Shifting Sands Reveal Revolutionary War Ship

Check out this article:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/04/_over_two_centu.html?s_campaign=8315

Fascinating, no?!

Furniture huntin'

It was back up to St. Augustine today in the continuing effort to furnish the empty condo at Ocean Sunrise.

Some successes, some disappointments.

And, man, what a scorcher it was out there!

90 degrees!!

I'll sure be glad when this little project is over, because a lot of things are falling by the wayside back in Apopka/Orlando . . .

Retail wail

I hate shopping.

For anything.

Groceries. Clothes. Christmas. Easter.

Doesn't matter what or when.

I just hate it.

And, I've had an unusually annoying go of it in St. Augustine today.

How !(*%&#()* difficult can it be to find a decent set of dishes and two MATCHING sets of twin bed linens?!?

Well, let me tell you: It cannot be done in this beach town.

I finally had to throw my hands in the air in disgust.

Some things will just have to wait til next weekend, I guess . . .

A working weekend

Yep, it was back up to St. Augustine Beach for me today, ye socks.

As mentioned in previous posting(s), one of the units is completely unfurnished at present.

That's right, not a stick of furniture.

So, I'm hoping to remedy that situation.

It starts tomorrow with the delivery of three beds.

The unit in question is at Ocean Sunrise, just off the Dondanville Road beach ramp.

Hoping to get it haibtable by the end of the month.

So, let me know if any of ye need to schedule some surf and sand time!

Not just any old day at the beach.

Believe it or not, this is where I had to work yesterday. No April Fool's joke at all.

Feelin' a little jealous out there in the blogosphere?

Seriously, it wasn't all fun and games.

I was on a recon mission, trying to figure out how to get 5 condos up in the St. Augustine area ready for the summer tourist season.

Of course, they weren't all conveniently located in the same complex:

#1 is a little condotel by the yacht club.

#2 is the Barefoot Trace unit oft-mentioned in this blog.

#3 is a luxury unit off Dondanville Road.

#4 is another luxury unit in the same complex as #3, but doesn't have a stick of furniture in it. (Not a big attraction to potential renters . . .)

#5 is a big family-friendly place near the southern tip of Anastasia Island.

If any of ye socks have a yen to bask in the glory of the First Coast sun, please keep yours truly in mind and drop me an email with dates and requirements. We may just be able to accomodate!!

Visiting with the Franclan

Spent the day with my cousin Joanna and her three . . . yes, THREE . . . boys.

It was great weather for visiting, too, as we finally got our first cool snap down here in Florida. Way too long in coming.

Anyway, we took advantage of the brisk, envigorating weather to do a little Christmas shopping and nearly got thrown out of an Applebee's (a la Talladega Nights!)

It seems wierd to be Christmas shopping this early, but the temperatures were right and you have to take advantage of that down here . . . they're likely to go back up into the 80s at a moment's notice, which just kills the holiday spirit.

Well, at least we're getting it done early and avoiding the crowds!

Back to reality, sort of.

Had a smoothe drive back from the beach. That is, it was smoothe all along I-95 and I-4. But, something happend on SR417, that had traffic backed up on the causeway spanning Lake Jessup.

That was a treat.

For you out-of-town or otherwise oblivious socks, Lake Jessup is famous for only one thing: Gators.

And, I'm not talking about the orange and blue national championship variety.

As we sat there waiting for the friendly officers of the Florida Highway Patrol to get the situation in hand, I casually surveyed our surroundings. And, within a matter of just a few seconds discovered we were completely surrounded by gator-infested waters.

Thank God for sturdy concrete construction!

I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally made it to the other side of the causeway and exited the 417, more than glad to take the winding back roads to avoid further tempting the hungry reptiles.

Last throes of summer

Decided to get in one last beach weekend before the end of summer, and what a nice relaxing blessing it has been.

The weather has cooperated fully, and allowed for a lot of beach-combing and contemplation.

The one thing I couldn't get out of my mind this evening as I strolled along these sandy shores, just close enough to allow the occasional foamy edge of surf to tickly my toes, is what this place must have looked like to the first colonists.

They certainly had a lot more intestinal fortitude than me, at least at this stage of life.

I mean, minus all the condos and magnificent beach house compounds you see today, this place must have looked like another planet to them. And, this is just a barrier island. Imagine landing here, thinking you've discovered "the new world," only to realize you've still got to cross the intracoastal.

Of course, they probably had better navigational skills in addition to their guts, so they probably figured the whole island thing pretty quick.

Anyway, hats off to the pioneer explorers.

Oh, and pass the Margaritas so we can give them a toast!

Cheers!

Whittling down the beach reading list

So, after yesterday's post, some socks enquired about what literary masterpieces share the honor of inclusion on my summer "must-read" list.

I must warn you, the qualifier "must-read" simply means these titles are piled-up next to my bed (in no particular order):

1. Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign, by Stephan Talty. (ISBN 978-0-307-23660-9) Obviously, the protagonist named in the title was the reason I selected this one. And, I'm actually on Chapter 9. So, this one is well on its way OFF the list . . .

2. Jonathan Dickinson's Journal: A True Story of Shipwreck and Torture on the Florida Coast in 1696, edited by Evangeline Walker Andrews and Charles McLean Andrews. (ISBN 0-912451-00-9) This guy from Philadelphia gets shipwrecked near what is now Jupiter, Florida, and has to literally walk hundreds of miles thru hostile Indian lands to "civilization" in Charles Town. (That's what they called Charleston back in 1696, Alice!)

3. James Monroe, by Gary Hart. (ISBN 0-8050-6960-7) I guess the former senator from Colorado decided, if he couldn't be President himself, he'd at least write a biography about one of them . . .

4. The Bounty of Central Florida, by Valerie Hart. (ISBN 0-9748676-0-8) Cook books don't generally make my list. But, beyond the obvious local connection, I love the fact that at least one-third of the recipes in this one seem to include intoxicating spirits as primary ingredients. A good way to beat the summertime heat, no?!

5. Happy Days are Here Again: The 1932 Democratic Convention, the Emergence of FDR--and How America was Changed Forever, by Steve Neal. (ISBN 978-0-06-001377-6) Should be interesting to compare and contrast how the Dems used to select the top of their tickets versus 75 years later.

6. Beyond the Theme Parks: Exploring Central Florida, by Benjamin D. Brotemarkle. (ISBN 0-8130-1657-6) Couldn't resist buying an autographed copy I found at Wolf's Head Books in "uptown" St. Augustine recently. Thanks, Harvey!

7. Wekiva Winter, by Fredric M. Hitt. (ISBN 1-58939-759-2) Another autographed copy, though this one was purchased from Yvette Comeau at Maya Books at my signing on Thursday. (Can't just make money, gotta spend it, too!!)

8. Christmas in Florida, by Kevin M. McCarthy. (ISBN 1-56164-208-8) Sadly, it may indeed be Christmastime before I make it this far into my pile. But, who knows, right?!

Anyway, if any of you out there in the blogosphere have suggestions for inclusion on this list, let me hear them!

Self-imposed exile

Well, it's as good an excuse as any to retreat to the beach, I guess.

As some of you senior members of the Sock Patrol may be aware, yours truly suffered thru some public embarassment yesterday at the Orange County Courthouse. Suffice it to say, a certain local official by the name of Lydia Gardner would do well to clarify the rules of foreclosure auctions on her stupid website.

Oh, and she could also hire some better deputy clerks around there.

Anyway, I was so humiliated by the whole experience that I am "going coastal" today, and trying to catch-up on my summer beach reading.

Hopefully, you're all following similar pursuits . . . and avoiding embarassments!