Mermaids - Really?

For some holiday fun we went to see the Weeki Wachee Mermaid Show - yes really ...

This is a piece of the 'old Florida' roadside attractions.

A first in 1947, Mermaids perform synchronized ballet moves underwater while breathing through the air hoses - but no longer hidden in the scenery.

They swim in a natural spring of circa 72F/22C year round.

For more history read on here - 

Our trip was really to St Augustine for a family celebration, and we encountered stormy weather. St Augustine, founded in 1565, is the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in the United States. I guess I didn't take many pictures in the rain!

Of equal interest are the manatees at Blue Springs State Park - attracted by the 72F spring and the live oak trees at Fort Matanzas.  I can also recommend a visit to the St Augustine Lighthouse.

See the baby?

White Pelicans at Fort De Soto

Back at 'home' the dunes have been rebuilt after the end August Idalia hurricane, but washed out again in the mid December no name storm that rained on us in St Augustine - ah well you can't cheat mother nature.

December has been an unusually chilly and grey month for us, but still warmer than the UK!

Half the new rebuilt dunes gone since this picture

One can see the Cape Canaveral launches on a clear day -- here's one: 

https://nextdoor.com/p/M9LdX5DLw2Kg?utm_source=share&extras=MzI1NjAwNzk%3D&utm_campaign=1703877662176

August Hurricane Idalia and Beach Renourishment

Well I never did report on Hurricane Idalia which went by offshore on 29/30 August, but put 6 inches of sand under our building, storm surge greater than 3 feet, and created a river of water from the Gulf out through the parking to the street.  

The street outside our complex looked like this as the Hurricane passed - but fortunately, although I think the tires got a great wash, the car seems unscathed. Yup that's a river in our street.

And living above ground floor really helps!

Our complex, citing snakes and rats potentially living in the dunes,  refuses to have protecting dunes - hence all the sand in our ground floor parking area under the building. 

But The Board likes and plants palm trees which also harbour rats and palmento bugs (large flying cockroaches to you and me).

Fortunately we survived unscathed, with just a car wash and condo windows needing cleaning. Our barrier island was evacuated and we could monitor things from afar using posted video clips.  See news report here.

Our condo complex, however, took several weeks and $$ to clear the sand.  Some of the neighbouring dunes were decimated, so the county has conducted an emergency replenishment project.  We saw large earth moving equipment on the beach earlier this week.

And needing to avoid the renourishment works, the sand raker had a bit of fun . . .

Let's not forget the Rouge Wave (Jan 2, 2021), Eta (Nov 28, 2020) and Irma (Sept 2017; we evacuated) and 3 storms detailed in my post of Oct 8, 2016.