Vilano Beach - St. Augustine, FL

Thanksgiving Blessings

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, no matter what you did. 

We had a much smaller affair than usual due to COVID, but we did enjoy ourselves.

I left the Saturday after Thanksgiving and went down to St. Augustine, Florida with my sister's family, their dog, Sam, and Jack Bauer. It was my niece's birthday, and since she couldn't do a party because of COVID, we did a little beach getaway instead. 

We had a little place that was almost on the beach - yay!

It was a funny little place, super small. I slept on the trundle bed in the converted porch-turned bedroom. My niece wanted to sleep on the lower trundle, but the room was so small, there was nowhere to pull the bed out!

The VRBO listings are usually overly ambitious, but we had a great time, regardless of the crazy little house. 

In addition to spending some time on the beach (my niece was the only one who braved the cold water to swim), we went to an alligator farm and toured a wild-animal rescue center.

It reminded me of Tiger King, though it did appear they treat the animals very well.

These guys are huge!

It just makes me sad knowing how many people import exotic animals illegally only for the poor animals to spend the rest of their lives in captivity.

Alligators up close are quite a sight. 

Seashells Everywhere

On a brighter note, I've never seen so many seashells on the beach in my life. I was like a kid in a candy store. 

I love seashells.

In San Diego, it was always hard to find intact shells or even any shells at all.

I brought a bunch home from St. Augustine for an art project.  

Preparation Is Key

The first morning we were in St. Augustine, I got up in time to notice it was an epic sunrise. I grabbed my camera and ran to the beach. 

Always remember to have your batteries charged and your SD card in place. I'd miss so many shots if I wasn't constantly thinking about that, and it's easy to get lazy and tell yourself you'll charge/change the batteries and then forget. 

Always have a coat nearby in the winter even if it doesn't feel that cold when you step outside to check. I've been miserable on enough occasions that I'm much better about grabbing the coat now even if I think I don't need it. 

It's tough being patient when you're cold and miserable. 

I was getting photos and my BIL and niece came wandering up. They were already down on the beach walking.

I thought I'd heard something early but you know that weird sleepy state when you're not sure if you're dreaming or awake? I must have heard them leaving but didn't realize it. 

I'm so glad I made it down to the beach that morning because the next few days until we left, there wasn't much of a sunrise or sunset but that morning was spectacular. The colors were amazing. 

It's so odd when the colors are so bright that they almost look fake. I only lightly edited these photos because the colors were so saturated and gorgeous just as they were. 

 

Sunrise - Vilano Beach

The Long Drive

I didn't get a blog post out last Wednesday because we were driving home. It was a six-hour drive back to my sister's and then another 40 minutes for me to get home. 

I worked while in St. Augustine, but I had a lot to do when I got home, including getting some cleaning done because my house looked like...well, like it needed some serious cleaning!

The drive up from Florida wasn't bad, except that Jack Bauer was on my lap the entire way. He gets more anxious than usual in the car, and I think maybe he gets a little car sick if he's down on the floor, so I let him up on my lap.

That's a long way to sit with a dog in the lap!

This trip was a bit like our trip to Jekyll Island. Not horrible weather, but not great either. We had a wonderful time anyway because it's so good to get to spend time together. 

Back in the ATL and working hard.

I had another article accepted into The Innovation on Medium.com, and I'm continuing my content writing on top of my photo business.

It hasn't been easy, but it seems like nothing worthwhile ever is!

Cheers!

And see you between the raindrops!

xoxo,
Susan

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