More Splitsville than Nashville - April 2017 - Day 2 - A day of not very much in St Augustine

[Redrach1903]

Day 1 is here

Friday 14th April

Warning – today is not very exciting. Well, unless you count the best ice cream ever and a run in with the biggest tool ever exciting?

I was wide awake at 3.30am! I did eventually manage to fall back asleep though and woke up again at 6.45am. Chris was up not long after me to get ready for golf.

Chris made himself a coffee and me a tea and we went and sat outside taking in the beautiful morning. If ever there was a goal in life it is to wake up to this every day!



Shatzi wanted to join us



I drank my tea out of this mug which was rather ironic given that's where this year's holiday was supposed to be



Hanne & Ingrid were up soon after us. Hanne wasn’t feeling all too great and her face was now really bruised from her fall Chris left for golf at Royal St Augustine around 8ish. I think his tee time was 9.something!

Hanne was expecting two of her friends round for breakfast this morning, so Ingrid got to work on making everyone crepes while I helped Hanne set the table. I also swept the lenai for her

[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/154292506@N07/]/url]

Once we were done getting organised I jumped in the shower and got myself ready. Hanne's friends arrived at around 9.15. Yolanda is 83 and Ruth is 95, but you would NOT think it. I so wish I had remembered to take a photo of them all as you honestly wouldn’t believe how good they look for their age. The same goes for Hanne. She is 75, but seriously looks about 60. Must be all that Vitamin D in Florida! Oh and to top it off, Ingrid is 50 and looks not a day over 40! Not sure what her secret is cos Alaska is cold. Haha!

Anyway, we had a lovely al fresco breakfast of crepes, whipped cream and strawberries. The others had Nutella and peanut butter, but that's a firm nope from me. What IS it with Americans and their obsession with peanut butter? Gross. We also had a big bowl of fresh melon and Yolanda had brought round freshly baked Cranrasin muffins which were delicious.

We all had a good chat. I didn’t think I'd have such a good time with a group of women with an average age of 75, but what a laugh! Ruth is hilarious. She is 95 years old as I said, but is the life and soul of the party. She is always keen for a wine and was telling Hanne she'd be totally fine to come round for a glass of wine later that week! Haha! #oldladygoals.

Ruth and Yolanda left after about an hour, they didn’t want to stay long as they knew Hanne had to rest. It was so nice of them to come round though and it felt reassuring to know that Hanne has such a good network of friends nearby to check in on her!

Hanne went back to bed after they left as she still wasn’t feeling too hot. I said I would take Shatzi out for a walk, so off we went. She wasn’t too keen to leave Hanne (bless, I think she could sense something wasn’t right), but once I got her to the end of the driveway she was totally fine!





Hanne's neighbourhood is so lovely. I was pretty much beaming walking around! I walked round to some of the swish houses we had seen in 2013 and 2014.



This road eventually takes you to the pier which is only accessible by the residents as it has a locked gate. Fancy pants! In 2014 we went down there so that Chris could fish and it was lovely. We saw dolphins jumping and everything Anyway, I hadn’t taken the key, so we about turned and headed back. It was a hot one already and Shatzi was panting away, so I thought we should get back and get her hydrated!



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When I got back to Hanne's I sat outside and chatted to Ingird for quite a while. She then went inside to do some work/make some phone calls, so I FaceTimed my Dad and Chris's mum. After that I found myself a bit bored if I'm honest. At least when Chris is golfing in Orlando I can go off and do a park or something. And of course if Hanne was well we would have been out and about doing something. I was totally willing Chris to get home soon! I text him to see how he was getting on and he said he'd be about another hour, so I just lay out on the sun bed and lapped up the sun. At one point I noticed a turtle on the edge of the lake. Cute!



A little while later the nurse came to visit Hanne to see how she was doing and check her wound from the surgery etc. She was there for what felt like ages and I was a little worried, but all was ok and she was happy with how Hanne was recovering!

Chris text me once he was finished and asked if I wanted a Subway back. Er is the pope catholic? Hanne and Ingrid declined (aliens). It wasn’t long before Chris was home with the goods!



