Welcome to Georgia

We spent 5 of our 9 loop months in Florida.  We enjoyed our time there, but it feels good to move on.  We left St. Augustine Friday morning, April 13. It was adventurous leaving the gas dock, as there was a small cruise ship in front of us and the current was so strong we were almost swept into the dock shack as we tried to back away. 

Much of the intracoastal in Georgia is tidal marsh.  Although Georgia has only about 100 miles of coastline, it is all along barrier islands and has almost 1/3 of the Atlantic tidal marshes in the US.

A navy cruiser in drydock.  This one's for you, Steve A., as you know what it's like to have to wait for repairs to your ship.  We also pass King's Bay Naval Station, where we stayed a couple of weeks ago.

The fishing/shrimp boats continue to fascinate:

Fort Clinton State Park on Cumberland Island:

Carnegie bought land on Cumberland Island, as the "old money" on Jekyll Island (more later) wouldn't allow him into their club.  The Carnegies ended up owning much of the island and that land is now administered by the national park service.

We docked at Jekyll Island mid-afternoon (where Mary threw a line into the water, instead of into the hands of a boater waiting to assist-neither of us can remember the last time that happened, but it IS Friday the 13th!) and went up to the marina restaurant for lunch.  In the hour we sat there, we saw a squirrel leap to the deck we were on, scamper onto the next table, and grab a chicken tender that was almost as big as he was.  The deck overlooks the swimming pool, where we saw a bird sitting on the line separating the deep and shallow ends.  He took a couple of drinks then treated himself to a whole bird bath.  A young raccoon also slipped out of the brush and took a sip of the chlorinated water.  We though that was enough entertainment for one lunch, but the excitement wasn't over.  A man who had been sitting by the pool got up and walked to the end of the pool, where he stepped onto the styrofoam that was covering the hot tub and fell through.  It was marked by orange cones, but he must not have been paying attention.  Luckily he wasn't hurt.

John went for a bike ride to scout the best routes and we had an evening snack at the restaurant and enjoyed the live music.  Saturday morning, on our way to ride, a boat was being lowered into the water.  The forklift operator told John that they normally put boats up to 30 feet in this way, but with 32 foot boats, it gets a little "tippy".

The bike routes on this island are wonderful and offer much variety:

Wouldn't Tarzan love these vines?

Low tide-there are hundreds of little crabs scurrying busily in the mud:

We drove over this I-95 bridge a couple of weeks ago:

Look at the birds sitting on the boat, in addition to those following:

We toured the historical museum and rode through the historic district before riding more of the bike path back to the boat.  We rode 5 1/2 miles today, Mary's first ride since injuring her ankle and hip (the old one) slipping on the boat when we first arrived at Patrick Air Force Base.

More excitement-Mary was standing at the stern of the boat, talking to a gold looper who has the good fortune to have a seasonal slip on this wonderful island, when Jill said, "That boat is sinking!"  An 18 foot runabout had docked in front of our boat and the occupants had gone up to the restaurant.  In the 20 minutes they'd been gone:

Mary grabbed the boat hook and called John down from the bow, where he'd been lazing in the sun.  People came from other nearby boats to help and most items were recovered, salty and wet, before the occupants made it back.  Towboat US used lift bags and a diver to recover the boat, which did not have its plug in place, but not before the revelers had plenty of time to drown their sorrows at the restaurant, while waiting for the boat's owner to arrive.

Saturday we rode 8 1/2 miles, and walked along the beach.  This unfortunate jellyfish did not make it back out with the tide.

North Carolina and Florida generally have tides ranging from 1-3 feet.  Because Georgia is further from the continental shelf, tides here can be 8 or 9 feet.  At high tide, none of this beach exists:

 Is this palm tree supposed to look like a pineapple?

The Jekyll Island Club was formed in the late 19th century by some East Coast millionaires including Morgan, Pulitzer, Goodyear, and Rockefeller.  This is the most elaborate of the "cottages" and it has 17 bathrooms-amazing for the time except it was built by Crane, as in Crane plumbing fixtures.

