Outback Crab Shack, St. Augustine, Florida

The Korner Store

and the rooster

A little alligator near our dock, he sat very still on this log, guess he hoped he blended into the background well enough that we couldn't see him. The only movement was the occasional blink

This turtle was one of many we have seen here. Most have been in the water by the dock.

Got us this morning to heavy skies and rain. Went up to the restaurant for breakfast (full breakfast for $5.) with Jim, Gloria and Adrienne from Crawdad. Major storm, thunder, lightening, wind and rain so we had a very long leisurely breakfast with extra cups of coffee. By late morning rain had stopped and skies had brightened a little, so Crawdad took off for Green Cove Springs. We set up the generator, while Wayne was out on the swim platform he looked down and there was a little alligator under the boat looking up at him through the openings in the swim platform. He stayed there for quite a while, then sank down into the water and we never saw him again. We went for a walk, sun even came out for a little while, then the clouds closed in again and more rain. On our walk, we went up the general store. We are really in the country, the general store sells everything, including feed and farm supplies, and there was a rooster crowing on the front porch. Quite a contrast to the Fort Lauderdale and Miami areas, even the other areas we saw along the intercoastal.

View of the dock from the bridge over Six Mile Creek; once Crawdad left, we had the dock to ourselves

We had wanted to get the  dinghy down to tour the rest of the creek, but the weather never looked quite settled enough. Back up to the restaurant for dinner, I could get used to this. Wayne tried a Low Country Boil, which was good. My grilled mahi mahi was also very good. So far I've had fried crab, grilled shrimp and mahi mahi, the last was the best so far.

What we see as we look up the dock; we are really enjoying our stay here. Very quiet. All we hear are birds, insects.

Outback Crab Shack, St. Augustine, Florida

The St. Johns  is a long river, one of the few in North America that actually flows north rather than south. Until we get almost to Palatka, it is on average 2 miles wide, so very broad. As we go upstream we are actually travelling south, and the address here is St. Augustine, which we are fairly close to, across country. Cloudy this morning, with storms predicted and a tornado watch. We spent some time in Green Cove Springs visiting the historic Episcopalean church, very beautiful on the inside. This church has fire escapes built in under the stained glass windows. We also went to the Corbett produce market, got some fresh fruit and vegetables. Left the city dock at about 11; passed by several old navy piers. Apparently it used to be a base for navy ships, but Lyndon Johnson had the base moved to Texas, at least that is what someone on the dock told us last night.We travelled south to Six Mile Creek, tied up at the Outback Crab Shack dock. This restaurant has a wonderful 1000 ft floating dock; they don't charge anything as long as you eat at the restaurant, seems like a good deal to us. Six Mile Creek is fairly narrow, but plenty of depth. Tied to the dock here, we saw a baby alligator swimming on the other side of the dock, we have seen many large fish jumping in the water and a few turtles.. The Florida Law Enforcement boat was here checking the fishing licenses of the people fishing off the dock, plus checking what they were catching. Good thing we didn't try fishing, since we don't have a license.
We were the only boat here until mid afternoon, saw another boat coming in. It was Jim and Gloria Crawford in Crawdad, with their daughter Adrienne. They are on their way back to Jacksonville, Just after they arrived, there was a thunder storm, wind and rain,tornado warnings but no tornado. Still cloudy this evening, predictions are for cloud and possible thunderstorms tomorrow, then it should clear. We wanted to take our dinghy and explore further up the creek, but it was a little wet today. Hopefully tomorrow. Had dinner with the Crawfords at the Outback Crab Shack tonight, good food and good company. Adrienne has introduced me to a new online game that I can play on my I Phone, much like Scrabble.

The old navy piers seem to be used to house cruise ships, big boats needing repair.

The dock here at Outback Crab Shack is very long

Coming into Six Mile Creek, everything seems so green after some of the very dry areas we have been in.

We saw small shad flies at Green Cove Springs, last night, first we have seen since we left home. Here we seem to have a few flies and some mosquitoes, as well as small flying things. Guess spring is coming.

The inside of the Episcopalian church; the wood visible under each side window is actually a small door hinged to swing outward.

This church is on the National Historic Building Register.

Green Cove Springs City Pier, Green Cove Springs, Florida

The town pier is quite long, and well used by people fishing



We do seem to take up the whole dock




Sulphur spring



Water runs from the spring to the pool, then out into the St. Johns river

The Presbyterian church in town, built in 1884, is on the National Register of  Historic places.

