hence our options are kind of limited. A good part of the trip involves a tedious, boring

mostly flat highway, no matter which option you take. I-75 is not the worst, but it goes

along the west coast, so is no good for us this time. State route 27 and US1, are a little

more interesting because they go through cities and small towns but it takes forever. Florida's

Turnpike is a horribly boring drive I refuse to take ever again and to ad insult to injury

they actually even charge you for it. My route of choice north is usually interstate 95,

pretty boring as well but at least it is toll free, and the quickest way.

We finally make it to Daytona Beach at around 9:30pm.

We find a hotel to spend the night, using the Hotels.com iPhone app. It is called La

Playa, and it was pretty cheap, 60 bucks for the night.

Good morning from Daytona Beach, Florida. We wake up at the crack of dawn to this breathtaking

sunrise. Good morning, it is 7:20 in the morning and

we have waken up in this near freezing temperatures to photograph the sunrise. Today we continue

due north on the east coast of the United States. We're going to visit Saint Augustine,

America's oldest city, er, what else? Jacksonville, and eventually we'll arrive at Savannah Georgia.

Meanwhile enjoy the sunrise. Sorry if I seemed a little slow, I was still

half asleep and nearly frozen, but... It is time to say "Good bye" to la playa,

as we continue due north. It wasn't the greatest hotel, but for one night, a comfy bed, and

the beautiful and frigid oceanfront sunrise we just witnessed, it was more than adequate.

We continue driving north here on A1A and our destination, next destination is the Fort

Matanzas. As you can see I've been demoted to copilot, but that's OK, I'm taking a break.

Moving along. The A1A runs almost parallel to the Atlantic

Ocean coast and we are going to be driving on this road for a while. It is a refreshing

break from boring I-95. We pass by Flagler Beach, near Palm Coast. This coastal area

in North East Florida is called the first coast, for two main reasons. It is the first

coast you see as you enter Florida through Jacksonville. More importantly, this was the

first part of Florida colonized by Europeans, namely the Spaniards, as we are about to find

out by visiting Fort Matanzas. Fort Matanzas is a National Monument and the

National Park Service gives us a free ride on a boat to the fort, which guarded the southern

mouth of the Mantanzas River, which accessed Saint Augustine. The fort eventually became

a ruin, as the Spaniards lost Florida. It it was restored in the early 20th century,

one major flaw of the restoration; the watchtower was originally a little narrower and some

other historical discrepancies.

Two of the cannons are actually the original ones from the fort, the rest are just replicas.

When they chose the location of the fort the chose this position because that was the original

entrance to this body of water. Today you can see that nature took care of it. Eventually

that whole area unless the army cores of engineers come over and dredge it out again is going

to completely get covered by sand... Made with coquina which is a stone made of crushed

shells its actually a fortification that used mortar from lime.

Inside we can see how life would have been for the poor Spanish soldiers stationed here.

How they cooked, how they slept... how they prayed.

A ladder gives the only access to the observation deck. Here we can get a commanding view of

the Matanzas inlet. One can only imagine the poor Spanish soldiers

seeing the British ships offshore Our quick excursion to the fort is over, and

I must say kudos to the National Park Service, as this whole experience was informative,

pleasant in spite of the unusually cold weather, and totally free.

There is also a nature trail, but it is not so great, not worth it really .

Time to go but before we do it is time to fulfill a childish whim of mine. I've always

wanted to drive on the sand, on the beach actually, and over here they let you do it,

well also back in Daytona, if you noticed the speed limit signs at sunrise, earlier

today. Here we go.

We drive a few miles north to historic Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine is the oldest continuously

occupied European settlement in the United States, founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. However, Juan Ponce De Leon was around here before, in 1513,

and he claimed the region for the Spanish crown. After a short drive we arrive. The

pretty building in the background is the Flagler College. I 500 feet, at the roundabout...

What...

Yeah, the GPS sucks sometimes. At the roundabout...

What!