Jekyll Island Clubhouse:

This apartment building held apartments for 6 of the members who sometimes wanted to get away from the clubhouse before their cottages were constructed:

Can you imagine a more gorgeous setting?

We enjoyed the Georgia Sea Turtle Center:

Passport and Mary Frances resting at Jekyll Island:

                    

We are at Isle of Hope near Savannah and plan to stay here for a few days.

Still in St. Augustine

We had intended to move on Wednesday but couldn't schedule an oil change until Thursday morning.  We thought we'd move on today but by the time we had the oil changed, the wind had picked up and there were white caps under the Bridge of Lions.

We slept in Wednesday morning, as it wasn't a travel day, and both Brown-Eyed Girl and Passport were all tied up at their docks here in the St. Augustine Municipal Marina when we went to the office to  extend our stay. We tore the walking tour suggestion out of our AAA book and visited some sites we'd missed when we were here last week.  We wandered all around Plaza de la Constitution, the central square around which the business section of the old city was built, and read all of the historical markers; then visited the Catholic Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine, the seat of the oldest Catholic parish in the nation

as well as the Memorial Presbyterian Church Henry Flagler had built in his daughter's memory:

There are 4 tombs in this church.  Flagler's daughter and her mother, his first wife, are buried side by side at the front; Flagler is off to the right and there is an empty crypt on the left.  He intended it for his 3rd (much younger) wife, but she remarried after he died, her husband killed her for her money, and she is buried in her family's plot in KY. 

Do you think this sewer may be a couple of years old?

"Do or do not, there is no try"-a couple of old friends in a shop widow:

We know we've posted lots of bird pictures, but could you resist?

 When we first opened the boat Wednesday morning, we could smell smoke.  There are 21 fires burning in Florida and the wind pattern sent some of the smoke our way. As the day progressed, the wind changed and the smoke moved to the south and west.  Late in the afternoon Mary thoroughly vacuumed on deck to remove the last vestiges of the wind-driven construction dust from Patrick Air Force Base.  She was almost finished when Mary and John stopped on the dock to talk on their way back to Passport.  As we visited, (slow) Mary brushed something off (slow) John's dark shirt.  After she brushed at his shirt a few times, he took over and there was more and more ash-yes, ash from the fires near Jacksonville.  That's not fog or haze in this picture, it's smoke.

All of our boats had a fine coating and all of the Mary Frances deck surfaces recently cleaned were covered.  What to do?  Join Mary and John and Ginny and Craig for cocktails on the dock then dinner at the A1A microbrewery across the street and hope the wind eventually blows it all away.  The food was very good and the company even better.

Thursday morning the oil change took about an hour and weather was not conducive to travel so we canceled our Fernandina Beach reservation and extended here.  Mary caught up on a lot of paper and computer work, John ran a couple of errands and we took another walk in the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in our country.  Much of the early construction here is "coquina"-soft limestone with shell and coral bits:

Mary Frances is rockin' and rollin' (Jo, you would not be happy here tonight!) but the waves are supposed to calm some tonight so we'll get up early tomorrow and see what the day promises.

St. Augustine by water

Tuesday, April 10, 2012, another gorgeous day on the water.

This island, right in front of our dock in New Smyrna Beach, had more pelicans (both brown and white) than we had ever seen gathered in one place:

We have taken a picture of Mary Frances 4 at every dock this whole trip....except this one.  Here's as close as we get-John is unhooking the shore power to prepare to get underway Tuesday morning:

Ponce De Leon Inlet Light:

The water is SO SMOOTH today!

Why you want to be sure to stay in the channel.  Our charts showed 3 feet just outside the ICW here.  Our boat draws 3 feet, sailboats much more:

We also saw an 18 foot powerboat aground today, with two people in the water trying to push it clear.  We didn't take any pictures because we didn't want to embarrass them and hope others will be as kind if we ever find ourselves in that position.  By the way, we have run aground once more than the St. Joseph, MI experience alluded to (much) earlier.  We were on the Banana River on our way into Patrick Air Force Base.  When John realized there was sand against the hull, he shifted to neutral and the boat luckily floated free.

