St Augustine to Brunswick - Loop Trip Days 110 - 116

There's a lot going on in Saint Augustine and we're beginning to think that our stay will be too short, but today it's off to catch the tour trolley and see how much we can see. The trolley is a pretty good deal. We got a two day ticket which makes it even better. They narrate the ride so you can learn about the city's history and you can get on and off all day long. We got on at the winery and rode to the old fort where we got off and walked to breakfast at the Maple Street Biscuit Company. Great spot, quite inexpensive and interestingly located on Cordova Street, go figure. From here, it was on to the Oldest Schoolhouse. Boy, were things tough back in those days. You had to bring wood for the fire, food for the teacher and if you misbehaved, you got put in the closet under the stairs! How do you think that would go over these days? After that, we went to the Castillo de San Marcos, probably better known as the Old Fort. Lot of history here and an interesting engineering lesson about how the coquina stone could stand up to bombardment without failing. While there, the Park Service did a demonstration of the firing of a cannon! You would be deaf from doing that with any regularity. From the fort, we went to the Colonial Quarter for a tour of what life was like during the various occupations of the city. John was our guide and he did a great job narrating the tour. Amazingly the day has flown by and it's time to head to the Prohibition Kitchen for dinner. This place has a decor from the 1930's and jazz music daily. We got in just before the hoards arrived and packed it to the gills!

Old school room

Old school ouse and kitchen

Marker

Old City Wall

The Old St Augustine Fort

Firing the cannon

Interior of the fort

Ship building at the Colonial Quarter

Prohibition Kitchen

Yesterday was windy and about 44 degrees, but this morning the wind has died down and the temperature is closer to 60. Much better! We walked to our trolley stop and waited, but no trolley. Much to our surprise today is the St Patrick's Day parade and a Celtic Festival is going on so downtown is a total mess. Now those tickets aren't looking like such a deal. Anyway, the only way to town is on foot so we're walking. Our plan was to go to brunch at the Casablanca hotel, when we arrive it will be an hour to get seated and place an order. Next door is the Harbor View Grille which is a little diner that has been here for 30 years. We met Mary, the owner, sat at the counter and had a great meal. From here, the next stop is the Pirate and Treasure Museum. Paul, at the marina, told me about this place and how the interior was done like the inside of a ship. Actually, part of the design was done by Disney and the exhibits are excellent. From here, we were finally able to get on the trolley and rode from the Old Fort to the Oldest Jail. The tour of the jail was quite a tale! It was funded by Henry Flagler when he came here to rebuild the city and his hotel. He gave the City the money with the requirement that it be at least one mile from his hotel. This was not a place you would have wanted to be. The six foot by six foot cells with four bunks typically housed 12 to 16 prisoners!! After the jail, it was back on the trolley to get back into the downtown area. We went back to the Prohibition Kitchen to watch the Vols in the SEC semifinals and have dinner.

Pirate Museum

Pirate Museum

Our convict tour guide at the Old Jail

Cell interior

Sunday morning, we left for the next leg up the ICW. The first part goes past the downtown area and the Old Fort. You pass under the Bridge of Lions which is a really cool, historic structure. Just past here, the ICW turns east straight toward the St Augustine Inlet and then makes a hard left turn. The waves were breaking and the view was great. For about the next ten miles, the waterway is wide and almost totally undeveloped with no speed restrictions. This was great until about 12 miles below Jacksonville where the ICW suddenly becomes very narrow with houses, docks and restaurants lining the banks. Now the restrictions are back and the next six miles are slow. At least there is stuff to look at. After what feels like an eternity, this is finally past and it's only a few more miles to our stop for the day which is Palm Cove Marina . Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/979991

Passing the Old Fort on the ICW

Our plan was to leave early this morning, but for some I woke up even earlier than planned. While trying to figure out why, I looked at the weather forecast to see that the front is moving faster expected. So I woke up the sleeping Admiral, much to her dismay, to let her know we had to go - now! We got rolling quickly. This is an ugly, windy, drizzly morning and almost no one else is on the water. This is a good thing as we need to get to Fernandina as early as possible. Just north of where we had stopped is the St John's River and huge ship building facilities. Going through this makes you feel really small and compared to even the smallest of these ships, we are! The area beyond here is probably very pretty on a nice day. Most of it passes through a preserve area and two state parks. Desolate, untouched, islands, swamp and sea grasses like it all must have been years ago. Arrival at Fernandina City Marina was at 11 and wind was already blowing straight out of the west at about 15 mph. West was good because it blew us right onto the face dock where we tied up. The rest of the day wind increased to about 30 mph and the waterway looked like the ocean. Thankfully, there is a floating dock between us and the open area that was badly damaged in Irma, but is stopping the waves before they break on us. We braved the windstorm and walked into town for dinner at the Salty Pelican, great food at this waterfront place. The winds will be dropping during the night so tomorrow should be a much better day. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/980695