What's up with Waze, that's it, we're using Google Maps for the rest of the trip. We pass

by the San Marcos Castle, built in 1668, after a British attack, and still stands today as

the nation's oldest fort, now ran by the National Park Service as the Castillo de San Marcos

National Monument. The GPS directs us to the closest parking lot.

Saint Augustine is famous for having the oldest drug store in the US. I often question the

authenticity of these places. Apparently they sold liquor, tobacco, medicine and Indian

remedies. We continue exploring this touristy town.

We are walking along Saint Georges Street, Here in Saint Augustine. This is the main

drag, St. George's street, the tourist trap if you will. Here is supposedly the United

States oldest wooden school, from 1716, although there's an older claim in Staten Island, New

York from 1696, so I have a good conspiracy theory that all this is fake. Who knows. The

Cobblestone streets, the Cuban flag... I was born in Cuba so whenever we see the flag,

we usually take a picture. The beautiful intercostal view is a must do photo opportunity.

Well, we'll visit Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth some other time, because we are kind

of pressed for time now, so we must go on. It's 1pm time to leave

North we go. We decide to take scenic coastal A1A instead of the faster I-95 once again.

We drive for 45 minutes through Ponte Vedra Beach, which is mostly ocean front residential

neighborhoods with multi million dollar homes, and golf courses, very lavish.

We are approaching Jacksonville, Florida's most populous city in the state if you only

count the people living within city limits and not the suburbs. Also quite musical as

popular bands Lynyrd Skynyrd and Limp Bizkit both originated here.They all came from here.

We are now arriving at Jacksonville, and we are super hungry so we are not going to waste

time with any nonsense. We are going straight to this place called Jacksonville Landing.

They are having some kind of Christmas show. So we decided to break one of traveler's rules

and have lunch at the tourist trap, namely at Hooters. Sometimes you need something familiar.

And the show goes on. I would imagine that a place like this would

be more full of people on a Saturday afternoon, but I guess not. Maybe everybody was indoors

due to the chilly weather. The Jacksonville Landing was designed and built by the same

company that built Miami's Bayside and some other similar places... and one can sort of

see the resemblance. Crossing the bridge we visit the Friendship Fountain, on the other

side of the river. The water jets move to the rhythm of the music,

Bellagio style, but in this case a more bouncy music would definitely enhance the effect

I think. City of Jacksonville Saint Johns River Park and Marina.

Well, time to continue, not before driving through the historic Riverside Neighborhood.

One cool thing about this trip going north is the change in vegetation. As you can see

there are no more palm trees. As we continue north the trees will have less, and less leaves.

And after a few miles we are in Georgia! Or should I say Georgia is on our mind?

We are quickly approaching the city of Savannah, Georgia, we're about an hour away. And I-95

seems endless. I have no idea what I;m gonna say. Bye.

We finally arrive at Savannah. We have should I say Waze, the GPS gets a little lost finding

the Hotel, but we do end there eventually. We have gotten a great deal using the Hotel

Tonight app on the iPhone, a must if you are traveling like us with no reservations. We

landed the Hyatt in the historic district.

We have arrived at the Hyatt. It doesn't really get any better than this, it was less than

a hundred bucks, and of course when you get this great deals they nickel and dime you

for everything else, but I believe it was worth it. We have a great view of the river

from our room. Later that night we take a stroll along River

Street, which has a bunch of shops, restaurants and bars. They have a Wet Willie's, which

used to be one of my favorite bars in Miami Beach before it got too popular.

We really want to walk around but were exhausted from the long road trip, so we decide to finish

the night at the Bohemian Hotel next door, which has a roof top night club, Rocks on

the Roof with live music and great ambiance.

From Savannah, Georgia, good morning. We walk around this historic and beautiful

city we see City Hall from Bull Street, which is right next to our hotel, and then enjoy

the beautiful vegetation of Johnson Square. We walk up to Ellis Square and City Market,

which is a touristy pedestrian street with a bunch of Bars and restaurants. At the end

of City Market, across Franklin Square we see the First African Baptist Church, which

claims to be derived from the first black Baptist congregation in North America. The

do have a museum. As you've seen, the historic district is dotted with a grid of all this

charming squares, such as Chippewa Square, where they filmed the movie Forest Gump. The

actual bench in the movie was a fiberglass prop and doesn't really exist. Bummer.

