While that may not be ideal in the winter months, you'll praise Jesus for those trees the other 8 months out of the year*
I could go on and on but you probably see my point. This is a campground, NOT a 5 star hotel. We have stayed at some sketchy places before but we loved this campground!
After going through the gate, this is the main road in
And backing into our site (Site 122)
We did not bring our golf cart this trip as we didn't know how big the grounds were. We settled on bikes, which was fine, though we will bring the cart next time.
My bike and I have a love/hate relationship. When sand is involved, it teeters more to the hate side.
We were soon leveled and hooked up. Time for a beer. Please don't judge, I'm on vacation!!
Our other friends hadn't arrived yet so we took our time setting up the little things. When it was time for the pop-up buddies to be put on, Trevor realized that he forgot his little ladder.
We worked it out
At this point I feel like I'm going to fall, so I'm choking the living shit of out of Trev and laughing so hard I'm afraid I'm going to wet my pants/his neck.
I've taught Nate well. He had
the camera ready in case something like that happened. It all worked out fine, the buddies were hung, I didn't break my neck and Trevor remained dry.
All set up!
We took Mason out for a walk to explore
Then goofed off at camp waiting for our friends.
That evening everyone met up at our site for some refreshments.
The men (including Mason) talking manly things.
While inside the screen room Genia made herself comfortable in Trev's chair.
We grilled some Italian sausage for dinner
It was nice spending time with friends without the pressure of "plans" that we always seem to have at Disney camping.
Saturday morning I woke up and sat outside with coffee.
Once we were up and dressed we took Mason over to the beach.
This is the gate to the resort, the ocean is right behind those recycle boxes you see in the distance.
Mason LOVES water....crashing, creeping, salt water?
Not so much.
Looking north down the beach
Looking south
The weather was great! Cool, but sunny.
On the way back in, we found the resort pool. Way too cold for this girl to swim but I snapped a photo for your viewing pleasure.
We also found the playground
By this time, it was mid morning and Genia and Tony were ready to go out and about. Our semi-retired friends were still motivating. Since they have a tow vehicle (Genia doesn't) we decided to catch up with Bruce and Lisa later.
We parked in the parking garage in the center of town
And ventured out into the streets.
The visitors center
A replica of a wall built with palm trees.
All of the things you about to see in photos have great stories behind them but I read so much stuff that weekend, and it's been a month ago now, I refuse to screw up some great Florida history with my retelling.
Just look at the pretty pictures. Thanks.
The city of St. Augustine was great. It's definitely become touristy but if you're able to look past that, there are some beautiful sights.
Trev practiced his words
We strolled through all the shops until we found a bar....
(we, as a family, decided that now that we knew our way around and the proximity of things we would save all the tours and stuff until our next visit. Since there was 7 of us we just wanted to have fun on this trip)
We bellied up to the bar at MiCasa Cafe
When Lisa texted me to tell us that they had arrived she was not shocked to hear of our location.
So we took off down the street to meet up with her and Bruce.
Soon after meeting up with them we decided to grab some lunch at the Florida Cracker Cafe.
Since we had a big dinner planned, Trevor, Nate and I just shared a couple of apps and a pitcher of beer.
Conch fritters and calamari
With our bellies full, the 7 of us strolled around.
Flagler College
Why fiddle dee dee!
We made our way over to the Fort and debated on going inside.
It was $7.00 per person, there was 7 of us. We settled on admiring it from the outside, the inside of walls can't look much different than the outside of walls right?
As we made our way back to the parking garage we ran into some pirates. Apparently there was a pirate festival going on because we saw tons of them.
They take their pirating very seriously!
Bruce entertained us with his pole before heading back to camp.
Once back at camp we split up for some down time before the evening festivities.
Nate and I hopped on our bikes to venture to the back of the resort while Trevor hung with Mason at our site.
This is the dock out onto the river.
Looking right from the dock
To the left
Looking up the dock back towards the campground
Above you can see the stairs that lead down to the beach, so we made our way down there.
It's a beautiful area..... and the best part?
Mason can come down there too!
Back on the resort road there is a privacy fence to the left with a gate to exit the property. Nate and I dumped our bikes and walked over to Aunt Kate's restaurant and a public boat ramp.
There's another huge dock there that was filled with fisherpeople (men and women)
Standing on that dock looking to the right is the back of Aunt Kate's and the bait shop.
All of this is basically attached to the campground.
Knowing that we had dinner plans, we headed back to our site.
I had made a black eye pea & corn salsa to hold us over until our friends arrived.
Genia and Tony brought the cooker over to make a shrimp boil
While Lisa's puppy Tucker begged to go inside to eat Mason's food
I whipped up a tossed salad and dinner was served.
YUM!
Thanks G & T!!
(I knew there was a reason I kept y'all around)
With dinner all cleaned up we settled in for some beer and laughs. I found I had a missed call from my Dad but he never answered when I tried him back.
Imagine my surprise when he walked up to my site!!! Him and his wife had been driving through the resort looking for us when Donna recognized Mason (who was taking his after dinner walk with Trevor)
Mason is a rock star.
I have no pictures from that evening because I was so shocked and happy. The 5 of us went inside and caught up for an hour or so while my super understanding camping friends sat in our screen room. I can't stress enough how great it is to travel with these guys!!! There are no "airs" put on & no one cares what the others are doing. If we can be together, GREAT!! If we have different agendas, that's great too.
I love them!!!
It had started raining that evening so we called it a night at a decent hour and got a good nights sleep.
The next morning Genia came over for her morning coffee fix.
