Clay and Sand: A weekend at Amelia Island Plantation and Fernandina Beach

After several of months of working on making some serious improvements to my game, the moment of truth had arrived.  This past Saturday morning, Ky once again indulged me my submitting to an early wake-up call.  We headed out the door at 6:45 in order to arrive at Amelia Island Plantation (about an hour's drive from Jax) for a warm-up hit and a 9am match.  Having not played a tournament in about 7 years, the first match was actually ok.  I was very nervous in the first set, and there were a few aspects of my game that weren't cooperating.  Nonetheless, it was fun, and I played pretty well.  I ended up losing to the eventual winner of the tournament 2 and 2.

The next day, we went back for my final match.  My first round in the consolation bracket was cancelled due to a default, so I played in the finals on Sunday morning.  The heat was brutal and my 15 year-old opponent answered many of my more penetrating shots with an arsenal of moonballs.  Nonetheless, I managed to prevail and pull out a 2 and 2 win.

Following the tournament, Ky and I decided to put on our tourist caps and head up to Fernandina Beach.  We found a cute little bar (Green Turtle Tavern) in downtown Fernandina where we enjoyed a couple of Newcastles as well as some average sliders (mini hamburgers) and a very tasty bbq pulled pork wrap.  We rewarded our active weekend with some Rocky Road and Cookies and Cream ice cream at the corner fudge shop.

Finally, we headed over to the beach.  It was perfect!  As long as your car was equipped with 4-wheel drive, you could park on the sand just above the high tide mark.  The beach was wide and flat, perfect for a run or a bike ride if one were so inclined.  In addition, you could choose to set up camp in a busier area (right near the entrance), or you could walk down a little bit further for a little more seclusion.    Below, I have included pics of our petite promenade sur la plage.

St. Augustine City Scramble

After one week together in Florida, Ky and I ventured down to America's oldest city/settlement, St. Augustine.  Our trip was motivated primarily by a race called "The City Scramble".  I learned about it through a "side deal" on the website "Groupon", for which I received daily emails about specials in the area for a variety of businesses. Most of the specials are for restaurants and other businesses in the service industry, but this particular deal was for half-off registration for a team of two to the St. Augustine stop on the City Scramble tour.  It seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit a new place in Florida while also getting a little bit of exercise.  (Who knew it would also turn out to be a test of our ability as a couple to work together and communicate under pressure! UPDATE: I think we passed! :)

When we arrived at 7:15 AM for an 8 o'clock start, we discovered that I hadn't actually registered for the race.  Apparently there was another link I was supposed to visit after purchasing the Groupon.  My mistake ended up being of no consequence since we were on the list and we just needed to fill out a waver and invent a team name.  So, a couple of signatures and a quick brainstorming session later, the "Half Boks" were ready for their next adventure.  Having received our race numbers, we set off in search of a bathroom and for a short exploration of the immediate area.  Since neither of us had ever been to St. Augustine, we thought it might help to get a feel for the lay of the land since we would be required to figure out clues about and take a self-photo in front of various landmarks throughout the race.

A little before 8, we meandered back to the starting location, which was situated on the front porch of a St. Augustine eating establishment.  On our number was written a name: "Warren Sapp".  Since we hadn't initially registered with a team name, I thought maybe we had someone else's race number who hadn't shown up.  Then, I overheard one of the race organizers saying that the name on the bib would be useful during the race.  So, I pulled out my trusty iPhone (the race rules allow you to use any kind of technology to help you with clues - even telephone calls to friends and family to ask them to find the answers for you!) to inquire about the identity of the aforementioned "Warren".  Wikipedia informed us that Mr. Sapp was born in Florida and played professional football for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  I also happened to notice that he was not that much older than Ky and me.  Less than 10 years.  This was a very useful observation since the start of the race required us to identify the decade in which the person indicated on our race number was born in order to receive the clues for the rest of the race.

