st. augustine, FL (part 1).

after a lot of hemming and hawing, a decision was made to leave the camachee island marina for the st. augustine municipal marina, a whopping three miles away.  by that time, the boat had been all cleaned up and i wasn't as cranky anymore.  it is amazing what a clean home, clean dog and clean laundry will do for one's spirits!  once we got TADHANA settled in her slip, we went off to town and did the tourist thing.  there is a lot to see in st. augustine but we just wandered around aimlessly, taking it all in, shared a slice of pizza and had some ice cream.  that evening, our dragger ducklings took us out for dinner, saying that they owed us for saving their lives hahaha!  well, yes....  another couple from the fleet joined us and we all had a great time at hooked on harry's.  i still had to work that night but by that time, i was so tired that i just didn't care anymore and didn't force myself to stay up.  i did, however, have company in the form of a black-crowned night heron who hung out on the bow rail and stared at me through the windshield.  the birds here at the municipal marina seem to be very used to people walking up and down the dock so they don't spook easily.  white herons and little egrets patrol the floating docks during the day and at night, the black-crowned night herons take one section of the empty dinghy dock each and fish from there. 

shrimp boat

castillo de san marcos

egrets large and small

this particular one was fearless

little egret with yellow feet

the next morning was extremely dewy and the thought of moving to a mooring ball wasn't particularly appealing so tom called the marina office.  we were told that there was no room at the inn but that they would put us on the waiting list.  an hour later, we were told that we could stay in our slip - happy day!  we tried to get a slip for the rest of our stay in st. augustine but it is some kind of special events weekend and the marina was full up with two cruising groups apart from us hogging all the reservations.  oh well, we tried, and face it, the mooring ball is cheaper and we are really over our marina budget for this trip.  in any case, that morning, we left consuelo at home and ran off to the lightner museum and then home for lunch.  the truth is, with all the odors wafting out of the various restaurant kitchens in the city, it was hard to go home for lunch but budget dictates all, so we went home for lunch.  after that, we went back into town and walked towards the castillo de san marcos where they were having a shooting of muskets and cannon fire demonstration.  coincidentally, tom was being texted by wally who was just getting into st. augustine and was asking about fog and visibility as it was just starting to roll in at the time, at about 3:00 p.m.  we saw wally's distinctive red hull sailboat come in and then anchor across the river from the fort.  tom texted that we had a cannon pointed right at his boat and wally thought it was a joke and texted back saying you couldn't aim at anything in this fog and to fire away, and just when tom got that text, they fired the cannon!  we cracked up at the next text that tom received.  let's just say that wally was not expecting to hear that sound just then hahaha...

back home for dinner and the fog just started to get thicker ugh....  one minute we have the A/C on in the boat and the next, we had to switch the reverse cycle to heat!  needless to say, the dehumidifier has been running full-time. 

first friday in st. augustine is art walk night where the various art galleries open up their doors from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. and serve up special refreshments along with a diversity of art to browse or purchase, so after dinner, the three of us headed out again into the night to wander around some more.  tom had to start using his knee brace again.  as for me, my feet were sore at the end, but we really did have an enjoyable time.  we bumped into some members of the fleet who had had more than enough to drink.  it's a good thing that it wasn't going to be an early departure the next day! 

one notable thing is that friday is my day off and i did the unheard of thing and actually took my day off OFF!   the next morning, saturday, (also my day off), i slept in and woke up stiff as a board.  tom greeted me with the news that he had talked to the marina office and that there was indeed room at the inn for the duration of our stay in st. augustine!  what a relief...  the fog had rolled in again in the morning - everything was dripping and nasty.  we are such marina queens!  i guess that a lot of plans had changed with the weather being what it was and some expected winds from the north, etc. etc.  whatever the reason, we are happy to remain here, plugged in, and not having to drop the dinghy for doggie runs and grocery shopping.