I don’t know what it is about Lays, but I love them! I would never buy a bag of plain Walkers back home (which is basically what they are), but they are just soooooo tasty. I like to leave them in the sun to get hot before I eat them

I asked Chris for a mini report on his golf at Royal St Augustine and it goes like this " It's a short course, but very tight with lots of twists and turns. The course layout is very good, but it wasn’t in the typical Florida course condition and could use some tidying up. I enjoyed it though and thought it was good value for money". He neglected to take any photos. When will he learn?

After our bellies were happy Chris, Ingrid and I were off on a mission. Hanne had managed to reverse out of her driveway into another car for the 3rd time in a year! She seems to have an aversion to her mirrors! Because of this she had a massive hole in her bumper and had booked it into a body shop to get fixed. We said we would follow Ingrid there and then take her back. Well this place was ages away and literally in the middle of nowhere. Have you ever seen that movie "Wrong Turn"? It was giving me those vibes. I was braced for incestuous mutants to appear at any moment Thankfully it all turned out to be ok apart from the crazed dog barking at us. I normally love dogs and don’t hesitate to pet them, but I kept my distance from that beast.

Once we had escape unscathed we headed back for St Augustine city. Ingrid had been craving a certain ice cream since she had arrived and we decided to all go and get one. The city was very busy though, so Chris couldn’t get parked. In the end he dropped us off and circled while we ran out and got the goods.

Turns out it was Kilwin's she was talking about! I was aware of the brand as I've seen it in Celebration, but had yet to try it. I surveyed the humongous list of flavours available and finally settled on Cake Batter in a waffle cone and chose Mint Choc Chip for Chris. I got his in a tub since he was driving. Ingrid had decided days ago what she was having! Salted Caramel. Another obsession I don’t get along with Peanut Butter, Pulled Pork and Nutella. Soz.







It was super hot, so our ice creams were already melting while we waiting for Chris to circle back to us. Just after we got in the car we saw a really strange sight. There was a family standing waiting to cross the road. A Mum, Dad and two children. Ok, seems normal enough, right? Except both parents had HUGE snakes wrapped around their necks. As you do…..

Anyway, the ice creams were AMAZING! I absolutely loved mine and I'm not one of those girls who goes gaga over ice cream, I can sort of take it or leave it, but it was just delicious! Chris said his was the best Mint Choc Chip he had ever tasted too! Massive thumbs up to Kilwin's and we made a mental note to pop in past for one when we were in Celebration.

Ingrid suggested having a BBQ tonight. We thought that was a good idea as it meant we could eat with Hanne and Ingrid and then go out for a few drinks to our fave pub. The Conch House! So with that decision made we all headed for Publix to get the BBQ food. Ingrid wouldn’t let us pay for any of it which was lovely of her!

Once we got back to the house Hanne was awake, but still lying down, so we left her to chill and went outside to lap up some more sun. Chris took Shatzi out for a wee walk as well.

Chris had a nap while I got myself showered and ready for the evening and then he got ready. Meanwhile, Hanne had gotten up and the BBQ was ready! We ate inside as it was too hot for Hanne to sit out. Everything was lovely. The burgers from Publix were like proper butcher ones as they had wee bits of onion through them. Very tasty! Sorry, no photos of the food.

At about 7.15 Ingrid drove us to The Conch House which is a ten minute drive from Hanne's. We have been to this bar a few times and we totally love it. It's got such a lovely chilled holiday atmosphere and the staff are always so lovely. We always tend to get chatting to interesting people here and tonight would be no exception, but more on that in a bit….

So we arrived and walked along to the bar. It's along a pier and it’s just a gorgeous setting.







It was a bit breezy by the water tonight though! There was live music outside and lots of folk up dancing. I saw this one older couple up dancing and it made me so happy. I love seeing old couples still so in love

We got a seat inside at the bar and ordered a frozen strawberry daiquiri for me and a Michelob Ultra for Chris (a love affair is born).





I spotted this questionable looking beverage behind the bar….



I'll pass thanks.

I do love the quirkiness of this bar. I see the sea!



I went out the back to take some photos and noticed that there was some damage from storms last year that saw some of St Augustine evacuated (Hanne included).





What a view to have from your local bar huh?



We could feel the breeze coming in from where we were sat, so we decided to shift along the bar a bit. This is when we met Nick. At first Nick seemed really nice. He was all excited that we were Scottish cos he had read the Scottish Twitter thing that had been doing the rounds on Facebook and thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. He was very interested in Scotch Eggs which we found very bizarre. They're not THAT weird are they? Haha! He bought us a drink, we bought him a drink. It was all going so well. HA!

