St Augustine Beach Residency Day 3

Anastasia State Park

8x10 inches

acrylic on canvas

Dune

5x7 inches

acrylic on panel

Camping area Anastasia State Park

Anastasia State Park

Notes From My Residency

It's a rainy drizzly day here in St Augustine, so I decided not to go very far. I visited Anastasia State Park this morning. It is a gorgeous park and much larger than I realized. I visited it about 5 years ago for a morning to paint in a cooler time. I only saw the main drag on that trip. Today I explored more of the park. The camping area is lush and beautiful, shady and roomy. The trees in this park are so lovely, ancient and twisted. I got several photos of them to use later. I was lucky to be there just at the right time to get a few photos before the rain came. There are beautiful picnic areas and quite a nice snack bar area next to the dunes. It is a perfect example of coastal Florida with tall palms and those trees, twisted by years of storms. I really loved this park and hope to go back again in cooler less humid weather to paint.

After I left the park, I treated myself to the Sunset Grille on A1A for lunch. This place is a favorite for me. I succumbed to the fried shrimp on the menu which was butterflied and huge, perfectly fried arriving crisp and hot to the table with very crispy fries. Yummy!! it was served with both tarter sauce and coctail sauce in large squeeze containers. The side was a nice salad made with crisp mixed greens, and Mandarin oranges, Sunflower seeds and dried cranberries, accompanied by chunky blue cheese dressing with a hint of garlic. Wonderful!! The service is outstanding and the atmosphere very casual, so I felt at home there as I always do. The hostess was very friendly greeting me both coming and going. A winner!!

I arrived back to the condo and painted on the patio, using my images from the morning adventure. It's so dark today that I may need to wait to continue working on my larger painting until there is more sun. Perhaps it will clear before time to paint.  I'll enjoy the Pelican Interstate in any case, around 5:30 PM. Hopefully i will get my walk around the complex again tonight. The plantings here are lovely with bright colorful Hibiscus plants and beautiful tall palms. This is a wonderful place for a vacation.

More to come.....