An obvious perk of being able to take your home with you is the ability to move away from any place that is icy, snowy or just plain cold. During the past few months we’ve been hanging around the beaches of the Carolinas and Georgia as we headed south. And just like the Canadian geese, we’ve migrated toward warmer weather and lots of sunshine.
And where could that be?
We’ve arrived at our winter destination – the sunshine state of Florida – where we’ll be wandering around for the next four months. This will be the first time we’ll stay in an RV park for a whole month. Our plan is to slow down and move around this big state, beginning in eastern Florida near Orlando for December. We’ll spend January with friends in Bonita Springs on the gulf coast. In February we’ll stop for a week each in the Miami Everglades, Key West and Ft. Lauderdale. Finally, in March we’ll head back west and cruise up along the panhandle. At least that’s the plan at the moment, no telling if or how it might change along the way.
We spent Thanksgiving weekend at St. Augustine, which of course can be a crazy time to be anywhere. With a cold snap lingering and the weather being crappy, we thought folks might just stay home to watch tv or something. Wrong! The shopping crowd was out in full force when we arrived at the historic downtown. The cold and wind didn’t stop these crazy shoppers from enjoying the holiday spirit. Oh wait, we were there – does that make us crazy too?
We joined the crowd, doing a little shopping and wandering around the old streets. But only after filling our tummies for the first time with a delicious and authentic Cuban lunch and a glass of sangria. Yum!
Since we were in an urban setting, I had to settle for people watching instead of bird watching, as we enjoyed our sangria.
Next we took our own walking tour of the “oldest city”. The city of St. Augustine is the nation’s oldest permanently occupied European settlement, having been founded by the Spanish in 1565. We didn’t delve too much into the city’s history, instead we chose to simply enjoy the feel of the history by strolling the narrow old-world streets.
Even if history was not our center of interest this time, we couldn’t help but appreciate the rich heritage that makes St. Augustine a unique city. Strolling along the narrow streets, we noticed that the street patterns and architectural ambiance reflected Spanish origins.
The following evening we headed back to the city, as St. Augustine was said to glow at night with holiday magic – from the ground to the rooftops. The town boasted being selected by National Geographic in 2011 & 2012 as one of the ten best holiday lighting displays in the world. The Nights of Lights features millions of tiny white and colored lights that create a magical atmosphere in the old city.
Donning the Holospex glasses provided by Holly Jolly Tours, we saw the city sparkle to life as all of those lights were transformed by the glasses into snowflake shapes. We have to say this was a pretty cool tour and a good way to get into the holiday spirit, as the trolley cruised around town blaring classic Christmas tunes for everyone on the streets to hear.
We joined in the revelry, yelling Christmas greetings to passersby and singing Christmas carols as we toured around town – and we were sober! We were glad the forecasted rain did not materialize to dampen our holiday spirit. Hopping off the trolley tour, we were greeted by folks who served us hot apple cider and cookies – yum, again. We continued walking on our own, admiring the millions of lights that transformed downtown St. Augustine into a holiday wonderland.
We enjoyed a fun holiday stop at St. Augustine. Now, back to our hideaway to live a quieter life with wildlife as our main entertainment.
Lowes Travels 
Looks like you had lots of fun! Enjoy Florida and your warm winter plans. We got 3 inches of snow here in Newport. The long term residents are saying this never happens! Florida looks awesome and is on our list for long term stays. Let me know how the one month stay place is.
I know, I heard this week is National Hate Florida Day for Florida is really spared from the arctic snap.
The weather looks wonderful. I am currently in Montana @ -12 last night, burrr. Thanks for sharing about your travels. It looks like a nice place visit.
Brrr…-12 ! We are so glad we are here.
It looks like St. Augustine was full of wildlife, including yourselves!
Ha ha you are so funny….we are indeed.
You are in the only warm spot in the country. Enjoy!
I love St. Augustine! I have never visited there this time of year though. It’s funny, Joe and I were just talking today about “plans” for next year and what we want to do…St. Augustine was on our list!
Safe travels!
Oh, do swing by St. Augustine, it has its own character different from Savannah.
I’ll be gleaming with joy in my eyes to see those dots of lights. Nicely captured, Mona LiZa. Been to Florida before when I was in South for 4 years. We always go to Florida whenever we want some beach time. 😀 Love the European feel of St. Augustine esp. the spanish side of it.
I brought home the glasses so I will be using them this season.
Oh I miss St. Augustine! I have many lovely memories there of being with family. This morning we awoke to our first snow of the season in Prescott. And you know what? It was ok! Enjoy FL and your hideaway!
Snow is just snow, so enjoy its early arrival. Wonder what winter brings.
What a fun way to experience this beautiful city. We were there a few years back and had to see the area between rain storms. Lovely photos! Enjoy!
Thank you, somehow the weather added character to the city. Just too bad we were not able to see other areas though.
St. Augustine is beautiful with all the lights and holiday shoppers. It was 28 degrees this morning in the Hayward Hills. I hope this cold spell ends soon. Have a great time in Florida! I miss being in the warm Caribbean in Mexico. My husband is still there all winter.
Marcy, I can’t remember a time when we had 28 degrees while there. Brrss must be very cold.
Very pretty. A good place to visit, in my wish list
We were in St Augustine for a day last December … a few days after Christmas … it was just as crowded then. Really enjoyed the fortress and the ranger’s presentation about the history of the area. Didn’t stay for the holiday lights, however, as we had a long drive back to Jax and didn’t want to dally long … perhaps another year.
Hi, Mona. A very wise decision to spend the coldest winter months in Florida. I can highly recommend Florida. 🙂 Sylvia http://anotherday2paradise.wordpress.com/
I lost touch with a few bloggers in the process of starting my blog afresh a few weeks ago. Glad I’ve found you again through Rommel’s latest post. 🙂
Now that we have some free time I can begin to get caught up on what the blogging community has been doing. We too are planning to visit St. Augustine, I believe in March, but must admit seeing all the holiday lights would have been a very special time to be there. We hope you and Steve have a wonderful Christmas and continued grand adventures in 2014. After the first of the year I will send you our itinerary in the hopes of catching up with the two of you this winter. 🙂