Now the next leg of our journey should have been an easy 105 mile drive but it didn’t exactly turn out that way. Silly us, once again we made our reservation at our next destination beginning on November 19th requiring us to travel on the Sunday of a very busy holiday week! Traffic on I95 and 295 around Jacksonville was very heavy but for the most part although it was slow, it was thankfully moving.

St. Augustine RV Resort, where we have stayed several times in the past, would be our home for Thanksgiving week, specifically on site #61 .

Since we had visited St. Augustine for several days during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2023, we knew how busy it would most likely be (see our post Nights of Lights – St. Augustine).

The good news was that it was pretty warm when we first arrived with temps close to 80 degrees. But that didn’t last long, on Thanksgiving Eve a cold front arrived, plunging temps into the 50s & 60s during the day and down to the 30 and 40s at night! Still a lot better than the cold New England weather!

One of our first to dos after our arrival was to visit Honey Baked Ham to pick up our Thanksgiving ham (neither of us are crazy about turkey). After that, we went to the Metro Diner for breakfast. Despite it being busy, we only had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated. We both ordered an egg, bacon and cheese croissant ($9.99) which included one side (we both had fruit). Decent breakfast.

On the 25th, we had a 6 pm dinner reservation at the Raintree, our favorite restaurant, to celebrate my birthday which would fall on Thanksgiving day. We arrived a little early but were seated right away. While sipping on Hunter Manhattans, we enjoyed fried calamari ($14) which was served with small chunks of potatoes and a delicious sauce. This was followed by their house salad topped with pepper parmesan dressing. For entrees we both had specials – I had the corvina ($40) topped with a tomato basil sauce, served with rice and veggies and Rob had the sirloin & sausage special ($38). For dessert, we had their ultra delicious Bourbon Street bread pudding ($9). Yum! I enjoyed my dinner but Rob wasn’t thrilled with his dish.

After dinner, we drove downtown to see the Nights of Lights. Since 1993, this festival is one of the most beloved and dazzling holiday traditions in the Southeastern United States. With more than three million tiny white lights outlining buildings, trees, bridges, and rooftops, historic downtown St. Augustine is transformed into a glowing wonderland that draws visitors from around the world causing it to be named one of the “Top Ten Holiday Light Displays in the World” by National Geographic.  Although it wasn’t as bad as last year, it was still very crowded so traffic was very slow going.

The next morning we had thought we might go out sightseeing but we slept late and didn’t feel like the hassle of the traffic. Plus prepping for T-day dinner was on my agenda for the day. However, we did have one highlight during our day was a visit to Ms. Bee’z Wash and Wax which was close by. By signing up for an account on their website, we were given a free wash and free vacuum! Good deal!On Thanksgiving Day, we enjoyed rumaki as an appetizer, salad with figs, blue cheese and a port wine dressing, honey baked ham, delmonico potatoes, curried fruit and sauteed brussell sprouts with lemon and parmesan. Delish if I do say so myself!

On Friday, we thought we would drive downtown so we could walk around a bit. Bad idea! Traffic was horrendous. They had signs advertising free park & ride and the lines of cars waiting to get in those places were ridiculous! So after taking a little ride across the bridge, we found an alternative route to head back to the coach.

That was the extent of our visit to St. Augustine this year. On Sunday, November 30th, it was time for our departure. Being the end of the holiday week, we once again were concerned about the traffic so we were on the road by 8:30 a.m. hoping to avoid the majority of it. Good news, the traffic wasn’t that bad! Next time we visit St. Augustine, trust me it won’t be during Thanksgiving week! Because check in time at our next destination wasn’t until 3:00 p.m. we stopped to kill time several times along our route. Stay tuned to read about our next stop!