September 30 -- St. Augustine to Ormond Beach

St. Augustine's oldest house;
view from garden area.

This morning after checking out of the motel, we drove to the oldest house in St. Augustine. The González-Alvarez House has been owned by the St. Augustine Historical Society since 1918, but even before that the residents opened the house for tours.

It was fascinating to see the house and to hear how all the former residents had lived and modified it over the years. The grounds of the house were lovely, with brick walkways around the grassy and garden areas.

There was also an 18th-century-style kitchen, completely separate from the rest of the house. I identified garlic and rosemary growing in the kitchen garden.

18th-century-style kitchen

Inside view of kitchen

One corner of the garden area seemed to have been been designated for something special. Our tour guide didn't mention what it was for, but there was a lovely statue of a Franciscan monk and an Indian boy.

Statue in garden at
oldest house

After our tour of the oldest house, we walked around the area a little. On one of the side streets is a beautiful old home, very meticulously kept up. As I stood on the sidewalk admiring the house, one of the city tour trolleys came down the street announcing that this lovely house is one of the Sears Roebuck kit houses! Interesting.

After admiring these old homes a little longer, we climbed back in the car and headed for Ann and Jim's home in Ormond Beach, so we could visit with cousins Stephanie and Dennis a little while before they left for West Palm Beach and Miami. Jim's sister Cille and husband Ed came by for a short visit, too. We had a nice family gathering!

One of Jim's "pet" squirrels.

Another park squirrel who
loves peanuts!

Before we fixed dinner, Smoky and I went with Jim to walk Max, the cute little peekapoo who splits his time between Jim and neighbor Beth. Ormond Beach Central Park was our destination, and it is a great place to walk, run, bike, or simply stroll with your dog. The trail winds around several lakes. Jim carries raw peanuts for the squirrels. It looked like every squirrel in the park knew Jim. What fun!

Thanks, Steph, for leaving behind the spaghetti sauce and salad greens. We had a delicious dinner, which ended with the four of us splitting a chocolate turtle confection from St. Augustine's Chocolate Turtle Dessert and Coffee Shop with a side of Blue Belle Homemade Vanilla ice cream! If you missed the chocolate turtle picture, check out yesterday's blog entry.

Now we begin a few days of rest and relaxation for all four of us.

-- Shann