My Week Alone

November 15-22, 2017                                                           Most Recent Posts:
Gamble Rogers Memorial Recreation Area                             St. Augustine Lighthouse
Flagler Beach, Florida                                                            To the Point

Today is a hustling day.   Thank goodness our move is only 34 miles south down the coast.  When we arrive at noon we are too early and can’t check in yet.  We have our fingers crossed that the people in our site won’t wait until the very last minute, 1:00, to leave.  We need to be on the road by 2:00 so I can drive David the 100 mile trip to the Orlando Airport.  He’s decided at the last minute to go spend Thanksgiving week with his brother Roger and his famly in Texas.  I’ll hold down the fort since state parks don’t approve of being a storage lot for unused RVs.

After moving in the morning and drive 4 hours to and from the airport on Friday I’m exhausted  and all I want to do is enjoy th eview right out my front windows.  Then early to bed.

The next morning I’m up for sunrise.  How can you not be when it’s right out your front door.

  I have a whole week to do anything I want, to go to bed at whatever time I want – in my case EARLY – to get up at whatever time I want – ditto EARLY – eat whatever I want, whenever I want . . . . . well you get the picture.  

I’m a lazy bum at the beach just sitting around or walking near the waves.   I do some yoga, I think about taking the kayak out,  I think about driving to Brewsters.  I think about a lot of things but I do pretty much nothing.   Oh. yes,  I read in my chair and watch the waves which are fantastic.  I also walk over to the Matanzas Bay for sunset.   It’s a tough week.

I have a lot of company.

He’s the royal tern but I just call him Groucho.

Somebody’s found a breakfast treat.

Winnona keeps her eye on me from behind the dune.

Sunday morning at dawn I see this shrimp boat on the horizon.

The sun rises up into the clouds and sends its rays down

I take a walk down the beach just after sunrise and think this will probably be my plan for all the days we are here.  It’s beautiful out, there’s almost no one else and I see such interesting things.

Like this little crab who had washed up somehow and was really far away from the outgoing tide.

I pick him up, get as close to the water as I can and heave him out with my totally inefficient girlie throw. 

Not very far down the beach I see one of his fellows who was not so lucky.   I assume this Ruddy Turnstone found this grab on the beach.  He’s in the processes of trying to flip it over so he can get to the meat on the softer side..

It’s eat and be eaten for most of  Earth’s creatures..

The waves are great today.

On my way back for breakfast I see Winnona looking out and realize again how little dune is left in the campground.  I hold my breath every time there is a hurricane or major storm predicted for Flagler Beach.

I end my day the same way it began, watching the sun.  From the ocean side campsites, I walk across A!A to the other side of the park where there is a basin with a boat launch from which I can see the sun set.  The basin connects to the Matanzas Bay.  A thick cover of clouds squeezes the sun to the horizon.

I’m not the only one who enjoys Monday’s sunrise.  Our crew has a front row view.

Inside or out, the view is just amazing.  I am constantly smiling as I look out nearly every window and see the surf.   No wonder these sites are so difficult to reserve.  I consider myself to have won the lottery when I get one.  The waves today give a good idea of how windy it is.

Since Ruby stayed here with me, I could go anywhere I want to hike but I only use the car for grocery runs and instead just walk over to the other side of the park and walk the nature trail which is a loop going from the picnic area (sunset spot) to the River Campground and back.  You can pick it up either place so I start at the picnic area.

Boy am I surprised to see this palm tree.  I ask at the Ranger Station on my way home and they tellme it was the parting gift of a Ranger/woodcarver when he retired.  The detail is fantastic. 

I come to a fork in the trail and it’s clear that the loop goes to the left but there is not sign and of course I want to see what’s to the right.   I find the River Campground is there.

From here I follow the loop back to my starting point and return to Winnona.  On my way I pass by the greatest inconvenience to beeing here.   It seems someone drove their rig into the automatic gate device and broke it.  So now everyone has to get out and go up to the gate and turn tumblers to the combination, open the gate, go back to their vehicle, drive it through the gate, stop again, get out and close the gate and relock it and get back in their cars.  Why do they
have to keep it locked during the day you might ask?  Well this is a very small campground that there would likely be a lot of “drive throughs” if it were possible.

