Sea Salt Watercolors

Painting on the shore line. 

Listening to the sound of the waves, water and wind.

Warm sun on my shoulders.

A gentle breeze across my toes.

Oops! Slightly burned on the tip of my nose.

So easy to get lost in the rhythm of the ocean. Watercolor flows across the paper and I am lost in the process.

Walking Lincolnville

Walked over to a delicious eating venue. On the way we found this hedge of ferns along a fence.

Past this gigantic, yellow building, that, once, may have been a boarding house.

The more we seek out different spaces the more I am realizing that one large piece of art is better than a "gallery hang".

This little eatery was on one of the back streets in Lincolnville.

And that someone would make a rusty old wall into art for art!

The Spanish Moss just hangs around.

This little bungalow, surrounded by green, is charming. Wait until the first week of April, when everything comes to life, to really get the effect of being inside a tropical canopy.

A fixer upper.

A small palace for my little sister-in-law. $320,000.

Where the horses, for the city buggies, were kept.

The last of the cigar factories.

We started on Riberia and walked way down to Lincoln Street. The Freedom Trail, as it is known. So many historical references through this side of town. Martin Luther King walked these streets and it was part of the Underground Railroad in it's time. The houses are just old old. 

 

Just Us And The Seagulls

Very distracting, sitting at the beach, when you are trying to read or paint!

Not to mention the color blue!

Meditating on the life handed to us.

Heading north in a few weeks, feeling very inspired, excited about all our new projects we have to do!! 

This winter get away was just what the doctor ordered.

Thank you St. Augustine!

 

 

Many Anniversaries

Here we are, at St. Augustine Fish Camp, celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary.

A ten minute walk, down Riberia, from our apartment.

Started with a chilly good Mojito!

Fish Camp sits on the edge of the San Sebastian River.

This is also the 16th anniversary of Anchor Cottage Freshwater Decor blog site.

Shrimp boats. I love eating the shrimp, down here, fresh fresh fresh!

A treasure of a restaurant in a hidden corner of the city.

We choose to sit outside, on the deck, to watch the sunset.

We have been coming down to this neck of the woods for at least 20 years and we always enjoy the Oldest City in the nation. 

The bar is decorated perfectly, I got some really good inspiration for seaside decor!

We will be back! Loved the setting and the atmosphere of this fish camp in the city!

What the blog is good for is keeping memories in pictures.

Happy Anniversaries! 

 

Castillo de San Marcos

Looking out, across the Mantanzas Inlet, from the top of the fort with the Frances and Mary Usina bridge, in the background, that takes us to Vilano Beach. 

Then turn around and look! The Bridge of Lions, the draw bridge that connects us to Anastasia Island.

Behind the fort lies Abbott Tract Historic District with homes from 1861, 1885 and 1894. 

Turn, one more time, to see the Ponce de Leon Hotel/Flagler College from the top of the fort's wall. 

Amied toward the English in 1702.

Made of bronze and iron, the skilled craftsman took the time to make the gun deck ornate!

The beauty of the patina on these guns.

Imagine looking out and not seeing a bridge but seeing the English coming at you in 1702 for a 51 day siege and you outlasted them only to have the English burn the city to the ground. 

The hot shot furnace used to make the cannon balls hot and then fired into the wooden sides of ships to set the enemy warships on  fire!

The fort is made of Coquina Stone. Tiny seashells compressed into limestone over thousands of years. Locally quarried and easy to cut, coquina withstood cannon fire!

The Spanish built Castillo de San Marcos to protect St Augustine. Finished in 1695 and still standing!

We walked up to the fort, from our apartment on, National Park, free admittance day.