We entered our 14^th state, pleased to be getting to warmer weather! We were also pleased that we were still in a landscape of live oak trees and Spanish moss. The campground at the National Park of Fort Clinch was a veritable forest of these trees along with palm trees. We had a nice explore around the fort, which wasn’t well used in any of the conflicts, as well as the town of Fernandine, a pretty town with nice historical houses. It allegedly had the oldest saloon bar in Florida, which of course we had to try out. 

We then moved on to St Augustine, the oldest European settlement in America, founded in 1565 by the Spanish. St Augustine and Florida have changed hands 5 times, Spanish, English, Spanish, America and United States of America (post civil war) and the buildings were of a different style to what we had seen so far. A lot of them are made from a substance called coquina, a sedimentary rock that is made up of shells and limestone, and is found in abundance around the area. We were looking forward to seeing different architecture and it didn’t disappoint. They have a beautiful art college in the centre of town, Flagler College, built in 1888 as a luxury hotel by Henry Flagler. It is a beautiful building surrounded by other buildings including the grandest Presbyterian church we have ever seen.

However, we were surprised at how touristy and busy it was. They have an event called the Night of Lights, on for several months over winter, and the town is pretty much lit up at night. It does look pretty and is a big draw for the town.

We stayed about 6 miles from the centre of town, just across from a lovely beach, with gorgeous sunrises. We enjoyed cycling along the beaches, it was lovely firm sand and the beaches go on for miles.

We finished 2024 doing a house sit, near Cocoa Beach, for 2 lovely dogs and 2 cats.

We primarily picked this location so we could visit the Kennedy Space Centre. There is a lot to see there, and we visited on 2 days. To be honest, the first day was the best and we saw the most interesting things then, including exhibitions on the Apollo’s including the Saturn V, and the Space Shuttle Atlantis. We walked around the rocket garden looking at the early original rockets and went in the Hall of Fame. They have done a good job of presenting the history of travel in space, and even though Julie was sceptical about visiting, she thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, it prompted us to rewatch a couple of great space related movies, Apollo 13 and Hidden Figures. Hidden Figures is an excellent film, and also reminded us about the issue of race, something we have reflected on a lot during our time in the USA.

Exploring was put on hold while Mark caught on lots of jobs on Shaun he had been wanting to do. He has now realised he will probably never run out if jobs, but his list has got smaller and will hopefully stay smaller in the future. The importance of doing vehicle checks was highlighted when Mark was checking the wheel nut torques. He found a broken wheel stud! Luckily we had a vehicle at our disposal so Mark was able to source new parts, and get it fixed without adding any delay to our journey onwards.

Mark did take a day off on Christmas day and we went to visit Cocoa Beach. This is home to the Ron Jon surf shop, and what a beautiful building it is (and it was open on Christmas day).

Cocoa Beach is known for surfing, but the surf wasn’t too great when we there but some people were out waiting to catch some waves. We went to the Tiki Bar at the end of the pier, but the wind made it quite cool, so for form’s sake we had a drink then quickly left.

So, what do we think of the USA?

Overall people are friendly and welcoming. People firmly believe in their right to freedom and are proud to be American.

It is a car focussed society, vehicles are king!

Food prices are much more expensive than the UK.

Diesel is cheaper than the UK.

It has been hard to find free park ups on the East Coast of the USA.

Harvest Hosts and Boon Dockers have helped us stay in free or less expensive ways.

A lot of people were happy to talk politics, we were here when the presidential election took place.

There is a lot of history here, from European settlements onwards, but also the indigenous population, which more places are now trying to emphasis and incorporate into the narrative.

We like the USA that we have seen so far, but are looking forward to next year and seeing BIG scenery.

Hopefully Shaun will continue to behave himself and we will have a great 2025! USA, Mexico and Canada are in the plan for next year, so exciting!