You can see the high key pad for what was an automatic gate there on the left, the lower one for cars and trucks is what was broken.

The broken arm and the new inconvenient solution.  They say it will be fixed in January.  Too late for us.

On Tuesday, I take my morning walk north up the beach. 

Along the way I found several nice sized pieces of coquina that had apparently come in on the tide.  They look very different from each other.  I find this stone so interesting and beautiful. 

When I see this one legged stand, I try it.  I can’t do it for as long as he can.

I couldn’t overhear the conversation. Probably just gossip among feathered friends.

From the campground north to the pier in central Flagler Beach, there are no buildings on the water side of A1A other than this tiny complex of two apartments and one restaurant, the famous High Tides at Snack Jack.

I pass them all on my beach walk since they are just outside the park boundary.

All the roof tops you can see in this picture are on the other side of A1A.

Many of them have access stairs to the beach and some are PRIVATE!   Hurricane Matthew in 2016 destroyed many of these along with a big piece of Highway A1A. 

At this point I’ve gone 2 miles so I turn around and head back.

 

And when I do, I see the clous are gathering overhead and things are darkening.  Uh oh.

Waves are picking up speed.  I use the steps on one of the sets up steps to perch my camera stop for a record of the waves behind me but am quickly on my way.  

The egret doesn’t seem to be concerned about the size of the wave coming toward him.

Pretty sure it is a red flag day but this wet suited surfer is out anyway.  I stopped to try to get a picture of him on his board but this was all I could get.

Good thing my intuition told me it was time to turn around.   I seriously had just closed the door behind me when the rains started coming down.

Wednesday morning’s sunrise is lovely.  This is taken with part of my new neighbors tent set up on the far left.  They must have come in during the rain since it was raining into dark last night.

But it’s a beautiful day so I’m sure all of their things dried out especially with all the wind.  Look at those blue skies!

I decide to walk back up the beach this time to the pirate house and when I do, I stop by this cute little place that I mentioned before to see what it’s like.   I meet the owner and she tells me $200 a night for ocean front apartments.   I think that would be SO much fun for Carrie and Matthew and Celia to do as a Christmas holiday one year if we all could get reservations at the same time in December.   If a hurricane ever damages these buildings, the owners will not be permitted to rebuild.  Flagler Beach no longer allows buildings on the water front.  Existing buildings are grandfathered in until they are damaged.  With the hurricane seasons being so strong these last two years, I think we’d better plan quickly.

There seems to be a gathering of sunbathers relaxing on the beach.

And none of them seems to care how close the waves come.   They never move.

I didn’t check the tide chart before setting out and it’s pretty clear by the time I get to the area that now has a heavy rock retaining wall after the road was washed out here in 2016, that the tide is coming in.

Hmmm, do I have to turn around again before I run out of beach to wak on?

Well I can always climb up on the rocks and wait it out.   So far I’ll only get my feet wet and the water is fine so I carry on.

The pirate house is in the center of the most heavily damaged area and I was glad to see last year that it was not damaged.   Don’t know who lives there but it’s just such a landmark now.  Notice the size of the rocks they put in to buffet the road.

I can only get a picture of the top deck pirates.  There are some hanging off the chimney further down on the left side and some in front of the house on the ground level as well.  I love it.

I’ve made my goal and over 3 miles so I head back home.   Later that night the rains start again.  And it rains and rains and pours and thunders and the winds are so strong and the rig is shaking so I get up around midnight and bring in the slides.  This is a heavy thunderstorm with lightening and the whole nine yards.

When I look out on Thanksgiving morning I see my neighbors have not given up the ship.  It’s still pouring down rain.   But I’ve got no where to go, no rerservations, a great Thanksgiving dinner planned and the rain sounds great on the roof even the sheets of it coming against the windows.  Boy I feel sorry for them.   What are they thinking?

I get busy making breakfast and planning my holiday dinner and the next time I look out about an hour later, this is the sight at their campsite.   I guess enough is enough after that major thunderstorm.   So much for Thanksgiving at the beach.

But I’m a happy camper, safe and dry thanks to Winnona.  Cheers to you’all and Happy Belated Thanksgiving.