Today dawned cloudy, cool and windy this morning. We heard waves slapping the outside of the docks all last night with the winds. Cool enough this morning that I baked muffins, first in a while. After lunch winds  calmed down, as did the waves so we decided to move on another 10 miles to Green Cove Springs. Arrived mid-afternoon after a nice trip. Lots of crab traps out to thread our way among. A man from Fish and Wildlife service told us that it is the season for a soft shell crab and that people come from all over to try to get them here; that's why so many traps. Green Cove Springs is a town of about 6,000 people. It was first inhabited over 7000 years ago by natives drawn by the warm sulphur springs. The town still uses the spring, they have built a cement surround, then funneled the water into a swimming pool, the overflow from the swimming pool runs out into the St. John river. It is indeed a sulphur spring, the smell is quite strong around the spring. The town has a beautiful park on the waterfront and around the spring, part of that waterfront is a long pier with a few docks at the end. Our book said that only the dock on the north or south ends have enough water for a boat like ours, luckily the dock on the north end was empty and we docked there. It is the cruise line dock, not sure what kind of a cruise ship because our boat takes the whole dock, but it is a good dock and we are glad to have it. Walked up into town, visited a few stores and got a few supplies we were lacking. Very pretty town. Forecast for tomorrow is for thunderstorms and showers so we'll see whether we move on or not in the am.

Fleming Island Marina, Orange Park, Florida

Weather forecast for today was thunderstorms and winds. Calm this morning, so we left to travel about 13 miles to this marina. Uneventful trip, cloudy but calm. Went by a military facility, watched several  huge aircraft taking off over the boat as we passed by. The prevailing theme for today was crab pots, they were all over the river. 
This marina is very nice, has good washrooms, a pool, good floating docks. Unfortunately there are few boats here. The lady in the office told us that a new owner took over in 2008, and at that time the marina was full. Since then the economic downturn has really hurt this area and the marina is less than half full, and many of those boats are for sale. There is a yacht brokerage here, so they have many of these boats.

Turtle sunning himself under the dock

Cloudy all afternoon, few rain showers. We went for a long walk; the town has a walking trail and boardwalk that goes on for miles. After supper, wind came up and so did the waves. We have whitecaps out on the river, but relatively calm here.

Crab boat checking his traps



One view out over the marina; they have both fixed and floating docks



One section of the boardwalk.

We will decide about moving on tomorrow morning, depends on the weather.

Ortega River Yacht Club, Jacksonville, Florida

In front, the Roosevelt Highway bridge, behind it, the railway bridge just going up. That railway bridge is apparently the most frequently opened bridge in the US. A train has just gone through. This is one view from our marina.

Hot and humid today, apparently much warmer than the normal for here at this time of year. Went to Lake Shore Presbyterian Church this morning, smaller church than some we have attended lately. Nice friendly people. After lunch saw Tony M going by, they were getting fuel at a neighbouring marina. Then saw Grace Full, another looper boat. Walked over to the other marina, Tony M had left but had a few minutes to chat with the folks on Grace Full. They have been down the St. Johns river and are now outbound..

Sunset

Walked over to the shopping centre for a few more groceries, nice to have fresh vegetables and fish available. Quiet evening, we plan to head on tomorrow.

Ortega Yacht Club Marina, Jacksonville, Florida

We are in the St. Johns River! Left Palm Cove Marina this morning and meandered slowly up to the junction of the Intercoastal and the St. Johns river, then turned left to enter the river itself. It is Saturday, so lots of fishermen out on the river, as well and smaller pleasure boats. However, we had heard that from Jacksonville to the Atlantic is a major commercial waterway and that we needed to watch out for large ships. We saw a couple being loaded at docks along the way, but didn't actually meet any in the water. Did travel with dolphins much of the way. Got here mid-afternoon, fairly shallow getting into the Ortega River from the St. Johns, but the guy here at the marina was good to tell us exactly where to go. Only problem was a multitude of crab pots in the water between where we were and where we wanted to be. Made it difficult to steer directly for the house with the white roof on shore. We did make it safe and sound. We are at the end of a dock, and passing boaters can give us quite a wake. Amazing how many boats don't slow down when going by a marina.

One of the bridges over the St .Johns River

Many yards along the St. Johns with containers, facilities to load and unload large ships

Maxwell House Coffee plant here in Jacksonville

One view of Jacksonville as we approached.

Walked up into town, there is a shopping centre with a nice grocery store, pharmacy and West Marine within a couple of blocks,  lots of other stores as well. Met Jim from Crawdad at West Marine, they are at the marina next door. He is making some repairs, if they work they will leave in the morning, if not, he will still be making repairs tomorrow, will check to see if they are still there. Plan to stay here tomorrow, do a few things on the boat and see more of Jacksonville.

Palm Cove Marina, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Left St. Augustine this morning, travelled about 30 miles north to Jacksonville Beach on the Intercoastal waterway. Very pleasant trip, travelled by long areas of beautiful homes on the east of the waterway and swamp areas on the west. A little cooler today, a cold front came through overnight so we needed jeans and jackets for travel. Got here right behind Kim Jo III, went to the grocery store with Bobbie for some badly needed re-provisioning (on our part anyway). Got together with Keith and Bobbie for drinks this evening, nice to see them again. Plan to move on to Jacksonville tomorrow. By that time we will be in the St. John's River rather than in the Intercoastal waterway, and heading south.

