We entered Florida hoping to find warmer temperatures and they came slowly. First we spent a few days at Anastasia State Park outside of St. Augustine. While it was sunny, the temperatures hovered around the high 50s and low 60s. Certainly better than 30s, but we still wanted warmer. The campground was in a Florida style forest with lots of pines, Spanish moss, pines and snake warnings. A trail went around the inland side of the campground through the forest and gave us lots of beautiful spaces to walk the dogs. The beach was miles of very white sand with small waves due to the shallow banks that seemed to go out into the ocean for miles. And no dogs were allowed on the beach. So we drove a little south to where we could take them.
The lumps on the sandbar are all birds. Thousands of birds!
Air ferns grow up the sides of the trees.
The forest is dense, and nothing like I would see in the Northwest!
Horseshoe crab top and bottom. It was at least a foot long!
Terns, taking a turn on the beach.
Beach bums.
Louie's favorite sleeping position.
One morning, while walking the perimeter trail, I noticed a farmer's market in the parking lot across the road and went to explore. I came home with some wonderful oranges and grapefruit.
We explored St. Augustine as well. It boasts being the oldest city in the United States. Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida near St. Augustine on March 27, 1513. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Florida, meaning "Land of Flowers". Between 1513 and 1563 the government of Spain launched six expeditions to settle Florida, but all failed. the French succeeded in establishing a fort and colony on the St. Johns River in 1564 and, in doing so, threatened Spain's treasure fleets which sailed along Florida's shoreline returning to Spain. As a result of this incursion into Florida, King Phillip II named Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spain's most experienced admiral, as governor of Florida, instructing him to explore and to colonize the territory. Menendez was also instructed to drive out any pirates or settlers from other nations, should they be found there.
When Menendez arrived off the coast of Florida, it was August 28, 1565, the Feast Day of St. Augustine. Eleven days later, he and his 600 soldiers and settlers came ashore at the site of the Timucuan Indian village of Seloy with banners flying and trumpets sounding. He hastily fortified the fledgling village and named it St. Augustine. The town still encompasses many very old buildings in the historical section. St. Augustine is actually in a harbor, and to get to the ocean from the town, you must cross a bridge over the intracoastal waterway.
At the edge of the town sits the Castillo de San Marcos which was build in 1672 by the Spanish to defend their colony. It is now a national park and open to the public. We walked over, under and through the fort. It has walls that are about 4 feet thick and two moats on the outside. Though it was attacked many times, it was never defeated.
Castillo de San Marcos
Draw bridge.
Entry door.
Empty moat.
Old walls!
Old and new!
Corner.
Everybody makes mistakes.
Inside the Castillo.
While the four foot walls make the Castillo very strong, the many cannon that could shoot up to a mile away were also key in its defense.
Old entry doors.
Sea side.
Four foot walls.
One if by land, two if by sea.
Beds for the troops.
Juan de Michael in bed.
Some of the cannons were very ornate.
Typical tourists.
We continued south to Ft. Pierce where we stayed several days in a pleasant campground with a pool. We did go and walk the beach, but we also spent many afternoons just sitting by the pool relaxing. The temperature was in the high 60s and low 70s and very comfortable. One evening, the television news was issuing warnings of strong thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. At one point we got quite worried because we were told that a tornado was in our area. We went to the office and everybody seemed to wonder why we were so worried. We kept thinking that our trailer was not going to hold up in a tornado and we needed to go somewhere else. But where? After a few minutes of questioning, we felt embarrassed that we were the only people in the campground that seemed to be worried. (Most of the campers stay for a few months every winter.) So in the worst of the downpour we walked back to the trailer. We did have some spectacular lightening, and some drenching downpour, but we were fine. Does the news media dramatise the weather warnings, or were we just lucky?
We also learned in Ft. Pierce that walk-in medical clinics are only for very desperate times. Emergency rooms are probably better. I had a moleish growth on my shoulder that I wanted a doctor to look at. We went to one clinic that we had seen from the road and after I completed paperwork that included a lot of information about my pain management (what pain?), I was told it would be a three hour wait. So as we were leaving, a man followed us out the door and said that there was a nicer clinic a few blocks up that would be quicker. We located this clinic and again completed paperwork and were told I could pay $60 and submit the claim to my insurance company myself or pay $90 and they would submit it. I chose to submit it myself. Then I was led to an examining room and Mike accompanied me. When the doctor came in, he had an Indian accent which is fine, but he only spoke to Mike and not me. At all! He looked at my spot and said I needed to see a dermatologist and started explaining how much it would cost, etc. and I realized that because it said "cash pay" on the outside he thought I was uninsured. When I informed him that I had insurance, he immediately changed the price to $135 telling Mike that it wouldn't make any difference to me because I would spend enough at the dermatologist to cover my $250 deductible. I tried to argue with him, but couldn't get anywhere. I finally decided it wasn't worth the hassle to argue with someone who wouldn't talk to me ,when he was right about it not making any difference to me.
So, it was nice to return to the peaceful camp that included a long nature trail on which I could walk out my frustration. The results of my walks on this trail follow:
Water lily bud.
Trail
My heart went thumpity thump, until I realized this was just a log!
Florida is full of old folks. I walked into a Burger King, and the only people there without white hair were the employees. Almost no one is really from Florida. There are the people who permanently move here, and they have Florida licence plates, and there are the people who come down for the winter months. At least ten percent of those come from New Jersey or Ontario. There are large numbers from New York and Quebec as well. We haven't seen any other Washington plates, but we did see one car from Alaska. And Florida is really one large sand bar. There really isn't anything in the way of soil. Everything grows in sand!
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