We went to St. Augustine for a few days while the kids had Spring Break. We actually got roped into one of those timeshare deals where they send you on vacation as long as you come listen to their spiel about their stuff. So, who could resist 4 days and 3 nights in St. Augustine for $99? Yeah, well, I agree......lots of people probably could - but we decided to be wild and crazy and take them up on the offer! We had a great time while we were there. It was nice to get away for a few days and be "tourists." And we did really good at standing our ground and not buying into the timeshare. We had both agreed early on that we would go, let them do their jobs, but we were NOT under any circumstances going to buy into the share. And if you've ever seen the King of Queens episode where Doug and Carrie do the same thing - our experience was not quite that bad. But, we did use it as our backdrop frame of reference every time we spoke about it. It really became quite comical between the two of us. Anyway - we had fun and stuck to our guns.
I think the funniest thing that happened was that when we got back to the hotel after our timeshare tour on Monday our door wouldn't unlock. Tater Tot had become pretty proficient in unlocking the door with "the thing" in the short time we had been there. We arrived Sunday evening and were not scheduled to check out until Wednesday. So, it wouldn't open. He tried it again - no luck. Hubby and I looked at each other, busted out laughing, and both said something to the effect of how quickly they cancel those room keys when you tell them no! It was really funny - and we did get back into our room.
So, we did the tourist thing while we were there. We bought tickets for the Red Sightseeing Train and used it get around the City. It's a 1 1/2 hour tour of the city with 22 stops where you can board and unboard. The tickets were good for 3 consecutive days and you could get on and off as many times as you wanted to. It was really worth the money and I think that was Tater's favorite part. I don't think we ever rode the train for the whole consecutive tour because we kept getting off to do different things.
We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not! and to the Lighthouse at Anastasia Island. We climbed all the way to the top - all 216 stairs! That was a long way and I was TOTALLY out of breath when we got to the top. We got free mini gold tickets at Ripleys so we played mini golf, too. We got off the train and walked around and looked at the stores and found places to eat.
The weather was rainy and cold when we got there. We were not expecting such a yucky weather week so I had not packed appropriately. No long sleeve shirts or jackets for any of us! I had managed to throw in a pair of jeans for everyone except Jeremiah (because he explicitly said he wanted ONLY shorts packed). So Monday night we found ourselves at the outlet mall after dinner and Jeremiah was the only one who could find anything. Of course, we only had 45 minutes to shop before they closed so time was not on our side.
Tuesday morning was fairly chilly but we toughed it out most of the day and then it turned cold. So, off we went on a hunt for some long sleeved shirts in town (on my cheapskate budget) Needless to say, cheap and tourist do not go together! We finally found some shirts that fit in my budget - and we could get a "Free decal!" on the shirt. Interpretation: An iron-on transfer that they did while you waited! So, anyway, it's cold, I'm tired of walking around looking for shirts, pick the decal you want and let's get it over with. So, we did, we were warm, all is well. And shortly after that we headed back to the hotel. Go figure. The next day when I went to put my shirt on again I noticed my decal has a misspelling. And for those of you who know me well that is a huge pet peeve of mine - especially on something like that. So, instead of saying "established 1565" mine says "estaalished 1565." We decided it could have just been the accent of whoever spelled it! I guess you get what you pay for! Oh, and did I mention that the next day we didn't even really need the shirts???? Just my luck!
I think the funniest thing that happened was that when we got back to the hotel after our timeshare tour on Monday our door wouldn't unlock. Tater Tot had become pretty proficient in unlocking the door with "the thing" in the short time we had been there. We arrived Sunday evening and were not scheduled to check out until Wednesday. So, it wouldn't open. He tried it again - no luck. Hubby and I looked at each other, busted out laughing, and both said something to the effect of how quickly they cancel those room keys when you tell them no! It was really funny - and we did get back into our room.
So, we did the tourist thing while we were there. We bought tickets for the Red Sightseeing Train and used it get around the City. It's a 1 1/2 hour tour of the city with 22 stops where you can board and unboard. The tickets were good for 3 consecutive days and you could get on and off as many times as you wanted to. It was really worth the money and I think that was Tater's favorite part. I don't think we ever rode the train for the whole consecutive tour because we kept getting off to do different things.
We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not! and to the Lighthouse at Anastasia Island. We climbed all the way to the top - all 216 stairs! That was a long way and I was TOTALLY out of breath when we got to the top. We got free mini gold tickets at Ripleys so we played mini golf, too. We got off the train and walked around and looked at the stores and found places to eat.
The weather was rainy and cold when we got there. We were not expecting such a yucky weather week so I had not packed appropriately. No long sleeve shirts or jackets for any of us! I had managed to throw in a pair of jeans for everyone except Jeremiah (because he explicitly said he wanted ONLY shorts packed). So Monday night we found ourselves at the outlet mall after dinner and Jeremiah was the only one who could find anything. Of course, we only had 45 minutes to shop before they closed so time was not on our side.
Tuesday morning was fairly chilly but we toughed it out most of the day and then it turned cold. So, off we went on a hunt for some long sleeved shirts in town (on my cheapskate budget) Needless to say, cheap and tourist do not go together! We finally found some shirts that fit in my budget - and we could get a "Free decal!" on the shirt. Interpretation: An iron-on transfer that they did while you waited! So, anyway, it's cold, I'm tired of walking around looking for shirts, pick the decal you want and let's get it over with. So, we did, we were warm, all is well. And shortly after that we headed back to the hotel. Go figure. The next day when I went to put my shirt on again I noticed my decal has a misspelling. And for those of you who know me well that is a huge pet peeve of mine - especially on something like that. So, instead of saying "established 1565" mine says "estaalished 1565." We decided it could have just been the accent of whoever spelled it! I guess you get what you pay for! Oh, and did I mention that the next day we didn't even really need the shirts???? Just my luck!
Ladybug and Tater Tot on the train - this day we were freezing!
All of us at the top of the lighthouse
If you'd like to see all the pictures from our trip you can visit them here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=222252241/a=97585005_97585005/t_=97585005
1 comment:
I bet that the icky weather and the mad hunt form long sleeve shirts will be the things that your kids remember the MOST about that vacation. That seems to be the way it is for me. I can remember the times when my dad got lost or my mom didn't pack enough books more than the acutal places we went!
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