I feel like the ending of this trip is a sign that the rest of the year will go poorly.

John Tyler happened to be one of two dead presidents whose houses G3 had not been to. (The other one is Nixon who is out in California, one of the states G3 has not yet seen.)

While Kati was intent on leaving Florida today, I wanted one more swim. So, we detoured to Anastasia Island to go to Matanzas Beach, one of the beaches my cousin recommended. The beach is across the street from Fort Matanzas National Monument. And yes, the thought of paying a visit to the fort did cross my mind.

On the tour, we had the opportunity to see the turtle patients. Some had the FP tumors. Some were recovering from surgery. One was paralyzed, another lost a flipper after getting entangled. We saw them swimming in their tanks. The large one connects to the ocean and fish enter and leave at will. We couldn’t touch the turtles, but we were able to feed them a snack of romaine lettuce.

The water was blue and clear and gorgeous. I have not gone swimming in water that looked that clean since Kati and I were in Honduras eighteen years ago.

But G3 wouldn’t take no from me. “You’re breaking the promise you made me when I was little,” he said. “And what promises is that?” I asked. “That you would always play with me if I had no one else.”

As much as I love Cape Cod, that’s about how much I dislike Miami.

Today, we came in search of alligators and found mosquitoes, swarms and swarms of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes smaller than the ones in Alaska but more aggressive, nasty, and persistent.

We started this road trip with G3 driving and today, we are taking him to his first college visit.

St. Augustine apparently is a great place for us to reconnect with people.

Since St. Augustine predates Jamestown and Plymouth, it claims many firsts and oldests: 1–The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in America in 1601. 2–The oldest wooden school house in America. 3–Aviles Street is the oldest street in America. 4–The first Catholic Mass in America.

Our destination is St. Augustine, a city I have wanted to visit for a very long time considering it is the oldest city in America. Jamestown gets too much credit because it was settled by the British and became one of the original thirteen colonies but St. Augustine was settled first. It’s just that the Spanish got their first and held it in their possession for nearly two hundred years before the British—and then the Americans—snatched it from them.

When Georgia was first settled it was a called a Trust Colony and it was initially intended to be a utopian society. Poverty was rampant in England in the 1700s and in British society one was essentially condemned to the class in which they were born.

It feels like G3 was in a car seat not all that long ago and now he is driving. His permit allows him to drive in New Jersey so he can only drive the first hour or so but it still feels somewhat unsettling.

I am now back in Jersey. The traffic was awful—even worse than I expected and I expected it to be bad. But G3 didn’t complain too much about my music so at least I had that as I was inching along through the traffic. After a week of thinking, I think my plan for September is…

When we used to come out here during Family week, G3 and I always walked the breakwater the day we arrived. It became a tradition of sorts. This time we walked it on our last full day. My legs are not as agile as they once were and walking in the rocks was not as easy, but I still enjoy it. Mostly, I enjoyed being out with G3 even though he walked—as he now often does—several strides in front of me. p

I learned long ago that the tighter you try to hold onto something the swifter it passes from your grasp. Yet, this week, I still tried to hold onto to time with mom, the time here on the Cape a little too tightly, wanting the time to last, and here I am at the end of the week happy to have had this moment but sad that it is almost over.

The trails led me first to Duck Pond. Duck Pond is one of several kettle ponds on Cape Cod. They were formed roughly 15,000 years ago. Back then glaciers covered much of this area.

G3 had turned back without me and he made it known that he wasn’t happy. If only G3 could have enjoyed the seals with me. If only he hadn’t been cranky and in a rush to get back. If only he could have walked with me instead of being short with me.

While I was wandering around P-town, my memory was in overdrive as I recollected things we used to do and places G3 once posed for photos. He used to get so excited about spending a week out here.