As time went on and the more Jäger that Nick threw over his throat we both started to sense a change in him. In the beginning it was just that he was becoming more and more arrogant, but we could handle that. He was telling Chris that he "made more money than god". Aye ok! His job was to install telephone masts. I doubt he's strutting about in a mansion. And exactly how much money does god make anyway?

It went from that to him starting to pass comment on every single person that walked in to the bar. Like a middle aged couple could walk in and he'd go "Look at these bum(not bum)holes" and we'd be like "what? They are out for a good night, what's wrong with that?" and he'd be giving it "It's bullpoo(not poo)". Honestly, it was relentless. Every single person or couple that walked in he had something to say. It was ridiculous. He was staring at people too clearly wanting a reaction. He was obviously one of those guys that likes a scrap with a drink in and was gearing up for it.

It soon became apparent that he was a racist too as Chris saw him shake his head when a black man walked in. Can you believe that?! He also had a massive rant about Obama and it was clearly because of the colour of his skin. He wasn’t too impressed when I said I liked Obama and thought he was handsome

Another thing he kept doing was using the C word (C U Next Tuesday). Now, I hate that word. It makes me cringe. I told him when we first started chatting that I hated that word and he stopped using it as much, but the more he drank the more he would say it and you could tell he was doing it to get a reaction from me. I didn’t really give him one, but when he said it TO me rather than NEAR me Chris had had enough. I mean, he wasn’t calling me one, but he was using it in conversation with me and that was enough as far as Chris was concerned. He said something along the lines of "look mate, you can say it to me as much as you like, but you're not talking to my wife like that". Nick just kinda shrugged and mumbled an apology and I found the ground very interesting all of a sudden and had a good stare down there haha!

It was all a bit awkward now as Nick could obviously tell that he'd crossed a line and Chris was peed off. I thought once or twice that it might kick off. Chris isn’t a violent person at all, but he can handle himself and I was worried Nick would square up and Chris would knock him out! When I went to the toilet I fully expected to see them scrapping on the pier when I came back. Haha! Thankfully it didn’t come to that, but I was super on edge.

He also started calling Amy (the barmaid) a fat mess. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Chris & I both defended her, but he was like "shut up, look at her, she's a fat mess" etc etc. I'm so glad she couldn’t hear him as that was such a nasty thing to say! He was no Brad Pitt himself let me tell you! What an absolute tool.

Anyway, while all this was going on we could see the bar staff were keeping one eye on him. Chris went to go to the toilet and you need to go back outside and along the pier to them, so he went up to Derek (the bar back) and asked him to keep an eye on me while he was at the loo cos Nick was becoming a pain. Chris also suggested that maybe Nick had had enough to drink! Derek came straight over and stood in front of me at the bar until Chris got back. Haha!

So, we were now in the situation of really wanting to move away from Nick and enjoy our night, but we kinda felt stuck. Thankfully, the next time Nick tried to order a drink Derek told him "sorry, I can't give you anymore tonight". I was expecting Nick to kick off massively, but he was just kinda sad about it and kept trying to buy his way back into their good graces. He even offered to pay our tab. We told him absolutely no way would that be happening. Derek kept explaining that it was for his own safety that they weren’t serving him anymore and that he needed to get home safely. I thought he handled it really well. Nick eventually gave up and slinked out of the bar. MASSIVE SIGH OF RELIEF! GET ME ANOTHER DRINK PLEASE

Now that Nick was out of the picture we had a nice chat with Derek and Amy. They insisted on our next drink being on the house for having to deal with Nick. How nice is that? I can't imagine getting a free drink every time there's an encounter with an idiot in a bar back home. Haha! They also broke the news to us that it is actually pronounced "Conk House". Nooooo. Life ruiners! We will continue to pronounce it wrong Conchhhhhhhhhhh anyway. Humph.

