Monday, June 13, 2005

Deja vu

Well, well...here it's June, barely two weeks into the official hurricane season, and this past weekend, we in Florida have had to warily watch the Gulf of Mexico wondering if TS Arlene would change her course and veer into peninsula. Fortunately it was more rain than anything else. Here in Orlando, we got several major downpours over the course of Saturday afternoon and night. So, really, nothing all that spectacular on which to journal. I know, you all were expecting some drama. Well, stay tuned...the height of the season is September and October.

The first weekend of this month, a friend and I went camping up near St. Augustine. This is the oldest continually occupied city in the nation, founded in 1565. If the weather cooperates, then it's about an hour and a half drive from Orlando. Anyways, we camped at Faver-Dykes State Park, a small, secluded state park about 15 miles south of St. Augustine. Funny thing I noticed as we drove from the main entrance of the park to where the campsites were located - Florida doesn't have dirt roads, it has sand roads. I saw some new fauna that I hadn't seen in the wild before, namely armadillos. One time, as we were leaving the park, we saw an armadillo rooting in the dirt for grubs. So we stopped and backed up to get a closer look. I didn't realize how poor of eyesight those creatures have! I could've opened my door, reached down, and picked it up. It finally realized that something was right beside it, so it stopped, looked up, cocked its head at me, then walked a few feet away before sticking its nose back into the dirt. Apparently it wasn't fazed by us. But I thought it was so cool to see an armadillo that close up. Before this, I'd only viewed them in zoos.

Saturday was spent at Crescent Point beach reading, walking, and just relaxing. The sky was overcast and there was a nice breeze, so we didn't bake. That evening, we thought we'd go into town and find a nice little cafe in which to have dinner. Fat chance of that. St. Augustine caters to tourists, especially in the historic district, so we couldn't find a parking spot to save our lives. After scratching that idea, we returned to the outskirts and found Carinos. Decent Italian restaurant with great herb bread and dipping oil!

Sunday morning, after breaking camp and checking out, we returned to town to wander in and out of shops. St. Augustine is a typical beach town, full of art galleries and cafes. The architecture of downtown is very spanish with the red tile roofs and tan exterior-colored buildings. You can tour the stone fortress, Castillo de San Marcos, built between 1672 and 1696. We didn't feel like spending $6 for the entrance fee.

The town is a good day trip including some time spent at the beach. If you're ever Orlando way, look me up and I'd be happy to take you there!

Sweltering in Orlando...cheers:-)