St. Augustine -the beach a welcome distraction

6/20/20 – Three and a half months of lockdown with only a few short jaunts outside of Peachtree City, cancellation of our Prague trip (postponement actually), and a general stir-craziness have meant we needed to get in some true vacation time. Solution: six hour drive, in the convertible, to a beachside rental and a week-long dose of sun and surf.

Rolled in Saturday a bit late for the beach but still did a night stroll – very dark, but the sound of the waves very relaxing.

6/21 Sunday saw us up a little early for a short beach visit – only an hour – as we had plans to meet some people in town a which ultimately fell through, but had us in town anyway so we spent a few hours wandering Old Town and having an afternoon meal at the classic Columbia Restaurant – best Cuban food in Florida.

Later in the evening we sat outside at The Reef for some appetizers and cocktails while watching the surf.

19 Jan 2020 – last beach day

Last day on the beach for a while – grabbed a couple of hours out on the beach front before heading to the airport. 80 here today – heading home to low 40s.

Next blog entries maybe not until the May trip to Prague…

18 Jan 2020 – Miami Beach pt2

Fillmore for our second go with New Order – different vantage point inside the theatre, and different setlist from the band – again a great show, wrapping their stay in Miami but not ours just yet!

In advice of a local we chatted with in a bar in Hollywood, we walked a few blocks to Mac’s Club Deuce – billed as the oldest bar in Miami (1926 doesn’t really seem that old, does it my Oxford UK friends?).

For a place with ‘Club’ in its name it is much more like a dive bar – and a very lively one at that. Place was packed, and had a nice rotation going in the juke box, while we played pool and drank until 4am or a little past. Fortunately, also as advised by that beach bar local, directly across the street is La Sandwicherie, a corner hole in the wall sandwich shop open to 5 – also crowded in the street, and extremely good at what they do – Italian sub I had was excellent- and that’s not just through 5am beer goggles…

Uber back to Hollywood, crash and sleep in until we have to check out.

18 Jan 2020 – Hollywood day 2

Slept in – but out in the bikes at noon to find lunch and a Bloody Mary…succeeded at a cool bar called the Tipsy Boar, in downtown Hollywood. Bacon-wrapped dates, lobster BLT tacos and a good drink.

Back to the beach for some more biking, a little walk on the beach, considered a career change, then a stop at Ocean Alley for a mojito or two.

Back the hotel for hot tub, beers, and a hookah (no pics…imagine it!). Finally, over to Bonny and Read’s for some more mojitos, oysters and some fish tacos. (Burger for K. She doesn’t do seafood much).

Off to Miami Beach for New Order round 2…

17 Jan 2020 – Miami Beach

After a lengthy Uber ride through Friday afternoon Miami rush hour traffic, dinner rez at a Colombian restaurant – the Bolivar in the South Beach area. Fantastic food and a great signature mule drink of some kind – Aguardiente, ginger beer and mint.

After dinner a mile walk up one of the main drags to the Fillmore for the New Order show!

Opening act was not really congruent musically with the headline, and was so-so…we endured 30 min or so and then New Order busted out for a great show, starting quickly with a couple of classics, hitting a Joy Division staple, then playing a fair number of more recent tracks from the 2010’s that we honestly didn’t know well.

Wrapped up big though with three of the biggest hits and an encore tribute to Ian Curtis and two more Joy Division hits.

After Uber back to Hollywood, we hit Nick’s Beach Bar until late (3?) before walking back in the 20mph winds to crash…tomorrow will come fast!