The floating dock protecting us from the waves

Whitecaps 

Tuesday morning was entirely different than yesterday. It was cool this morning, but the wind has basically stopped and the water is flat. The marina had a breakfast place listed as the best in town so this was a must visit location. The name was Bright Morning Cafe so I Googled it to find where we were going. Turns out it was only about three blocks away. When we walked up to the restaurant we both said, "we've been here before", which was two years ago and it was still a great place to eat. From here, we went to the Maritime Museum. It didn't look like much from outside or when we first entered, but turns out that the guys who run it are actual treasure hunters and knew Mel Fisher, the renowned treasure hunter who has the museum in Key West. This museum had some amazing artifacts and the guys had so much personal information that was very interesting. Don't miss this if you're in town. The typical tourist shopping stroll through town came next. Midway through that, we came to the 1892 historic courthouse and decided to walk in. The security guard met us right inside the door, but was really nice and invited us in to look around and see the old courtroom. What a beautiful old building, well preserved and cared for. We walked all around town before deciding to stop at the Green Turtle Tavern. While sitting in a couple of tall beach chairs outside, we met a couple from New York who were here to see their son who is stationed at King's Bay. He is a submariner and has some very interesting history of the Navy. We were very impressed by his enthusiasm and commitment to his service and training in the USN! Around the corner from here was an Italian restaurant we stumbled into and Ciao turned out to be an excellent choice. We got back to the boat in time to see another Florida sunset.

The Maritime Museum

Old Courthouse

The Courtroom

Marker

Lesesne House

Sunset

On Wednesday, the wind picked up again and it was rather chilly. We hung out on-board for a while to let it warm up some and then broke out our bikes. I had been told that Old Fernandina was a place to go see so that was the plan. It was about 2.5 miles, but that didn't take too long. Unfortunately, there's nothing there so this was a bit of a let down. The map showed a nearby road leading to Fort Clinch so we went a little further only to find that it was a locked gate. Determined to make something of this trip, we headed back toward town, then east, to the main entrance to the park. From here it was a pretty, but three mile uphill, ride to the visitor center and the fort. I seriously thought my legs were going to fall off by the time we got there and I literally toppled over at the destination. The fort turned out to be a pretty neat place with a video history and a lot of details added to the various rooms in the structures. It overlooks the ICW and the Saint Mary's Inlet so we will hopefully see the water side tomorrow. After touring all over the fort, it was back to the entrance and then west back to town. The whole trip was just short of 15 miles - quite a workout for one day! And no Rob, we're not professional riders like you!  Back at the marina, we went to the Shrimp Museum before putting the bikes away and walking to dinner. Our pick was 29 South Eats, a place that we went to a couple of years ago. It's located in a little house and is very good. They were literally booked for the evening, but we had gotten there early enough that they squeezed us in!

There was a fort in Old Ferandina

Pippy Longstocking House

Fort Clinch

Guns over the waterway

The Quartermaster Room

Kitchen and laundry buildings

Big guns!

Foundation for Officers' Quarters which were never constructed

Sunset

It was again cold, but no wind, on Thursday morning when it was time to leave. We eased out and continued the voyage north toward Saint Mary's inlet and then past Cumberland Island. This is a really long island and very remote. The scenery is nice and we saw a few dolphins along the way. At the top of the island is St Andrew Sound, you actually go into the Atlantic Ocean to get around a shoal in the middle of the inlet. Thankfully, it was a very calm day and the inlet was a smooth crossing. Just north of here was Jekyll Island and another narrow creek that made up this ICW section. At the north end of this island is St Simons Sound and the Brunswick River. Our destination is to the west and off the ICW. We will spend a the next few days at Brunswick, Georgia to explore this town. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/982538

Our neighbor - about the same size??

