Scenes from Jacksonville

These are scenes from our boat where we were docked at the city dock. There are 4 bridges in Jacksonville, and we were docked betweeen the 2nd and 3rd.

We enjoyed Jacksonville very much. Here we are-docked at the city dock in front of Jacksonville Landing which is collecton of restaurants and shops.

Across from us was another park and fountain. We walked over there one day and then took this skyride back.

The cost for this was 50 ents--but for seniors, only 10 cents !!!

Getting back to north Jacksonville, we got off at this park with the statue of Andrew Jacksonville. Later that evening, we came back for the Art Fest and a dixie land band was playing there. Lots of artists and vendors.

Walking back to the boat, there were at least 3 other bands playing in different areas of town with some of the shops staying open to display other artists' works.

The other two bridges, the park across the river and last, the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium. This town is also home to Maxwell Cofee and has a Budweiser brewing plant. It is expected to grow by about 20,000 jobs in the next few years because of the expansion of the ship yards now being built. Also, Mayo has a clinic here.

St. Augustine to Jacksonville

Our friends Darrel and Beth caught up to us in St. Augustine so we reserved the marina courtesy car . After walking around the parking lot for a while, we found it ! (see the courtesy car parking sign in front !)

After running errands to Home Depot, Target, West Marine and the grocery store, we stopped to tour the fort at St. Augustine. This was built in the 1600's and although the fort was never taken in battle, it was under the jurisdiction of first the Spanish, then England, then back to the Spanish, then the Confederate States and finally to the US.

This is a picture of the fort overlooking the harbor.

One evening when we were sitting in the boat, this boat attempted to dock across from us. It was so windy though, that they couldn't bring it into the dock even with both bow and stern thrusters. I was really relieved when they went further into the harbor. That night, we had winds of 30-33 mph with gusts up to 50. I was afraid that had that boat been across from us, it would have pulled all the cleats off the dock !

What a change in the landscape--no more mangroves. Just sawgrass along the waterway.

But there were still beautiful homes.

Entering the St. John's River, the boats were even larger. Jacksonville, is about 8 miles up this river off the intra-coastal waterway.

Although I couldn't find any sign that this was a lighthouse, it's architecture suggested it was one. And it was pretty much at the entrance to the St. John's River.

A little further down the river was this suspension bridge with a freighter approaching.

Passing under the bridge, we saw the workers, painting it ! What a job!

Here are some homes along the river and a weird looking freighter flying a Panama flag. Apparantly Jacksonville is a big seaport for shipping cars. There were many container ships too.

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.

At last--St. Augustine. On a very windy morning. Here is the downtown area.

And the Bridge of Lions which is undergoing renovation. Note the dog on the boat--I think he wants to get off.

St. Augustine Lighthouse.

The inlet to the Atlantic Ocean...see the surf out there. Glad to be inside and almost to the marina where we'll stay a couple of days.