Izzie & I chose Anastasia Island in Florida as the site for our 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration. Our Children and their Children all gathered at the LaFiesta Ocean Inn & Suites for a week of fun together at the ocean under bright sunny Florida days. The St. Augustine region of northern Florida has been a family vacation destination since the early 1950ies, so it seemed appropriate that we gather here to celebrate 50 years of marriage.Our trip started on July 24th at 4:00 AM when we set forth with our daughter and her 3 kids by car to meet the Auto Train in Lorton, Virginia. The Auto Train is a great way to travel to Florida ~ it cuts the driving mileage in half, gives you a good dinner and breakfast, and gets you to Sanford in central Florida by 9:00AM the next day! (check out some photos of the trip)After a leisurely drive up A1A to St. Augustine and a lunch at Mango-Mango's, we checked into our motel and the kids hit the pool! Our son rolled in at about 3:00 with his wife and children, and after a quickswim headed out for dinner with Izzie and I to Amici's Italian Restaurant.
Day Two started off at the beach and then back to the pool. Izzie and I had our usual morning walk on the beach followed by breakfast in our room. The rest of the day we all just kicked back and enjoyed a relaxing Florida day. Jon and Audra had lunch at the Sunset Grill and Karen did some laundry. We all got together for dinner at the Wildflower Cafe and then headed back to LaFiesta for another good night's sleep.Wednesday started with a great in-room breakfast and then on to the beach. Our grand daughter, Alyssa, and her boyfriend, Alex, arrived Wednesday afternoon around 3:00PM. At 5:00 we headed for the Outback Crab Shack located just 19 miles from LaFiesta for dinner. What an experience! (see our photos)Thursday the 28th we were up and out early. Our first adventure was climbing the St. Augustine Lighthouse ~ 219 stairs! We also spent time in the Lighthouse Museum and took the nature walk on the Lighthouse grounds. Our afternoon was spent a few miles down the coast at Fort Matanzas, the historic fort that stood guard protecting St Augustine from a surprise attack by river from the south.Friday was a day of rest for me and a day to go shopping for Izzie ~ she bought a great new dress for our 50th anniversary dinner, a nice Florida vacation dress, a new pair of shoes, and three shirts for me! That evening we all gathered at Cafe Atlantico for our special dinner. Chef Paolo and his staff outdid themselves to give us a grand evening! (see photos)On Saturday we crossed the Bridge of Lions to spend the day in St. Augustine. In the morning we explored the CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS National Monument, the oldest and largest stone fort in the United States. That afternoon was spent wandering the streets of the OLD CITY, historic St. Augustine, our oldest city, settled in 1565. (see our photos)Sunday, our last day, was spent at the beach and the pool. Karen, Audra, and the kids built a really nice Sand Castle. We will see what High Tide does to it! Sunday evening we had a fun time at Saltwater Cowboys, a picturesque restaurant, located in the marsh lands along the inland water way. (see our photos) ~ Our 50th Wedding Anniversary Getaway ~
Izzie & Al, July 2011
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