Sunset

New Smyrna, Palm Coast and Saint Augustine - Loop Trip Days 104 - 109

New Smyrna Beach is the place where Regina basically grew up coming here for the beach. Needless to say, she is loving being here!  Saturday is our first full day in town and we were looking forward to seeing one of her friends, Pam. Unfortunately, Pam's adorable little dog, Ruffles, decided to eat a bowl of peanuts the evening before and they had to spend the night in the doggie emergency room! For future reference, I love peanuts having had an uncle who was a Tom's distributor so just let me have the bowl and there will be no more problems. Left to our own devices, we walked into town where a music festival was being held on Canal Street. Groups started playing at noon and went until 9 that night all up and down the street. It was quite an event and tons of people were there. We just kept going down the street seeing one group after another until we came to the The Half Wall Beer House where a Celtic/Country group was playing. Now you don't find something like that everyday and they were great! They could go from Danny Boy to Hotel California without blinking. We ended up staying there until they finished and had our early dinner before going back to the marina. We had to get back to watch the Vols play Georgia in the last basketball game of the regular season. First half of the game wasn't looking good, but my Vols knocked off the dawgs to be SEC Co-Champions! Boy was this better than football season!

Fritz the marina cat

One of the downtown music acts

Downtown New Smyrna

Regina's cousin Laurie, and her husband Woody, live here in New Smyrna Beach and they came to see us on Sunday. They were at Brittany's wedding back in October, but we didn't get to spend much time together then. So today was a catch up day. We started about 10 at the marina and then went to lunch at The Outrigger. This restaurant is located at another marina here and overlooked the water with a little townhouse community right there. It was obviously very popular because even on this windy and cool day, it was packed. From here, we went to Laurie and Woody's new home just a little way down A1A from downtown NSB. They have just moved into their renovated home which is so close to the beach that, at the right time, you can hear the waves breaking. We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting and playing with their puppies, Roxy and Rufus. I'm not sure which one licked my face most, but I got to say these 75 pound cuties are deceptively sweet.

Rufus

Roxy

Off for a golf cart ride

Christmas came again on Monday when Rob and Mary Lu came to visit and delivered all the packages that we had been sending to their house. Our family and friends along the way are a great help in assisting with getting things that we can't pick up at our locations - sort of an extension of the UPS man. They got into town and we went on a short walk through the city and looked at the historical site across the street before taking us on a grocery store run. It looked like we only came back with jugs and bottles of water, but there was some food in there as well. When all that was unloaded and put away, we headed off to The Garlic to meet Laurie for dinner. This is one of the wildest restaurants I have ever been to. The pictures hardly do justice to the natural decor of the place. Except for the big wood fired pizza ovens, you would never think this was an excellent Italian restaurant! After eating, we all went back to Laurie's house for desert and more family time. We sure enjoyed our visit to NSB and have had a fun time here!

The marker across from the marina

The foundation remains

The Garlic

The Garlic 

The Garlic 

Our group

Thursday morning was quite a chilly 48 degrees when we were leaving the City Marina. Fortunately, it was sunny and very calm so we didn't freeze in this return of winter! The ICW between NSB and Palm Coast was quite varied between wide and narrow sections. We were going to take a short cut that lead us to the St Lucie Inlet to then take a side channel back north to the ICW. Arriving at the inlet, the waves were rolling in and there were no markers on that "alternative" route. This called for a course reversal and back to the longer, but marked, route.  The remainder of the ride on to the north was peaceful with very few other boats out. Minimum wake zones were plentifully so this was not a fast trip. We got to Palm Coast Marina which is down a canal on the west side of the waterway, added some fuel and got tied into a spot on the face dock. There was a development called European Village about a 10 minute walk away and we went there for a nice dinner at another Italian place! Good thing there are a lot of different kinds of ltalian food, two days in a row is a bit much. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/975803

The next day, we hung out at the boat while I worked on reservations for the locations coming up. One thing that's not working out is going to Cumberland Island. It turns out that at the place is so popular that you need to book tours two to three weeks in advance and you must give 14 days notice to get a cancellation refund. That pretty much says any interruption to schedule, be it weather or mechanical, and you loose the somewhat expensive tour ticket. Oh well, guess that this will be a land trip sometime later. At least I got the rest of the month worked out. So for the afternoon we decided to go to the Beach Front Grille. Turned out that this ocean front location was a little ways from our marina, but was worth the trip. It had a picture window view of the breakers rolling in off the Atlantic. We met the owner, Jamey, who was a really interesting guy. He was a big college football fan who played tight end when he was at the University of Akron. Not to mention that he has actually been to Knoxville for a game thanks to regulars who are Vols season ticket holders! Truly is a small world.

