Around the State (and what we ate) - A Florida road trip report-COMPLETE 9/23

[mickey916]

April 18 - Exploring Daytona on our way to the Space Coast​

After having a decent breakfast of bagels and self-made waffles, we gratefully checked out of the Hampton Inn and headed down A1A to Daytona. My DH has been a huge NASCAR fan his entire life and I became one by marriage, LOL. We booked a tram tour and got to go out on the track and see the start/finish line as well as the winner's circle. It was a good tour but I had a hard time processing everything the tourguide said as it was hard to hear over the loudspeaker and he spoke really fast. We enjoyed it though. As you can see it was another spectacular weather day.



After our tour we headed to Racing's North Turn in Ponce Inlet for lunch, another suggestion made by Chad Gallivanter's vlogs. We were seated right away on the patio with a gorgeous view of the ocean.


We decided to share two sandwiches again. First, we ordered the GLEN "WOODCHOPPER" WOOD #22 1/2 POUND BURGER with fries. This was an excellent burger. Much better than the one we just had at the Ormond Garage. The fries were also very good.



We also ordered the "MARVIN PANCH" CHICKEN CLUB SANDWICH with onion rings. This was a grilled chicken sandwich with a lemon aioli and bacon. This was also excellent. It was a moist chicken breast and the lemon aioli added a nice flavor. The onion rings were quite good as well with a nice crispy coating.



Overall, we were really pleased with our meal and the view at the Racing's North Turn Restaurant. Definitely one we will visit again.

After our meal we took some pictures of the beach outside the restaurant. Gorgeous!



We then drove to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse (lighthouse #2 on our trip).

​

Once again we made the trek up to the top of the lighthouse. The steps were more challenging in this lighthouse (or maybe it was the effect of donuts, burgers, and ice cream) but we made it to the top.



After descending the lighthouse, we toured the various museum buildings and learned about what life was like for the keepers and their families. We also saw their beautiful collection of lighthouse lenses. It was a worthwhile stop.

We drove past the birthplace of NASCAR, the Streamline Hotel.



We then made one final stop before dinner at the Dunlawton Sugar Mill. We had no idea there were so many sugar mill ruins in Florida and we were searching for one that Chad Gallivanter had suggested. We still don't think we found the right one. This one was interesting as it was part of a park that had odd sculptures and gnome collections. Very quirky but interesting.

​

Side Note: I think the Red Sox gnome decided to hide out in Florida after the way the team is doing this year. After getting some steps walking around this park, we continued on toward Titusville our next stop.

Up next...stumbling upon a very good restaurant in New Smyrna Beach for dinner.

​

 

[mickey916]

April 18 Early Bird Dinner Surprise​

Since we still wanted to avoid Route 95, we continued down Route 1 on our way to Titusville. Along our route we kept an eye out for a place to get dinner. As we drove through New Smyrna Beach, my DH noticed a unique looking restaurant with streams of people heading in. We decided to stop and give it a try.

​

The restaurant was packed but we were seated right away. We were in time for the Early Bird Special:

"All Early Birds Include: Manhattan Style Fish Chowder, Garden Fresh Salad, Hush Puppy, Hot Rolls & Butter, and our Fresh Baked Cinnamon Roll & Your Choice of One: Baked Potato, French Fries, Mixed Rice, Sweet Potato, or Fresh Steamed Broccoli"

Manhattan Style Fish Chowder: This was quite good. Being a New Englander, I'm used to New England Clam Chowder and this is obviously totally different but we both enjoyed it. My DH isn't a big seafood fan and never eats chowder but he actually ate his entire bowl, saying it wasn't "too fishy".



Garden Fresh Salad: I got mine with blue cheese and DH got his with Thousand Island. The salad was indeed fresh, the croutons were crispy and the salad dressings were creamy and flavorful.



Hot rolls and butter and cinnamon rolls: Delicious! The plain rolls were crispy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. The cinnamon rolls were excellent. The cinnamon rolls are so popular, they actually sell additional ones for 55 cents each (and we overheard a table complaining about the outrageous cost when they asked to take a few home...lol).



