We have been in Florida for 6 months now with no vaca so a little R&R was called for. A big plus...my brother and his family joined us for the 2ND & 3RD leg of the trip and we had a GREAT time!
First stop in St Augustine was the San Sebastian Winery and yes you can bring the kids. We skipped the rather generous looking wine tasting at the end because we were driving but I highly recommend this free and very educational tour. A cool fact...The Spaniards made wine from Muscadine grapes 150 years before the first chardonnay were planted in California. Muscadine is the only grape indigenous to the United States and only grows in the southern half of it. The kegs in the background behind Mason in the above picture are aging port. But there is an interesting story to those kegs. A law put on the books (and still on the books today) meant to keep coopers in business was that whiskey makers were not allowed to reuse their oak barrels, so they sell them and wineries are one of their biggest customers.
Next stop was the Colonial Spanish Quarter. Even though small compared to it's New England living museum counterparts, this little 1740's gem packed a punch. Check out the shelf suspended over the table, aptly called a rat shelf...not necessarily for rats though, all kinds of varmints were a problem.
Cooking, if done indoors, was done on a fogon, a mediterranean-type stove. No chimney, you just moved a few boards on the roof to let the smoke waft thru.
Sunday we hit the Jacksonville Zoo for the day. We had heard that Jax Zoo was a biggun and that was no lie! Took a full 3 hours to see everything and we really didn't linger in any one spot or take any breaks.
Our budding cinematographer had 79 pics and assorted videos on his camera, very difficult to pick out just 2 but elephants and flamingos are always worthy of some extra exposure.
Sunday we headed to Orlando and spent the day at Aquatica, what a great waterpark, one of the best in our opinion. The day was beautiful, warm enough to spend most of your time in the water but not too hot to be miserable. Our sunscreen was right on too, after 9 hours of fun & sun, none of us took a burn!
First stop in St Augustine was the San Sebastian Winery and yes you can bring the kids. We skipped the rather generous looking wine tasting at the end because we were driving but I highly recommend this free and very educational tour. A cool fact...The Spaniards made wine from Muscadine grapes 150 years before the first chardonnay were planted in California. Muscadine is the only grape indigenous to the United States and only grows in the southern half of it. The kegs in the background behind Mason in the above picture are aging port. But there is an interesting story to those kegs. A law put on the books (and still on the books today) meant to keep coopers in business was that whiskey makers were not allowed to reuse their oak barrels, so they sell them and wineries are one of their biggest customers. 
Next stop was the Colonial Spanish Quarter. Even though small compared to it's New England living museum counterparts, this little 1740's gem packed a punch. Check out the shelf suspended over the table, aptly called a rat shelf...not necessarily for rats though, all kinds of varmints were a problem. 
Cooking, if done indoors, was done on a fogon, a mediterranean-type stove. No chimney, you just moved a few boards on the roof to let the smoke waft thru. 
Mason and friends celebrated their first Geography Club tonight, the food was scrumptious and to prove it there was hardly anything left over, those bowls had been all but licked clean. The highlight...a pinata of course!
