A Day in Anastasia State Park

Bob and Debbie got an early start on their way home and we decided to spend more time on the beautiful north Florida beaches. It was a warm, sunny day and we started with coffee, beach chairs and our books on the beach near the condo. Pat read for a while and I read with my eyes closed. From there, we decided to go check out Anastasia State Park. On our way out of town we passed a kite store and stopped for some kite repair parts, but let me back up first...

The evening before everyone was doing their own thing. Bob was napping to help fight off his cold, Debbie was out sightseeing at the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Pat was reading and I was restless. I decided to take a brisk walk on the beach. It was our coolest day, upper 50's to low 60's with a strong north wind so I decided to walk upwind first. About 15 minutes north of the cottage I saw something in the surf, half-buried in sand. It turned out to be the remains of a really nice kite - a Clark's Crystal box kite. It had only one tear in it and a few missing rods so I thought I could fix it.

So - on our way to Anastasia State Park we passed a kite store. Three repair rods, a few feet of ripstop nylon patching tape, another new kite and kite tail for Pat and we were outta there. We went to the state park to fly our new (and new to us) kites but the wind was not cooperating.  But...a long beautiful beach beckoned, so we went back to the car and got our bikes.  We rode the hard-packed sand all the way to the north end of the park and back, about four miles.  What a fabulous ride!

Afterwards, we climbed the lighthouse at St. Augustine.  This striped tower looks just like Cape Hattaras with its bold black and white spirals, but it's about 20 ft. shorter and the top is painted red rather than black.  At the top, we saw the modern day "lighthouse keeper" cleaning and/or changing the bulbs inside the Fresnel lens.  The restoration work on the whole place was impeccable, including a great museum in the keeper's house.

Pat along the dock in front of the St. Augustine lighthouse.

Sprial staircase inside the tower.

Lighthouse keeper fixing/changing/cleaning the bulbs.

St. Austine Lighthouse

As if the day wasn't great enough, we had the famous fried shrimp dinner at Osteen's.  The big butterflied shrimp were lightly breaded and oh so tasty.  Well worth the wait, which we passed at the nearby British Pub.  Osteen's has a great collaborative deal with this pub.  You put your name on the waiting list then walk down two blocks to get a beer.  When your table is ready they call the pub, the pub transfers your beer to plastic cup and sends you packing, out the back alley over to the restaurant.  Economic symbiosis!