My DH's entrée: Broiled fish with rice and a hush puppy. DH is not a seafood lover but he enjoyed his fish and rice. He's also not a hush puppy fan and finds them usually really dry. This one was moist and tasty! He decided maybe he's not a hush puppy fan because he never had a good one before.



My entrée: broiled seafood combination with baked potato and hush puppy. I enjoyed all of this. The seafood was well cooked and fresh. The baked potato was crispy on the outside and tender inside. I too really enjoyed the hush puppy.



The desserts looked really good but we were far too full from the meal. Overall we felt this was a solid meal and an incredible value. Our total bill with tip was under $50. Service was also excellent. Our meals were served hot and quickly. Our water glasses were filled instantly throughout the meal. Great stop for a random pull over as we drove down the road!

After our meal we continued on to the Towneplace Suites, Titusville, our hotel for the next couple nights.

 

[mickey916]

April 19 - A Missed Opportunity
​

One of the things we were excited to learn was that there was going to be a Falcon 9 launch while we were at the Space Coast. We asked the woman at the front desk where the best spot was to view a launch. She suggested we take a half hour drive to Cocoa Beach. So, we grabbed a couple scones from the Towneplace Suites breakfast and headed off to Cocoa Beach. We parked for free at the Lori Wilson State Park and then brought our chairs to the beach. (By the way Lori Wilson is a great spot for beach access to Cocoa Beach with public restrooms and free parking). We enjoyed our scones and a few graham crackers for breakfast as we awaited the launch. What we did not know is that there are several launch pads and their location greatly affects the viewing potential. It turned out that the rocket was being launched at a location north of the Kennedy Space Center so our vantage point was very far away.

Here's what we saw:


Honestly our view was better last year in the Magic Kingdom!

Later, as we were driving back to our hotel, within a few miles of the Towneplace Suites in Titusville, we came across a park with this view of the launching pad:



Why the woman at the front desk didn't suggest we go there, just a few minutes up the road, we don't know. We figured that would be a common question at the hotel...live and learn...next year we'll do a better job of scoping out a viewing spot.

After our disappointing rocket view, we decided to take a ride through the Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island. As we approached there was a sign with a lot of information that said something about buying a Refuge pass. We thought we'd approach some sort of booth but actually we were supposed to pull over to the side of the big sign to buy our pass. So, being the rebels that we are, we were driving through for free, renegades skirting the law. Fortunately I did a quick google search and discovered we could buy a pass online for $10 per car and our reputation was restored! Whew!

We really enjoyed taking our time driving along the wildlife drive. We saw a few alligators...



and lots of birds.



We stopped at various points and learned so much from the various "professional bird watchers" who were there. When you know where to look and what you're looking at, there were many amazing birds to see! The one above is a Green Heron who was protecting her eggs.

We realized on our drive that it was lunch time but we weren't really hungry so we had pretzel rods that I had packed for the trip.

At the wildlife refuge a couple told us about a great place to see manatees and gave us directions. We went to the Manatee Observation Deck near Haulover Canal. We saw several manatees swimming in the shallow waters.



This was a really great spot to see the manatees!

After our wildlife viewing, we headed for dinner at the Loyd Have Mercy restaurant in Titusville. I had stumbled upon this restaurant in TripAdvisor and we liked the punny name. We also found out it was once featured on Restaurant Impossible but we didn't dare watch the show before we ate there! We watched a few vloggers who seemed to enjoy their meal and there was a 6% cashback on the Upside app, so we decided to go for it.

Again we shared two entrees. First the fried chicken with mac n cheese, fried green tomatoes and corn muffins:



The fried chicken was good. It was nice and crispy and not too greasy. I just think it needed a little more seasoning. The mac n cheese was dried out. The fried green tomatoes were very good as were the mini corn muffins.

Our other entrée was pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn muffins.



All of this was very good as well. However we feel the pot roast at Liberty Tree Tavern surpasses this one. Overall this was a decent meal of comfort food but nothing that we feel we'd need to get next time we're in the area.

We then walked around downtown Titusville and walked through the Space View Park (another location right in Titusville that would have had great views of the launch).



