Vacation Time Once Again

This is the time of the year we usually take our family vacation. There's nothing like having cool weather make your travels more enjoyable. What is better is the cheaper price of gasoline thus some long drive will just be wonderful. We decided that we'll do it after Christmas and just like last year, we greeted the new year far from home. We had a 5-day window where we can visit Jacksonville where Ophine and I have cousins who live just a mile apart from each other and then go to Savannah in Georgia. So that was the plan, stay 2 nights in Jax and 2 nights in Savannah.

St. Augustine which is like the 'Intramuros' of Florida is just about 40 minutes away south of Jax so that was the first leg of the trip. We have visited this area in 2003. That was also the first time we visited Savannah and fell in love with it. In 2005, we went to Savannah again with my Mom on our way to the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Of course there are so many places on our probably '50 places to see before we die list' but I don't mind coming back to some places that are just so beautiful and this includes the Yosemite valley in Ca, the Smoky Mountains especially Cades Cove inside the national park and again Savannah.

Even if this was a 'repeat' performance so to speak, there's just so much to see in this wonderful, very historic city. Besides, we missed exploring some nearby 'must see' places the last time we were here like Amelia Island near Jacksonville, Saint Simons Island which is part of the Brunswick and Golden Isles area in Georgia just an hour south of Savannah and Tybee Island which is just about 18 miles south of the city. We went to Tybee Island in 2003 just to check out the 'Crab Shack' which is quite a famous restaurant in the area but found out it was overrated.

We left on Dec. 30 at 6:30 am for the 5-hour trip to St. Augustine. We never stayed here for more than a day since it's just so near Jacksonville that surely having free accommodations with Ophine's cousin Cris beats any hotel in St. Aug. The last time we were there, we went to Castillo de San Marcos, part of the chain of forts dotting the east to coast made to thwart any foreign invasion a few centuries ago. As much as we'd like to visit it again, we settled with going to the St. Aug. Lighthouse and checking out the local winery, the San Sebastian Winery. David and Missy were not able to go up the lighthouse in 2003 since they were too young to be allowed. I was quite confident, they'd be allowed this time.We arrived before noon, drove around the city for awhile, crossed the 'Bridge of Lions' which was under repair. I was planning to take a walk there but it was not meant to be. We went back to the historic district to visit the winery and stroll the city proper on foot. Something we did not really do the first time. The winery is just a moderate sized building since basically most of the production is done on their 80-acre farm in Clermont.

A long time ago, my sister in Ca brought me to Napa Valley and I was able to visit a number of wineries. I was more concerned with savoring the views and capturing the moment with my camera thus I didn't go into any wine tasting tour. Not this time, the San Sebastian winery do offer tours and wine tastings so this was included in our 'to do list'. Let me just say that after tasting at least 8 kinds of wine and some from Ophine's glass too which she didn't prefer. I was tipsy. Why waste a few ounces of good wine? The kids were so afraid I might go driving under the influence, lol. Nothing that a good walk in the city can't cure anyway. After taking a look at their local museums and shops, we went to the lighthouse. I like this lighthouse a lot. It has the best views one can see from the top. We didn't really plan it but we were able to visit 4 lighthouses on this trip. More about them later and the next post.

After climbing the 219 steps and staying on top for at least 45 minutes, checking out the museum, we were ready to go. We met with Mike and Cris Kabiling and their kids Mark and Angela for dinner in Jacksonville. The local Golden Corral was the best one I've been to and after a long day, the buffet table was a welcome sight.