back to business

Even though my trip to Florida was brief, I did get in a little bit of quilty goodness.  Sorry, Dan, it's not all about the bike!  Mostly, but not entirely!

At the big public pier in St. Augustine Beach, I was waiting for 2 bicyclists to find their way and waited in a shelter of sorts out of the intense sun for awhile.  Have to protect that lily white skin, don'tcha know!  And I knew it was the right place to be, because this was draped over the rail--

It was just a "cheater cloth" quilt, but the hexagons and colors were perfect.  It probably is still hanging there, so head over to St. John's County Pier if you want to salvage it!

We took Monday for a little R&R, and walked around a bit of the historic old city of St. Augustine.  Lots of really beautiful old structures.

A historic hotel that is now part of a college.

And just 2 more blocks down King Street I stopped at Margrieta's Quilt Shop for a chance to score some Florida fabric--I ended up with some pirate fabrics which seemed appropriate as mementos of the trip.  And a book on bargello quilts, which I have never made, but which Dan has already tagged as the next quilt for him!

These bricks/blocks were in the sidewalk and got me started thinking about a quilt design...

 I also wanted to give an acknowledgement of a great guy that we met through Dan.  This picture shows Dan with Bryan, a fellow cyclist.  They met somewhere in Texas, I think, and ended up biking together on the final stages.  Bryan is from Oregon and is a photographer.  If you do the Facebook thing, you might want to "friend" him so you can see his awesome photo journal there.

They both had spent many long hours on the road with only their thoughts to keep them company, and found they could help each other tough it out to the end.  And they have matching bikes!  It was kismet. 

 We did want to try to find a good southern BBQ joint, and landed on this one outside of St. Augustine on Hwy 1.  It was rustic, friendly, uncrowded, and lacks much for a vegetarian. But we had very tasty BBQ eaten while seated on a tree stump beside a sort-of wooden table.  Lucky for us their roadside sign says they serve bikers and yankees, even if they meant those bikers with engines!  Open when we're Smokin' is a fitting motto!