Adventures n Florida, Part 5: Meanwhile, Back at the Lighthouse ...

Monday morning in Saint Augustine dawned bright, hot, and humid just like the day before and as Jamie and I packed up the rental car to head south, it was already pretty darned warm at 9:30 in the morning and promised to only get warmer.  Oy.

Before getting on Interstate 95, the plan was to make a quick stop by the Castillo de San Marcos which is the oldest masonary fort in the United States before crossing over the Bridge of Lions to make a quick stop at Saint Augustine Light before going over to the hotel where Sandy and Dick were staying so that we could at least have a quick get-together while we were both in the same area.  Whew!

That plan changed a bit though when I decided that it was already too hot to spend any amount of time at the Castillo even for quick pictures.  I'd driven past it several times the day before while Jamie and I were checking out the city and I had noticed then that there was nary a scrap of shade anywhere around the 1672 Spanish structure.  As much as I would have liked to do some exploration, common sense told me that it would be better to wait until perhaps another time when it wasn't hot enough to cause a person to break out into a sweat just getting out of the car!  

Oh well, it gave me another good reason to someday return to Saint Augustine as I scratched that part of the plan and just continued down Route A1A across the Bridge of Lions and out to the lighthouse where I wanted to take some daylight pictures to supplement those I had taken the night before on our GhoST Tour.  As we pulled into the parking lot in front of the Lighthouse Entrance and Visitors Center I noticed that there were only a few other cars which meant I'd be able to get pictures without a whole of other people in them.  Woohoo!

Climbing out of the car, I whipped my Nikon out of its carrying case, popped off the lens cap, and took a picture of the lighthouse which ended up looking like something out of the previous night's ghost adventure with its ethereal glow.  However, this wasn't the result of leftover remnants of our evening in the hearse but my camera lens fogging up as it tried to adjust to the fact that it was no longer in an air-conditioned car.  Isn't it nice to know that heat and humidity play havoc on your electronic devices, too?  I thought the picture looked kind of cool so I kept it!

As much as I would have liked to try to climb the stairs to the top of the lighthouse and check out what was sure to be a beautiful view, I decided that giving myself a heart attack probably wasn't the best way to start the day and would really put a kibosh on the rest of the trip.  Instead I settled for walking around the grounds and taking a few pictures from ground level.

I even got Jamie to branch out a little and pose for a picture with one of the oaks that surrounds the lighthouse; I suppose I should have warned you about the bright colors first, though, so you could have grabbed some sunglasses!

Following pictures at the lighthouse, we then continued down the highway in search of Sandy's hotel where upon our arrival I was greeted with a big hug by an extremely nice lady - the blog mistress of The Traveling Bells. Before we retired to the lobby to sit and talk I was given introductions to some of the other members of Sandy's family who were heading down to the pool to spend some time in the cool water. Dick was going to stretch out on the bed in the hotel room and try to sneak in a nap while everyone else was occupied at the pool.  That sure sounded like a good idea to me! 

Sandy and Dick are both pilots as well as travelers of the open road in their Moho and they were going to be flying back up to their part of Georgia on Tuesday to get ready for a drive westward.  It was just real fortuitous that they were in Saint Augustine attending a family function at the same time Jamie and I were there and even though we only had time for a brief get-together, there was no way that I was going to be in the same place at the same time and not meet Sandy and Dick!

Sitting and talking with Sandy was like sitting and talking with an old friend that I'd met before and way too soon it was time for Jamie and I to head south if we were going to make it down to West Palm Beach in time for dinner with Miss Bee and Sarge Charlie.  Before going, though, Sandy got her hubby Dick to take a picture of the two of us.  Even though she said it was way too hot for her, too, I think Sandy looked a lot more cool, calm, and collected than I did!

Following promises to get together again for a longer meeting, Sandy gave me another big hug, waved good-bye to Jamie who had retreated to the rental car with my iPhone while we adults were talking, and then we continued our journey south towards West Palm Beach where we were going to meet more blogging royalty in the land of royal palms!  First though, we had about four hours to drive ...