Our last day together before our visitors have to leave to go back to Minnesota and Iowa. We started out the day with a walk from our condo to the intercoastal waters--about a mile walk through a rain forest-like area.
When we got to the intercoastal waters, we enjoyed the scenery for quite awhile. A few boats went by, we saw a kayaker take off and then were treated to a few dolphins swimming right by us.
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| Terry & Sue |
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| Chuck and Mary |
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| John & Betty |
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| Dee & Gordy |
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Laurie & Mike
After our walk from the intercoastal waters, we went to the pool. We grilled brats and ate down by the pool.
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| Mike - our Master Griller |
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| John & Chuck entertaining us with their synchronized foot ballet in the hottub. |
Early afternoon we went to Fort Matanzas National Monument about 5 miles north of here. A little bit of history... In 1565, French soldiers were massacred here by the Spanish, which was the beginning of Spain establishing a colony in Florida. St. Augustine was the heart of Spain's coastal defenses in Florida. Not protected well from the south, Spain constructed Fort Matanzas in 1740-42 to ward off British encroachments on st. Augustine. When Spain transferred Florida to the US in 1819, the fort was so badly deteriorated tht its soldiers could no longer live inside. The US never occupied the fort.
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Took a boat over to get to Fort Matanzas
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| A Very Informative Guide |
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| Climbing to the Soldiers Quarters |
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| Climbing to the roof |
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| Hope he doesn't get stuck. |
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| The Soldiers' Quarters |
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The Garita (Sentry Box)
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| Walked the nature trail after getting back across the water. |
For our next adventure, I think you really had to be with us to appreciate the thrill of it. We had heard about an area called River to Sea, which we decided to explore on our way home from Fort Matanzas. After we parked our cars, we walked into the area and came to a pond which we started to walk around. When we got to the other side, we were looking over the pond and thought we saw an alligator in the water but not positive. So after enjoying the scenery for awhile, we walked back the way we came. Getting back to where we started, we looked back over the pond, and Chuck discovered a huge alligator sitting on the bank of the pond about 40 feet from where we had just walked by. So Chuck & Gordy decided to go investigate. They went over to that area, and even tho they couldn't see through the vegetation, we could tell they were about 30 feet away from the alligator. They picked up branches and thru them up over the vegetation and over the alligator and into the pond. When the alligator heard the splash, he jumped up and leaped into the pond. It was so fast, we all screamed. Gordy said Chuck can run really fast. I don't know what we would have done if the gator would have gone toward the guys instead of towards the splash. He was huge. We decided we would not be walking in that area again.
Back to the condo, where we had our last meal together. Grilled hamburgers. And this plate of chocolate goodies was made by Betty.
We took off for the airport about 5:15 this morning. We so hated to say good-by and send them back to the cold. Hopefully, they will all come back next year.
After they left, we went to the pool. There was a plane circling overhead, and John said that might mean they spotted a whale. So we headed to the beach, and there I saw my first whale of the season! Not only a whale, but a baby whale too. Betty and I walked a mile south on the beach watching them the whole time. I was amazed at how much of the whales we could see. I love it here!
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