Since I can have anything I want today, holiday dontcha know,  I have salmon smothered in onion and garlic, oyster dressing, candied sweet potatoes, green beans with almonds and cranberry sauce.  I have no pie baker here at present so there is no dessert but the cranberry is sweet enough to count.   It’s all delish if I do say so myself.

Friday is the end of  David’s vacation.  He’s flying home this morning which means I have a 2 hour trip to make to Tampa before his 9:30am and I’m just crossing my fingers I don’t have to do it in the rain.

Even though the entire campground is sand and generally you can’t tell it’s rained about an hour after it quits, last night’s rain has left a lot of puddles as the ground couldn’t absorb the water fast enough.

The first picture is one taken earlier in the week of the road into the campground.  The second is one I took as I left trying to beat the rain which was coming back momentarily.  May not look like much by Houston standards but for a 100% sand campground it’s pretty amazing.

I did have to drive most of the first hour in the rain but then it stopped.  David brough the sunshine from Texas back with him and we had no more rain.

I’ll be posting next about our second week at Gamble Rogers.  Hopefully when he recovers from his “vacation” David will write a post about his trip to San Marcos, Terlingua and Big Bend National park.

St Augustine Lighthouse

Thursday November 16, 2017                                   Most Recent Posts:
Anastasia State Park                                                 To the Point
St. Augustine, Florida                                                Anastasia State Park, St.  Augustine

It’s been cold gray and dreary here for the past 4 days when finally on Thursday, the day before we will be leaving, the skies brighten up and we go over to the lighthouse.   We’re not the only ones apparently waiting for a clear day to go up to the top.  

After we buy our tickets we go straight out to the lighthouse.  We’ll see the keeper’s house after that.  Access to the lighthouse is through the oil house attached to the lighthouse.  There are two side rooms of information before the beginning of our climb to the top.

Florida’s soft sand and drifting coastline posed big problems for lighthouse construction.  Brick lighthouses in the state often proved too heavy for the sand and collapsed into the sea only a year or two after they were built.  St. Augustine’s coquina and shell base provided a firm foundation and in 1874 the lighthouse was completed.  It is the city’s first and oldest surviving brick structure. 

Constructed of brick and iron, St. Augustine’s cone shaped tower rises 65 feet above sea level and is still topped by a red lantern and its original first order Fresnel lens.  The tower’s interior is lighted by nine windows and has eight flights of cast iron spiral stairs that provide access to the rotation room and observation deck.

Inside the oil house, before starting his ascent the lighthouse keeper picks up the 30 pound bucket of oil that must be carried to the top several times a day.

Luckily he doesn’t have to make a second trip to carry the wrench up today.  Notice the size of the wrench in comparison with the keeper’s coat on the left.  Imagine the wrench in his hand.

As we climb the steps into the lighthouse itself I see that it’s not even Thanksgiving yet but the lighthouse Christmas tree is already set up.  In fact they seem to be doing a lot of the holiday decorating today.  It’s a pretty tree as are all the decorations we see.

So nice of them to put information signs on every landing so you have an excuse to stop if you need to catch your breath.  Doubt the lighthouse keeper had time to stop on his way up the 219 metal steps multiple times a day and sometimes carrying 30 pounds of oil.

Through the windows on each set of stairs between landings, we can follow our progress up.

On one landing we learn that in 1980 (good things happen in that year), 16 women of the Junior League saved the light station by turning back the bulldozers sent to demolish the keeper’s house.  These volunteers were very determined to save this light station.  It took them 15 years and 1.2 million dollars to save the house tower and fresnel lens.  What a debt we all owe to the foresight of these women.  I can’t imagine St. Augustine without its lighthouse and lens.

We make it to the top and David gets this picture of the beautiful first order Fresnel Lens.  Its light has been shining 19 to 25 nautical miles out since 1874 with one notable exception.  In 1986 the lens was damaged by a vandal’s bullet.  It was shut down in 1991 by the Coast Guard and the Junior League once again went to work.  In May of 1992, with funding from a variety of community organizations and state grants, they began the first ever attempted restoration of a Fresnel Lens.  A community wide celebration was held the following year in May of 1993 when the beacon was re-lit.  How wonderful to hear of such a tragedy turned into a time of joy.