Jamey at work

Thursday was our next travel day and the destination, Saint Augustine. This should be a great stop with lots of history and things to see and do. This was not a long trip so we didn't start too early which allowed the temperature to rise a bit above the 44 degrees registered at 8 AM.The   wind was blowing about 14 mph so it was feeling even colder. It was an interesting trip as almost all the way up the west side of the waterway was undeveloped and undisturbed while the east side was just the opposite. A surprising number of boater's were out for a Thursday which always makes things interesting. We came to Rivers Edge Marina which is about a mile and a half up the San Sebastian River from the ICW. There was a bunch of current and wind combined with a slightly restricted space to maneuver which made the docking somewhat exciting. So I made a last second change to go bow first into a double wide slip beside a sailboat instead of trying to back into this spot. After getting everything done, we walked into town. First to the Ice Plant, which was a very cool re-purposed building that now houses a restaurant and a distillery. From here, we continued on past Flagler College, City Hall and the Plaza before stopping at Harry's Seafood for dinner. The place was packed and it wasn't hard to understand why, it was very good.  Tomorrow we're doing the trolley tour! Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/977079

The Ice Plant

Another view - see the old crane rail at the wall

Flagler /college

Marker

City Hall

Marker

The plaza

Courtyard at Harry's

West Palm to New Smyrna - Loop Trip Days 95 - 103

West Palm Beach is a pretty cool place. We didn't go to Worth Avenue or go to the Breakers, but did get out the bikes and rode over Flagler Bridge. It's a draw bridge so of course it opened just as we got to the top - actually it happened going both ways. Just over the bridge is a path under the roadway that takes you to a bike path along the water behind all of the huge mansions facing the ICW. We first cut off the path to go to a diner, located in a drug store, for bunch. Sounds crazy, but it was packed with locals and gets 5 stars on Yelp! The people watching entertainment was as good as the food. From here, we rode down to the beach. All of the mansions on the ocean side own a strip of land on the other side of the road for their private beach. These range from a few ignored plots to simple grass and chairs to very ornate areas with small cabanas housing a bathroom, kitchenette and lounge! After the beach, we went back to the path on the ICW side and rode north. The flowers and homes were amazing. We also saw the Episcopal Church built in 1894 which was the only church within 50 miles and most of the congregation came by boat. It appears to be a home now and looks nice. After our ride, we reloaded the bikes, cleaned up and went to town for dinner. Thursday nights are Clematis by Night days with concerts in the park so the area was packed. We went to Rocco's Tacos for a Mexican night. Fun spot right across from Grease!

At the beach

Very cool tree

Palm Harbor Marina from Flagler Bridge

History of the church

This is the converted church

They even had orchids growing in the yard

Friday was the next travel day and we're going to Jupiter. Castaway Marina at the Square Grouper to be exact. Sources tell us that this place is huge fun. They have two entertainers everyday of the week, but the weekend is said to be the most popular time. The trip up the ICW was another nice ride. There was very little traffic on the water and on this day, we didn't have to get any bridges opened. Most of the trip was no or minimum wake so we weren't setting any speed records. After locating Castaways, we had to stop at their fuel dock to find out our slip location. The marina was literally in front of the Jupiter Inlet and the wind was blowing pretty hard right from that direction. Backing into the slip was a bit exciting, but I got in! We walked up to check out Square Grouper and then went to U-Tiki Beach for dinner. This place was packed and it turned out to be a fabulous place to eat.  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/968008

Looking out at the marina

Sunrise!!

The Jupiter lighthouse was right across the ICW from our location and I had been told it was well worth the trip to visit. We started off walking over, but on the way caught up with a free trolley that was making runs over the bridge. Turns out that this was some kind of special kids day at the park surrounding the lighthouse. It was a bit crazy, but going to the top of the lighthouse and visiting the museum was pretty cool. Views from the balcony around the top were great and the color of the water below looked like someone had added food coloring to make it an incredible shade of aqua. After the visit, we went back to get ready for dinner which was a trip back to U-Tiki because it was so good last night! The place was even more crowded than the night before. Fortunately, we found a spot on the corner of the bar and met a couple who were originally from Rockville, Maryland not far from the area where we once lived. He was a former Marine Corps helicopter pilot and they were a really great couple who have lived in Jupiter for a while.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse history

Getting ready to make the climb

View from the top

Castaways at night

Sunday morning meant time to leave Jupiter and head toward Stuart. Sunset Bay was the marina that our friends Tom and Fred had taken their boats and I wanted to go there because of all the things they had told me about it. Seems that everyone thinks it is a great location and they had no room for us, so once again it's time to make adjustments. Sailfish Marina is on the opposite side of Stuart and they had space so that's the place! The trip up the ICW took us past Jupiter Island which is lined with mega-mansions. Even the "normal" size homes on this island are priced in the multi-millions! It was just one after another for miles. We had left early due to the tide which meant not a lot of traffic on the water. That greatly reduces the stress of wondering what some of these people are doing with a boat. The arrival point for Stuart is at the St Lucie inlet from the Atlantic Ocean and there was a lot of activity by the time we got here. The Marina was not far off the ICW in an area called Manatee Pocket.  So it was a quick trip in and we were docked in the middle of huge sport fishing boats. After getting things straightened up, we are off to the Twisted Tuna for early dinner. This was right on the water, crowded, had live entertainment and good food! Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/968010