St Augustine Municipal Marina, St Augustine, Florida

The bridge is working. Shortly after I finished writing the blog last night it went up and all of the stranded boats came through. So far today, it seems to have worked. Luckily when we leave we won't need it lifted for us. Toured the Presbyterian Church today, it is magnificent. As I have said earlier, this church was built by Henry Flagler in memory of his daughter who died of childbirth fever, and of course, of the granddaughter who died at the same time. It replaced the original Presbyterian church which was the first one in St. Augustine. The architects of the church were inspired by St. Marks Cathedral in Venice, Italy, even to putting kneeling benches in front of the pews. Someone asked if the congregation kneels during the service, but the docent said no, the architects didn't know the difference between Protestant and Catholic; the benches serve as handy foot stools. There are 92 stained glass windows in the building; the floor plan is laid out as a Latin Cross. Small tiles in the floor create patterned mosaics made of Italian marble. The lectern and pulpit are both carved out of mahogony, as is the clam shape over the pulpit which acts as a sound amplifier. Henry Flagler, his first wife, his daughter and grand daughter are all buried in the mausoleum off to the side of the church. Space was left for his third wife on condition that she not re-marry, but she did remarry after his death, so that spot is empty.
After lunch went on the beach shuttle over to the barrier island, Anastasia Island. The beach consists of several miles of fine sand, beautiful. Since we have come to St. Augustine, several guides have told us about the lack of high buildings. In the early 1900s, a bank built a 6 storey building in St. Augustine. The people of the city were so upset with it that they created a law that no highrises could be built here. Therefore, there are no buildings higher than 2 or 3 storeys. That makes the beachfront unique, no high condos or apartment buildings along the waterfront, only a few houses.
Went on from there to the lighthouse. It has 219 stairs to the top, stairs climbed several times daily by the lighthouse keepers of old, as they brought fuel (heated lard) to the top to supply the light, plus did maintenance on the light. We climbed the stairs, what a view from the top. The lighthouse museum was interesting and informative.
Back to the boat and a quiet evening. We plan to move further north tomorrow.

Memorial Presbyterian Church

Pulpit with carved clamshell overhead to enhance sound



Painted ceiling at the church




The beach



Another view of the beach, note the lack of high rises

The top section of the lighthouse. The light can be seen from between 16 and 25 miles out into the Atlantic.

View out to the Atlantic from the top of the lighthouse. The docent commented that the intervening island was not there when the lighthouse was built, it has developed from shifting sand since then. In the Second World War apparently a German submarine managed to hit several US ships just off St. Augustine because they were visible in the light from the lighthouse.

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St. Augustine Municipal Marina, St. Augustine, Florida

Our tour guide showing a chair from the period when Flagler College was a hotel. The chair has wheels on the front to make it easier for the gentleman to push the lady closer to the table. Our guide is a student at the college, a private liberal arts college which was in the beginning (1968) a ladies' college. As of the early 1970s it has been co-ed, but she says there are still 3 females for every male. The original hotel is dining hall, a few offices, and ladies' residence.

These pillers support the balcony around the second story; the carvings on four sides depict a woman in different stages of pregnancy. The guide said that the woman's face looked grumpier as the pregnancy progressed, but I couldn't see it.

So much to see; so little time! We went on one of the hop on hop off tours today. Good chance to see the town and hear something of its history, and it was worth while doing. Went back to Flagler College for a tour; Flagler college was one the Ponce de Leon Hotel and it is magnificent. It has the world's largest collection of tiffany glass. The interior is filled with carvings and paintings, reminds me of some of the huge palaces and museums in Europe. The student dining hall was the dining room of the hotel, and WOW!! It is beautiful. When the hotel first opened, it was open for the winter season only, from January to March. Rooms cost anywhere from $6. to $90. per night, but you had to pay for the whole season, no matter how long you actually stayed. In the dining hall, Henry Flagler had a table at one end. The important people had tables near his, then the people paying more were closer to him than those paying less. Those paying only $6. per night were at the other end of the dining room. The many carvings and paintings in the hotel/college represent the Spanish influence on the area, as well as Flagler's religious faith (his father was an iterant Presbyterian preacher), and he himself built the Presbyterian Church here in St. Augustine as a memorial to his daughter who died following childbirth.
From there we toured the Spanish hospital museum. It recreates hospital care for the sick and wounded soldiers in the late 1700's. In fact, at that time, walls and floors were washed daily, as were the patients and the bedding. Doctors washed hands between every patient.  It was much later than that when British care was as concerned with cleanliness (took Florence Nightingale to teach them). It seems to have stopped working tonight. The harbourmaster told us that they have just renovated the bridge at a cost of $60 million dollars. It apparently worked fine before the renovation, but now stops about once a week. For the past couple of hours, we have watched them stop traffic, ring the bells, boats come up to the bridge, then nothing happens. After a few minutes, they riase the bars and allow traffic to go through again. Then a while later, the process happens all over again. So far, the bridge has not risen. It is about 27 ft high, so any boat higher than that has to wait. There are a couple of tour boats from here caught on the other side of the bridge; a little boat from the marina here has been going out taking people off the tour boats. That has been our entertainment for the evening.

