Awake: 6:22am Temp 36 sleep 6+12 cool & windy overnight @ St. Augustine, FL
We each have a small breakfast this morning with the intentions of having lunch with Ed & Mary Ann around noon time. M & E arrive promptly @ 11:30am &, after a quick tour of our MH, Ed drives us to one of their favorite Italian cafés, Napoli, for lunch. Ed just finished his tennis games & is ready to chow down. We all share an order of fried ravioli & a large pizza plus K & I share a dark beer.
From here, we head south on A1A to the Fort Matanzas National Park; 1st we watch a movie on historical Fort Matanzas, on the local wild life & other frequent creatures that one can expect to see in the area. Even though it's cool & windy, we don our jackets & walk the nature trail seeing only a few birds & no wild life. There appeared to be a nesting area in a clump of trees where many egrets & pelicans were flying in & settling.
Then we walk down to the Matanzas River, climb aboard a Nat'l Park Service motor boat & take a short ride across the river to Fort Matanzas. Here we listen to the history of this rebuilt fort from a history buff fellow outfitted in a Spanish military uniform who, not only entertained us with his sense of humor, but also educated us with stories of this military outpost fearing attacks from England during the early era of 1586 thru 1763. The fort's primary mission was to maintain control of Matanzas inlet. After thwarting British attempts to gain the inlet in 1742, the fort never again fired its guns in battle.
Next Ed motors us further south to Washington Oaks Gardens State Park where we walk the scenic trails & admire the many species of exotic plants from around the world. From here, we return to Ed & Mary Ann's rental condo, & call it a day. Our next rendezvous with E & M A will be on Friday.
Dinner: New England clam chowder with Triscuits.
Late movie: Documentary called: "That's entertainment." Great production Musicals from the 30's thru the 60's & it was entertaining.
Lights out: 11:47pm
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