We step out onto the observation deck and are nearly blown away.  Literally! The wind is MUCH stronger at this height.  We can see out over the entire city including the famous Bridge of Lions which allows one to go from Anastasia Island to the city of St. Augustine across Matanzas Bay.

We’ve picked the perfect blue sky day for our visit.  It’s been cloudy rainy and gray for days before this.  But today we can see for miles.

We go on the “back side”, meaning out of the wind, where we can at least stand holding on to the rail and swap picture taking with someone.  You can tell by my hair that even here the wind is whipping.  But the lighthouse is steady as a rock.   Thankfully!

Before heading back down both David and I get a pictures of the fresnel in its red dome above us.   Even though we are standing next to each other, our height makes them rather different..  Can you guess which picture is which?

Going down the 219 cast iron steps is a lot easier than coming up.  We’re both smiling.  What a fabulous lighthouse and you can see it all thanks to the women of the Junior League.

Back outside, we cross over to the keeper’s house.   There were actually three keepers.  The head keeper and his family lived on the left side of the house.  The assistant keeper lived on the right side and there was a small room on the 2nd floor for the 2nd Assistant who was usually a local teenage boy of between 18 and 20.   The two wings of the house are now the gift shop and the restrooms.

The keepers area has been beautifully retored to the late 1800’s.  Golden Oak and Walnut, the woods of the period and my favorites.

I love the view out the front door.  Doesn’t it seem so wonderfully southern?

The interior of the second keeper’s house is a sharp contrast in decor.  It now houses an interactive exhibit focusing on a  shipwreck that occurred on New Year’s Eve in 1782, when a British Loyalist’s ship, carrying civilians and soldiers fleeing from Charleston, SC near the end of the American Revolutionary War, wrecked while approaching St. Augustine harbor.  The site has been added to the National Park Service’s Register of Historic Places. 

Underwater archaeologists uncovered this shipwreck more than 200 years later in the waters off St. Augustine. The “Wrecked!” exhibit tells the story of Charleston colonists seeking refuge in one of the last colonies loyal to the British Crown, which at the time was St. Augustine. The ship itself has not been identified but archaeologists were able to determine that the ship was one of sixteen in total making this desperate journey to a safe harbor when it ran aground on St. Augustine’s dangerous sandbars.

The teams brought up cannons, cauldrons, buttons and many other artifacts from the wreck.  Many are on display here in the basement. The exhibit upstairs and in the basement down this cast iron staircase from the keeper’s room above tells the story of the doomed voyage and also invites guests to learn all about the science of underwater archaeology.    Also in the basement there is a video of some of the recovery of the canons which are on display.  Archeologists have determined by the location of the canons that they along with other heavy items were thrown off the ship in an effort to lighten the ship and dislodge it from the sandbar in their struggle for survival.

If you are a ship wreck enthusiast, there is interesting information about this one available on the Lighthouse webpage at this URL.

When we come back up  I look more closely at the lovely tree a pair of ladies has just finished decorating.   Under it  I find a blue Eeoyre.  Blue seems a good color for him.  The look on his face always reminds me of our Fred.

Back outside, we climb up the outside staircase.  Holiday garlands have been strung just today.  We really didn’t look much at the ground beneath us when we were on the observation platform of the lighthouse.  We were too busy looking off into the distance.  But from here, we can survey the grounds around the lighthouse.

I think these pictures give a good sense of the size of the lighthouse.  It’s BIG!

The St. Augustine Lighthouse is a great way to spend an afternoon. and well worth the price of admission.  Tickets are $12.95 for adults, $10.95 for those 60 and older or 12 and under.  There are many 10% discount tickets around in the tourist brochures as well.  I consider it a donation to the Junior League and to the upkeep of this wonderful  light house.

As we leave, David finds the perfect spot for taking a farewell selfie.  I wonder if that’s the reason they put this mirror here just inside the gate.

Tomorrow we’re off for another short drive down the Florida Coast to Gamble Rogers State Park where we’ll have an ocean front view.   Can’t wait!!