breakfast, books and tacos..

Saturday morning I went to breakfast at a local restaurant with the ladies from our church. This trip there were 18 of us. After noshing on a western omelet and plenty of coffee I headed down to a Barnes and Noble store a little bit further away than the one at the Town Center for a little change of pace. There are *only* 3 BN stores within 50 miles of where I live, but several Books-a-Million, and one or 2 Borders stores as well. I grabbed a few magazines, a coffee from the cafe and headed to the section where a local high school jazz band was playing. I was very pleased to see many comfy chairs too!

The band finished playing, and the magazines pored over, I headed out in search of a local park I saw online. Set along the St Johns River, the Walter Jones Historical Park was a nice cool area to walk along looking at some old barns built in the mid to late 1800's and a nice view of the River as well. There was a birthday party going on in one of the pavilions and a few other people walking the trail. Other than that all I heard was the sound of birds and the rustle of the breeze thru the trees. After a leisurely walk thru there I got back into my car and headed southeast towards St Augustine.

Since it had been some time since breakfast, it was time to find dinner. Now, I've been thru the historic district at least a dozen times in the last couple years, and I don't remember seeing this taco/burrito shop. I went in, ordered, sat down at a small booth and amused myself by taking some pics, and reading the (allowed) graffiti on the walls. It was delicious fresh food, and I'll definitely be going back next time I'm in the area! And next time, I'm bringing a sharpie to add to the artwork!

today's photos..

It was a chilly start to the day, but once the sun came out it was very nice. I headed to St Augustine for the morning, and had a lot of photo oportunities. I heard at least 3 or 4 foreign languages as well: Italian, Spanish and French..and those were just the ones I recognized!

As the sun was coming up over the very heavy cloud on the horizon, the fog/mist started to lift on the river. This ship just screamed Pirates to me, dunno why. Maybe it was the way the sails hung, or the fog, or both! :)

I had lunch in this small Spanish Bakery: an Empanada, a roll, a cookie, and a can of lemonade for $5.50! It was delicious, too. After I was done there I picked up a birthday present for a dear friend. *hehe*
While walking down the street I heard some accordian music, and got a quick photo of the one man band! We tried to get someone to take our pic for me, but the gentleman we asked refused, so I just took it myself.

On the way home I stopped at the beach quick, and it was very windy and cold. I almost got killed by a kite crashing down near me. And for some ungodly reason, there was a surfing contest going on! BRRRR!

I thought about walking on the pier, but not with the way that wind was blowing. My ears were near frozen.

Back home I went to do some laundry and feed the Master and myself some dinner.

St. Augustine on Sunday

I wasn't able to leave as early as I usually would, but I still managed to make it down there shortly after sun-up. I didn't bother with the beach this time. I parked the car in a nearby garage, and headed to the Castillo De San Marcos fort. Chatted up a random photog (one of many I saw today) for a few minutes about our favorite spots and time of day for shooting, and parted ways.

I spent quite a few minutes watching some chickens, roosters and babies over by Flagler College. A local told me there was 3 chicks, and after a trip crossing the road, there were only 2. Mama still seemed to be looking for that 3rd baby.

I had been messing around with my camera settings this morning, and while some of it worked, some of it didn't. This shot is pretty blurry, but you can still tell what it is.

Shortly after noon, I was back home to listen to The Red Sox game.

This is one of my fave pics I got today.

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!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Sunday I met a friend of mine at the St Augustine Ampitheater for the Taste of SA, and the Birth of the Blues. Last year it was a 2 day event, this year they've shrunk it down to just one. The weather was beautiful, with hardly a cloud to be seen.

On the way down I stopped at the SA outlets to walk around and pick up a new pair of sport sandals, and a 3 pack of "car jar" air fresheners (Vanilla Lime) from the YCC outlet store.

I pulled into the Ampitheatre a little after noon, and took a walk on a short circular stone path. I didn't venture too far, lest the parking attendants think I was trying to sneak in the back way. There were steps leading up, all but blocked by a large hanging tree branch. After getting a few photos in there, I paid my way in to the Taste. After purchasing some taste tickets I wandered about the booths looking for what I wanted to try first. Immediately the booth with the Pan Seared Mahi Mahi tuna wrapped in bacon caught my attention. The line and the wait never seemed to cease. Adding it to my "must try" list, I moved on. The A1A Ale Works had a busy booth as well, and the Shrimp 'n Grits were quickly purchased, photographed, and inhaled. Delicious!! While I was wolfing that down, my friend called saying she had just pulled in. I met her at the entrance and after purchasing her tickets, we wandered again, with me pointing out where the "good stuff" was. She started out with the sushi, and I headed to the booth with
Caribbean Jack Seared Ahi Tuna with Apple Mango Slaw. It included an edible flower, which I ate, but it was pretty tasteless. :)

Other items I had were the Maryland style Crab Cakes with a mustard sauce, Fried Custard, Garlic Fries, Mini Chocolate Torte, The Mahi Mahi wrapped in bacon mentioned above. Oh and 2 Starbucks Iced coffees, and a small pice of Orange Chocolate fudge to go. The only disappointment was the Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice, which was very bland.