We stopped at the Mad Udder for dessert and got two scoops of ice cream, one of Dark Chocolate and one of Peanut Butter in a dark chocolate waffle bowl.



This was okay. The ice cream had good flavor but wasn't really creamy. The chocolate waffle bowl was very good though.

Overall, we really enjoyed this area. It is definitely a place we'd like to spend some more time on future vacations. Between the wildlife viewing areas, the Space Coast and Cocoa Beach, there's a lot of things to see and do.

Up next, heading to Port St. Lucie.

​

 

[tarheelmjfan]

April 18 Early Bird Dinner Surprise​

Since we still wanted to avoid Route 95, we continued down Route 1 on our way to Titusville. Along our route we kept an eye out for a place to get dinner. As we drove through New Smyrna Beach, my DH noticed a unique looking restaurant with streams of people heading in. We decided to stop and give it a try.

View attachment 770607​

The restaurant was packed but we were seated right away. We were in time for the Early Bird Special:

"All Early Birds Include: Manhattan Style Fish Chowder, Garden Fresh Salad, Hush Puppy, Hot Rolls & Butter, and our Fresh Baked Cinnamon Roll & Your Choice of One: Baked Potato, French Fries, Mixed Rice, Sweet Potato, or Fresh Steamed Broccoli"

Manhattan Style Fish Chowder: This was quite good. Being a New Englander, I'm used to New England Clam Chowder and this is obviously totally different but we both enjoyed it. My DH isn't a big seafood fan and never eats chowder but he actually ate his entire bowl, saying it wasn't "too fishy".

View attachment 770608

Garden Fresh Salad: I got mine with blue cheese and DH got his with Thousand Island. The salad was indeed fresh, the croutons were crispy and the salad dressings were creamy and flavorful.

View attachment 770609

Hot rolls and butter and cinnamon rolls: Delicious! The plain rolls were crispy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. The cinnamon rolls were excellent. The cinnamon rolls are so popular, they actually sell additional ones for 55 cents each (and we overheard a table complaining about the outrageous cost when they asked to take a few home...lol).

View attachment 770610

My DH's entrée: Broiled fish with rice and a hush puppy. DH is not a seafood lover but he enjoyed his fish and rice. He's also not a hush puppy fan and finds them usually really dry. This one was moist and tasty! He decided maybe he's not a hush puppy fan because he never had a good one before.

View attachment 770614

My entrée: broiled seafood combination with baked potato and hush puppy. I enjoyed all of this. The seafood was well cooked and fresh. The baked potato was crispy on the outside and tender inside. I too really enjoyed the hush puppy.

View attachment 770621

The desserts looked really good but we were far too full from the meal. Overall we felt this was a solid meal and an incredible value. Our total bill with tip was under $50. Service was also excellent. Our meals were served hot and quickly. Our water glasses were filled instantly throughout the meal. Great stop for a random pull over as we drove down the road!

After our meal we continued on to the Towneplace Suites, Titusville, our hotel for the next couple nights.

Nice find! We love it when we happen upon a fun/unique/good restaurant.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

April 19 - A Missed Opportunity
​

One of the things we were excited to learn was that there was going to be a Falcon 9 launch while we were at the Space Coast. We asked the woman at the front desk where the best spot was to view a launch. She suggested we take a half hour drive to Cocoa Beach. So, we grabbed a couple scones from the Townplace Suites breakfast and headed off to Cocoa Beach. We parked for free at the Lori Wilson State Park and then brought our chairs to the beach. (By the way Lori Wilson is a great spot for beach access to Cocoa Beach with public restrooms and free parking). We enjoyed our scones and a few graham crackers for breakfast as we awaited the launch. What we did not know is that there are several launch pads and their location greatly affects the viewing potential. It turned out that the rocket was being launched at a location north of the Kennedy Space Center so our vantage point was very far away.

Here's what we saw:
View attachment 770964

Honestly our view was better last year in the Magic Kingdom!

Later, as we were driving back to our hotel, within a few miles of the Towneplace Suites in Titusville, we came across a park with this view of the launching pad:

View attachment 770965

Why the woman at the front desk didn't suggest we go there, just a few minutes up the road, we don't know. We figured that would be a common question at the hotel...live and learn...next year we'll do a better job of scoping out a viewing spot.