We passed our first tug and barge since Pensacola today. We have been in many very wide stretches of water but, of course, that's not where this encounter occurred:

Do you see the red and green (against the bow of the boat) channel markers? Not only does this boat have to pass between them, but we have to pass him in that narrow channel.  John tries to turn around to get out of his way, but the water is too shallow even just outside the channel and the wind and current do not allow that maneuver.  The tow captain is as professional and just plain good at his job as most we've encountered and John does his part and we squeak safely by.  Mary was going to cope by closing her eyes, but there is just a little more room than the perspective in this picture shows.

Fort Matanzas from the water:

We saw a few dolphins today, not in yesterday's numbers, but fun whenever they deign to grace us (we mere mortals) with their presence:

We had three good passing experiences yesterday and 2 today, noteworthy because many trawler and sailboat operators profess to hate SeaRays, or "SR's" (all fast powerboats seem to be lumped into this designation) because they throw such a big wake and cause the other boats to roll and pitch.  Purist seagoers may insist on calling it "overtaking" instead of passing, but picture passing a slower vehicle on the road and you'll know what we're talking about.  All boats produce a wake, the faster and bigger the boat, the bigger the wake.  We slow down when approaching (from either direction) pontoon boats, small fishing boats, kayaks, etc. so we won't rock them too much.  No problem.  The problems arise when we pass a boat that can maintain a speed of 8 miles an hour or greater.  We throw a worse wave at non-planing speed, but trying to go fast enough to get by, than if we just stayed up on plane.  If we pass on plane, we join the ranks of those inconsiderate speed-boaters who either don't care or are ignorant.  We have treated this situation in the past by telling other captains that if they slow down enough, the pass will be gentle.  We figured that those who didn't slow down enough were making the choice to be rocked, as our speed must be close to idle to accomplish a "soft pass".  Perhaps those boats did not realize how much they should reduce their speed.  The "good passes" referred to here consisted of the slower boats (one trawler, two catamarans, two sailboats) slowing to idle speed so we could travel just fast enough to pass.  After we passed, they each turned behind us, into where our wake would be if we were on plane.  We could then both increase our speed with no issue, as they were directly behind us so would not be affected by our wake.  We may have each lost a couple of minutes, but we love being thanked for our consideration and say "thanks" in return for making it possible.

St. Augustine light from the water:

Mary Frances in her slip at St. Augustine Municipal Marina:

Manatee and dolphins

St. Augustine city gates:

Monday, April 2, we decided to drive to St. Augustine, our country's oldest city, as we'd never been there and weren't sure how much of the history we'd be able to access from the water.  We could have waited, as the historical section is right by the municipal marina and there are trolleys available. Oh well, we had a nice day there.

Castillo De San Marcos, the oldest fort in the US, was begun in 1672 and was still under construction during the Civil War:

St. Augustine light:

Flagler College, originally the Ponce De Leon Hotel, a part of Flagler's hotel chain along the east coast of Florida:

The entry:

Edison wired the place himself and Tiffany designed much of the living space.  This is the cafeteria used by students today, the dining room when hotel guests came for the season:

This is one of the original Tiffany chairs.  Although most have been replaced by reproductions, there are still about 30 around campus.  There are 5 in the dining hall and students use them every day:

The Bridge of Lions.  We'll be heading under it on the intracoastal in a few days.

Fort Matanzas on the Matanzas River, built to protect the inlet:

Wednesday we drove to Fort Pierce to meet Francine and Wayne for lunch.  We last saw them in Fairhope, AL early in November where they stayed a while because My Way needed some repairs.  It was wonderful to visit with them and we hope to see them again as we all head north.

