Our Last Day in StAug

It's hard to believe it's time to leave tomorrow, the past nine days have simply flown by.  We are sitting on our terrace for the first time all week (weather and our busy schedule have prevented us from doing this before now), enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, listening to the church bells ring across the street for a wedding and sipping a glass of wine.

Lorraine and I headed out at 8 a.m. this morning to check out some local garage sales.  Had to stop for this photo op on the way to our first location:

The two garage sales we checked out first weren't very exciting so we headed to our main destination for the day, the beach. 

We spent about an hour at the first beach, then drove down the road to Fort Matanzas.   Unfortunately, the ferry that takes you over to the actual fort was not working today so we could only stand on the shore and look across.

They did have a pair of great horned owls sleeping in a tree above the ranger station, with telescopes trained up at them.  That was worth the visit!  Just like the alligators yesterday, I could have sworn it was a stuffed owl I was looking at through the scope, his eyes were closed and he didn't move a feather but no, they were definitely alive.

How I wish I had a zoom lens, this was as close as I could get

Headed to another beach after stopping at a gas station convenience store for a bottle of water and a snack.  Did you know you can buy seashells from roadside stalls here? We chatted with the vendor, who was a lovely older man who moved down here from Buffalo 5 years ago.  We bought some sand dollars to take home, as I'd found half of one on the beach.

I found my dream home on the drive back.  Now all I need to do is win the lottery and when I do, I might need to move here:

The pelican mailbox belongs to a neighbour

Back into town for a late lunch at a French cafe, then home to pack.  Dinner outside on the terrace of a local restaurant and then we joined the townspeople for the annual British Night Watch (celebrating the town's British history) and the Grande Illumination event.  People dress up in period costumes and parade through the downtown area.  The townspeople are invited to join the parade with their lanterns.  It is described as follows:   "In the old days, the city of St. Augustine was secured every night by guards marching by lantern light to lock the gates. On special occasions or holidays, the night watch was made into a festive event. The population of St. Augustine would participate and carry a candle or lantern in the parade. The parade would end with volleys of muskets, singing, and merriment. Now this tradition is brought back to the city."

Definitely a fun way to end our stay here in this historic city.