After our disappointing rocket view, we decided to take a ride through the Black Point Wildlife Drive on Merritt Island. As we approached there was a sign with a lot of information that said something about buying a Refuge pass. We thought we'd approach some sort of booth but actually we were supposed to pull over to the side of the big sign to buy our pass. So, being the rebels that we are, we were driving through for free, renegades skirting the law. Fortunately I did a quick google search and discovered we could buy a pass online for $10 per car and our reputation was restored! Whew!

We really enjoyed taking our time driving along the wildlife drive. We saw a few alligators...

View attachment 770971

and lots of birds.
View attachment 770972

View attachment 770973
We stopped at various points and learned so much from the various "professional bird watchers" who were there. When you know where to look and what you're looking at, there were many amazing birds to see! The one above is a Green Heron who was protecting her eggs.

We realized on our drive that it was lunch time but we weren't really hungry so we had pretzel rods that I had packed for the trip.

At the wildlife refuge a couple told us about a great place to see manatees and gave us directions. We went to the Manatee Observation Deck near Haulover Canal. We saw several manatees swimming in the shallow waters.

View attachment 770975

This was a really great spot to see the manatees!

After our wildlife viewing, we headed for dinner at the Loyd Have Mercy restaurant in Titusville. I had stumbled upon this restaurant in TripAdvisor and we liked the punny name. We also found out it was once featured on Restaurant Impossible but we didn't dare watch the show before we ate there! We watched a few vloggers who seemed to enjoy their meal and there was a 6% cashback on the Upside app, so we decided to go for it.

Again we shared two entrees. First the fried chicken with mac n cheese, fried green tomatoes and corn muffins:

View attachment 770980

The fried chicken was good. It was nice and crispy and not too greasy. I just think it needed a little more seasoning. The mac n cheese was dried out. The fried green tomatoes were very good as were the mini corn muffins.

Our other entrée was pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn muffins.

View attachment 770992

All of this was very good as well. However we feel the pot roast at Liberty Tree Tavern surpasses this one. Overall this was a decent meal of comfort food but nothing that we feel we'd need to get next time we're in the area.

We then walked around downtown Titusville and walked through the Space View Park (another location right in Titusville that would have had great views of the launch).

View attachment 770997

We stopped at the Mad Udder for dessert and got two scoops of ice cream, one of Dark Chocolate and one of Peanut Butter in a dark chocolate waffle bowl.

View attachment 770998

This was okay. The ice cream had good flavor but wasn't really creamy. The chocolate waffle bowl was very good though.

Overall, we really enjoyed this area. It is definitely a place we'd like to spend some more time on future vacations. Between the wildlife viewing areas, the Space Coast and Cocoa Beach, there's a lot of things to see and do.

Up next, heading to Port St. Lucie.

​

Sorry you received bad shuttle viewing advice. We travel a lot & find that the majority of hotel, front desk employees know very little about the area. There appears to be a lot of turnover in the hotel industry.

 

[mickey916]

Sorry you received bad shuttle viewing advice. We travel a lot & find that the majority of hotel, front desk employees know very little about the area. There appears to be a lot of turnover in the hotel industry.

We definitely should have researched it on our own but I honestly thought it would be such a common question that they would even have handouts or charts or something. We are definitely planning on staying in the area again so now we know to find out the actual launch pad and we found lots of different vantage points depending on the launchpad.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We definitely should have researched it on our own but I honestly thought it would be such a common question that they would even have handouts or charts or something. We are definitely planning on staying in the area again so now we know to find out the actual launch pad and we found lots of different vantage points depending on the launchpad.

I totally understand why you would think that. We thought the same thing, when we started traveling for DH's job. I was shocked to discover how many hotel employees couldn't provide any info on the local area.

 

[mickey916]

I totally understand why you would think that. We thought the same thing, when we started traveling for DH's job. I was shocked to discover how many hotel employees couldn't provide any info on the local area.

That is really shocking as you'd assume they live in the area. Good to know it wasn't just an isolated thing.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

That is really shocking as you'd assume they live in the area. Good to know it wasn't just an isolated thing.