Part of the ceiling of the entrance to Flagler College





Sign above the elevator in Flagler college, one assumes gentlemen are not welcome in the ladies' rooms.

One of two towers at Flagler College, originally built to store water. This hotel had hot and cold running water, electric lights installed by Edison (2nd building in the US to have electric lights).



 St. Augustine is a great place with a lot to see so we will probably stay here another day.

St. Augustine Municipal Marina, St. Augustine, Florida

The International Speedway Bridge in Daytona Beach

Murals on the International Speedway Bridge supports in Daytona Beach

Another beautiful travel day, warm and sunny with a light breeze. We have been so lucky with weather. Started out by passing under the city's 4 bridges. One, the International Speedway Boulevard bridge, is a beautiful curved 65 ft high structure. The supports of the bridge each have a section around near the bottom painted with dolphins and manatee - first bridge that we have seen with that kind of decoration. As we travelled north, we passed a lot of marsh land, miles and miles with no houses. Then we got into a more built up area with long docks leading out into the water and some beautiful homes. Travelled with dolphins again today, we never get tired of watching those beautiful creatures. Pelicans up here are white, and white and grey rather than the brown ones we were seeing down south. Also seeing Spanish moss on trees again, made us realize that we had not seen that further south. Got to St. Augustine mid-afternoon. We had been warned about strong tidal currents here, and they were strong. Made docking rather a challenge. The tides here are higher than we have seen before, up to 5 ft.  Several other looper boats here as well, most people we had not met before.
Went for a long walk around town, St Augustine is a beautiful historic city and there is a lot to see and do. Hope to take a tour tomorrow to see more of it. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited town in the US. The city's roots are Spanish, evident in the Mediterranean architecture in the old town. 

Memorial Presbyterian Church in St Augustine

This pirate ship does tours of St. Augustine, is docked near us.

Lions guard the Bridge of Lions over the Intracoastal at St. Augustine.

This sailboat seemed to be in diffilcuty at low tide. When we came back later it was upright again.

The front of Flagler college; it was once a hotel, flagship hotel of a chain built by Mr. Flagler, then later turned into a college. The buildings and grounds are extensive, all I could think of was what a beautiful place to go to school.

We plan to stay here and tour the city tomorrow.

Halifax Harbour, Daytona Beach, Florida

Got the laundry done this morning, then walked around town, through the historic district and the shopping section. Had lunch at a little bistro in town- I had a shrimp and avocado wrap, very good. Wayne was less enthused about his frittata. Back to the boat and did a few chores, getting ready to leave in the morning. According to people around the marina, a couple of years ago the marina was full, then with the economy being as it is, many people have had to sell their boats, or they have been re-possessed. Now there are many empty slips. It is good for us transients, but we feel for people who have lost their boats. However, there are still many beautiful boats here. Wayne loves to walk the docks and look at boats, and he has been able to see so many here.

Halifax Harbour Marina, Daytona Beach, Florida

Signs at the beach

One of the many jellyfish on the beach

When the tide comes in, he just pulls it further up the beach

The beach from the boardwalk above

Another beautiful day in Florida. We went for a long walk along the beach today. The beach here is different from those we have seen; the sand is very hard-packed and so they allow vehicles on the beach, although they are restricted to a speed of 10 mph. Apparently the first carmakers tested out their vehicles on this beach, but in time they built the Daytona Speedway for vehicles that needed to go fast, and kept the beach for people and cars going slowly. The beach goes on for miles; lots of people there on this beautiful Sunday. The higher tides from the super moon must have been hard on jellyfish, the beach was littered with them. The surf was up, people were out on surf boards; the lifeguards seemed  very vigilant. There were lifeguards sitting on towers spaced along the beach, as well as one out on a SeaDoo and several more travelling up and down the beach in trucks. Came back to the boat, noticed a boat at the end of another dock with both a Canadian flag and a looper burgee so went over to visit. The boat is named Sanctuary; they left Canada in 2006 and have never taken the boat home. They leave it here and go home for the summer, then return every winter to travel down here on the boat again. Cooler this evening, some wind. A high pressure area is apparently coming in. We plan to stay here tomorrow to get things like laundry done, will plan to go to St. Augustine on Tuesday.