Sunset Sail

We've only been here in Jacksonville for about two month but we've heard great things about St. Augustine.  It's only an hour away and when I heard they have (according to National Geographic) one of the best light displays in the country, I knew we had to go.  Being obsessed with Christmas lights and all things holiday related, I wasn't going to pass this opportunity up.

I logged onto the website and saw that they had a few different options for the Night of Lights tours.  One in particular caught my eye, the Night of Lights Sunset Sail.  You set out on a giant sailboat, drinking wine, beer, soda, or hot cocoa, and enjoy the sunset via the water.  On your way back into the marina, you get to see the beautiful lights of St. Augustine.  Um, where do I sign up?!  You see, I've never been on a sailboat.  Which is crazy since my husband had access to plenty of sailboats while at the Academy.  

But I digress.

We made reservations and then headed out there one evening.  There were about 6 other couples on the sailboat with us, plus the captain and two more crew.  It was such a great experience!  They recruited the men to help them with the sails occasionally, were on top of refilling our drinks, and engaged us in great conversations about their jobs, their history with sailing, their personal lives and our personal lives.  

The sunset was beautiful, although I was sitting in the wrong location of the boat to really get some great photos.  But it was a perfect romantic date night and we even got to see dolphins swimming right by our boat!!!  The only thing that could have made it better was if the temperature had been a little warmer.  As the sun set, it got really cold, really quickly.  Thankfully they had blankets available for those that wanted them.

(they had Christmas lights on the sailboat!  All around the edge and going up the masts!)

(I took this sail as an opportunity to play with my new camera in manual settings.  I had no idea what any of settings and buttons did, but I just slowly changed things and experimented.  I got a few decent photos but nothing to be overly proud of.  And this is why I really need to take a class or online tutorial to learn to use this bad boy!)

To be honest, the lights were a little disappointing.  I was expecting a light display, but in actuality, the only lights were the lights strung along the buildings.  It was still pretty, especially from the water, but it was much less than I was expecting.  Thankfully every other aspect of the sunset sail was great so it was okay.