Thursday, December 18, 2008

Relaxing at the ocean



We are at the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area, at Flagler Beach (map). There is a nice campground here, with 50-amp power for ~$25 per night. (We don't really need the hookups right now, but its always nice when they are included.)

We did, in fact, spend another night in St. Augustine, affording us the opportunity to ride to dinner at the A1A Ale House, which had come recommended by friends and also sported some good reviews online. The food was quite good, and we had a nice view out the second-floor windows, albeit not very far, since we were in pea-soup fog. On our way to dinner, we rode around looking at the spectacular holiday lights throughout the downtown area.

We were a bit surprised to learn at dinner that the A1A Ale House is part of the Gordon Biersch family (through acquisition). We fondly remember dining at Gordon Biersch in San Jose when it was a single restaurant, and we had a friend who worked there when it was a "chain" of just two stores. I brought a group from my college alumni association there to dine and meet with the head brewmaster just as this two-store operation was starting to bottle its product for retail sales, and I remember being surprised when they opened a restaurant in Las Vegas. It seems they've made the big time.

Looking ahead on our schedule, I saw this park along our route, and the web site showed a 40' space available yesterday, so I booked it for two nights. Louise had a conference call scheduled from noon till 2 yesterday, and the checkout here is a very generous 1pm, so we decided to stay in St. Augustine until her call was done. We had a nice afternoon drive down the coast highway. although it was, again, quite foggy, arriving here a bit after 3. I took my scooter another ten miles south to the Publix to stock up on groceries, and we ended up grilling a pair of steaks for dinner.

Today it was warm and sunny, and we mostly relaxed around camp, walked on the beach (which is quite mushy here), and rode our scooters around the park and the surrounding residential areas. Tonight we will ride into town for dinner, and I expect we will stick around tomorrow till checkout at 1pm, when we will head south towards Daytona Beach.

3 comments:

  1. I am thoroughly enjoying these warm posts in my below zero, snow plastered weather.

    jody

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you're swinging Tampa's way, let me know. I enjoy the site.

    ReplyDelete
  3. They sold the restaurant assets in to Big River Breweries in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1999. That company now operates as Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc. and operates 37 restaurants in 19 states and Washington, D.C., with nine more operated by franchisees in various airports in the United States. Other brands owned and/or operated by the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group include Big River Grille and Brewery, Rock Bottom Restaurant Brewery (select locations), Seven Bridges Grille and Brewery, AlA Ale Works and Ragtime Tavern and Seafood Grill.

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