I can't remember if I told this story in my 2013 or 2014 TR, but Chris's Mum once got her finger stuck in a hole on the bar at The Conch and was ripped relentlessly for it! Haha! So Chris started to tell the story to Derek and Amy and as soon as the words "you see that hole on the bar?" Derek laughed and said "Oh I know your Mom"! Hahahaha! So funny! Turns out he knew her quite well and he knew all about our wedding as she had gone to Hanne's afterwards for a few weeks We took a selfie with him to send to her



We had one more drink and then asked them if they could please call us a cab at 10.45pm. When we got our tab we knew there was no way on this earth it could be correct. It was $29. Now I had at least 4 or 5 daiquiris and Chris had at least 5 or 6 beers plus we had bought one for Nick! I know they gave us one for free, but there was just no way that was right. We told them they must have made a mistake, but they wouldn’t have any of it. We ended up just leaving them $60 anyway cos they were so lovely. We said our goodbyes and walked along the pier back to the car park area to wait for our taxi. We took a selfie while we waited



Our taxi arrived soon after and our driver was Holly. She was the BEST! She was an absolute roaster, totally off her head, but she was hilarious! She was so bubbly and had the most infectious laugh, kinda like a snort actually! Loved her! She just wanted to tell us all about her life and laughed at everything! As an example she told us that she was going to join the military when she was younger as it is kind of a family wide career choice and she often thinks what her life would be like if she had done so. She was like "I could have been married to a hot military guy, but then they might have reminded me of my Dad & Brother and I am not THAT southern" *explodes into laughter*. Haha! She was ace. We had a lot of love for Holly! When we pulled up at Hanne's we saw two deer just hanging out in her garden. I took the following photo. It's quite impressive, don’t you think?



I didn’t write down the cost of the cab, but I know we would have given her a healthy tip

Once inside we filled Hanne & Ingrid in on our evening, took Shatzi out for a pee and then hit the sack!

Steps today – 6,701.

Thanks for reading. I promise the next day is far more exciting as we head to Orlando and visit the Magic Kingdom in the evening

Day 3 is here

[Lisa_Lollipop]

What a lovely relaxing day ahead of your move to Orlando tomorrow!

The area around Hanne's house looks so beautiful, you was totally imagining you lived there as you was walking Shatzi wasn't you?! I think we should all make the move, it clearly works well for the aging process!

Oh the ice cream looked yum! I had a Kilwins at Celebration last year and it was amazing!

As for Nick... there are no words! What a douche bag! Glad Chris was there to protect you, such a hero! There's always one who lets the alcohol ruin it for everyone else! :angry:

Another great instalment, as always! So excited for the Orlando adventures to come! xxx

[2littleboys]

Another fab day! Apart from that "roaster" in the bar! (love the word roaster, I use it so much)

Love your cocktail photo, your make up though! Absolute babe

And what about your knight in shining armour, thats so nice Chris getting the barman to look after you, who said chivalry was dead! xx

[collybird]

It looks so idyllic there. What a life to live there! Definitely goals.

[Excitedx4]

A nice relaxing day! What a twit (omit the i and add an a) Nick was. Holly sounds hilarious. Get you pair being famous the bar staff knowing all about your wedding 😂

[Davy Crockett]

You and Chris look totally home there Rachael. Always enjoy your reports as you like to venture out a bit, love a few hours in a faraway bar myself.! Reminded me a bit of my times spent down in Key West. Great stuff.

[mick]

A great day with some interesting characters thrown in

Glad that your friend is doing ok

Joan

[disneytrio]

A lovely relaxing day, apart from the idiot at the bar, what an absolute looser!

[Loopylooloo]

Your reports always make me laugh! You get up to so much fun! another fab day - looking forward to reading more.

[HelenJNT]

I am here at last... no clue why the photos aren't downloading on the desktop version, it works fine from my mobile.

Poor Hanne. Lovely that her friends came to see her though. If only we could bottle that Florida sunshine. You, me and L are going to totally be #oldladygoals.

I'm with you on the Nutella thing - I can't abide it and it's always a nasty surprise when I think that I'm about to bite into a tasty chocolate croissant, but...no. It does mean A gets to eat all the praline ones whenever we have a box of chocolates though so it works out well for him. I flipping love salted caramel though.

#HOTLAYSklaxon (sounds wrong)

Nick definitely sounds like a bum (not bum). What a shame as it's such a lovely bar. Glad Chris arranged for you to have your own security guard though.

Are you saw you saw two deer? You definitely look like you enjoyed your drinks...all $29 worth! haha.