Gemini Loop: Daytona and St. Augustine

We left New Smyrna Beach for Daytona, with Sun Gypsy behind us. We will be in the ICW until we get home - mostly river, sometimes ditch. There are stretches of nature between the towns and cities now. We are not seeing as many manatees and dolphins, but there are LOTS of birds.

We had dinner with Rick and Leila at the Chart House, which was walking distance from the marina. The food was great and the atmosphere was beautiful. Leila made our reservations through the marina, so we got a free dessert to share. It was so rich, that there was no way we could have eaten more than one! Unfortunately the grocery stores were much farther from the marina than the Chart House, so Leila and I shared a cab to Publix and back.

We left Daytona for St. Augustine, but Rick was thinking they would stop at Palm Coast. We passed Palm Coast early enough that he decided to follow us on to St. Augustine. Throughout the day the wind picked up, which made docking pretty interesting. We wandered around a little, then had dinner at the Columbia. There are five or so of them in various Florida cities. We went to one with the Harwells when we were at Bird Key. We did several appetizers as tapas, and had their homemade sangria (yum!)

Steve and I went to tour Flagler College, which we have never visited on our trips to St. Augustine. Before becoming a college in the 1960s, it was a luxury hotel built by Henry Flagler. It is an interesting story. Henry was born poor, but had a great head for business. Eventually he went into business with JP Morgan and helped create Standard Oil. His first wife had consumption and was advised by her doctor to go to Florida for the winter. The Flaglers went there, but there was no easy way to get there and no place where a self-respecting upper class family would actually stay. Henry saw an opportunity there and built a railroad to Florida and eventually down the east coast and as far as Key West. He also built The Ponce de Leon luxury hotel in St. Augustine for the very wealthy. You had to be very wealthy, because to stay there for even a night or two you had to pay for three months (it was only open during the winter months). In today's dollars, that would be about $250,000.

The Ponce de Leon had the best of everything: stained glass and chandeliers designed by Louis Tiffany, beautiful carvings and murals, and new conveniences like electric lights and a telegraph room. Despite the hefty price tag, the hotel was sold out season after season. The railroad was a stroke of genius, because it moved goods and produce as well as people. It provided jobs for many, many people.

In the 1960s, descendents of Henry Flagler decided that the hotel should become a college. There was less and less call for hotels of that type, and they wanted to honor Henry with something that would reflect his entrepreneurial spirit. It began as a college for women only, but eventually became coed. It is regularly featured in the US News and World Report article on best schools. We really enjoyed the tour and recommend it for anyone going to St. Augustine.

There was another looper boat, Karma, at the dock with us. There was also another Grand Banks, Rachel, that goes north and south every year. You know what happens when you get four boats together... docktails! Since the wind was up again, we moved it inside to Sea Gypsy's flybridge. We were joined by Sterling Hart, one of Steve's "baby pilots" all grown up. (Sorry, Sterling!) He flies for FedEx and lives in St. Augustine. He had just gotten back into town from Germany. It was good to see him and catch up - it's been several years.