New Year/ Old City

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For the past six years, figuring out New Year's Eve plans has been pretty simple. Seeing as I live in a mid-rise in the middle of downtown Miami with a view to most of the area's firework displays, it was a given that the party would be at my place.

It's always worked out wonderfully. We don't have to pay exorbitant cover charges. I got to play hostess, which I love, and my friends always had a place to crash once the party was over.

Problem is, after my latest run-in with the evil that is mold, my apt is a demolition zone and not in the cool fashion-shoot kind of way. It's an uncomfortable mess and definitely not suitable for entertaining, no matter how much champagne we pour into little plastic flutes. Therefore, we were in need of a plan B.

 This where my friends, Ivon and Sylvia came up with an always wonderful idea. A road trip. We would move this shindig to St Augustine.
It was the perfect solution. It wasn't too far, the weather was good and there was plenty to do for all ages.



For one, there is plenty of history. Founded in 1585, it is the oldest city in the US (although the fine print describes it as: the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States).

The oldest schoolhouse.

With the oldest city, you also get the oldest fort in the US, the Castillo de San Marcos. I would have loved to have visited and gotten another national park stamp in my park passport but tragically, it is  2019 and that orange piece of shit is somehow still sitting in the Oval Office ¿Hasta cuando? As a result of his most recent tantrum, all our National Parks were closed, proving there truly is nothing he can't fuck up.




On a happier note, there were also plenty of bars for the adults in the group. You really could go for bar hop from one side of the city to the other with very little risk of dehydration.




Add plenty of good restaurants to the mix and there is not much more you could ask for.


But wait, you say you want a bar that has live music, gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, craft beers and arcade games? That's kinda a lot to ask for but ok. I give you Sarbez. This is where we ended up spending NYE. The original idea was to grab some drinks, play some games and then pop bottles of champagne on the beach but we got so distracted with the first two activities that before we knew it, we had a countdown on our hands.



Hopefully, we will greet 2020 back at my better-than-ever home but I can't think of a better way to have begun this new year than will good friends in a lovely old (correction: very old) city.

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