St Augustine Residency Day 2

Hibiscus Condominium Dunes WIP day 2

18x24 inches

Gamble Rogers Palms

9x12 inches

Entrance to  Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area

Palms at Gamble Rogers

Notes From My Residency

This morning I headed straight to the Oasis Restaurant for breakfast. It's great to be back in St Augustine again. It, and New Smyrna Beach are my two favorite beach towns on the east coast. The Oasis is the place for a good down home breakfast. It has a variety of options, including corned beef hash and home fries, my favorites. I held my tongue and was quiet while I listened to a woman at another table making fun of Southern cuisine. Anyone who knows me will be proud of me for staying quiet. I love Southern food and celebrate being from the South. She said that collards, and grits were trash food for the lower classes. Can you believe how rude she was? Oh My!!

After my breakfast I headed south on A1A to Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area. The park has a similar format to Washington Oaks in that there is an intercoastal park and a beach side across A1A. It is a very small park, great for boating, with a nice dock and boat ramp and canoes for rental. There is a nice nature hiking trail and several covered pavilions at the water's edge. There are also large fields of palm hammocks out in the open. I walked that way rather than on the nature trail The trail is very closed in and narrow. It looked like Rattlesnake heaven, so I decided not to take it. In the winter I will try it again. By the time I got to the beach side, it was getting pretty hot. I took some nice ocean and beach photos for future paintings. 

I went through Flagler Beach on my way there and back. Tomorrow I'm going to explore another park in that area. Flagler is a funky, straggly, poor neighbor to affluent towns near by. It is tacky and old but the one thing I love about it is that no houses are built on the beach front. They are all west of the beach so there is a fabulous ocean view along A1A. I remember when much of Florida's coasts were natural and you could drive for miles and miles watching the waves crash into shore. 

I stopped by Hobby Lobby to buy a few supplies when I returned to St Augustine Beach and then headed home for an afternoon of painting. 

More to come.....