Anastasia State Park is located just south of the harbor at St. Augustine. In the morning, I hopped on the bike, headed down to the beach and skirted the surf towards the north. The sun cast diamonds upon the water and glinted off of the gelatinous bodies of stranded jellyfish, dotting the sand like cake decorations here and there. Riding all the way up to Conch Island near the harbor's mouth, I was treated to a spectacular view of St. Augustine harbor complete with trawlers in action and seabirds on maneuvers. Nice little work out too - I'd been missing that.

With Jae up and about upon my return, we struck camp and continued our path up A1A. I'd never been on the highway north of St. Augustine, so the dazzling views of unspoiled Florida were all a big surprise. There's definitely a different vibe in the northeastern portion of the Sunshine State. After eating at Singleton's Seafood Shack in Atlantic Beach (the shrimp taco was the size of a steering wheel), we took the St. John's River Ferry across the water in order to continue our northward drive. I've never been on an auto ferry before, so driving a 32 foot, 14,500 pound beast onto an auto ferry was a test of focus, people. What a bizarre sensation to be sitting in your rig going sideways and jostling in sync with all the cars on deck as the craft sidled up to the opposite dock. Nice to know there are some minor firsts still yet to experience!

One of these things is not like the others.

American Beach was next in our sights; created in 1935 by Florida's first black millionaire, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, it was a popular hotspot for blacks who weren't allowed to swim on Florida's then-segregated beaches. I had never heard of the place and Jae was excited to see it in person. It was a beautiful and interesting part of Florida history that also happened to be not far from Florida's oldest bar since 1903, The Palace Saloon in Fernandina Beach. We arrived not too long before sundown and were able to catch a gorgeous sunset as we headed back to the rig (no name yet) and onward to the Golden Aisles RV Park in Brunswick, Georgia.

Leveling this beast isn't anywhere as easy as it is with Rita and they only provided a couple of three-step blocks to aid with the process. I knew I should've brought my Lynx Levelers! All good. As a former employee of The Haunted Shack, I can handle living on an angle and it didn't bother Jae. More the OCD in me or some such.

Jae had never seen "RV", with Robin Williams, so we watched that and had a good laugh before bedtime. That might've been a scary movie for her if she wasn't traveling with someone who knew their way around one of these rigs. Never ONCE have I ever gotten dump station goo on my shirt or clobbered someone's mailbox while backing up!

We're headed to Saint Simmons Island tomorrow; another day with no idea of what the afternoon will bring. Awesome!

Driveabout: Day 3