We all slowly, but surely, started our day. The 5 of us (minus B &L) decided to go back into town, cross the Bridge of Lions and see St. Augustine Beach. (The campground is technically in Vilano Beach)
Those Lions were a tough get. After 3 photos, the best I could do was one hiding behind the speed limit sign and one behind an SUV.
Oh well, this is the Bridge of Lions.
We passed the Alligator Farm which we didn't bother to stop at.
In Florida you can see gators all day, every day.
We were also going to be passing the lighthouse.
* Small rant ahead*
I thought we should stop and take a picture of the lighthouse. I knew we weren't going to climb it and/or do the tour right now.
We found a parking spot and went inside the tour building/gift shop.
As we stepped out the back door we found a trail to the actual lighthouse, with an armed guard at the entrance.
(Ok, he wasn't armed but it sounded more threatening)
There was, however, a huge sign stating "Only paid admission beyond this point"
I told the 'trail keeper' (Yea, I'm aggravated now) that I just wanted to take a picture. He started singing the praises of the tour and photos inside the lighthouse (At $10 per person) I politely declined and explained we had other plans. He told me to go out front to the left where I could get a good photo.
LIAR!
But here is half of the lighthouse.
And the light station
While browsing my map/coupon book I realized there was a mini golf nearby. That was more our style for this mini-vacay!
The course was awesome! Cheap entertainment, very well maintained and right off of the beach.
It became quite competitive and Trevor pulled out all of his golf stances
You can actually see the ocean behind Tony and Nate.
We had a blast!!
Guess who won?
We DID let her add the scores and if you are aware of Genia's math skills.........well, never mind.
Congrats Genia!!!
You were the big weiner!!
If you have been paying attention it is Sunday. I am rocking a Johnson hoodie.
Yep, it's RACE DAY!!
We stopped at a surf shop on the way back and did some shopping, then made it back to camp to get ready.
Ready you ask? Set up the TV in the screen room and BEER.
We're ready!!
Genia decided it was a good time for some margaritas and a cigar
While the boys sat out on the picnic table to watch the race
It wasn't long before the margaritas caught up with G and she asked Tony to grill up some wings she had brought over.
Disaster avoided...she got her wings!
(She's so damn proud!)
While hanging out I received a text from Dad. They were heading to the wedding, all purtied up
If you're a NASCAR fan you know that races have become very boring. You really only need to watch the last 50 laps. Genia had switched to beer and decided that a good wrestling match would be more exciting.
In the meantime, I was freezing, so I used the opportunity to represent both of my Hendrick Motorsports favorites.
By the time the race was over we were all starving but not one of us was in a position to drive anywhere.
Remember the pictures of the restaurant at the back of the campground?
Aunt Kate's, here we come!!
We figured we were better off at one of the outside tables.....or maybe I should have said: The other diners were better off with us outside.
Dinner was great!
Nate had a blackened Mahi sandwich, Trevor had the meatloaf and I had a shrimp roll.
Somehow we managed to make it back to camp where we all decided it was not just cold but starting to rain a bit. None of us wanted to have a hangover for Monday. We were spending the day with Dad & Donna, our friends were all traveling back home.
The next morning Mason and I were up bright and early.
Genia and Tony came over for coffee and goodbyes. Genia even picked a wedgie as a parting gift.
Nate and I rode down to say goodbye to Bruce and Lisa at their site
They had to drop their RV at the dealership on the way home for some repair work. When you're a full timer that basically means you're homeless until it's finished! They were busy getting all the things they would need to survive for a week in a rental cabin.
Lisa squeezed me to death for a photo as we said our goodbyes
With all our friends gone we touched base with my Dad who wasn't quite up and about yet.
It was really cold, rainy and windy that day so Nate and I walked over to the ocean.
We could hear the waves crashing all night from our beds!
The first day we were there you could just make out all the fishing boats offshore. Today there wasn't a boat in sight.
As we were walking back my Dad showed up and drove us back to our site.
We relaxed for a bit deciding what we wanted to do on a cold, rainy day.
We settled on going into town for lunch and then seeing if the weather let up any.
We ended up at Harry's for lunch.
We laughed as Dad gave our waitress a hard time as she giggled nervously wondering if he really did "Go way back with Harry"
I forgot to get a pic of my food before I dug in, sorry about that. It was chicken with artichoke hearts and some kind of creamy sauce on top and greens for a side. It was all delicious!!
After lunch we walked through some of the shops. You can see that the weather had kept a lot of people away.
But we made our own fun checking out the sights and taking silly photos like this one.
I was laughing so hard that I look Asian.
After some shopping we were actually going to go into the Fort but as soon as we crossed the street it started pouring rain. We decided it wasn't a good time to be touristy.
Back at camp we chilled in the safety of the screen room until Dad & Donna had to head back for dinner with their wedding group of friends.
It was a great visit but never long enough. Having my Dad 1,200 miles away makes visits too few and far between.
That evening we picked up and prepacked some stuff to save some time in the morning. The weather was so crappy that we didn't want to go anywhere but we were starting to get hungry.
Oh Aunt Kate..........?
Trevor and Nate rode down and picked up some apps to share back at camp.
I slept like a baby to the sound of drizzling rain and the crashing of waves. Despite the weather, it wasn't a bad night to be curled up in a warm RV with the people you love.
Tuesday morning we started the tear down.
Mason waited patiently by the truck
One last stop at the front to drop off garbage along with all the other people checking out and we're off!!
We were back home in about 3 hours with plenty of time to unpack and regroup.
Fun time was over, we all had to work on Wednesday.
It's these kinds of trips that make me truly grateful for my friends and family. Now that the holidays are upon us I hope all of you know that same feeling. It's not about where you go, it's all about who you're with.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Til next time............
