Anastasia SP - April 5, 2008

We definitely came north too soon. The temperature dropped as we motored North along the I95. But we booked these parks last August and the seasonally adjusted temperatures said it would be warm – so much for averages. We managed to arrive at our site and got everything set up just as the first rain drops hit. And did it rain!

In spite of the weather, our site was excellent, large with plenty of privacy. We met one of the camp hosts, also a fellow Canadian, who filled us in on the area. He mentioned that Sarnia just had snow so even though it was cool weather here, Canada was colder. When we got a break in the rain, we got out our bikes and put up our gazebo – mainly to keep the bikes dry. We were within a nice biking distance to the beach. Anastasia is not only a lovely state park – it has WiFi at the park restaurant near the beach. We drove down one day and were able to catch up on our e-mails while sitting in the parking lot. We find it difficult to be without internet access as we really miss being in touch by e-mail. As well, the internet is useful to check out state parks and make bookings. So far we have had to take our computer to local libraries to connect – doable but not really convenient.

During the wet weather, we managed to do some touring of St. Augustine. One spot that we had not seen before was the Lightner Museum. The museum was a treat and had an incredibly eclectic collection of stuff – from button collections, to Louis XIV`s writing desk, crystal glassware to cigar band art. It was a fun afternoon visit. St. Augustine also has a Camping World store. Camping World is a toy store for RV'ers. Everything that you wanted for an RV but were afraid to ask usually can be found there at pretty good prices – at least the prices were a heck of a lot less than buying boat stuff. We only had a few things to buy but had a good wander around the store.

As our time was short at Anastasia, we tried to focus on exploring the park. So of course, we did a lot of beach walking. Anastasia has a white, sandy beach that you can walk till you drop. When the weather cooperated, we parked our bikes at the beach boardwalk and walked.

We came across a flock of grounded royal terns all correctly aligned into the wind. I guess they were going to wait out the approaching storm clouds.

At an inlet by the park, rented Kayaks for the first time on a sunny, but windy day. We had great fun paddling about although we did not see any dolphins. Dolphins apparently do come into the inlet to play. Everywhere we have gone in Florida, we have met kayakers and seen neat places to explore by kayak. So we wanted to try them out in a place where we did not have to worry about amorous alligators (we are approaching alligator mating season). After our first venture paddling about, we were hooked. But our time here had drawn to a close. We were unable to extend our stay as the park was fully booked for the weekend. We had to continue our journey North – brrr!