We were the first group to correctly identify our celebrity as having been born in the 1970s.  However, we were not the first ones to finish the entire race.  There were 12 clues that led us to various challenges and landmarks throughout St. Augustine.  We ended up running about 5-6 miles to and from the locations and returned in about an hour and a half.  Although we were relatively strategic about how to proceed (since we weren't obligated to complete answers the clues in the order they were positioned on the sheet, we were able to figure out each of the locations and take our photos in front of them in an order that would allow us to be as efficient as possible.  However, not all the clues were as easily solvable as a simple trip to Wikipedia.)  We ended up answering two questions wrong which meant a penalty of 20 minutes for each mistake.  Even though we didn't win the 500 dollar prize for first place (I think we probably came in about 5th-8th out of around 20-something teams), we had a great time exploring St. Augustine.  We also came away with some fun pics.  Notice our fancy team uniform! :)

A photo montage of our scavenger hunt through the city of St. Augustine:

Oops! ;)

This one's for you mom!

Too slow!

Cannonball!

First Days on the First Coast

We've been paying rent for a month now, and anticipating the move to Florida for almost 4 months.  We finally arrived!  Ky has been here for about a week.  He came down on July 25th, leaving in the middle of the night, so as to pull up in front of our new apartment just in advance of the moving van.  Having full reign of the place while I was off galavanting in north Texas, he managed to wade his way through the boxes and boxes (and boxes!) of pyrex (lots of it!), clothes (lots and lots of them), books (lots to the nth-power) among other various possessions, in order to clear out space for his workshop.  I arrived at our new place (via Birmingham and the Jax Int'l Aiport) a week later to find a few of my dear boyfriend's projects underway, including a wonderfully designed a special rack to house and hold our large inventory of sports equipment. (Pics to follow upon completion)

It was certainly no great kept secret that I was not the most enthusiastic of the newest Florida residents.  Despite my love of being outdoors and sports, the "nice weather" (since when is 90 degrees farenheit  with 90 percent humidity and a heat index of 102 nice?!?), I was having a hard time accepting the Sunshine State as our new home.  HOWEVER...I have since grown to appreciate some of what North Florida has to offer.  Perhaps this "appreciation" stems more from curiosity and a lack of familiarity with the land of Disney World and South Beach.  Several observations during my first week have softened my reaction to the new zipcode.

What caught my attention when I awoke on that first morning in our new place was the view from our bedroom window: a palm tree.  In my past experience, palm trees only appeared outside of my window when I was on vacation.  Now, I would be greeted every morning by the sun shining through this specimen of tropical foliage.  As for the people and the weather, it's really not that much different from Chicago in the winter.  The only people who seem to be crazy enough to be outside at these temperatures are the runners and the smokers.  Unlike Chicago, where people are friendly but not intrusive (not that I am suggesting that Jax residents are intrusive...), the people I have encountered have no qualms about a bit a friendly interrogation (southern culture?) in order to learn what has brought me to North Florida.  Our neighborhood seems to have a healthy balance between older, well-to-do residents and the slightly younger, seemingly more bohemian crowd (perhaps with some bohemian bourgeois in the mix).  I have also been pleasantly surprised to discover that it is a rather active group of people that inhabit the collection of early 20th century homes around us.  It is rare that I make a trip out of the house without seeing a few runners and cyclists.  One word.  Comforting.

Our first morning in Jacksonville also happened to coincide with my 29th birthday.  Ky and I had planned an early morning trip to the beach. (It was a little disorienting to discover that we are living in a place where the first sign you encounter to enter the interstate also guides travelers to the "Beaches".)   Those well-laid, early morning-birthday plans were slightly sidetracked by our discovery of the upscale-St. John's Town Center.  We spent a good bit of time (and money!) in order to initiate ourselves as Florida residents by purchasing all of the necessary gear to make the beach a little more comfortable and a bit less of a sand bath.

After a quick lunch at Panera, we made our way down A1A to one of the many beach pull-offs just south of Ponte Vedra.  As shown in the pics, we enjoyed a few afternoon hours of Florida sun, sand and saltwater accompanied by our picnic of a special OJ drink as well as blueberries and strawberries and cream.  Kyle even managed to get me into the water for a little while, despite my nervousness about the ocean currents and wildlife.  Everything seems so much less frightening when accompanied by my wonderfully charming and dashing African.   And so went our first day together in Florida.  Looking forward to many more to come. 


Birthday at the Beach

Ky and our set up on the sand (la classe!)

Checking the water for sharks

Post-mimosa coma

Enjoying the view and the company