St. Augustine FL 10/24-10/27 2019

We made it to the Sunshine State!  Here is a picture of our now completed map with all of the lower 48 states filled in!

Our first stop was planned to visit with Linda's nephew, Luke and his wife, Kelly in Jacksonville.  We had a reservation at a place called Flamingo Lake RV Resort which is just north of Jacksonville and not too far from Luke and Kelly's.  When we arrived to check in at the office, we noticed a big sign on the counter that said "We do not allow any vicious breeds in our park".  So we said "That's a good thing, what are the breeds?".  To our surprise, Malamutes were one of many on their list!  We explained that we saw nothing on the web site and there was nothing about it in our reservation or confirmation.  Long story short - they were not very friendly and their RV Park was definitely NOT dog-friendly as it was advertised!  They did not allow us to stay but, thankfully, refunded our advance payment.  However, we were now left to try and find somewhere to stay at 3 o'clock on the day of arrival.  We talked to Kelly on the phone and finally found a KOA in St. Augustine about an hour away.  Everything works out the way it should - this place was much nicer and in a much better location.  

Our site at the KOA in St. Augustine Beach

The RV Park had a nice lake in the middle that had fish and turtles in it.  We even saw an osprey perched in a tree with some squirmy thing in it's talons.

Luke and Kelly and their two younger kids drove all the way out to have dinner with us the night we arrived.  Then on the next day the whole family (Luke, Kelly, Julie, Dylan and Addison) met us in St. Augustine for some site seeing.  Our main focus was Castillo De San Marcos, a fort built by the Spanish in 1695.  It was used by the Spanish, the British and then in the Civil War both Confederate and then Union troops.  Here are some of the pics from the Fort:

Entrance. Protected by walls in front, which I am standing on.

Soldiers quarters.

Cannons, lots of cannons...

Fancy cannon!

Dylan with a 16th century soldier (actually a history teacher).  He explained in detail what it was like to have to load a musket while in battle.  

These cannons were fired while we were there.  It was quite a process all conducted in Spanish with everyone in period costume.

Central courtyard.

Another cannon

View of the moat - which was kept dry and used for grazing cattle in a protected area.

Linda and Addison!

Firing of the cannons!

A fancy mortar

Another view of the entrance.

Front side on the water.  The fort was positioned so that ships coming in were not able to "broadside" the castle but had to head straight in.  

The protection of the front entrance. 

Dylan with the cannons that were fired.

View from the beach

Good view of the moat - imagine cows grazing here....

We finished our tour of the castle and then Luke and Kelly took us out to a wonderful lunch at Harry's.  We got to try Boudin Balls, a mix of Cajun sausage, rice and creole seasonings which is deep fried.  Yummy!  

Overall, we had a wonderful visit with family and also enjoyed St. Augustine.  It is a great place and I hope we will make it back there to spend even more time.