Back to basics

One thing we have not done enough of in the past few months is ride our bicycles.  Friday we got back to basics and rode our bikes into St. Augustine for the afternoon.  When we were here last year we spent our time being tourists and went from one historical site to another for a number of hours, and even did some wine tasting at San Sebastian Winery.  The thing we did not do was just sit down at a local restaurant and soak up the ambiance of this historical city.

Before we could do that we needed to print off some employment applications to do workamping at the Indy 500 in early May, and then get them in the mail.  Of course the "low ink warning" for the black ink in the printer came on, so we had to make a quick run to the Target to get a new cartridge.

The distance to the wharf area in St. Augustine is 6.7 miles exactly.  The air temperature around 1 pm when we started our ride in was around 60 degrees, so we both wore vests in addition to long sleeve shirts, and I wore my riding shoes for a change, and not the riding sandals......my toes would have been numb by the time we got to town. Our first stop was at the Post Office on King Street to drop off the package for the Indy 500, and some mail to our oldest son.   Our second destination was A1A Ale Works at the corner of King and, you guess it, Highway A1A.  This micro brewery was recommended to us very highly by Maria and Brian (The Roaming Pint).....not only do they have good craft beer, but the food is excellent.....Yelp gives this establishment a 4.5, and I think that is just about right.

On the upper deck of A1A Ale Works

From their website

We sat outside on the upper deck enjoying the ocean breezes, sipping craft beer....TLE had the Bridge of Lions Brown Ale, and I had a pint of A. Strange Stout....both were very tasty.  What we didn't know was the best was yet to come....TLE ordered a cup of the A1A Ale and Cheese soup, and I ordered a bowl......OMG!  If you ever have the chance to eat here order this soup!  We split a Fried Grouper Sandwich, which was cooked to perfection.  This was just how I saw this day in town starting.  As we ate we saw numerous horse drawn "Handsome Cabs" pass through the intersection.  I'm glad we were able to be here on a Friday as the crowds were not that bad at all.

After our sumptuous lunch and yummy craft beer we retrieved our bikes and headed over to Spanish Street where a sort of walking mall has been established recreating a sort of "old town" feel, but to me it just reeked of tourist trap.  We did find, however, a nice little coffee shop called City Perks Coffee Company.....my throat has been a little scratchy the past day, or so and I was craving something hot to sooth it.  Yelp gives this coffee house a 4.5, and I would heartily agree!

 In front of a very old working water wheel powering an old grist mill

 The sign says it all

 Drinking coffee and soaking up the ambiance

We sat there for about 40 minutes enjoying the atmosphere.....this is the kind of day I have been missing....just moving about on our bikes....stopping when something interests us, and just enjoying the environment, and each other.

Around 3:45 we decided it was getting noticeably colder, and it was time to start our 30 minute ride back to the RV park.  We arrived back around 4:20.....there was a slight mishap in that TLE's Garmin Edge 205 cyclo-computer fell off her bike and we had to back track a block to find it....those puppies cost about $200.....no way we are leaving that behind!

As the sun fell behind the tree line to the east the temperatures dropped quickly, and we decided to stay inside and catch up on some of our recorded TV shows.  We have been following American Idol this season, but have decided this current team of judges just have not picked a good final 10 for the show.  No one really makes us sit up and take notice....there is no Phillip Phillips in this group.....not even close.  We may watch the finale, but we are done this season, and that is a first.  After that we watched NCIS L.A., and the Top Chef finale won in grand style by Kristen......never thought I would enjoy a cooking show, but TLE has succeeded in sucking me in......hahaha!

The temp got down to the low 40's last night, and it got down under 60 degrees inside for the first time since Cedar Key.

Thanks for stopping by!