The marina at Patrick Air Force Base is called Manatee Cove and we had been told last year, as we drove some of the Great Loop route, that there were always manatee here in the spring.  We hadn't seen any before we went home, but spent a couple of hours each evening after our return sitting on the dock watching them:

This is a mom and baby.  They were sleeping, so only stuck their noses above the surface about every 15-20 minutes.  There is something peaceful about their gentle, slow ways.

Tuggsy back in place, awaiting new adventures:

Good Friday we went to a restaurant in Satellite Beach called Sun on the Beach.  The man who repaired our dinghy had recommended it  and it's a good thing we didn't try it right away, as we would have had to return often.  Mary had Gullah Benedict-fried green tomatoes with poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce with shrimp on top.  John's Greek omelet was also delicious and there were many more intriguing menu items.

Though we've enjoyed our time here, we're ready to move on.  Monday, April 9, this dolphin appeared to lead us out of the marina.  We traveled back up the Banana River and into the Intracoastal on the Indian River.

It was a glorious day on the water and we saw over 50 dolphins.  At one point John mentioned that, although we'd watched many manatee, we hadn't seen any on the water as we were boating.  Before he finished the statement, one surfaced right in front of us.  We saw another a little later.  This is the bridge over the Haulover Canal near the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  Once under the bridge, the intracoastal enters Mosquito Lagoon.  Luckily, we were able to travel fast enough to outrun them.

One of the best things about this trip is the ability to change plans or not even make them.  We had thought maybe we'd go to St. Augustine or Daytona Beach today, depending on how much of the ICW was no or minimum wake.  At about 3 o'clock, we pulled out the Waterway Guide to decide which Daytona Beach marina to call.  Oh, look, New Smyrna Beach sounds interesting.  We call and they have room for us.  As we approach, John says, "Look who's here" and there is Passport in the slip next to the one we are directed into and John and Mary on the dock to greet us and catch lines. The wind and current require a second approach, but we tie up, go for a short walk, then join Mary and John and Ginny and Craig from Brown-eyed Girl on the dock for a visit.

Going home and a new Tuggsy!

We talked about what size rental car we needed-not much to take home, economy size should be fine.  We forgot about the comfort required by our older bodies!  Hertz is a better deal this time as, even with the charge to deliver, they offer a better unlimited mileage out-of-state deal than Enterprise.  We have a Mazda 2.  John proclaims his toughness, Mary aches for days and remembers why she has an old-lady car (Matthew's description) with comfortable heated seats and lumbar support.

When we arrived at Patrick Air Force Base we discovered that they only have 30 amp service at each dock. John built a y-cord to serve us in case this occurred. One small problem-we included that cord in the sale of our 30 foot boat.  Another, "Oh, well," and $220.00.  We can only run one air conditioner and have to switch off the hot water heater to use the stove.  We know-you feel SO sorry for us!

We thought we would just drive toward Orlando and get on I-75, but Gabby (our Garmin-you have to name them so you can talk back) directed us to stay on 95.  A pretty drive, plus we will actually travel on some roads new to us.  Time to stop, as we left Patrick AFB about 1:30.  Mary pulled out the military travel atlas and Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base is close.  This base is the east coast home of our Trident (nuclear) submarines. We decided to splurge and spent an extra $10.00 for a suite, instead of the $39.00 for a regular room.

We drove on 40, so once again traveled past the site of the rock slide that closed the road in 2009.  We both enjoy driving through the mountains-so pretty any time, but it reminds us of many spring breaks with our boys when we looked for signs of spring. We both thought our northernmost trees with leaves would be in Tennessee, but the winter has been so mild that we arrived in Michigan to the same 80 degree temperatures we left in Florida.  Fields are green, daffodils are blooming.  By the time we left, after a couple of days of freeze warnings, there was concern about the fruit crop, as trees had already blossomed.

