When railroad and hotel magnate Henry Flagler built his first hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, he didn’t like the idea of the jail being as close as it was to the hotel. So he convinced the city fathers to build a new jail a mile from town in 1891, which he financed. After all, we […]
The one thing we miss most about the fulltime RV lifestyle is the many friends we made in our travels around the country. It was always fun to arrive at an RV park or rally and see people we knew and have the opportunity to reconnect with them. A few of our RVing buddies have […]
We have all heard and used the term “Big Brother is watching” more than once. And while I’m not a conspiracy theorist, sometimes it’s scary just how much of what we do seems to be monitored by somebody, somewhere. All of us have had the experience of looking at something on the Internet and then […]
After writing about the beautiful, historic city of St. Augustine, Florida in yesterday’s blog titled Trolley Touring, we decided we should take a day trip up there. I have a friend in the area we had planned to meet up with, and we have never checked out the antique shops in that area. The quick […]
It was inevitable that the Spanish, French, and British would fight for hundreds of years over control of the New World, and the place we now know as Florida was one of the most hotly contested. Whoever controlled Florida controlled the rich shipping lanes coming from the Spanish Caribbean, and those world powers bathed the […]
The title of this blog is also the title of my favorite Jimmy Buffett song, which he wrote after his first visit to Key West, Florida. If you have never listened to it before, check it out at this YouTube link. Miss Terry and I can relate to that song today. As most of you […]
We spent yesterday surrounded by history in one of our favorite cities in the whole country, St. Augustine, Florida. If you have never visited the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in America, you really need to do yourself a favor and plan a trip there. But I’m warning you in advance, one visit will never […]
Many people say that the RV lifestyle can be summed up with one word – freedom. The freedom to come and go as you want to, freedom from schedules, the freedom to see our wonderful country, and the freedom to experience new things that most people will never see or do. We took advantage of […]
One of the places we have been considering as a winter base and possible future home if and when we ever hang up the keys is St. Augustine. The oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement, Saint Augustine was founded in 1565 by the Spanish and has a long and colorful history. We visited there a couple […]
Note: This article first appeared in the March-April 2005 issue of the Gypsy Journal. Just minutes from all of the tourist hubbub of busy St. Augustine, Florida we discovered a tranquil hideout with miles of beautiful beaches to explore, swimming, fishing, nature trails, comfortable campsites, and a chance to learn a little bit about Florida’s […]
Today I thought I’d answer a few questions that pop up every so often, in the hope that some of you might find it useful. Back when Dish Network customers lost their Distant Network Service when All American Direct folded, a manager from Dish assured me that they were in “active negotiations” with another provider […]
As I wrote a couple of days ago, Terry and I have long thought that if we ever hang up the keys, it might be in Titusville, Florida. And after spending several days in St. Augustine last week, we added it to our “possible” list when and if that day ever comes. However, while both […]
I think all fulltime RVers occasionally visit a place and think, “Hmmm… if we ever hang up the keys…” In our 15+ years on the road, Terry and I have found three such places; the Rockport-Port Aransas, Texas area; Titusville, Florida; and now St. Augustine. We’re nowhere close to that point in our lives yet, […]
It was still pretty cool but the wind had eased up, making yesterday a lot better day than Saturday to play tourist. I have to tell you, the more we see of St. Augustine, Florida, the more we like it. Whenever we are visiting a new area I always ask the local people we meet […]
The weatherman was predicting colder temperatures and high winds yesterday and he sure didn’t lie! The wind started blowing hard in the wee hours of the morning and it never stopped all day long. Sustained winds were between 20 – 25 miles per hour, with gusts to 40, and I don’t think it got over […]
Add St. Augustine, Florida to the list of places I could live happily if we ever hang up the keys. It has everything we could ever want – nice weather, good restaurants, friendly people, access to beaches, all of the services one could ever need, and history around every corner. As the oldest continually occupied […]
St. Augustine is a really cool town. The only real downside is that everything we wanted to tour to write stories about required admission charges of up to $10 per person. If you’re a tourist that’s okay, but when you do this for a living and may go to two or three attractions every day, […]
Even though we’re far south of where Hurricane Sandy came ashore, and have had pretty good weather since we’ve been here, it took a turn for the worse yesterday. The wind blew hard most of the day and the temperature dropped quite a bit. I don’t think the high got much over 60° and the […]