Greetings from Florida! Patrick has a work conference here in Florida, and this conference is unique in that it encourages attendees to bring their significant others and children! They also offer outings for significant others, one of which included a visit to St. Augustine. Before you ask, we will not be going to Walt Disney World.

Originally I intended to spend the day popping in and out of shops, making the vintage ones I found on Yelp a priority, but on the bus ride to St. Augustine from the resort where we are staying and where the conference is being held, I got chatting with a few of my fellow significant others and we decided to just wander about together. We did step into one shop on my list and I bought a blouse, before we ended up at the Castillo De San Marcos, and then ended the day The Hyppo, the gourmet popsicle shop.

I had previously heard about the Castillo from the television program Monumental Mysteries which discussed the legend that a colonel had his wife and her apparent lover entombed. We spent a brief time at the Castillo, and there was only a brief allusion to the story, mentioning “animal bones” were found in the former powder room, and that it “inspired many local myths, one claiming the bones belonged to lovers buried alive inside the Castillo”, no one was mentioned by name. You can watch the Monumental Mysteries story about the Castillo here.

The other thing I discovered St. Augustine had to offer was an alligator farm! That includes the opportunity to zipline over live alligators! Talk about awesome, right? Me and one of the other girls were going to do it, until we learned it was a bit far for us to walk in the limited time we had, so maybe another time.

Tomorrow is a free day for the conference goers and we get the spend the day exploring the island and taking part in the activities the resort has to offer. Then Friday is the SO trip to Fernandina Beach and that includes a river cruise! Hope you all are having a swell week!