Passing by the First Girl Scouts Headquarters in the United States we arrive at Clary's

for breakfast. We are having breakfast at Clary's, the place

has been here forver. This has been a Savannah hangout place since

1903, and it was made even more famous after it was portrayed in the book Midnight in the

Garden of Good and Evil. By Lafayette Square, as we head back north

on Abercorn street, we see the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, it's congregation

was founded in the late 1700's by French immigrants. A little further down the street we pass by

Colonial Park Cemetery, the oldest one in Savannah. It was established in 1750 and is

a popular destination for Ghost tours. It was vandalized by the federal troops during

the Civil War, but it has been restored ever since.

We are back at Bay Street, which runs parallel to River Street, where the Hotel is. There's

a bunch of quirky shops, right behind the riverfront shops.

This is the oldest continuously operating English Freemasons' Lodge in the western hemisphere.

Yeah, amazing the stuff you learn on the internets.

OK, time to leave the comfort of our riverfront room, as we must continue on the road, but

not before seeing a little more of beautiful Savannah.

Grabbing a tip from travel writer Pico Ayer, we turn off the GPS and try to reach our next

destination on pure instinct and sense of orientation. In this case I'm trying to find

Forsyth Park, which is just south of the historic district. And here we are. Lets go around

the park, what the heck. Savannah, by the way, is the historical birthplace

of Georgia. It was settled in 1733. The city maintains its antebellum charm, antebellum

meaning ante: before, bellum, war. Basically it was spared the devastation of the civil

war. The mayor gave Sherman's men run of the city in exchange for leaving it untouched,

pretty much like the French did with Paris during World War II, that's why that cemetery

got all messed up, but everything else was left pretty much intact, so we can see it

today. Smart guy that mayor, not brave but smart. OK enough of that, we pass by Mansion,

which is a very luxurious hotel with a very nice nightclub where I played with my band

a few years back. Well, let's see Forsyth Park. The iconic overhanging

trees, the Forsyth fountain which dates back to 1858. The Spanish moss draped oak trees.

There's a bronze bust of Major General Lafayette McLaws in front of the confederate monument

back there. We walk back to the fountain, which is similar

to those in Place de la Concorde, in Paris. And we make sure we are observing the sidewalk

rules of course... and with that we almost say goodbye to Savannah for now.

Lastly we cruise along historic Jones Street, it's a very picturesque luxurious residential

area. Of course the cobblestones don't help with the camera's stability, but who cares.

We pass by Clary's once again, and the place where I stayed when I came to Savannah with

the band back in 2006 or 2007, it's the blue house.

Time to hit the road as we continue relentlessly on our journey north towards New York City.

The Talmadge Memorial Bridge spans the Savannah River, between the states of Georgia and South

Carolina. We are driving on US 17 towards Charleston

And we are now in the great state of South Carolina.

After a while on US 17 we move over to I-95, in order to save some time.

Our time here in Charleston is very limited, so we're just going to walk along Market Street,

see the waterfront and have a late lunch. The historic downtown, where we are, is located

on a peninsula formed by the Ashley and the Cooper rivers.

The City Market on Market Street dates back to the 1790's. The indoor market begins at

the historic Market Hall, at the corner of Market and Meeting streets and stretches for

four blocks ending at East Bay Street. This is where the also historic Custom House is

located. From the dock we see the Arthur Ravanel Bridge and the Charleston Harbor, and Castle

Pinckney on tiny Shutes' Folly Island. We have a late lunch at this place called Magnolias,

which was recommended by roadfood.com. It is fancy, delicious southern cuisine. But

time flies when your having fun, and in the winter it gets dark way too early. We want

to reach New York by Christmas day so we must say hasta la vista to Charleston and continue

due north. Revisiting this pretty town is a must.