We have missed Tuggsy-Tug since we had to give the badly damaged blue and yellow plastic toy a burial at Boca Chica.  Matthew had been monitoring any possible sites for a replacement and called Mary when one became available on E-Bay.  John was surprised and delighted to find one waiting when we arrived home:

The one that decided to become a ghost ship on this trip was blue and yellow and had been Matthew's Tuggsy.  The new one Matthew found for us is red and yellow-the color of the boat that had belonged to Benjamin and had broken many years ago.  John at first decided that we wouldn't leave this Tuggsy on deck and exposed to the sun where the plastic could deteriorate in 20 years.  Mary said, "Will we care if Tuggsy gets brittle in 20 years?" and we decided our new little boat will travel on deck in the same place of honor the other Tuggsys have held and Baby Tuggsy (a gift from Shannon) will once again ride on Tuggsy's smokestack.

We both passed our physicals with flying colors (we've been riding our bikes enough to keep the cholesterol in check despite all of the dinners out) and our glasses are straightened and cleaned.  Joanne invited us to join her for dinner and we were MOST grateful to accept, as we have only a couple of freezer skillet dinners in the house.  Besides her delightful company, she actually let us take home some leftovers!  We had a terrific visit with Sarah's mom, Kim, during a dinner date at the Fireside Grille-the new Shepherd golf course restaurant we tried with Sarah in August.  She was leaving early the next week for a visit with Benj and Sarah in Boston (we're just a little jealous!).  John visited with former co-worker Fred and we drove to Tawas to see Sue and Denny's wonderful new house in East Tawas and visit with Mary's parents.  We really enjoyed our visit with Denny (glad the yard work and moving is your job, Denny, and not ours!) and look forward to visiting the Wymans at their new castle.  Mom and Dad, we love you and wish our time together was longer-so glad you came to the Keys to enjoy the sunshine with us.

Mary did laundry and dusted and vacuumed, in spite of John's insistence that there will just be MORE dust when we get home in August or September.  John ran some errands, paid for the couple of driveway plows this mild winter required, picked up sticks in the yard, rolled the lawn (darn moles!), and arranged for the mowing to commence when necessary.  Our teeth are clean and shiny and it's time to travel back to our 2nd home and continue the adventure.

We took our time on the trip back-didn't leave home until noon and spent 3 nights on the road.  Our dentist appointments were late morning and John's coat was left in the Mariner, so we went back to Shepherd to get it and picked up our mail.  We actually managed to have our decision to stop for the night coincide with the location of military bases twice this trip.  The first military housing stop was at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.  Temporary military lodging is for military personnel being transferred to the base whose housing isn't ready and for temporary assignments (like the Canadian and national guard/reserve troops who trained at Naval Air Station Key West while we were there).  If space is available, retirees and active military on leisure travel (vacation) can use it.  Our cottage at Fort Jackson was called "Lee Cottage", named after "Lighthorse" Harry Lee, a revolutionary war hero, not after his son, Robert E.  Here is a picture of the cottage and the view:

We visited an airport in South Carolina that was one of 4 places where Tuskeegee airmen received combat training and we stopped at this Low Country visitor center, the Frampton House, which was rebuilt in 1868 after Sherman's march to the sea.  The live oak is more than 250 years old and there are Civil War earthworks in the back yard.

We visited the the 8th Air Force Museum near Savannah.  John plans to return some time with Matthew (who lives only 90 miles away) and stay longer.  He took this picture of St. George the Dragonslayer, as he is the patron saint of Armor:

We visited Fort Pulaski and stamped our national park passport, as we won't be close when we travel on the intracoastal.  We'll come back next year when we drive to the keys, spend more time at the fort and climb the 2 lighthouses, Cockspur Island Light and Tybee Island Light:

We stayed at Fort Stewart.  Our experience has been that the Air Force usually has the nicest housing, although we've stayed in some great rooms in historic buildings on navy bases and army posts.  The Patriot Cottage here wins the prize.  Unpreposessing on the outside, the amenities, comfort and decor were unsurpassed:

The cost for the cottages was about the same we would pay for a Holiday Inn Express.  Back at Patrick Air Force Base, we made arrangements to have our dinghy picked up so the second davit (the other one was reglued in Mobile Bay) could be reaffixed.  We decided to keep the car a little longer, since we're "stuck" here until Patches is returned to us.