In between dishes we sat under the tent and watched the bands and chatted.

More pictures to follow!

Stormy Sunday Scrapping

Sunday began with some whipping winds and rain. There was a large lock of finches flitting about in the tree outside my window. The cat really enjoyed that!
At the most all I had to do was head out to Walgreens to pick up my prints, and mail a couple things out. I was back home by 8am, and ready to eat and get started thinking about what to scrap for the day. I had a couple ideas, and one led to another and then another, til I had a good 5-6 plans for pages. 3 of those ideas will have to wait, and 2 are completed. Yeah, I'm kinda slow, not to mention I kept getting sucked into surfing online. One more LO is in progress. My "HOME." album is on hiatus until I go home to get some new shots of things that aren't already in there.

At first I was just going to do a general Red Sox LO, and when I started looking thru the photos I had, I noticed how all of Jason's pics were from behind...how odd! ;) That one was a no-brainer..

~Details: Cardstock: Best Occasions, "B": printed off the net, Markers from Zig, "Jason" rubon's from Monograms set, "Varitek": Edwardian Script ITC font, chippy button from Love Elsie, thread from DMC.

So, eventually I will do a Red Sox LO, and a Johnny Damon one, since I met him at the local mall back home before the 2004 season started.

Next layout is one focusing on the Sand dollar I found in St. Augustine last week. Even tho I'm not a religious person, I included the legend that goes with it. I printed the photo out on cardstock, and kept the colors simple.

~details: Cardstock: The Paper Company, Font: Monotype Corsiva, "memories like this" rubons: Swatch book, "treasure" sticker: Adornit, Chipboard border: K & Co.

So there you have it! A fantastic day of scrapping and no better way to spend a crappy weather day than inside, warm & cozy, scrapping with my bestest friend! Yes, the sun did eventually come out, but the winds remained!

As always head over to Jeanne's place, and see what she made on our scrappy day!

Sunday Morning Beach Walk

This morning, I woke early, and decided that St. Augustine would be a nice ride. I forgot my phone, so I couldn't let a certain person know I wasn't going to be home til later. oops! It was still dark when I left, and the Dunkin Donuts is a little out of my way. I made the trip anyway, since I had a gift card to use. I got a coffee & a jelly donut. Armed with my sugary breakfast, I made my way down the A1A. It started getting a little lighter, and I knew I wouldn't make the beach for sunrise. As I passed all of the beach-front houses (in Ponte Vedra, they can hardly be called "cottages") I would glance at the horizon to see how the sunrise was looking. I finally found an open parking lot on the side of the road and quickly parked to grab a couple shots before continuing down the coast. Once I got to the old city I sat on a bench near the parking garage, and ate my breakfast, then wandered the mostly empty city. As it was so early, not much was open, but that was ok. I didn't mind the quiet. I got done there after an hour or so of getting some shots, and wandering. Most of the people I saw were heading into church. Here is a little color for you northerners. Hoping spring comes quickly! Like before my vacation. LOL

When I left there my next stop was the St. Augustine Beach, where the Pier was. I was looking for sharks teeth, but instead found this:

Yes, it's *that* small!! I've never, ever found a whole sand dollar before, I only see bits and pieces of them. I took a photo before even picking it up, and then another to show how tiny it is. It's now sitting in bleach to get out that ocean-y smell, and whiten it a little, not to mention kill anything in it that may still be alive. ;)

After that, I pretty much decided that my day was complete, so left the beach and got a couple more random shots on my way back to my car.

I remember going to the Sunset Grille about 20 years ago when I came down here to visit my aunt, we'd always spend a weekend in St Augustine. Alas, the hotel we stayed in (was called the surf and turf inn, if I remember correctly) is no longer there, but the Grille is! I remember they had named much of the food after Jimmy Buffet songs, like a cheeseburger in Paradise, etc..

It's right down the street from Cafe 11, which seems to have a popular sunday brunch as the parking lot was packed. They have some great concerts there as well.