Flagler Beach To Kingsland Georgia

Friday the 27th

Took the day off to do laundry and other chores. Very windy with rain on the way.


Saturday the 28th

Up early, overcast with light breezes. Rained a lot last night. We got everything squared away and headed north on A1A by 8:30 AM. We planned to return to Ft Matanzas and St Augustine on our way to our next stop.

Driving north on A1A we passed Marineland and the Oceanarium. Crossing Matanzas Bridge I turned into the parking area to Fort Matanzas National Monument. Stepping out of the coach we met one of the volunteers dressed in a 18th century Spanish soldiers uniform. As we walked towards the visitor center I asked about the costume which included white hose, blue woolen breeches, a white blouse and jabot, woolen waistcoat or vest and woolen topcoat with tails. All topped by a bandana used as a skullcap upon which sat a tricorn hat with a company ribbon. In addition, he was wearing a cross chest bandolier with powder horn and shot pouch and carried a musket. He told me that even though the wool was not particularly heavy, it was issued to soldiers for their protection. Wool will only burn if it is in direct flame. So for those that fired cannons, sparks and flames from the touch hole would do no more than scorch or leave the occasional hole.

Walking down to the dock, he and his partner, also dressed in period military costume, joined us for the boat ride rode across the inland waterway to the fort. Once on the other side we were treated to a running discourse on the history of the fort and the life and times of soldiers stationed there. Five to seven soldiers and an officer were stationed there for a month at a time. The fort, made of Coquina Blocks, sedimentary stone formed from thick layers of coquina clam shells glued together with pressure and lime leaching from the shells, has three floors. The first is the outer platform for the cannons and watch station. The inner is the soldiers living quarters with bunks , mess table, and fireplace for cooking. Beneath the stairs leading to the second level was a 6,000 gallon cistern. The second floor was for the officer and included a bed, work table and storage cabinets for personal and military items. The third floor was really just the roof of the second floor with a three foot high wall around the perimeter.

Leaving the fort we crossed the water and returned to the coach. Back on A1A we continued north to SR 206 and headed west to SR 1, again turning north. Coming into St Augustine we were fortunate to find an empty parking lot where we could park the rig and car for a few hours. Just across the street was the Old Town Trolley Tour and Welcome Center. We bought tickets for the tour and were immediately ushered over to the old St Augustine Jail for a personalized tour of the jail hosted by deputy sheriff Mac, dressed as an officer of the law from the late 1800’s with holstered six gun and large sheriffs badge. Build by a company that specialized in building jails (and also built Alcatraz), the outer walls were four feet thick, floors three feet thick and everywhere the steel barred doors made of high quality steel.

It was a big building housing up to 42 prisoners at a time on two floors, the first for women the second for men. The jail has a restored gallows and a "birdcage" cell outside. Inside, the highlight of the tour is an animatronic sheriff Joe Perry, who gives a short speech from atop the maximum security cell block, holding a hangman's rope. After his talk, the jail fills with the disembodied recorded voices of unhappy prisoners (actually, more actors), and you are left to find your own way out. Also attached to the jail was a two floor apartment for the Sheriff and his family.

After our tour of the jail we boarded the open air trolley for a ninety minute tour of St Augustine. There are 18 stops along the way including the Ponce De Leon Hotel built by Henry Flagler, the land and railroad baron. The old hotel is now part of Flagler College. Also highlighted were the Lightner Museum, St George Street, Fountain of Youth, Oldest Wooden House, San Marcos Fort, City Gates Park and the statue of Ponce de Leon. We got off at St George Street which is a four block pedestrian walkway filled with old hotels, restaurants and shops. We walked about half way and stopped at Columbia Restaurant for lunch. Opened in 1983 by the fifth generation of family members, the Columbia features a mixture of Cuban and Seafood in a fine dining atmosphere. A nice place but the food was only so, so. We picked up the tour again and saw the rest of St Augustine finishing about 3:30 PM.

Getting back to the coach we took the dogs for a quick walk then cut over to I-95. Heading north once again we crossed the Georgia State line and took exit one. A mile later we pulled into the KOA and got a nice spot under the trees. We spent the evening relaxing and watching a little TV. The dogs got their last walk about 8:30 PM just as it started to sprinkle. We went to bed about 11:30 and listened to the storm brewing up before we fell asleep. An hour later we all awoke to a huge crash of rolling thunder. We were right in the middle of a huge thunderstorm! Lightning was flashing all about us, hail was falling in amidst the large rain drops, but most of all the noise was incredible. Poor Wicket was terrified and was barking and cowering on the floor. Punky wasn’t very happy either but wasn’t as noisy about it. This went on for about a half hour with one thunderous explosion less than a thousand feet above us. Eventually the storm moved off and we all managed to get back to sleep.

We arrived at the Kingsland KOA in Georgia about 5:00 PM. After getting set up we accessed the web and found a limited connection. We're here for two nights then we go to Tybee Island, just outside Savanah. I'll try to upload our photos and update the blog properly at that time.

We currently have a slow net connection so I am unable to include photos in the blog. However, I have been able to upload all our photos. To see all our photos click on:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Total for this leg, 120 miles. Total for the trip, 5,742 miles.