Many of them have said they just moved to the area, which is why I think there must be frequent turnover in the hotel industry.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Not specific to Florida, but in general, some hotel front desk employees are struggling to support large families on low-paying jobs, and may not have bandwidth or resources to explore the tourist attractions.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Late to the trip report, but enjoying it, especially the wildlife photos!

 

[mickey916]

I am waiting for your review.

Welcome!

Late to the trip report, but enjoying it, especially the wildlife photos!

Welcome! We really enjoyed seeing all the wildlife!

 

[nw6675]

I can't get over what a great deal that early bird special was! That was a huge amount of food for the price. I can't believe people would complain about $.55 cinnamon rolls!!

 

[mickey916]

I can't get over what a great deal that early bird special was! That was a huge amount of food for the price. I can't believe people would complain about $.55 cinnamon rolls!!

It was so much food and very good too! I thought it was funny too. When they found out the price, they said "Never mind!"...haha!

 

[mickey916]

April 20 - Making Our Way to Port St. Lucie
​

We checked out of the Towneplace Suites Titusville, which we would definitely stay in again. It was clean, quiet, and a decent location for getting to Space Coast activities and Cocoa Beach. We grabbed a couple scones from the breakfast buffet but we were really craving fresh fruit. We headed to Publix and got this beautiful bowl of fruit. It was expensive ($18.41) but very fresh and very large.



We then proceeded down A1A. It was a beautiful drive. Some of the houses along the shore were impressive. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Avalon State Park on North Hutchinson Island. Parking was only $2. We went for a long walk along this beautiful, empty beach.

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We saw this little guy in the parking lot. Our high school colors were orange and black so we definitely needed a picture of him.



We drove to the town of Stuart. We found it very challenging driving through but perhaps it was the way Waze was taking us. It seemed we were driving through curvy streets all with 20 mph speed limits. Eventually we walked around Sandsprit Park but there wasn't much to see or do there so we headed to Two Rivers park. This was a much nicer walk along a river. We saw this little guy along our walk.



We finished getting our steps by walking the Stuart Riverwalk and then headed to check into our hotel, Courtyard Port St. Lucie Tradition. We were feeling like Italian for dinner and the Upside app was offering cash back at Davinci's Italian Grill in Port St. Lucie. It had good reviews on TripAdvisor so we headed there. This was a very small restaurant in a strip mall. We were seated right away at a back booth near the servers' station which definitely ended up having an impact on our experience (more about that in a bit).

We decided to share two entrees which came with salad and garlic knots. The salad was fine. Not really much to it but the blue cheese dressing was good. You could tell however the salad had been pre-plated and sitting in a refrigerator.



The garlic knots were also good, not great. The server plated them from a warming oven at the servers' station and drizzled with garlic butter.



Our first entrée was the Combo Alla Vittorio, a sampler of chicken parm, manicotti, and ravioli This was decent, probably Olive Garden-level quality.



Our second entrée was eggplant rollatini which was filled with ham and cheese with a side of linguine. This was the more interesting of the two dishes and pretty good.



Overall this was a decent meal, nothing great but nothing bad either. Where things went awry however was towards the end of the meal as I observed the two servers (who were working really hard by the way) clearing a large table near us. As an aside the guests at this table were coughing quite a bit during their meal. I watched the servers grab the glasses and silverware by the parts that were in people's mouths and put them in the bin. They wiped their fingers on a wet dishrag and then used that same dishrag to wipe down the table. Then they grabbed garlic knots with those same fingers and served them to the next table. I never saw them wash their hands or use gloves for serving the food. The rest of the time we were there that same dishrag wiped down other tables, never being rinsed out. If we weren't near the servers' station we never would have known but it just turned my stomach. I don't fault the servers, they were really doing their best but I do fault whoever supposedly trained them in general food handling practices. I thought about saying something to a manager but figured it wouldn't do any good.

At this point we decided to go find dessert elsewhere and actually ended up picking up Ben & Jerry's at the supermarket. So far we weren't that impressed with this area but the Courtyard Port St. Lucie Tradition was an excellent hotel.

