May 25, 2013
Soon after departure we entered the Halifax River leaving
the Indian River we had come to understand behind us. Despite the warnings of shoaling in this
section of the river we stayed mid-channel and adjusted as we could read the
water and made the day without kissing the bottom - which is better than I can
say about the explorations the evening before in search of the biggest fish
that ever swam this part of the river.
(Bottomed the dingy hard in a river side channel – thought about getting
out to lift the dingy off the mud – then thought better as it looked like great
alligator country! Don’t know c. those
critters but figured I was too tired this late in the day to be wrestling one. Upped the motor, made a rooster tail and got
back to the main channel…. Another lesson learned.)
Initially we had decided to pass St Augustine as we had been
to this historic city before during our travels. This is another lesson learned, we found a
whole new perspective from the water and we quickly realized what a mistake it
would have been to pass by! Michele
called her cousin, Lisa, to see if she and her husband, Lucas, were available
for dinner, and Lisa and made reservations for the four of us at one of her
favorite restaurants: La Pentola! (La Pentola
is just about two short blocks north of the historic park – the part across the
street from the municipal marina/bridge) .
We had a most enjoyable dinner – the food and the company - at this
quite charming, Italian-style courtyard restaurant – if you’re ever in St.
Augustine we would recommend this jewel to your dining list! Lisa and Lucas ordered a vegetarian fettuccine,
Ron had a daily special – the Bouillabaisse, and Michele had crab cakes. All were excellent.
After dinner. Lisa and Lucas gave us a brief walking history
lesson of some notable downtown buildings and graciously offered us a ride to a
grocery store to replenish needed supplies – mainly bottled water. A nice walk across the Bridge of Lions to
Lisa and Lucas’s car and we were off on a brief tour of ‘their neighborhood’ –
St. Augustine Beach. A short “full moon-light”
dingy ride back to the waiting Spirit Journey and we called it a day. Before turning out the lights we decided we
enjoyed the St. Augustine history enough that we would stay Sunday, to do some
further exploration.
No comments:
Post a Comment