On our second day in St. Augustine we got an early start so we could get tickets for the ferry to Fort Matanzas. Tickets are limited and so the website said to get there at opening in order to get them. We had perfect timing and were able to get tickets for the first ferry ride and guess what we saw on our ferry ride- dolphins! This ride didn't even cost anything so it's safe to say I had some regrets about paying for our dolphin tour in Georgia. However, this ferry ride also came with a long winded lecture about the fort before we got on the boat so we did pay the price of whiny and wiggly kids. Once we got to the island and were walking along the entry way of the fort I spotted more dolphins and they all stayed close by so I even got them on video (still too fast for photos). I also captured on video my kids getting into trouble for sitting on a wall they weren't supposed to sit on. Nice. After my dolphin watching we explored the small fort. There was a small ladder to get to the top and by the time all the first group of people had come down and we had gotten up, they were calling us back to the ferry. That was kind of frustrating. The lady wanted us to leave early so we could go get a closer look at the dolphins but they were already all gone so all we did was take a ride around the beach.
They were offering a guided nature walk when we got off the ferry but my kids didn't have the attention span and the gnats were biting like crazy so we left. Our next stop was just for me- the St. Augustine Lighthouse. This one was much better kept than the last one, so much prettier. We ended up getting a membership because it was $30 cheaper than just buying tickets for the day. I guess that means we should go back to St Augustine so we can use it again ;). We also found out the membership would have given us a 30% discount at the alligator farm so I am a little bummed we didn't come to the lighthouse first.
There were 219 steps to the top of the lighthouse so that was a workout. Steven gave up at the second landing for reasons I am unsure. Tired? Scared of heights? He ended up going back down and waiting for us at the bottom. I always feel a little anxious at the top. Mostly worried about my kids doing something dumb and falling off but they were mostly as scared as me. We all survived and I got jello legs at the bottom from being so tense walking down 219 stairs.
When we made it back to the bottom we explored the main museum. It had some fun interactive things for the kids. Afterwards they were getting hungry so we didn't spend too much time in some of the smaller buildings with exhibits they had. I was pretty impressed with the amount of stuff they had to do with this lighthouse and how kid friendly they made it. You could also watch some people making boats and buy some fudge. So much to do with our membership!
Next we went back to our airbnb for lunch and then decided to spend another afternoon at the beach. This visit to the beach was much less pleasant for me. We went to the same one but this time the wind was blowing hard and constant and it would whip up the sand and I would get pelted in the legs by it. That does not feel good. It was either be pelted by sand or go in freezing water. I did not like either option. I ended up wrapping my legs in a towel for protection and attempting to read my book in the wind. Needless to say my book has become very sandy. The rest of the gang enjoyed playing in the water. When they went further into the ocean (which scared me because there was a rip tide warning) Penny had to come back and hang with me because she was too short. She spent most of her time with me running to the top of a sandy hill and "flying" down with her towel or wading in the shallow water. Near the end I attempted to build sand castles with the kids but they were way less interested this time so it was basically just me building one. I actually really like to make sandcastles but feel like a dork when I don't have any kids with me.
After the beach, we changed clothes and attempted to go to Chili's for dinner but it had like a 2 hour wait because they only had one large table so we ended up Applebee's instead. Then we came home and while the kids watched TV in their rooms, I sat on the bench on the back patio, looked up at the setting sun and the trees blowing in the wind and read my book. That was really a perfect and relaxing way to end the day.
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