Up next...did our opinion change about the area of Port St. Lucie/Stuart/Jupiter?

 

[mickey916]

Update to St. Augustine, April 16th
​

Last night we were eating in a restaurant in Lincoln, NH that served white chocolate for dessert and suddenly I remembered that I never reported about the Whetstone Chocolate tour that we took on April 16th. We weren't allowed to take pictures so when I was going through my pictures to write up my report I totally forgot about it! I have now edited that report so if you want to read that part check out the bolded section of this post here: Updated April 16th report

 

[disneydreamer781]

April 17 continued...​

We continued our journey down A1A on our way to our hotel. We stopped at North Peninsula state park
View attachment 766472

We also stopped at the Smith Creek landing and watched fish jumping out of the water. We next stopped at the Dummit Plantation Mill Ruins.
View attachment 766474

We then stopped at Flagler Beach and went to Sally's Ice cream. We ordered Almond Joy and Salted Caramel with Pralines. This ice cream was so creamy and delicious. It was the best quality ice cream we had the entire trip.

View attachment 766475

We walked along Flagler Beach and then checked into our hotel for the night, Hampton Inn, Palm Coast. When I was reserving hotels, there was a Fairfield Inn & Suites Palm Coast but it was more expensive and not rated as well on TripAdvisor, so I decided to go with the non-Marriott property.

The pros of this hotel was that the staff was very friendly and the breakfast the next morning had some nice selections. However, that's where the pros ended. The room was really dirty and disgusting. The bed skirt had chunks of some brown stuff all over it. I chose to assume they were dried up Cocoa Krispies and not bug or fecal matter. In addition to being dirty, the room was really rundown and broken. The bathroom fan made a very loud whirring noise as one of the blades scraped, the toilet leaked so it would come on and fill itself every few minutes all night long, the shower knobs were falling off, the mopboards in the bathroom weren't stuck to the wall and the bathroom sink dripped. This was by far the worst place we stayed. Neither of us slept well as we both had the creepy crawlies all night. No bed bugs thankfully but was definitely a concern of ours.

Lesson #3: Stick with Marriott properties.

NOTE: We're heading with DS-24 to South Dakota tomorrow so I may not be able to update until we return on June 17. But I have lots more to cover!

For the most part, I seem to have better luck at Hilton properties. Particularly at Homewood Suites and I can pick my room. Stayed at a Residence at the end of last year and it may have been the worst Marriott I've ever stayed. I guess this can happen at just about any hotel though that isn't managed well.

 

[mickey916]

For the most part, I seem to have better luck at Hilton properties. Particularly at Homewood Suites and I can pick my room. Stayed at a Residence at the end of last year and it may have been the worst Marriott I've ever stayed at. I guess this can happen at just about any hotel though.

I agree. We very carefully chose all of the Marriotts we stayed in, reading Google and TripAdvisor reviews as well as the ones on the Marriott booking site. The weird thing is that the Hampton Inn had great reviews so maybe it was just the room we stayed in that was bad...

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Update to St. Augustine, April 16th
​

Last night we were eating in a restaurant in Lincoln, NH that served white chocolate for dessert and suddenly I remembered that I never reported about the Whetstone Chocolate tour that we took on April 16th. We weren't allowed to take pictures so when I was going through my pictures to write up my report I totally forgot about it! I have now edited that report so if you want to read that part check out the bolded section of this post here: Updated April 16th report

Chocolate is supposed to improve memory. Well, dark chocolate anyway, but white chocolate appears to work now too.

This tour sounds interesting. I'm going to add it to our list for October. It's good to know we need to go on a week day.

 

[disneydreamer781]

April 16 - Exploring the Surrounding Area​

Since there was no breakfast provided at the Historic Inn, we started our day by finishing off the coffee cake from my sister-in-law. It was still pretty good after 5 days of transporting around. We then took a drive to the Washington Oak Gardens State Park. We enjoyed walking through various gardens and nature paths. We wanted to go to the coquina beach but it was closed, presumably due to hurricane damage. We did however walk along the Matanzas River and there was a beautiful bald eagle in one of the trees that some fishermen pointed out to us.

