Florida Palm Coast

A long weekend visiting my good friend Dave on Florida’s Palm Coast. It was my first time to the area, and I really enjoyed exploring the towns and natural areas. In February, many seek the South for warmer weather. The climate was certainly a welcome respite from Colorado’s unusually cold winter. But contrary to most, we didn’t spend much time at the beach, bathing in the sun. In the mornings we hiked the quiet trails, admiring the Live Oak, Saw Palmetto and Coastal Red Cedars. And by evening we refueled on tasty seafood and local beer.

A free afternoon allowed time for a quick drive North to tour the town of St. Augustine and the Castilla de San Marcos National Monument. Crowded and touristy, but popular for a reason. The quaint old town area is full of history and charm. I didn’t take a lot of photos, but these two very different scenes caught my eye.

Castillo de San Marcos
Ink & Barley

Exploring a bit further inland I found the delightful Ravine Gardens State Park near the town of Palatka. A deep canyon with natural springs and shady trails lined with blooming Azaleas made for a fantastic afternoon.

On February 27 at 6:13pm ET, SpaceX launched 21 second-generation Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This was the third launch and landing of this reusable Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched CRS-26 and OneWeb Launch 16.

The launch was originally scheduled for 1:38pm earlier that afternoon. Fortunate for us, the delay coincided with sunset and beautifully colored skies – a wonderful first-time launch viewing experience.

And no Florida gallery with be complete without at least one sunrise (or sunset) photo and, of course, an alligator.