Sunday Ride

I was up fairly early this past Sunday and decided it would be a good day to hit St Augustine. I hadn't been there for a few months, and wanted to see what was going on. I made it to the beach for sunrise, then headed into town. Did a lot of walking all around the fort (Castillo De San Marcos) and the historic district. Being a sunday, not much was open that early, but I managed to find a small cafe, which seemed like a great idea. No iced coffee and they didn't take debit cards. I hardly *ever* have cash on hand. So I got just a hot coffee, and took it to go. I'll be prepared next time, since it did seem like a nice place to relax.

On the way home I stopped at a preserve, and took a good long walk there too. I saw lots of animal tracks, but other than a few frogs and lizards, I saw no wildlife. This little guy was hanging out in the box where the sign in/out clipboard is stored. too cute!

Here is a collage of a few pics taken of the fort. I love walking around it and just knowing how old it is amazes me. I never fail to find something that I missed on a previous trip.

Also, I was reminded recently that I still haven't shared pics from the 4th of july. ooops. I made it to the beach in Jacksonville. It took forever to find parking but once I got settled in to watch the live music, then walked the short distance to the beach for the fireworks after. Totally worth it!

As always click on the photos for a closer look!

Scrap your day 03

On to the 3rd "Scrap Your Day" layout already, and next week brings the 4th day of picture taking. This year is just flying by. I can't believe it's only 66 days til my next vacation already too! THAT makes me very happy! This time we plan to get to Boston and the Big E (hopefully)! At least I have more time in September, almost a full 10 days.

This months theme was capturing the faces around us. Since I live with just my feline companion, there was no getting pics of family, and since I'm also not allowed to take pictures at work, it made for a short window of picture taking. Above, see a pic that didn't make it into the LO, one of the fountains by where I work. The first pic of the day came when I left work at 4:40 in the afternoon. After a quick stop at starbucks and the boat ramp I came home. I was able to get a couple shots around the house, then decided a visit to the St John's Town Center mall was in order.It was a bittersweet evening as both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away.

This past weekend I found yet another turtle in the continuing saga of "find all the fiberglas turtles in Jacksonville". This one is just on the side of the road by my Toyota dealership.

I also managed to find a new nature preserve. Unfortunately the interesting half is closed for renovation. This one is called Castaway Island Preserve. They did have a nice, albeit overgrown, flower garden loaded with butterflies.

Oh, and in other super duper cool news, the dunkin donuts we had here near the airport is REOPENING!!! oh, how happy that makes my workplace. But wait, there's more! In addition to the million restaurants at the river city shopping center (near the airport, not as nice as the St. John's, but definitely a place I visit frequently) we now have an Olive Garden there! Salad! Breadsticks. I think I'm in heaven! :) I'm thinking dinner before the new Harry Potter film on Thursday!

As always click on the photos for a closer look, and don't forget to visit Jeanne's Blog to see what she created!

Long Weekends Rock!

My weekend started on Thursday evening when I got out of work. For once I didn't have to "make an appearance" at work on Friday. Not that I don't usually have stuff I need to get done, but that's besides the point. A fire-truck in front of a Larry's Firehouse subs?? nahhhh. *click*

On friday afternoon I took a ride around downtown Jax knowing there wouldn't be much traffic, and saw many places I need to explore further. I really should visit the Cummer Museum & Gardens. Seriously. I've been here for almost 3 years and haven't been there yet. I managed to drive by it twice on Friday. I love visiting the local parks, and today I found Riverside Park, with its fenced in pond full of various birds, ducks and turtles; and a Turtle Sculpture (see another one I posted here).

Driving further out of the city, I found the remnants of what was to be Luxery Condos on the St John's River. The banners proclaimed high quality living and there the concrete skeletons sit, vacant and only half built behind a new (and thriving) strip mall. After all that driving around I made my way to the Barnes & Noble for a coffee frap. After coffee and a fast but heavy downpour it was time to scope out the eye candy at Anthropologie. If only I was filthy rich...*sigh*

Walking past one of the walkways going to the back parking lot, I noticed lots of tents set up. So, off I wandered to check it out. Turns out they have a flea market on fridays. I immediately bought an Icee and took a bunch of pictures. Rain was again threatening so off I went to head home.

Fireworks photos to follow in a seperate post...stay tuned!