I have an awesome husband.  He stayed home this weekend, washed the kitchen floor grout, re-painted the kitchen table, ferried children to all their activities, and monitored the eating, sleeping and hygienic habits of our children, my sister’s children and our 4 dogs…while my sister and I went to St. Augustine for a few days.

He’s my hero.

St. Augustine is beautiful.  I must go back there.

In brief:

Got a great walk-in deal at the oldest hotel in the oldest city.  Highly recommend it.  (But why do the nicest hotels charge $10/day for wi-fi when a Howard Johnson’s does it for free?  Why?)

Met the natives.

Went to jail.

Friendly people.

Went shopping.

See explanation below.

Had beautiful blue skies.

The cathedral

Statue in the cathedral’s courtyard

Had some not so blue skies which gave us off and on rain.

The fort.

Considered napping, but didn’t.

Spanish guard room bunks.

British barracks bunks – for 4.

Overlooking the town.

 Talking to locals gets you the best tip on places to eat.  We had lunch and dinner based on recommendations from a guy we met on the trolley going around town.  Loved the cheese-ale soup at A1A Aleworks.  After vigil Mass at the cathedral, we ate at a place called Casa Maya for dinner.  Yummy.

Earlier, we reserved spots on a ghost tour/pub crawl that began at 830 pm.  With some time to kill between dinner and the tour, we went and got tattoos.  Seriously, I don’t think my husband will let me go anywhere with my sister again.

Actually, he doesn’t mind.  It’s a tasteful pair of roses.

And it’s just henna.

Sunday morning breakfast at the Athena Cafe.

This sundial on the wall of the cathedral tower would be correct if not for Daylight Savings.  It was actually 830 am.

 Quick trip to the landing spot of Pedro Menendez in 1565.

And visiting the Shrine to Our Lady of La Leche.

Saw the oldest tree in St Augustine, a 640 year old live oak in the Ho-Jo parking lot.  The one with free wi-fi.

A wall made of tabby construction.  That means made from mud and sea shells.  Do not confuse it with coquina, which is also mud and sea shells, but coquina is natural and tabby is man-made.

We did not drink from the Fountain of Youth, so I still have my gray hair.

Decided to cross the Bridge of Lions to see the ocean.  We got there just as the drawbridge was going up.  I got out and took pictures.  See that group of people on the side?  They had posterboard signs.  We asked them what they were doing.  They were waiting for a boat…

Not one of these boats…

That man’s daughter was boating with her boyfriend.  He was going to propose marriage.  Their signs said, “Will you marry me?”  Isn’t that sweet?  My sister and I had fun talking to strangers all weekend.

Waiting for the bridge…

Great day for boating…especially if it means a diamond ring…

Any day now…

We actually didn’t see the ocean because you had to pay to go to the park, and we’ve already seen the ocean.  Once or twice.  We went back to the historic district.

City gate

Just hanging out in the bay…ah, the life…

Magnolia Street – lined by live oaks.

The afternoon came too quickly.  We got to see a bit of the Browns game where we ate lunch (they were playing Miami, and we tried hard to not be too loud as we rooted for our team).  Then we hit an outlet mall, and came home.

They survived, but nobody slept…neither kids nor dogs, hence not Bill.  Good thing it was only 2 nights!