St Augustine - We take the tour

In the lighthouse, a long way up!

This morning I got up and did my school work, I read a lot. Then we went to a tour train that takes you places, we went on it, there was one even near the marina. We saw the fort, old buildings, fancy old hotels and really nice churches. After that we got off to wait for a van to take us to a lighthouse, when we got there it looked really big. I was determined to go up 290 steps up and down, the view was amazing you could see everything. Everything looked so tiny and small, there was also a very nice breeze up on top. After that Grandpa and I went back down the 290 steps, Nana did not want to go up so we met her back down. I have to say my knees hurt coming down a lot, that was gym and history  class in one. The light house keeper had  to pull a thirty pound bucket of oil up all of those stairs. Then we saw a person hand carving a small sail boat that looked really nice and smooth. Then we met up with the van and went back to the boat for lunch, after that we went back to the train. We saw every historical thing or place in St. Augustine, then we played on a mini golf curse, I was third, Nana second and Grandpa first. It was really fun with all the Halloween decorations everywhere, then we headed back. I read a tiny bit and watched all the boats come in, there is really a lot, now am talking to you bye!  Sarah

View from the top

St Augustine now provides a shuttle in the mornings for either Publix or Walmart as well as other stores along the way such as Home Depot and Lowes. There is no charge for the shuttle and it's even advertised as free but they do accept donations. They pick you up right at the St Augustine Marina and allow for one hour for your shopping while they wait outside. They have shuttle service everyday of the week at two times: 9:00 to Publix and 10:30 to Walmart. 

A peacock in a tree? I didn't know they flew that high?

After the provisioning run we took a ticket for a tour of the city. The tour "trains" make 90 minute runs where you can hop on and off anywhere along the way. It's a great way to get introduced to the town. We took advantage of a free side trip to the lighthouse. Sarah wanted to climb the 200 plus steps to the top. I tagged along, it's a long way up! As expected the view is great and the look down will pump a little adrenalin. 

On Saturday we're headed for an anchorage at Daytona that we've used before. There's a dinghy dock by a park in the anchorage for Hoolie. The next day we're due in Titusville. Meanwhile, I posted a route on Active Captain showing a 10 ft MLW path through the famous shallows south of Fernandina. I wish the Coast Guard would buoy the path.