Tuesday, March 30, 2021.
Weather: Temp: 75/65, Humidity: 98/77%, Top Wind: NE11 mph, Precip: None, Miles Traveled: None
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The temperature today was really nice, but it was humid! The breeze was cool, but just kind of a sticky day. We slept in and did some chores, then I went to check with the dockmaster to see what the waitlist looked like for us to stay until Saturday. If we can’t stay, I need to do some planning! Unfortunately, we were still #7 on the waitlist, and having that many cancellations come in today was not likely. It really is not a very big marina. We could have checked with another marina here in St Augustine, but I figured we might as well move along to our next place.
So I got on-line and scoped out Fernandina Harbor Marina. It is on Amelia Island, and we have never been there before, by land or by sea. When we did our 2018 Loop, the marina was still closed due to devastation from hurricane Matthew in 2016. In fact, it just opened about six months ago! It’s not a big town, but I’ve heard that it’s a neat place. You can make reservations for the marina on-line on the “Snag-a-slip” reservation system, so that’s what I did. We are all set up for three nights there.
Mechanic Kenny was all dressed in his mechanical duds to go down and change the fuel filters. But once we learned that we have to leave early tomorrow morning with some tidal influence, he decided not to. The last thing he wants is an engine to burp with an air bubble while we’re trying to navigate getting out of the marina in water that has a mind of its own.
So instead, we went to town for lunch. We had scoped out the Prohibition Kitchen yesterday, and thought it would be a good place. It’s a pretty neat place inside with a huge bar. But a 45 minute wait?
So…… we sat at the bar, which turned out to be a great decision.
We ordered a couple of burgers, a wine and a beer. How often do you get a burger that has your own initials branded into the bun? Paul Kenneth (PK) got the Prohibition Kitchen (PK) burger.
We gandered at the back bar right in front of us, and some things caught our eyes with wonder. 🤔 Right there smack in front of us were bottles of Blanton’s Bourbon and Weller Bourbon! This bar really had a lot of top shelf and hard to come by kinds of spirits.
We asked about the Weller because Mr Bourbon Lips really likes it and has a hard time finding it in retail stores. And this one was a little different than the green label one that he usually gets. This is Antique 107, so we got the story about it. As a matter of fact, this is from Prohibition Kitchen’s own single selected barrel. 😲WOW!
Intrigued…. yes, please provide a neat pour. It had some heat, and was really smooth. I got my lips wet with it, and I kinda tasted some licorice notes. (I really don’t care for bourbon.). This was the favorite of one of the bartenders.
Another bartender preferred this one: Henry McKenna 10-year Bottled-in-Bond. Apparently this bourbon won the prestigious 2019 World Spirits Award, which is only the second time a bourbon has won overall. Who knew? We didn’t try this one, and it’s probably just as well, because it’s likely harder to find than Weller.
So what does “Bottled-in-Bond” mean? I remember learning about this when we did distillery tours in Kentucky. Here’s the scoop:
On March 3rd, 1897, Congress signed the Bottled-in-Bond Act into law, marking the first ever consumer protections for distilled spirits. Prior to the bill being made law, many “straight” whiskeys on the market were filled with additives not mentioned on their labels. A barrel of bourbon in the general store could be topped off with molasses, tobacco juice, formaldehyde, or worse. Distillers in Kentucky were fed up with their product getting a bad name, and led by Col. E. H. Taylor Jr, they pushed for the passage of the Bottled-in-Bond Act. The law states that bottled-in-bond bourbons must be distilled by the same master distiller, in the same distilling season, at the same distillery, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at 100 proof to bear this seal of quality. The label must also include the distillery (or distilleries) where the spirit was made and then bottled. All these regulations may seem a bit over the top, but for the past 122 years it’s been a transparent way for consumers to know the quality of their bourbon at a glance.
So there is your distilled spirits lesson for today. 🥃😁 You’re welcome.
We wandered around the Colonial Quarter for awhile. There are a lot of restaurants, ice cream shops, coffee shops, bars & taverns, and retail stores. It’s just a fun place. Kind of like an outdoor mall in colonial buildings on ancient brick streets.
At the north end, we saw this Old City Gate.
The sign said that this gate was opened in 1739 and provided the only access through the defense line of the north side of Spanish St Augustine. This town has so many old walls, the historic fort Castillo de San Marcos, lots of old Spanish and Colonial buildings – we always enjoy being here!
Back at the marina, we kind of scoped out who is docked where, for our early morning getaway tomorrow. This is a neat sailing vessel, isn’t it?! I’m sure glad I don’t have to take care of all that wood, but it sure is pretty.
I turned in our key cards that let us in to the washrooms and laundry (which we never used). Tomorrow’s low minus tide is at 5:23am. I don’t know what “Civil Twilight” is, but that’s at 6:51. We’ll try to be leaving by then. Slack tide here is about a half hour after the tide, roughly 6:00-ish, so the water will be starting to get its groove on by the time we leave around 7:00. We’ll just have to be alert and no dilly-dallying about getting out of here! The tide will be coming in until 11:22, and changing by nearly six feet. I know that there’s a lot of places with tide and current in the world. This just happens to be one of those places where the water comes in from the ocean and narrows down through this channel, so it runs fast here.
Tomorrow we are headed 65 miles up the Florida coast to Fernandina on Amelia Island. It will be new territory to us!