Bellissimo: Stuart to St. Augustine

Leaving Stuart, the next week we traveled about 210 miles to St. Augustine. Some days we traveled 20 miles, one day-about 80 ! and still another day--only about 1 mile ! This first picture is of Bob's fish ! Unfortunately, it was only a bullhead.

There were pretty homes along the waterway on much bigger lots than they were further south.

This sailboat saw sad times--it dragged anchor and looks like the owner has forgotten about it.

The scenery changed and looked so much more like what we'd see up north---fisherman in smaller boats.

I think the blimp was returning from the golf tournment.

We made it to Cocoa Beach area and anchored south of the bridge.

This interesting boat named "Freddy Freddy" also was anchored.

We had hoped to see the spaceship return to earth but this was delayed until 8:39 PM so it was too dark for us to see--but we did hear the sonic booms.

The next day, we boated all the way across the waterway to Cocoa, FL and took a dock space at the Cocoa Village Marina. Cocoa is across from Cocoa Beach but we had heard about the historic village which sounded interesting to us.

Our first stop was the Travis Hardware which was said to be the largest

hardware on the East Coast. It was established in 1885 and I don't think

much has changed since then. Note the old step ladder and some of the vintage merchandise. I think a lot of the stuff has been there since 1885 !

Next, we headed down town which

had a lot of small quaint shops and narrow curving streets. It was really enjoyable.

Our next stop was for lunch at the Cafe Margaux. It was delicious and the service was outstanding. We chose to eat outside.

Later we walked around to the park which overlooked the anchorage we had stayed at the night before. In the morning before we left, we took a long walk along the riverside boardwalk before we left.

Passing through Titusville, we could see NASA. A huge building visible for miles. Also pictured is the Titusville swing bridge opening for us.

Here again were people picnicing which was nice to see. This is still in Titusville along the Indian River. The ICW goes through this river for a long way.

Next we went through the Haulover Canal which was very pretty with many people fishing--some from the boats but more fishing from the banks.

Leaving the canal, we entered Mosquito Lagoon. We had learned that there likely would be manatees here and sure enough, there was one alongside the boat.

One of the islands in the Mosquito Lagoon. It was very shallow in this body of water outside the ICW.

Here again were more normal looking waterside homes with docks in front like what we saw on the river system coming down to Florida.

There are four bridges going through Daytona Beach. This one apparantly was a new one. The pilings had images of dolphins and manatees on them. It also was no wake zone because of the manatees.

Here were older homes along the water way.

Here is the Ponce de Leon lighthouse.

Leaving Smyrna Beach where we anchored one night, we passed this drive-by snack shop.

When we were nearing Palm Coast, there was a bicycle trail along the waterway...this bicycler passed us up ! Not too hard to do when you travel at 6-7 miles per hour. We were going against the current here though (need some excuse).

We had hoped to anchor in the Matanzas River near this old fort. But our anchor wouldn't hold...apparantly they had recently dredged and the bottom was all gravel.

So on we went---past this interesting building that advertized itself as Bed and Breakfast. They also had a sign that said "Restaurant Open to the Public" but I didn't see anyone there except the obvious owners.