St. Augustine, Florida – 9 kilometres walked, 4 miles by dinghy
Florida. The southernmost state we would visit on this trip, and one which we know far better than the states we have passed through so far, as we’ve visited here many times by car and airplane. And with a high of 25 degrees Centigrade today, it felt like we had reached the sun.
We didn’t leave the boat until shortly after noon as we had a few things to do, including a nice cockpit nap to recover from the overnight run. We took the dinghy into a free dock a couple of miles away from downtown, at the Velano Beach Pier, then walked down a highway and into the outskirts of the city. We turned down San Marco Avenue and headed toward the historical downtown of St. Augustine. It did not take long to realize we were already solidly in Florida. We looked in amazement as we passed a string of naff tourist attractions – Old St John’s County Jail, Old Town Trolley Tours, the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park, a scooter/go-cart/golf cart rental place, the Ghosts and Gravestones Tour, and the ultimate: Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Railroad replica trolleys passed us continuously, each packed with tourists, listening intently as the driver ran through their script of interesting historical facts, little “did you know’s”, and scripted jokes, delivered with practiced fervour, at precisely the right moment. A series of low budget hotels also ran along San Marco, along with the requisite Liquor Stores, restaurants to suit all tastes, ice cream shops, an antique market and, of course, a religious institution – this one a huge shrine, called Our Lady of La Leche, which means “milk” in Spanish. The image of a nun with huge knockers appeared on the canvas of my mind and I simply could not shake it. Surprisingly, I did not see a Bail Bond place along the street, but I’m sure there were a few tucked away in the backstreets.
By the time we reached the town centre I felt like I’d been smacked with a rubber chicken by Zoltar the Fortune Teller as he whizzed by on hoverboard. When other boaters had told us we’d love St. Augustine, they either didn’t know us very well, or perhaps had entered from a different side of town. I decided to wait a while before passing judgement.
The main town center was packed with tourists and we joined the throng in walking down St. George Street. Despite the ancient and architecturally interesting series of buildings, I couldn’t help but think it was all fake, built as a Disney ride, or a movie set. We passed at least ten ice cream shops, a couple of pretzel places, a beef jerkery, waffle shop, mystic crystals, candy and chocolate shops, Stogie’s cigar bar, and a whole bunch of restaurants and taverns, most with live music. It felt like a circus and try as I might to appreciate the buildings, I simply couldn’t focus on anything other than the thousands of people, mostly all licking waffle cones. I wasn’t used to being around this many people. Plus, we were both starting to get a little hangry and that never helps the situation.
Fortunately, we found a quiet and shaded table at the Backyard Island Café at Meehan’s Irish Pub and sat down to collect our thoughts. My mood improved dramatically after a pint of Yuengling and a Reuban with fries. We were happy to be in Florida; we just didn’t expect it to get this Florida this fast. It was a jarring transition.
After exploring a few shops and poking around for a while, we walked back from whence we came and were soon basking in the lovely solitude of SeaLight at anchor and slowly recovered from freebasing Florida directly into our veins. As darkness fell, various lighted booze cruise vessels began appearing, touring the harbour, some with live bands, others pumping electronica. People were partying hard. And not just on the water. All the buildings on the St. Augustine waterfront were brilliantly alit, a festival of lights, and we could hear bands playing, people shouting, and major frivolities underway. What is this place??
Around 7pm, John and Becca from the sailing vessel Hopes End, with whom we’d met briefly in Charleston, came by for drinks and a lovely cockpit snack tray Ana curated. They have the same boat as us, except one year newer, and we toured them extensively around into the nooks and crannies as they explored this alternate universe. We talked and talked for hours and it somehow became 1am and I was, incredibly, still awake, but we’d been having such a great time that the hours passed by rapidly.
St. Augustine, let’s see what you have in store for us tomorrow.
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