Leaving Florida.....

Sunday, March 7th and we are saying our goodbye to Florida. Have really enjoyed our first week of our adventure. Wonderful to be able to see so many friends!

As we headed out I-4 to 95 North, we decided a detour over to A1A was a good idea. We took the Palm Coast Highway over (wow! - a whole new universe in that area) - we were a bit nostalgic as we passed old haunts that were interesting to ferret out with all the new development. There was Marineland and Washington State Gardens as highlights and lunch at the Matanzas Inlet was a must. Unfortunately, it was just a little too breezy to dine outside but we could still have that beautiful view! It was the end of Bike Week, so the Harleys were out in full force and had a group dining with us here, as well.

We shared a delicious conch fritter appetizer and indulged in the fish and chips (which we never had while in England!) - substituted the fries for sweet potato fries - good option! Light and delicious fish that was perfect with the malt vinegar! A couple of beer to wash it all down and then a homemade key lime pie to finish the meal off - the pie wasn't the best we've had but it looked pretty as all eyed it as it came across the restaurant to our table....

From there, we decided to prolong the trip up the coast and stay on A1A all the way up. Through St Augustine and Vilano, onto Ponte Vedra and into Jax Beach - nice memories! Although it added hours to the trip, it was very relaxing and fun! Which is, of course, what this is all about! We took the ferry over from Mayport to the tip of Amelia and stopped at Kingsley Plantation - one of the few parks we had never visited in the area. Beautiful canopy roads led us in and we felt like we had a preview of our Cumberland visit scheduled for tomorrow!

The plantation sat right on the St Johns - spectacular scenery! Great boardwalk along the river and some amazing slave quarter ruins - a real step back in time. A sense of serenity here and we were very glad we took the detour for a visit!

It did put us a little late getting into St Mary's - almost 7 before we arrived. A good lesson as we had decided that on this journey we would be careful about our arrival time to destinations. Even knowing where we going today, we misjudged how long it would take. So, lesson learned. We will be sure to make sure, with detours, we allow plenty of time to stop before evening! Steven and Charlie actually beat us to the Riverview Hotel!

We arrived, checked in and found that the infamous Seagle's Restaurant was, in fact, opening this evening for the first time this season. Perfect! We found a spot in the lounge off of the restaurant - it had a TV - so, we had a private screening of the Academy Awards as we drank and ate! Life is very good!

We started with an amazing appetizer of rock shrimp dip with garlic bread dipping pieces - YUM!!! A fairly good calamari was also chosen. The shrimp and grits was amazing, as was their famous rock shrimp dinner - it had been twelve years since I had last had this and it was as good as ever! They were a little harried in the restaurant, as it was the first Sunday opened in awhile. We were fortunate to have the cook's girlfriend, who was just visiting, help out the struggling single waitress - so she took care of us for the evening! Yes, a private dining screening with our own server - the academy would be proud!! And, my Jeff won Best Actor - all is very good with the world!!!

A good night's sleep in preparation for the big event Monday brings!!!