Courtyard By Marriott
St. Augustine Beach
February 23, 2022
Short drive today to the coast. I found this Courtyard on A1A Beach, one block from the beach, for $180. Splurged. I'm glad I did. Nice vibe here. Fun to be near the beach.
A photo from last evening.
While it was warm/hot trying to fall asleep last night, once it hit the mid 60s I was able to get to sleep.
My drive took me through Florahome which is an unincorporated community in Putnam County located on State Road 100. The town was established in 1899 by the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway. The streets are laid in a grid system. Streets north and south are named for trees or shrubs. Streets east and west are named for states or provinces. Early in the town's history, it was surrounded by swamps. These were drained when canals were dredged by the Etoniah Canal and Drainage Company. Florahome was also once an island and was drained of all its water to make way for crops, animals, and homes. The town is built upon a sandy hill rising from the swampy areas.
Florahome has a specific zip code (32140), which covers an area of 43.24 square miles and claimed a population of 1,471 according to the 2010 census.
This is one of my favorites -- Spuds, Florida. So named because it is in the potato growing region of Florida. I found this information about Spuds on Flickr.com.
Development began at nearby Spuds in the early-1880s. Largely Minorcan in its origins, the heritage of the area is largely derived from small family farms. John Henry Sanchez was among the early settlers. In 1879, Sanchez acquired property along Holy Branch, a small creek, and built a house about 1883. Father Langlade helped Sanchez construct the house, which initially was one story and expanded with a second story about 1900. Nearby a post office opened under the designation of Holy Branch in 1886, but within less than a year, the office was relocated to the nearby settlement of Armstrong. Over time, Sanchez expanded his farmstead, adding to the dwelling and enlarging the farm to include potato fields and various truck crops. By 1915, the Sanchez Farmstead included a barn, corn crib, garage, kitchen, and a smoke house. Over time, Sanchez produced 175 products on his Spuds farm. Indicative of the lightly settled region, nearly twenty-five years passed before a second post office opened under the name of Spuds. Spuds supported a small freight depot for the Florida East Coast Railway. Several farmers, including Sanchez, consistently shipped potatoes and truck crops from the community. Various businesses harvested lumber and naval stores for Spud's forests in the early twentieth century. There was also a WWII German POW prison here in the 40's near the intersection of 207 & 206.
There wasn't much traffic during most of my drive -- and then I neared the coast.
St. Augustine Beach is a small city on Anastasia Island known for its wide, Atlantic Ocean-facing beaches. St. Johns County Ocean Pier offers fishing, plus a beachfront park with volleyball courts, a playground, and a children’s splash zone. A sea turtle nesting site, Ocean Hammock Park has a nature trail and picnic areas. A1A Beach Boulevard is scattered with ice cream shops and casual seafood and Mexican eateries. The population was 6,176 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau was 7,026.
I saw this (whatever this is) as I was taking the photos of the A1A sign. It was located on the boundary fence of a house.
Notice the humidity and the dew point. Anything above a 70 degree dew point is considered pretty brutal.
A1A Burrito Works for lunch. My chicken quesadilla was delicious. Lots of stickers.
After lunch, I walked over the beach and went for a walk. My right hip/rear is still giving me problems but I was able to walk longer than I have in several months.
