March 2020: Anastasia and Its Market

Posted: May 25, 2020                                        Previous Posts:
About: March 1-10, 2020          Late February 2020: My Last Kayaking Adventures
Gamble Rogers                                        Mid February 2020:  The Knap In
Anastasia State Park,
Kathryn Abbey Hanna County Park Jacksonville, FL

March arrives and I’m still at Gamble Rogers enjoying ocean front sunrises.

Each sunrise is a little bit different.  Sometimes the shrimp boats are out with their lights.

On the 4th I move just 33 miles up the road to Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine.

Here the campground is a bit of a distance from the beach but it’s a good daily walk for me though some people bike or drive their cars.

I usually choose a site in the smaller and older circle of campsites but I wasn’t able to get one there this time.  I’m quite happy with the easy to back into and large site I’ve picked.

Every day I walk over to the beach with my chair, a towel, a book and water.  I’m weaning myself away from the ocean a bit at a time before going inland and north.  There are several entrances to the beach, this one has a long boardwalk to protect the dunes.

I step off the boardwalk onto powdery white sand.

Unlike Gamble Rogers, the beach here is much wider and goes on for miles without any commercial activity. 

I turned my chair around for a minute to take this picture with the ocean in the background.

Lots of shells here.

One of the things I do while here is to get some contacts for having Winnona detailed at my next stop which is not a state park.  State Parks do not allow washing of rigs.   I am becoming more and more worried about these gray spots on Winnona.  They started perhaps 18 months ago in the midst of David’s decline and though I have washed the rig since, I have had  no luck in getting them out.  They have really increased since that time.  If any of you have solutions for this PLEASE let me know.  I’m ready to try anything.   Having her painted just isn’t in my budget but she’s beginning to look shabby at least to me.

Another thing I need is a haircut.  Those are a bit tricky to get on the road although you’d think for the many times I’ve been in these Florida State Parks I would have discovered some place that can do a good job with fast growing thick hair.

One afternoon I make sweet potato fries in the microwave, no oil but light and crunchy.  They are fantastic.  What a glutton I am, I eat two entire potatoes worth.

Anastasia State Park abuts the St Augustine Amphitheater which makes it easy to walk over for Saturday night concerts, which politely end at 10:00, and also easy to walk over to the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market which runs from 8:30am to 12:30. 

I always try to make sure my reservation includes at least one Saturday just for this.  Seriously easy grocery shopping.  As you can see it’s packed.

The vendors set up on tables, in vans, trucks, buses, and trailers selling produce, baked goods, seafood, take away foods, arts and crafts, clothing.  Just about anything you can imagine.

About midway along the parking lot road used for the market is the entrance to the Amphitheater and in its courtyard there is always music and folks who bring their chairs to listen.  Free concerts with your shopping.  How fine is that?

On my way back out to the market I spotted this fella’s hat and loved it.  He was happy to allow me a picture though I didn’t ask him to move to eliminate the shadow on his face.  I think hats like this one and some others I can think of would be great for the  incumbent’s opponent.  How about make American Kind Again?  Or maybe even Make America Smart Again.

One of my favorite stands sells African foods.  This is the back of their trailer.

At the front, it’s doing a great business.

Every vegetable stand seems to call my name.  Now that I’m cooking only for one it is very easy for me to buy more produce than I can eat before it goes bad.  Never a problem when David was here.  He could pack it away.  I sure miss him, every day and every where.

Doesn’t it look fresh and delicious?

There are plenty of other things to choose from once you’ve picked up your produce.

I managed to get this picture when no one was at The Shrimp Guys who bring their shrimp right in off the shrimp boats I see off shore.

Orchids anyone?

Or something from The Honey Truck?

Perhaps local probiotics?  pickles, krauts of all kinds including beet, hummus.

And of course for lovers of “the evil brew” as my friend Paul Dahl and I refer to it,  there is gourmet coffee.  One of David’s favorite vans, the Grower’s Alliance provides just what he loved, bakery and coffee.

Today my favorite booth is this printmaker’s.   She does beautiful work and I can watch her working there at the table off to the left.

She draws the design and then cuts it into the printer mats.  Very detailed and all hand done. 

Today this one really catches my fancy but I’m no longer acquiring things, even things as special and wonderful as this.

I do read this article about her and her work.  She is quite an artist.  Her name is Nicola Barsaleau.   You can find a link to her website with more information about her and her work, here.

In some markets I have attended, much of the produce seems to be coming from wholesalers, like those selling the Florida Oranges here today.  But the majority seem to be small individual growers.  I really prefer to patronize them having been one myself in my earlier life though I only sold our eggs and excess organic produce to friends and co-workers.

I spent several hours at the market and every time I walked by this stand there was a line.  I should have tried some to see why it is so popular.

I love the trucks – honey and blooms.

I’ve had a great morning and controlled my purchases thankfully.

I have two more days before I’m heading out.  I’ve only booked Anastasia for 5 days.  I’m amazed I could get the week-end.  I have a routine for set up and take down that I do each time I move which includes checking all 10 tires with my TPMS.  Today it shows that some are low so I get out the compressor and give them a little boost.   It takes much longer to do everything when there is only one person doing it.  And it’s not nearly as much fun.

My last stop before leaving Florida is a park new to me, the Jacksonville City park Kathryn Abbey Hanna which others have told me is a great place.  So I’ve booked two weeks there in order to get Winnona’s exterior taken care of and check out their beach and the area.   That’s next post.