St Lucie Inlet

At the Twisted Tuna

Big sportfish boat at the Tuna

On Monday, the bikes came off for a ride to the park next to the marina and then on down the road to see the banyan trees. In the park, we met a guy flying a drone doing a video of a sport fishing boat. He was telling us about his business and the $3K drone he was using! This little gadget was cool - can I have one?!?  Down the road from the park, we found the trees we had heard about. The banyan trees make a canopy over the road that continues for about a quarter of a mile. It was a beautiful sight and the canopy made the air temperature very comfortable. After the ride, we got ready and Ubered across to Sunset Bay Marina and Sailor's Return restaurant. Sunset Bay is quite large and looks very nice. We met some folks from Connecticut there and Regina learned how to grow herbs on- board. Did a short walk after dinner over to the downtown area for an ice cream cone and to check out the area.

Banyan trees over the road

Sunset Bay Marina sunset

Tuesday was a travel day to Vero Beach. We got an early start and headed north up the ICW. Wind was pretty strong directly from the north and the ICW gets really wide and open in almost all of this area. That makes for a chop on the water and a lot of spray over the bow. Not a bad ride, but this means we’re going to be crusted with salt! Not a lot of activity today and we’re too far from shore to see a lot. Fortunately, not a lot of the area was slow speed so it was a fairly quick trip to Vero. Friends, Pat and Barbara, from Maryland were nearby and they came to visit us. Dinner was at Mulligan’s over on the beach and it was really nice to spend time catching up. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/969510

Suntex Marina at Vero

Dinner at Mulligan's

These are turning into travel days so we can get to New Smyrna for the weekend. Today we move on the Melbourne. It’s sunny and the wind as changed direction. This made for a much dryer trip! We got into Melbourne Harbor about 12:30, got some fuel and into our slip. Yelp had a Cuban restaurant listed that was close and had 4 stars so headed there for lunch. Afterwards, we found a barbershop where I could get a much needed haircut! Downtown is being revitalized and had lots of shops and eateries. Looks like it is doing quite well. For dinner, we did the happy hour menu at Chart House right at the marina entrance. That’s a great deal!! Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/969780

Melbourne Marina

Next we're off to Titusville where we will stay at the Municipal Marina.  This leg is another section that is big and wide.  Best of all - no slow manatee zones.  This gave us another day to run the boat with the engines at about 70% load.  Diesels don't like to idle all the time so this was a good thing.  The winds started picking up a bit just after noon, but the direction is changing again now swinging to SW.  Our spot here is on a T-head at the end of the dock.  A long ways from shore, but will give us an easy out tomorrow morning.  This is the location of Dixie Crossroads restaurant and that's where we went for dinner and to watch the rocket launch.  This was a new weather satellite going off from the Kennedy Space Center.  I've never seen a live launch before and got to admit, it was pretty cool.  We were too far away to actually hear it, but the bright fire off the rocket was intense.  Maybe I wasn't the only one who hadn't seen one of these because there were a bunch of people who came out of the restaurant to watch!  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/970794

There is the track of the rocket

Sunset at the marina

Friday is the final day of this run to New Smyrna and it's probably a good thing.  The weather forecasts are saying that the Nor'easter up in New England is going to be affecting the weather down here.  Today was a good day with light wind and full sun, but later this weekend things are forecast to change.  We left Titusville early and came up the big, wide, open section of the ICW with some chop on the water, but not bad at all.  The sections where the channel is so wide doesn't provide much to see, but the upside is that means the "slow zones" aren't here either.  So we made the trip to New Smyrna fairly quickly and got into City Marina easily.  The winds of the last two days meant that the boat needed a de-salting wash so that was job one.  Regina did laundry while I completed the cleaning chores.  After all that was done, we went to Riverpark Terrace for dinner which turned out to be an excellent choice!  A great end to a great day.  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/971354

We're going to be in New Smyrna for the next few days.  Friends and family from nearby are coming to see us.  After going everyday for the last several days, it's going to be a nice break and it will give us a chance to see what is going to happen with this - hopefully - last winter storm.