A WEDDING IN ST. AUGUSTINE

kristen lo
Last week Diane and I flew to Jacksonville where Patrick rented an SUV and drove us to the Hampton Inn in St. Augustine. Diane and I thought going to Florida in February would be a warm holiday get-a-way. But no, the temperatures in Florida stayed in the 40s. People were walking around St. Augustine bundled up like Eskimos and wore gloves! I was comfortable in my Spring jacket.

My niece Kristen, an occupational therapist, married Harrison, an electrical engineer. They own a condo in St. Augustine. Nice ceremony, nice reception.

I would describe St. Augustine as “Quaint.” Plenty of little shops. Plenty for tourists to explore. I found two used bookstores. In Anaconda Books, I found a First Edition of Jack Vance’s Throy for $5. In Second Read Books, I found a Simon Green Nightside paperback I didn’t have and James Blaylock’s steam-punk novel, Homunculus .

If you’re looking for a nice vacation destination, I’d recommend St. Augustine, FL.
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31 thoughts on “A WEDDING IN ST. AUGUSTINE

  1. Jeff Meyerson

    But you didn’t mention the key attraction (for Jackie): the outlet mall! It’s at Mile 318 on I-95. Jackie ravaged the Ecco store there for 6 pairs of shoes – three for each of us. And then there is the so-called “Fountain of Youth” where Ponce de Leon supposedly met a bunch of really short Indians (for his time, he was a giant).

    Congratulations to the happy couple. I did warn you about the weather.Looks like all of NY State is going to be int he Deep Freeze this weekend. NYC could hit zero for the first time in 22 years. Florida is still way cooler than normal – it was 42 here this morning – but for us it is almost perfect weather.

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    1. george Post author

      Jeff, it’s 8 degrees right now! And the temperature will fall tonight. We didn’t have time for the outlet mall, but we have our own Outlet Mall in Niagara Falls. The Canadians flock there for the bargains. And Diane and her friends shop at the Outlet Mall from time to time: 142 stores!

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      1. Jeff Meyerson

        Last year they opened an outlet mall One Exit from us on I -95 in West Palm Beach. We were there yesterday for the second time. But they don’t have an Ecco store like the one in St. Augustine.

        I remember the Niagara one too. It always pays to have reading material with you when the shopping begins, especially since most of these outlets don’t have bookstores anymore.

      2. george Post author

        Jeff, since you and Jackie visited the Outlet Mall in Niagara Falls, they added 50 new stores! Bookstores are an endangered species.

      1. Wolf Böhrendt

        George, yes that’s one of the moments for a real book collector – finding something really rare. I can feel with you there.

        I’ve got the book too: THROY (CADWAL CHRONICLES 3)

        Would you be interested in a list of all the books by Jack Vance that I own/know of?

        His Star Kings series is still one of my favourites – it was really early translated into German (in the 60s) and I read it then, the first time …

      2. george Post author

        Wolf, I would love to see what Jack Vance titles you own! I have a lot of them in various editions, mostly because I liked the cover artwork.

  2. Deb

    I posted before about our family visits to St. Augustine in the early 1970s. We lived (and parents still live) in southern coastal Georgia, so S.A. was not a long trek for us. We’d spend a day visiting the sites (especially the fort and the Ripley’s museum) and then get up early the next morning and drive to Orlando to be there when Disney’s gates opened. We hadn’t revisited for years and we went back in 2006 for a family celebration and my sister’s and my favorite part was discovering a Thomas Kinkade store in the refurbished old town! Good times!

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      1. Wolf Böhrendt

        George, shouldn’t you retire soon?
        Then you’ll have the time to visit all those nice places in the USA, Canada – and of course other parts of the world too!

        There is so much to see – I’m really glad that I had the chance to visit many countries and places.
        But you have to hurry up, because as we get older travelling (especially long distance) gets more of a nuisance …

        That’s one of the things I almost envy the young people nowadays, they have so many more chances to get around the world. I was forty years old when I came to the USA the first time (for a business trip) and almost 45 when I had the first holiday in Florida …
        My Hungarian wife was already over 60 when we travelled to Miami Beach together, that was a test to see whether she would like the USA – and she did so we returned several times …

        I just heard that her sister’s grandchild travelled to Miami Beach as a member of a young Hungarian water polo team – he’s 13 years old! Ain’t that something?

      2. george Post author

        Wolf, I’m nearing retirement. Since I had two total knee replacements, I feel like I have a new lease on Life. And, I can still do my job so I’d like to continue a couple more years. But, don’t worry, I won’t stay at the Party too long! I don’t want to be That Guy.

  3. Beth Fedyn

    Congratulations to your niece and her new husband!

    Glad you and Diane were able to enjoy a little break together. And any vacation that includes used bookstores is a good one.

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  4. maggie mason

    Sounds like a nice mini break, even with colder than expected weather. We’ve had summerish weather all week. Last night I almost put on the ceiling fan.

    that Niagara outlet mall sounds great Maybe after Toronto Bcon?

    My first quick glance at the happy couple, I thought he was maybe a younger tom brady sans hair, and with a sincere smile

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Maggie, you and Beth should definitely check out the Outlet Mall in Niagara Falls after the Toronto Bouchercon. You could spend a whole day there working your way through the 142 stores!

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  5. maggie mason

    I still remember the last trip to Toronto and going booking with George. I was showing him how I found Earl Emerson’s first, very scarce book, (fill the world with phantoms) and the store had it!!! It was a great day. Wonder how many of those stores are still there?

