Yesterday morning.......we were up and having breakfast, but not too early. Left for the city center of St. Augustine, about six miles from our hotel. And, I must say that this Comfort Inn and Suites was the very best Comfort Inn we have ever stayed in!!!!! New, very clean, spotless, and the staff was soooo cooperative and friendly. We had one of those little coupon books for hotels along the interstates of Florida.......and, as usual upon arriving at one of these hotels, I went inside and asked at the desk the price of a room for two for the night. I was asked about AARP, told them I was a member, and the young lady told me $77.00. Soooo, I showed here the coupon and she said it was acceptable......always depends on the availability of the rooms. And....the cost??? $59!!!!! A VERY good deal! Then, I asked if I could use it for two nights......"Yes, of course" she replied. Ahhhh.....I signed in, gave them my credit card......and, soon we were moved inside a HUGE room with a ceiling of at least 10 or 11 feet high, a king sized bed, and the room was just perfect for us with plenty of room.
After a great breakfast....as I have said already......we drove down to the historical area, found the parking garage....only $7.50 for the DAY.....and we visited the Tourist Office across from the parking garage. We grabbed some maps, some other brochures of things to do, to see, to eat, to drink, to purchase. As we walked a block or two to the pedestrian street.....one of the oldest streets in town, we began to realize that this place looked like other historical cities that we have visited over the years. And....the more we ambled, the more we wandered, the more we sat and enjoyed a drink at a bistro table on the sidewalk/street, the more we realized that this was not all that different from many other places.
We spent about 7 hours, including a late lunch in the historical area. And then....we went to the San Sebastian Winery for a tour and tasting. We certainly did enjoy the day....do not get me wrong about our St. Augustine experience.....but, we just felt like I have already said.......there was not anything new here for us to experience. Now.....for many, many, many others who were walking the narrow, little cobblestone streets, this was a place they had never seen before....anywhere. And, as I said, we certainly enjoyed the day.......it just wasn't quite like we had been led to believe it might be. Lunch??? At an upstairs restaurant above a pub....and we ate out on the narrow one-table wide balcony with a very french-styled black wrought iron railing, looking out towards the bay/lagoon that ran parallel with the historical area of town.
The food???? Nothing above the average fare.......and the service was not up to average! The coffee served to me with the meal was warm.....and that might be stretching the temperature on the high side. My fried grouper sandwich was fresh, was fried well, but when I requested lemon slices be brought to the table for my sandwich, it took almost 10 minutes before I received the little saucer of lemon slices.......and by then the grouper was certainly not hot. Just some feelings about the lunch......
At the San Sebastian Winery, we only had to wait about 10 minutes for a tour.....but, the tour was only to a room where there were some kegs.....with wine in them, I am not sure. And the tasting???? Well, I did purchased the only really dry wine they produce.....a white wine which was just ok. Most of the wines offered were just too sweet for my own preferences....just a personal thing with me. The darkest, "dry" wine was just thin and had very little body and complexity to the taste. Just did not find any good wines from which we could choose several to bring back with us......on the one dry white.
We returned to the hotel and since we had eaten a late lunch, we just felt we could have a light supper with some of the deli meats we had brought with us. It was good to just relax in the very large room.....and kick back and watch a bit of tv.
TODAY.....we were up earlier, had another great breakfast...free.....and then checked out. We had planned to go to Dalton, GA.....about an hour north of Atlanta....and we did just that. However, on the way....we stopped to purchase some fresh pecans to bring home with us.....and we found a "gold mine" of great foods and nuts to choose from. We had been reading signs along the highway and using the exit which was on the signs, we then saw we had a bit further to drive....about a mile, according to the signs. We went up this paved road with cotton fields on both sides of the road.....the cotton have burst forth so that the fields were exploding in bright white puffs........quite a sight!!!!!!!!
The "nut place.......Ellis Nuts......was incredible. We actually had lunch on samples of ALL kinds of candied, chocolate, salted, cajuned, spiced, pecans.......there must have been at least 30 different kinds to try and enjoy!!!!! WOW!!!! And, yes......purchased about $30 worth of pecans!!!!! Sooooooo damn good!!!!
We, as always, drove right through the heart of Atlanta....not problems, but oh yeah, quite a bit of traffic. However, not problems as we did slip through prior to the afternoon rush "hour"!
We pulled into a Super 8 Hotel...and OMG....what a delightful place!!!! Upon the side of the "mountain" above the interstate, the lobby was like a grand ballroom!!! We got the room, again with a coupon, for $49....and the room is just wonderful!!!! I am soooo amazed at this.....it is a huge place with tons of rooms and in the center courtyard is a very, very large pool Not certain if this was originally built for this company, but it is extremely clean, neat, and quite outstanding for the cost!!!
Tomorrow....we will go to Lynchburg, TN to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery.....and, from there on to Nashville, where we plan to spend the night. A really short day of driving, but the tour might take a bit longer than we anticipated so we just thought we would spend the night in Nashville.....perhaps see a few of my former students who are living there. We'll see........
And.....after two days of walking and of driving.......as always....
LIFE IS JUST AMAZINGLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!
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