I woke up today at 6:30 am PST for a long travel day. One of Jes’ old roommates, Gerard, is getting married on Saturday and the rest of the Roebling House is going out there to help celebrate. After a 5-hour non-stop flight from LAX to Orlando (MCO), waiting an hour for the melters to arrive, driving another 2 hours in our rental mini-van, we arrived in the oldest U.S. city by 10:00 pm EST.

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The journey to St. Augustine had its moments.

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Jes and I couldn’t get upgraded because they only had one opening for us. Instead, we sat together in Economy Plus, which wasn’t bad. It was just really dry in the cabin and I had a bad case of the sniffles. At the airport, we went to Borders to buy a book or two. I thought I’d try out the Sudoku craze and bought a book of puzzles to try. Maybe it will be a good activity for the flight to Thailand.

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Eventually Bang, Vyl, Ryan, Michelle, and Tob arrived and we took a really long shuttle ride to get our dope ride. In the mini-van, we frantically searched for a place to eat. We ended up at Waffle House per the request of Vyl, our Southern girl. The diner was pretty ghetto with an interesting set of “characters” who worked there. First was our server who was missing some of her front teeth, then there was the cook who ended up making us two of everything on accident, and then the other server who was a portly woman and very protective of the dishtowel she brought from home. I guess you had to be there. Anyway, I had some waffles and cardboard sausage patties, Michelle had some grits, Ryan tried the hashbrowns with chili and cheese on top, and Bang had a gray steak with his eggs. The remainder of the drive to St. Augustine included stupid yet hilarious Chuck Norris jokes, Bang’s runny nose, and making fun of Tob, as usual.

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We checked into the B&B on 63 Orange St., which is owned by a nice lady named Jackie. I had never stayed at a B&B before so I had no idea what to expect. Jes wasn’t too pumped about the accommodations but I thought it would be a good experience. It’s basically a really old house and we each took a different room of the house. We stayed in the room that once belonged to a girl named Effie (one of the four sisters in the family). There was a guest book in the room that gave us a bit of history about the house and the room. It said that when she lived there, her mother was a widow and would rent out their rooms for some income. When guests stayed over, all the sisters had to sleep in the attic. Oooo…spooky. Jackie did mention that some same the house and town is haunted…this is going to be an interesting weekend.

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OK, we’re going out for drinks with the bride and groom-to-be now. Let the party begin!