Yesterday, while visiting a beachside farmer’s market, we got a good look at St. Augustine Beach; the tourist beach I mentioned in my last post. Although I prefer our quiet Vilano Beach, where we are staying, St. Augustine Beach is quite nice! It’s a very WIDE beach with nicer sand, but it doesn’t have that quaint feel that we prefer.

The farmer’s market was worth the visit, as there were nice artist booths, along with the produce and various homemade food items. Besides, Bruce scored on some tasty kettle corn and I picked up some butter toffee pecans that were terrific!

The weather here was expected to be hot and humid; after all, it is June in Florida. But, yesterday and today were well above the normal “feels like” temps. It really takes it out of us, so we limited our outdoor time exploring St. Augustine, after we left the farmer’s market.

Lunch was at The Floridian ( http://www.thefloridianstaug.com/ ), a little gem I found on Trip Advisor ( http://www.tripadvisor.com ); my go-to site for anything travel related. Check out all the healthy and tasty-sounding items on the lunch menu. My vegetarian black bean and sweet potato burger (with goat cheese added) was fabulous, as was Bruce’s sweet potato and coconut bisque soup. Dynamite!

A wander around the Spanish Quarter where The Floridian was located, was well worth putting up with the heat. The beautiful church (see below), narrow brick streets, huge Spanish moss covered trees, quaint B&B’s, and wonderful architecture, made it a very visually pleasing place to explore. Even the Visitor’s Center and neighboring Spanish-style parking structure were pleasing to the eye. (A parking structure? Pleasing?? Believe it or not- yes!)

Our Spanish Quarter exploration also landed us in Fudge Buckets ( http://fudgebuckets.com ) ; another Trip Advisor recommendation. Yes, I brake for chocolate; just ask my mom. When we were in Brussels and Brugge, Belgium, we stopped at every chocolate shop. And, I mean EVERY single one!

And, yes, I bought some buckets of fudge; buy four and get one free!

Back at the cottage, we enjoyed our daily early evening walk on the beach, followed by a Bruce Cook cooked dinner. Amazing what he can do in such a tiny little kitchen!