St. Augustine, FL

Tuesday, December 4

Today’s plans revolved around the SPACEX rocket launch happening at 1:30pm. Jetty Park is one of NASA’s recommended viewing sites, so we planned to have a slow morning at the campground, watch the launch across the water, and then head north to St. Augustine.

There’s really no “sleeping in” when it comes to our 28-foot RV — once one person is awake, everyone is awake. Also, Aden’s bed converts to the kitchen table so we can’t eat until he’s up and his bedding is put away. We all ate breakfast and then the kids played on the playground within the park while I did my workout on a cement pad nearby. Andi stayed behind and handled some work calls inside the RV.

The staff at Jetty Park Campground were very accommodating. Our check-out time was 10:00am, but they said we were welcome to park in an overflow parking lot and stay inside the park to watch the launch.

Around 11:00am, we happened to glance across the water and noticed an electronic marquee scrolling the message, “ROCKET LAUNCH POSTPONED UNTIL DECEMBER 5.” Whaaaaat?! We hopped on the computer and learned the wind conditions weren’t right for a launch that day. The launch was re-scheduled for the following afternoon. We were bummed! Bummed because the kids were SO EXCITED to see a real rocket launch, and also because we’d wasted half of our day hanging around Jetty Park waiting for it to take place. Oh, well. It was out of our control. We said good-bye to Cape Canaveral and started our two-hour drive to St. Augustine.

By the time we arrived in St. Augustine it was almost dark. We pulled into our new campground called North Beach, and located our site. This campground was very secluded with big, overgrown trees nestled between each site giving campers lots of privacy.

The St. Augustine Nights of Lights was taking place, so we decided to go into town to experience it. Andi and I prefer eating at “home” versus going to a restaurant whenever possible because dining out with small children is more work than its worth, so we ate grilled pork tenderloin and steamed green beans in the RV before we went. We opted to take an Uber into town because we weren’t sure how easy it would be to navigate the streets of St. Augustine with the RV, and that proved to be a smart choice. The Uber driver dropped us right in the heart of the city at the entrance of Nights of Lights.

We each received a pair of decoder glasses that magically turned the twinkling lights into holiday shapes like snowflakes, candy canes and reindeer faces. Then, we hopped aboard a trolley that took us for a ride around downtown St. Augustine. Every building sparkled brightly with white lights and Christmas decorations. It’s was little different for us Minnesotans to attend a holiday event without any snow on the ground. We ended our evening with hot chocolate, sugar cookies and ice cream so clearly, we adjusted to the change in scenery just fine. It was a fun evening.

Wednesday, December 5

Today was a cold day in St. Augustine! We woke up to temperatures in the low 50’s - brrr! After breakfast, we drove our RV downtown and located a parking lot designated for oversized vehicles. The very nature of what makes St. Augustine unique makes parking a challenge. For that reason, we knew we’d have to put on our walking shoes today.

Our first stop was Castillo de San Marcos — the oldest and largest masonry fort in the United States. We were almost to the fort when Andi realized he forgot his wallet in the RV - shoot! Resourceful as always, Andi called an Uber which drove us back to our RV to get his wallet and then dropped us off at the fort. When traveling with kids, you quickly learn how far you can push your kid’s limits, and Andi felt like adding a cold & windy 30-minute walk BEFORE our day’s adventure even began would be pushing the envelope. He was right.

Wouldn’t you know it, when we finally arrived at Castillo de San Marcos, we saw a sign that said admission was free that day in honor of the passing of President George H. W. Bush. It felt special to be visiting a National Monument on a day of remembrance.

Right away, a fort volunteer dressed in a period soldier uniform, approached us and shared information about who lived at this fort and what it was used for. It was very interesting! We also saw there was an opportunity for the kids to earn Junior Ranger badges here, so we picked up a few packets and set off to learn more about the fort. The Junior Ranger program at United States parks and monuments are one of our favorite things to do when we travel. It’s an awesome tool for teaching the kids about a subject or an area we’re visiting, and it also forces Andi and I to look around & think about what we’re seeing as well. So many times as an adult, we visit places and say, “yeah, cool, we saw it” and move on. Completing Junior Ranger packets makes us slow down and think about what we’re seeing.

Sometimes Junior Ranger packets are a little advanced for Aden (age 5) and Tory ends up doing most of the work, but the ones at Castillo de San Marcos were age-specific. Aden was able to do his own packet and I was impressed that he answered all of his questions correctly! Tory’s packet was more detailed, and of course she did an excellent job completing hers as well. Castillo de San Marcos Junior Ranger badges: EARNED.

After touring the fort, the four of us walked across the street to the restaurants and shopping area of St. Augustine. Andi picked a bakery called The Bunnery, and we all shared hot chocolates and croissants inside to warm up against the winter chill outdoors.

I get the feeling that there’s a lot more to see (and eat & drink) in St. Augustine if you aren’t accompanied by two small children. We enjoyed our time in America’s oldest city, and I’d definitely make a trip back again someday when dining in the restaurants or visiting some of the cute sidewalk shops would be more feasible.

For now, we said good-bye to St. Augustine and headed off to Flagler Beach.