Thursday August 11th 2016

It took three tries, but I finally got to the beach today. This morning I went for a walk on the beach in St. Augustine Beach.

I got an early start for a change. The beach is about 20 to 25 minutes away. I was there before 10am. The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was already in the high 80s. I had sun screen and a hat, but it was still uncomfortable in the sun.

My beach walk started at the St. Augustine pier. Not to many people were on the pier. There is a nominal charge to use the pier. I think it was $3 to fish and a dollar to sight see. The pier is high above the water level. It really stood out at the low tied during my walk.

St. Augustine Beach Pier

The sand on the beach has been graded to support the re-establishment of sand dunes. Sand has been piled up at the back of the beach with a steep drop to the tidal area. An attempt to get grass to grow is supported by fences to break the lateral wind action. The lower area of the beach has a gradual slope with less sand and lots of broken shells. A few people were searching for shells.

St. Augustine Beach at low tide.

There were people trying to ride the waves and surf. Other people were walking along in the water line. I walked north along the beach at the high water line trying not to get my feet wet as the tide came in. There were not a lot of people sitting on the beach. Most people were either in the water or walking the beach like I was. You would really have to have a beach umbrella or other sun shade to sit on the beach for any length of time.

I was back at the car by 11am, so I was out in the sun for about an hour. I lucked out and didn’t get burnt. Back in the car the air conditioning was welcome as I took a long route home. I drove north halfway to Jacksonville before turning west toward the St. Johns river then south and east back to the campground.

One of the campground turkeys.

This campground comes alive after supper in the evening. The people who were out during the day have returned and the people that have been hiding in their air conditioned rigs come out. I also came out of my air conditioned RV for a walk around the park. In the back corner of the park a storage field was home to four turkeys this evening. They were good size and very dark colored birds. Since nobody else that was out walking paid any attention to them, they must be a normal sighting.