Let’s face it, boatyard life is beyond boring, so let’s talk about something fun!

Kyle and I had plans to take the boat straight to St. Augustine after we got splashed, since we have to finish up some residency paperwork in order to make St. Brendan’s Isle, our mail service, to be our permanent mailing address.

Coincidentally, my mom and aunt had a trip planned to St. Augustine for late February! So instead we rented a car and met them in Florida for a quick weekend getaway. On the drive south we talked about how nice it is that we have an opportunity like this – a four day weekend with free lodging – and we don’t even have to think twice about it. We don’t have to ask our employers for vacation time, or get anyone’s permission! We can just pack up and go! I think this is the first time since quitting my job that the freedom has really hit home for me.

We picked them up at the airport then headed to the airBNB they had rented. It was a pretty fancy place, indoor plumbing, climate control, potable water. Absolute luxury compared to our current digs.

Right off the bat, we walked to the main tourist area – St. George street is completely closed off to vehicle traffic and is actually a lot more touristy than I remember! We were there 10 years ago, so I gave Mom and Denise a semi-guided tour to get a feel for the layout of the city as Kyle and I reminisced.

Denise wanted to see live music so we stopped by the Prohibition Kitchen to try their famous mixed drinks, but when it came to dinner Kyle and I opted for the budget version: a pizza from Aldi.

Since this was Mom’s and Denise’s trip, I tried not to have any expectations for our itinerary, but I couldn’t help doing a little research on budget activities. I really wanted to see Fort Matanzas, since I heard it was off the beaten path and a surprisingly good tour.

Well, we hopped on the free ferry to get to the fort, and the closer we got…the smaller it looked! The fort was manned by about 7 people at a time, and even they were packed in like sardines. We all climbed right up to the top level, squeezing up the ladder through the tiny opening to get to the fresh air.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we took a bunch of really great photos on top of the fort.

Our guide herded us all down to the grass for a musket firing demonstration. There were British soldiers (reenactors) on site so it was an extra special tour. The fort pre-dates the formation of the US, which is why it was manned by British soldiers!

We decided it would be a shame to visit St Augustine without seeing the ocean, so we stopped at Subway to grab some food then headed out to the beach to eat lunch and get our toes wet.

It was low tide, and the beach was covered in shells. Our poor soft winter feet could barely handle it –a fate worse then LEGO!

That night we had some phenomenal seafood for dinner. We all ordered the same dish, but Mom and Denise got grouper, I got swordfish, and Kyle got mahi. So we were all able to swap fish and try out different fishes cooked in the same flavor profile. That was probably the first time I had swordfish cooked correctly – and the first time I realized that I’d only had it overcooked before! They were all fantastic, but the mahi won the night.

On Sunday Mom and Denise wanted to see all the art galleries, I joined them after a while and when they were ready to stop at a brewery, we called Kyle to join us. We wandered to a few more places after that, trying not to get rained on. I constantly lost track of Mom and Denise, at any given moment either of them got distracted and wandered off to check out something on some side street. It was hilarious!

Finally, we made it to the distillery around 4:30 and had to wait for the 5pm tour. It’s a tiny distillery, and they make vodka, gin, rum and whiskey, which seems pretty ambitious. We fully expected a tourist trap that was just relabeling someone else’s spirits. However, the tour was surprisingly good! And the liquor is all made in house!

The first tasting we had was a taste of the vodka, gin and rum, pre-made into mixed drinks using the distilleries mixers. That was kind of surprising since it doesn’t showcase the flavors of the liquors themselves, but I have to say that all the mixed drinks were very good. After that, we moved to the gift shop where we tried their whiskey premade into old fashioneds using their mixer. And after that, we were allowed to try any of their liquors that we wanted, we just had to order them from the bartender. So in the end we actually got to try a little of everything! At this point I realized that all I’d eaten all day was a granola bar, ice cream, and a beer. Yikes. It was time for some real food!

Early Monday morning, we hauled Mom and Denise to the DMV with us. They found a 24-hr billiards hall to cavort in while we got our Florida drivers licenses. That’s right, Kyle is now Florida Man. We picked out a license plate for the bus that will hopefully complement the bus colors, and it turns out we supported education too so that’s a win all around!

After that, we dropped of Mom and Denise at the airport and hit the road. The weekend was gorgeously warm and sunny, and I was decidedly sad about driving back to our pathetic existence at the boatyard. It looks like another gray rainy week, so we won’t be able to paint this week, which means we still don’t know when we’ll be back in the water. At least now there’s nothing stopping us from heading straight to the Bahamas!