View attachment 765919

Just beautiful! I don't think I've ever seen one so clearly except in a zoo.

We then drove to Fort Matanzas National Monument and arrived just in time to take the free ferry over to the fort. As we were taking the very short ferry ride, there were dolphins feeding and jumping out of the water near us.

View attachment 765920

The park rangers stopped for us so that we could take pictures of these beautiful creatures. The park ranger gave us a guided tour of the fort which was very interesting especially when he pointed out that the cannon is now aimed at the shore instead of the mouth of the river, due to erosion actually moving the mouth of the river over the past couple hundred years. This was a great free activity that I highly recommend. Just note there is no ferry ride on Mondays or Tuesdays.

After we took the ferry ride back, we made sandwiches and ate them at the picnic tables near the parking area. Next we headed to the St. Augustine lighthouse & museum. We made the long walk to the top. It actually didn't seem that bad. It was a good way to get our steps!

We then headed back to the motel and walked back over the bridge to reward ourselves for all our exercise with dessert at Peace Pie!

This is my half of the Chocolate Covered Strawberry: Strawberry Ice Cream, Chocolate Chips & Chocolate Mousse,
Chocolate Cookie

View attachment 765923

I thought this was really good. It earned my #2 spot in ranking of the four we had, second only to the chocolate peanut butter. DH however put it as his #4.

This is my half of the Banana Cream peace pie: Vanilla Ice Cream, Banana Butter & Custard, Graham Cracker Cookie
View attachment 765925

I thought this one was very good but probably my least favorite. My ranking (best to worst): Chocolate Peanut butter, Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Salted Caramel Apple, Banana Cream. My DHs ranking: Salted Caramel Apple, Banana Cream, Chocolate Peanut butter, Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Funny we're almost exactly opposite...I guess opposites attract! They were all really good however!

EDIT TO ADD: The previous night we had purchased a chocolate tour at Whetstone Chocolates. We originally had a morning appointment but they called the morning of and switched us to the afternoon, which ended up working out great. The tour was very well run and we enjoyed trying the "free" samples of different types of chocolates. Our only disappointment was that since it was a Sunday, the factory wasn't actually working. Our tour guide demonstrated how some of the equipment worked but I think it would have been more interesting to see it all in action. There were a few others on the tour that expressed disappointment that the factory wasn't up and running. I do think they should probably mention that on their site. Overall, our tourguide was great and the chocolate was excellent. We were not allowed to take any pictures (hence I forgot to include this review when I was making this post). Definitely worth doing at least once.

We walked around St. Augustine a bit to see what we felt like for dinner. I was looking for a kebab place I had seen on Off Our Couch's Youtube channel but couldn't seem to find it. It was an older vlog so I fear they may have closed. Nothing really appealed to us too much so we walked back to the hotel and decided to see what we could find on Anastasia Island. We settled on the Conch House, which had beautiful outdoor seating.

View attachment 765927

We actually didn't share this time, as I wanted seafood and my DH was craving jerk chicken. He ordered Jamaican Jerk Chicken (Bone-in baked jerked chicken with Jamaican gravy and fresh pineapple salsa with sweet plantains and coconut rice).

View attachment 765926

He loved the plantains and thought the chicken was very good but not actually jerk chicken as advertised. Apparently the "Jamaican gravy" is in fact barbecue sauce. He said it was good barbecue chicken but didn't seem to have any jerk seasoning. Also the coconut rice tasted like regular white rice. It was good but not coconut.

I ordered the shrimp and grits: sauteed shrimp, smoked tasso ham, shallots, roasted corn, red peppers, and scallions in a Cajun cream sauce over cheddar grits.

View attachment 765928

This was excellent! As you can see it was loaded with fresh grilled shrimp and was in a tasty stew of vegetables. I very much enjoyed my meal.

After our dinner, we headed back to the motel. Overall, we had a fantastic day! We realized that we are more "country mice" than "city mice". While we enjoyed walking around St. Augustine, we much preferred our walks around the natural areas. We liked St. Augustine but it's probably a place we'll visit for a day, not a place to stay for a longer visit.

Up next: Heading to the Palm Coast for one night.

Omg! Everything looks soooo good!