St. Augustine
At what was supposed to be sunrise, the mooring field was enveloped in the heaviest fog we've experienced in a very long time. Not only could I not spot the sun, I could not find the lighthouse or the Bridge of Lions. The current was slack as well, offering no clues. I was truly lost in a fog. Boats adjacent to us made for interesting subjects. Once again, we kept ourselves busy for a few hours until the fog burned off and revealed another beautiful day.
After lunch we headed back to St. George Street for our final daily walk. Overnight, one business had been cloaked in heavy tarps for fumigation. The danger signs actually set the proper mood for the afternoon. Our destination was the Medieval Torture Museum. We have passed this balcony on every walk over many years and have always wondered what was hiding up the stairs. Today was the day to check this place off our list. The warning sign directed at field trip groups turned out not to be an exaggeration. We entered "the minds of fanatics, madmen, and murderers, and discovered the world's most detailed collection of confinement and torture devices." We scanned a QR code that provided an audio tour of 47 different exhibits. They started us out easy with an exhibit of "Masks of Shame." The pig mask was applied to those guilty of gluttony. The journey through the macabre featured many candles and skulls to set the mood.
The exhibits were interesting, but also graphic and not really photo-worthy for me. The "Knee Crusher" caught my eye as well as "The Pendulum." I'm quite familiar with Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and The Pendulum. Now I know about the pendulum. As we exited through the very interesting gift shop, we were glad to be out. I guess it was worth visiting, but I would not necessarily recommend it to others. Fittingly after that experience, St. George Street was dead. The lack of foot traffic was a surprise. As a final farewell to the area, we stopped by for another refreshing Dole Whip and enjoyed it while sitting in the bright sun. Retracing our steps we stopped to watch as a new (and yet to open) art gallery was dressing their windows with colorful glass sculptures.
An osprey perched atop the flagpole at the marina. We returned our key cards to the dockmaster then headed back to Crossroads. I read on Fiberglass Beach for a couple of hours before we turned our attention to the sky. The following description is provided by Barry, my resident rocket scientist: "At 6:13 this evening, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying two Maxar imaging satellites from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. After the first stage rocket finished its burn, we saw separation and boost back burn followed by the separation and return to earth of the payload fairing halves. While watching the fairings return, we also saw the first stage return to the Kennedy Space Center landing pad. This was the 444th mission for SpaceX's Falcon 9 series, but the first one Robin and I have been close enough to see with the naked eye. Very exciting!"
Other excitement was happening while we were watching the sky. A 43-foot Mainship trawler was making attempt after attempt to pick up their mooring ball. They were not even close to having success and we were feeling bad for them as we've all been in that situation before. We hopped in the dinghy and fed their mooring lines through the pendant for them. The older couple was grateful and we closed our St. Augustine stay on a positive note. We raised the dinghy back to the upper deck as the evening's colors began to darken. We will depart tomorrow morning (hoping there's no fog) and make an overnight hop in the Atlantic to Fort Pierce.
Note: There will be no post tomorrow night while we are offshore. I'll pick back up on Thursday evening.
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