Holidays on SCOUT: With family expected for Thanksgiving, we donned SCOUT’s Christmas decorations a little early this year.
While I liked last year’s “ornament” window covers, I did not like the “cave” effect inside. I created palm garlands with solar lighting, and Ray created snap-on bow-rail holders.
Thankfully, St. Augustine seems to be bouncing back from Covid shutdowns. Ray and I enjoyed decorations as we walked the neighborhood to and from downtown. Two of my favorites below – simple, but powerful and fitting for the time.
Our view from the Bridge of Lions on the way to dinner.
Our view from the Bridge of Lions on the way home from dinner.
We enjoyed relaxing in cozy restaurants decorated for the holidays.
We discovered Blackfly late in our stay in St. Augustine. The wood-fired pizza and the buffalo cauliflower dip were our favorites. I like their lighted fishing rod treatment. 😊
Ray ordered takeout pizza when I traveled “home” for a bridal shower.
Thanksgiving in St. Augustine with Lisa’s Family: We enjoyed a fun, relaxing weekend with some of my family. A few of us went to the World Golf Hall of Fame.
This statue depicts Ouimet at the U.S. Open with his 10-year-old caddy, Eddie Lowery. The plaque reads: "His astounding victory over the British greats Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff for the 1913 U.S. Open Championship at the County Club, Brookline, Mass., transformed golf into a popular sport."
Interesting coincidence: The AirBnB host for our guests’ rental home called while we were in the Golf Hall of Fame, and we learned he caddied for Vijay Singh for a couple of years.
The next day, we had a traditional, socially-distanced Thanksgiving meal at Gypsy Cab. This was another late-find restaurant for us in St. Augustine -- friendly staff and awesome seafood dishes.
Later that evening, we took a private golf cart tour of St. Augustine and Nights of Lights. I highly recommend this tour (https://www.exploretoursandpickups.com/).
Jacksonville Boat Parade and Fireworks: Last year, I was disappointed we couldn’t stay in Jacksonville for the boat parade; we had to cruise out earlier than planned to avoid bad weather. This year, we made it – despite frigid cold wind. (Don’t let Ray’s attire fool you. He was under-prepared – and cold!)
There were more boats in the Jax parade, but I can’t decide if the decorations were better than St. Augustine. I would have loved to compare, but St. Augustine’s boat parade was cancelled this year. Dang Covid!
No doubt, the Jacksonville skyline and fireworks – including a “pyro-waterfall” under the bridge -- were impressive!
Fellow Great Harbours in St. Augustine: We spent some time with our friends on mv JADIP who made their way south, after reverse-traversing the Great Loop (from their stopping point last year).
And the captain of mv Roadie took us for a sunset cruise on his picnic launch he named “Bob”.
Lightner Museum: On Veteran’s Day, we visited Lightner Museum’s Remembrance of the 75th Anniversary of World War 2, which included several local civic and historical organizations.
While there, we were invited to tour a few other sections in the museum. These “player” instruments were interesting.
The Violano-Virtuoso was invented by Henry Konrad Sandell, a contemporary of Thomas Edison. Ref: https://www.skinnerinc.com/news/blog/violano-virtuoso/
The Rolmonica was created by mounting a removable 12-note harmonica into a hinged Bakelite (plastic) frame. It was patented and introduced in 1928 and marketed with a package of four rolls for just one dollar. Ref: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1306622
Marina Dredging: We had a tense few days while the marina fairways were being dredged – within feet of SCOUT! Since the owners were out of town, we rinsed the black mud splashes off of mv Roadie (across the fairway) after Ray rinsed mv SCOUT. The dredge operators seemed to be very good at their jobs. No boats were damaged in the filming. 😊
Note to boaters who frequent marinas: One of the captains from a neighboring dock was away from his boat and his air conditioner was running during this dredging. He was upset because his intake had become clogged with the sludge that got stirred up. Fortunately, we were aboard – and were not running the AC due to pleasant temperatures.
Watch the short video below to see how big the operation – and how small the space.
Other Interesting Sights Around Town: These 2 artists brought my mother-in-law to mind. If you zoom in on the photos, you can see they are both painting the old oyster bar, with a rusty tin roof.
We spotted this gorgeous classic yacht in the city marina (where we stayed last year) as we walked across the bridge for dinner. Before heading home, we “snuck” onto the dock to get a closer look. After a little research, we determined it is Freedom, a 1926 Mathis-Trumpy 104, originally owned by the daughter of F.W. Woolworth. Ref: https://www.veranda.com/luxury-lifestyle/a27651899/mathis-trumpy-freedom-yacht/
NASA rockets above the Lighthouse: SCOUT was in a good position to see a couple of NASA launches from Cape Canaveral.
mv Roadie got a photo of this launch around sunset (while we were across the bridge having an early dinner).
I didn’t miss the launch two days later. The photo below is not very spectacular. But when you think about the 4 astronauts on-board and the distance they are about to travel -- well beyond the dark skies in this photo, it is quite spectacular! (The rocket is the star-like dot - just above the rotating light of the lighthouse.)
Cotton Candy Sunrise:
Morning Fog:
Merry Christmas! We drove to SC for my niece’s wedding and a family Christmas gathering. We then had a relaxing Christmas with Carson, who treated us to a delicious steak dinner.
Our next blog will track our journey into the new year -- and further south.