Sometimes you have to pivot. Roll with the punches. The best laid plans of mice and men. Pick your idiom!

Today was one of those days. Greg had the foresight to contact FreedomVanGo to confirm the motorhome would be ready at 4pm as originally promised. The receptionist initially said yes, then checked with the team and said that it would be a day late since it was at the local Mercedes dealer getting an alignment, following the installation of the new suspension.

We pulled the rental car into a rest area on I-95. First, we had to extend the rental car for another night. Next, we had to decide whether to modify the itinerary or whether to drive longer and further on travel days. Common sense prevailed: it was better to cancel stops in New Orleans and Austin rather than making a long trip even more exhausting. After some phone calls and a lot of searching on the internet, we had a plan. (Another reminder how much easier it is to plan thanks to the internet and mobile devices).

So with a free day, we visited St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US. We got helpful advice from the Visitor Information Center, who told us we could explore via the trolley or just walking. That was an easy answer! We walked to lunch at the Columbia Restaurant, which Greg remembered from visits with his grandparents Glockner when they lived in Sarasota.

A bit more walking took us to the original seat of the Florida state government, where we learned that chocolate was a valuable commodity when Florida was a Spanish colony. Next, we walked to the Castillo de San Marcos national monument, the original fort from the Spanish colonial era. It was very reminiscent of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A bit of reading shows they were built around the same time. We learned that the coquina rocks used to build the fort in St. Augustine are a naturally occuring sediment made of seashells.

A bit more walking took us to the “Oldest House” of St. Augustine. They offered us a senior discount for admission! Greg couldn’t decide whether to be thankful for the discount or annoyed to be labeled a senior. The base of the house had old stone work, but it had various additions over the centuries. The complex also housed an eclectic museum with two collections: surfing and political cartoons from the early 20th century. Who knew that the NE corner of Florida was a destination for surfing?

When we reached Jacksonville, we took care of a few chores: laundry, Amazon order pickups, and grocery shopping. Whole Foods lived up to its reputation when a cart of groceries totaled $250!

Tomorrow should be the big day. Stay tuned!