35th Wedding Anniversary Road Trip 2014: Thursday April 3-4 Travel to St Augustine, FL

64620 263 miles 72-84* Blue sky

Merrill and Dottie left at an early hour to sit with Chance while his mom and dad were at work. We got on the road about 8:30, stopping at the first Starbuck's for coffee. On the way up to St Augustine, we learned about Henry Flagler, an influential leader and developer. He made his money with John Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company. They were civic minded and used their wealth to open up the East coast of Florida. In 1890, Jacksonville was the only easily accessible town so Flagler built a railroad along the coast to promote travel all the way to Miami. We stopped in Sebastian to see Mike's retirement home. He sent us off with fruit, a wok, a coffee pot and the cutting board we left at his house in Deerfield. Scenery along the way was flat with pines, palms, cattle, horses. In Melbourne, we learned that Jim Morrison was born there and that a mammoth was excavated with a spear through its ribs indicating that there were humans in ancient times. "I Dream of Jeannie" was based in Cocoa Beach though no filming was ever done there.

Heating up quickly

One of several "dump mounds" now producing methane gas
for power.

The garage at Mike's retirement home in Sebastian. Gotta make room
for the '49 trike.

Truck with an elephant advertising pest control. Not sure of the
connection between elephants and pest control, unless it's the
nozzle idea??

Hard to read this sign but it says "Nighttime Security" in the
Rest Area, something I hadn't given much thought to.
There were many of these along the way.
One even said "Armed Security". Pretty scary.

We checked in at what we thought was the Visitor's Center in St Augustine. We caught on when a gentleman offered us coffee and there was a sign that said the coffee was "only for those booked for a presentation." The sales guy said there was a free room to be had if we would listen for 90 minutes. Sonny hesitated but I said no thanks and headed for the door. Later we found the real Visitors Center was a short walk away but hidden in trees. We booked a hotel about a mile from downtown, dropped off our stuff and walked back into town for dinner. Sonny was excited to see that the Mill Top Tavern where he and his Navy buddies enjoyed the broads and brews in the 70s, was still going strong. He bought the t-shirt, too.