I've been working quite a bite lately, thus the lack of posts...
I am working two deals. Leading the US portion of one, helping on the other. The former is a global deal that is lead out of Europe, which means that my work day starts early since I am six hours behind the lead country - no, it doesn't literally start at 2:00 AM, they are more considerate than that, but because there are also team members in Asia-Pacific, it does mean that I often start at 6:00 AM in deference to the fact that it is night in the AP countries. The bulk of my help on the other deal is in the form of writing proposal material, which I have been mostly doing in the evening. Thus, the long days.
So, even though the weather was absolutely perfect on Saturday, I spent the entire day at home resting. About the most exertion I had all day was putting the air chairs back up in the back yard. A good portion of the rest of the day was spent asleep, between waking up late and taking a long nap mid-day.
On Sunday, I also slept later than normal, but did manage to make it to the airport coffee by 9:00 AM. After I returned home, Jeanie and I ran a few errands and then went to lunch at "Your Place" on the Island. I was in the mood for a good hamburger, so we first tried Baxters, but like many restaurants on the Island, during the off season, they are only open for dinner. "Your Place" gets bonus points because even though they were "only" serving their brunch menu, when Jeanie asked if they would be willing to make us a hamburger anyway, they were more than happy to accommodate our wishes. The patties were hand-made, thick, juicy and tasty. They were served on a nicely toasted bun with fresh potato chips. Prices were reasonable for a sit-down type restaurant at $5.95 for a regular burger and $6.95 for a cheese burger. The brunch menu items ran about $10-12 and I was almost swayed by the seafood newburg crepes. Service was excellent, as we were the only customers in the place - a testament to why most places are only open for dinner - especially on a Sunday - at this time of year.
After lunch, we headed off to find the beach you can drive and park on that we see from Heckscher Drive when we take the scenic "back back" route to Jacksonville. The beach in question turned out to be Huguenot Memorial Park (other links). It is a lovely beach. It is clean and much of the sand is the really fine, soft variety. We were impressed at the abundance of well placed trash cans and the general layout of the place. There were even clean public restrooms and a snack bar that served hot food. The Durango had no trouble navigating the terrain in 4WD, although I did get a bit nervous at one point when I ventured out almost too far onto the wet sand - but I kept the Durango moving and didn't try to make any sharp turns and we ended up being just fine. You do have to be mindful of the tides, as the majority of the drive-on portion of the beach is under water at high tide. As an added bonus, the beach is just a stone's throw from the Mayport Naval Base, and you get get a really good look at some of the ships anchored there. The view was even better now that we keep a pair of binoculars in the truck all the time. And as if all of that wasn't enough? The price of admission? Fifty cents a head!
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Posted by David at February 11, 2008 07:24 AM