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    1. george Post author

      Maggie, the Book Corner, where you found that scarce Earl Emerson book, is still there. I occasionally find treasure when I root around those shelves.

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  6. Wolf Böhrendt

    George, good to hear you had a happy time at your niece#s wedding with the family, even though the weather was not so Florida-like!
    I also remember St Augustine – many years ago spent a few days in St Augustine Beach – it was around/at the end of Spring Break when we rented an apartment (like a motel room with kitchen) there.
    At first I wondered why people from the neighbours kept watching us, then one of them explained it:They had had some very noisy students there as guests before us – and now they were really happy to get “normal” people as guests again. We immediately were invited to join the others for happy hour in a bar where we even got food (noodles and tomato sauce etc) for free with our beers! And the next days we took long walks along the beach and also visited the old Castillo de San Marcos.
    Of course the city itself with the oldest schoolhouse of the USA is a magnet for tourists …

    Totally OT re old houses:
    A friend of mine works as a tourist guide for fun in my German home town and when he has tourists from the USA he always explains that over the door of the old houses you can see the year that they were built – and then he shows them one house with the number: 1491 …

    I also have fond memories of Niagara Falls (Canada) – not only of the city and the falls but also of that outlet. Because we were there in March there weren’t many customers and in the Levi’s store we talked with one young sales guy (who was from Turkey) who showed us a lot of nice things and then with his supervisor – she came from Germany …
    And we got a special rebate from her after she told us that we’d need to spend just a few dollars more …
    Now for the funniest story imho:
    I asked her why they didn’t have a large selection in XXL (for me) and XXXL (for a Hungarian friend) like in the other outlets and she looked at me and said:
    This is Canada – not the USA …

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, that’s funny! Yes, XXL and XXXL are more common on this side of the International Border. The Canadians are more healthy (and eat less junk food) than Americans.

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  7. Patti Abbott

    We were there about twenty years ago in February and loved St. Augustine. Always meant to go back. 34 out of the 35 days we have been here have been sunny and in the mid sixties to mid seventies. I don’t know why everyone does not live here.

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    1. george Post author

      Patti, the 40 degree temps in St. Augustine bummed a lot of the locals and visitors out. We enjoyed it. Some tourists at our hotel were worried about the Zika Virus which is in four Florida counties.

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    2. Wolf Böhrendt

      Patti, summer in Florida can be extreme – not only the heat and the rain and the humidity that results.

      I remember being in Miami Beach one September when a Hurricane was coming which was supposed to hit Miami and the beaches …

      So early in the morning I switched on the tv and heard the mayor recommending to leave. I packed my things and told the guy at the hotel reception I was off for two days – he said that he and his colleagues were going to stay.
      I drove to St Petersburg Beach – which was relatively empty at this time of the year. very nice weather, went to the beach and in the evening switched on the TV to hear and see that the hurricane had landed about fifty miles north of Miami …
      For a tourist like me, no problem – but if you live and work there and have this hurricane scare regularly?

      PS:
      I’ve seen some of the effects of Hurricanes – Flamingo in the Everglades being totally destroyed and once a hotel in Ft Lauderdale Beach where all the windows had been destroyed by the storm …
      Of course the good side for us tourists were really cheap last minute offers – that’s why I was so often in Florida.

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    3. Deb

      Patti– are you in Florida or California right now? If CA, I can tell you why we left after 20 years–the cost of living, especially home prices. Even with good jobs, my husband and I could hardly keep up financially (three kids and a mortgage will do that to you!) we eventually moved back to the south, closer to family and easier to make a buck go further (we bought a house twice as large for half the cost of our house in CA). I do miss the friends we made there, the climate (we lived in the South Bay which, weather-wise, is like the Northern California of Southern California), and certainly the more liberal political culture, but overall for comfortable lifestyle and less money worries, we made the right choice to move.

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    4. maggie mason

      I’m guessing you’re talking about CA, Patti. I think high cost of property is a big reason. I see the prices of homes, in older neighborhoods, but better location than mine and wonder how people can afford it. Tons of houses selling in the North park area (near where I told you Carnitas Shack and Eclipse Chocolate are) in the $600-900K range.

      Some neighbors of mine who bought a house 2 doors down as a repo are medical missionaries. They were going to sell the house, but I suggested that they keep it if they ever felt like they would return to the US to live (they’re in africa now). they took my advise and rented it to some church friends. They paid I think $180k for it and could easily double their money.

      If I hadn’t bought my house in 1975 I couldn’t have afforded to after about 1990. For $10k more I could have gotten a nicer house in a nicer area, but who knew!!. We do have droughts, fires and earthquakes, but we kinda get used to it.

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  8. Jeff Meyerson

    I was going to mention the cost of living too. My parents lived in Foster City, on the Peninsula by San Mateo, halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. They loved it there and didn’t want to move – the weather was beautiful too – but after they stopped working they couldn’t afford to stay there (they said ) and ended up in the Phoenix outskirts.

    Patti, you’re not moving there, are you?

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    1. Wolf Böhrendt

      I too hears some unbelievable numbers- is housing really that expensive in CA?
      Or just in “some neighbourhoods” or cities like San Francisco?
      Hotels are almost unaffordable – everybody who wants to go there as a tourist tells me so.
      And of course CA is one of the main attractions for us Europeans, especially San Fran …

      Reply

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