April 8, 2010 (Saturday): I don't have much new to blog about--that'll have to wait until we're traveling again. But I did want to share some photos from a 3-day trip we took to St. Augustine with our niece, Katelyn, and a neat eco tour of Mosquito Lagoon with my friend, Lucie.

My good friend, Lucie, came to New Smyrna Beach for the day a couple of weeks ago. We took an eco boat tour of nearby Mosquito Lagoon. This beautiful area is a nursery for fish, provides important storm protection to the mainland, and is rich in history and nature.

This is red mangrove. Also note the oyster bed and the little blue heron.
Every little island in the lagoon was a rookery supporting a big variety of mating and nesting birds. This island had pelicans, snowy egrets and great American herons.
All the birds were in their breeding plumage.There was a docent aboard who identified much of what we were seeing. She's holding a hermit crab. These critters don't have shells of their own, so they "borrow" empty shells they find. Very cute!This is the largest King's Crown (a species of conch) that I've ever seen.
This is a live barnacle. Note the appendages in the opening at the upper left. Barnacles swim around right after they're born, but the adults glue themselves permanently to whatever structures they find attractive. I've never seen a live barnacle before! The screen is like ones that Nature Conservancy and other organizations are using to seed the lagoon with oysters, which also need a place to "glue" themselves down.Lucie and I also walked around downtown NSB. There had been an antique car show a few days previously, and we saw this car parked in a motel lot. Does anyone have an idea as to its age?We had supper at a neat restaurant in Edgewater, just south of us. It's called "Big Planet Pizza" and it's decorated with lots of recycled items. They use solar energy for lighting and have herbs and tomato plants in planters out front. The food was great!Another little adventure we had was a 3-day trip to St. Augustine with our niece, Katelyn. We took the new little RV. It's great to have something small and easy to pack and pull with us.The first evening out, we grilled hamburgers and sausages over the grill. (The beer was mine, not Katelyn's--I set the camera on auto and she scooted over so I could get in the picture!)St. Augustine is a very old city. It has special meaning to us because Wiley's family was one of the founding families of the city. The oldest entry in the geneaology records is a marriage in the cathedral in 1596. Because St. Augustine was surrounded by water on three sides, there was little danger of an attack except from the north. To protect the city, a wall (and other defenses) was constructed. This ancient gate was once the only entrance to the enclosed city.As we walked through this fascinating old drug store, I had to wonder how many of his relatives shopped here. It was built in 1739 and is now a museum and gift shop. Originally, it sold tobacco, liquor and Indian medicine as well as its own medical concoctions. The building has been moved and renovated many times.Mill Top Tavern now occupies the upper floor of this old mill, built in 1888.

We opted to eat at the Columbia Restaurant instead of at the Milltop. This is one of our favorite restaurants. It's beautiful, historic, and the Spanish cuisine is great!

We were sorry to head home--we'd had such a good time. But we did make one final stop on the way at Ft. Mose. Nothing remains of the fort that was built in 1763 to protect a settlement of freed slaves. Check out the website for a little history lesson that I'll bet you never learned in school!