St. Augustine

Here is Jonah feeding seagulls and fish out his trap door at lunch. Here is Maya doing the same. We went to St. Augustine yesterday. It is only about 1/2 hour away from Jacksonville--we will definitely go back. It felt like being in Europe, with charming buildings, old architecture, boutiques and winding streets. In fact, it is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America. It is right on the ocean and there are lots of birds, fish, jellyfish and oysters. Sailboats and fishing vessels are abundant in the marinas. Ponce de Leon's "fountain of youth" is here, alongside the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. There were horse drawn carriages and trolleys running through town, and ruins from old forts that look like castles. Really, a charming little town, and not at all what I would have expected of Florida!
Here are the kids at the top of this lighthouse!
It was a 14 story climb, and Jonah didn't have an inch to spare on the height requirement, so we are lucky they let him sneak in. Morgan and Michael even made the climb, I guess they don't check the height of dolls.
The drive down the coast was gorgeous--Brett didn't realize that the Sawgrass golf course was right there--it is one of the top rated PGA golf courses. He has been following the PGA tour more closely than usual because his friend from high school (Craig Kanada) is doing amazingly in recent tournaments. The houses along the drive were enormous, with private beach frontage and lush foilage surrounding the private gates. We stopped at one point along the way to check out the beach--it was picture perfect, with turquoise colored water and abundant seashells.
Also while in St. Augustine we visited the Alligator Farm. It was packed with lagoons full of alligators. The keepers walked right among them while giving talks, apparently when it is this cold (65 degrees) they can't move very fast, and they are focused primarily on soaking up whatever little bits of sunshine they can. They have "alligator food" dispensers all over the boardwalks and for a quarter you can buy some and watch the gators rally themselves from their chill-induced state to get some munchies. Birds were all over the place too, many of them not even in cages, just hanging out next to the trails.
In other news, Maya lost another tooth! That makes two now. Jonah is jealous...he can't wait to start losing his too. Brett's diving is going well. He now says he likes helmet diving better than SCUBA. They have finished the wharfs and now are moving along to the Marine Terminal and 3 bridges. There is a good chance we will stay until the middle of April now so he can finish out the project. We will definitely be back in NY for our first visitors--Maya's friend is coming with her mom in April to celebrate the girls' birthdays (at the American Girl Doll store).
Our week last week was busy--the kids had two more classes at Eco-Ed. One was Solar Crafts and one was on Volcanoes. We also went to a Valentine's Day party at O2BKids--that was fun--they had art workshops, gymnastics class, free catered lunch and a play area. Maya went to an American Girl Doll Book Club at one of the libraries, and it was so sweet to see 12 little girls with their dolls (and 3 boys too) chatting about Kit and the Great Depression...
To ensure our kids have a well-rounded education we took them to Hooters for dinner one night on the Jacksonville Riverwalk. Are we supposed to be taking kids to Hooters? Not sure, they did have a kids menu but it was kind of weird. Maya said "Why do the servers only have on their underwear?" Good question...We told her we weren't sure, but made sure they knew the name Hooters comes from the Owl on the restaurant's logo...Anyways, it was lovely on the Riverwalk--the bridges are lit up at night, the air felt heavy and tropical and there was that smell in the air of distant cigarettes and the ocean that I always associate with adventure in faraway places.
We miss all of you! Hope you are having a nice weekend.