A couple of weeks ago Sarah and Jessica sent Ken and me off to enjoy some down time. They knew that we’d not go unless they surprised us with the trip. Otherwise, we’d say, “No way, Jose. Not doing it.”

As it was, we almost did exactly that, because there was so much going on here, but we decided, as they had reasoned, that St. Augustine was not that far away, and we could hurry back, if need be. (I.e., in case of emergency with Mom, the house, the cats, or hurricane).

So, we climbed in the van around 9:30 on Monday morning.. None of this 5 a.m. stuff… not for this trip. We had only a 2 hour drive to St. Augustine, and couldn’t check into the Air B’nB until 4 p.m. We had all day to find fun and interesting things to do.

As we headed up the road, Ken said, “Why not stop in some of those quilt shops above Ocala?” Well, I knew that there was a super big one over above Orlando, so I said, “Well, I’d rather go to the main Super store instead of the little side shop.”

Poor planning helped us to see the countryside of Central Florida. We saw every central Florida shack, village and old timey gas station throughout the middle part of the state. It was actually quite entertaining. I went through parts of Florida I’d never seen as we traveled from North of Ocala to Orlando via the back roads.

We finally got to look at a quilt shop that was really a large fabric store, with lots more than just quilting fabric, but not nearly as large as Joann’s or Hancock’s or a place like that. But it was beautiful, we were welcomed nicely, and I was totally intrigued by the sewing machines. I showed some to Ken, as he had no real idea that a sewing machine could cost upwards of $5000 (and up). (Keep in mind that I sew on a $150 Brother.)

We never chatted with any staff there as they all seemed to be very busy with their own jobs, and staying occupied, though several did welcome us and noted our presence. I did pick up several ideas, though I’ve not had even 10 minutes to try to implement any of the things I came up with!

We vetoed the idea of going to another one because we would then have to fight the Orlando traffic for 45 minutes to drive 15 miles. We decided to head to the coast after lunch,  and I wanted to drive up A1A to St. Augustine. My GPS was bound and determined that I was supposed to turn around.

However, being a Florida girl, I knew that if you just went far enough to the coast, you’d not really fall off into the Atlantic, because there was a road over there, that ran right up and down the Ocean, (A1A) even though my GPS really didn’t think we should be driving there!

Here are some of the views!

We stopped out at a Preserve so we could get out, stretch our legs, enjoy the sea breeze, and really feel like we were on vacation. (Plus, they had the all important facilities there!)

We lost our Oceanview for a while, but I enjoyed looking at the beautiful homes and the palm trees, and the houses on stilts. We don’t have views like this here in the center of the state.

Then, around 4:30, we ventured our way to our Air B’n B. This was a studio apartment. It was a converted 1 car garage. Tiny was the word for it, yet it still managed to have a desk, a kitchen area with table, range with 2 burners, full size fridge/freezer, sink and all the necessities, which, for us included an ice cream scoop, two bowls and some spoons!

I’ve never stayed in any place so cute and so tiny. The shower was outside of the “bathroom” and right in the sleeping room, which was the main room. It was very cute, and had a small porch outside the kitchen door. 

We unloaded and decided we wanted to find a thrift shop. I’ve been soo busy at the Quilted Twins store, and several of our local ones closed during COVID, that I simply haven’t had time to even go. So we found one. Monday just happened to be senior discount day, too! So, we found a few momentos, though we did NOT take home the orange sofa that Ken tested!

We asked the locals where the best place to eat was. We headed there, but the line was out the door, and it was already 6:30. We decided NOT to wait, and headed to another place, Cajun Crab Hut, which served the best onion rings I’ve had in decades! I tried a food dish that was served in a bag. They gave me a bib, a trash bucket and hand wipes. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to have. However, it was all very good, and I’d definitely go back, though I’d try the seafood platter that Ken had instead of another “meal in a bag” that I had. It was messy and cost twice as much as Ken’s, though his looked more normal and more my style. However, I was determined to try new stuff on this trip.

We decided to check out our competition at Hobby Lobby, and get still more ideas for our shop. But I still haven’t had time to implement any of those.

End of Day 1…. (more to come)

Have a great day wherever you are reading this! Stay safe!

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

Here’s one of the beauties we have!