Give ‘Em L Tour

In a week, two of my friends from Illinois are coming to visit me in Florida. To protect their anonymity I’ll call them L1 and L2, since both their names start with the letter L. And Nana Noyz is just an alias. My name also begins with L, so I’m dubbing our get-together the “Give ’em L” tour. I’m excited. Beyond excited. Ecstatic is the best word. 

I’m a bit envious, too, because the Illinois Ls are taking a major road trip to get to Doright Manor in Tallahassee. I am the queen of road trips. So, as soon as L1 and L2 arrive we’re going farther south to the oldest permanent settlement in the United States: Saint Augustine.

It’s been years since I visited, so I can’t wait to explore the old cobblestoned streets and quaint shops.



Saint Augustine also boasts some of the prettiest beaches in the country.



And an historic fort:



Of course I’ll let the visitors choose our sights to see, as long as we get to eat some good seafood. 



Peace, people!

Cape St. George and Apalachicola

Studly and I live near Tallahassee, Florida, in the state’s panhandle. We both love this part of Florida, but it is not what most folks have in mind when they think of the Sunshine State. For one thing, there are very few palm trees in our area. Instead, we have massive moss-covered oaks and towering pine trees. In addition, our terrain is hilly, quite unlike the famously flat peninsula.

I do wish we lived nearer to the Gulf or the Atlantic. In a perfect world, I’d live a maximum of 10 minutes from a white sand beach, as it is, I’m about 75 miles from the Gulf, but the first really good beach is about 90 miles away. Yesterday was January 1, 2015, and I resolved to be at the beach on that day. Since I’m a grown woman with a driver’s license I waited for Studly to depart for the golf course and pointed my car south to the Gulf of Mexico.

On previous trips I had always immediately gone straight to St. George island, turning left just past Bayside Burgers in Eastpoint, but today I drove on to Apalachicola for brunch. The restaurant I’d planned on visiting was closed (New Year’s Day, duh!), so I asked a local couple for a recommendation and they pointed me to Caroline’s River Dining.

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I had a yummy crab quiche for brunch while seated at a table with a fine view of the Apalachicola River. Afterwards, I strolled around the historic downtown, mainly taking photos of signs for some reason.

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Only a few businesses were open, so this is definitely a place I’ll need to revisit in the future.

On my way home I couldn’t pass up going out to St. George Island to start off the new year with my toes in the sand.

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Maybe this will provide my beach fix for a little while. Or maybe, I’ll convince Studly to move to the Gulf of Mexico. I can see me as a professional beach bum.

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