Blogs from Jacksonville, Florida, United States, North America

I intended to update this blog on a weekly basis, but the combination of poor internet and good times messed up that plan! We are currently in Mayport, FL, which is just east of Jacksonville on the St. John’s River. Today was a lovely day with perfect sailing conditions until we headed up the river against 20 knot winds on our nose! Once tied up to the face dock at the Fort George Island Marina, we found out how busy this river can be. It’s a bit similar to the Norfolk, VA port, with military and commercial activity on the river and in the air. Jon enjoyed watching the helicopter maneuvers while I did a small load of laundry here – had to take advantage since it’s free. I guess free laundry is supposed to make ... read more

Here I am at the Dairy Queen. What a revelation for travellers and assorted itinerant folks to have this handy service at the local fast food locations across the nations. I started at the Golden Arches but the only available plug-in was in the kiddies screaming pit, where oblivious custodial parents work their ipads while their pre-schoolers do ferral venting. I will go willingly now and choose some nice cold ice-cream concoction to show gratitude for this serene hot-spot. Ice cream is not something we connect with very often as boaters, so this is an extra pleasure. Now I'm even glad the wifi is caput at the Seafarer's marina. A couple of days ago we found an interesting dockside community here on the Trout River, just off the St. John River, to complete our buoyancy tests. ... read more

Blog 2-29 Sadie Hawkins Day It was set the alarm so I wake up early day. My hair has become an issue for me as the color has faded and the roots are long, time to fix it. I found a salon in Marianna, FL that uses the products my hair is used to so I made an appointment for 9:30. It is an hour and half drive so I have to leave by 7:45. I am heading to Jacksonville tonight so Marianna is on the way. It was sad saying good-bye to St Andrews in the sun, it is just a beautiful stretch of beach, I felt like I was in the islands. I headed north with the address in the gps on a 4 lane road that was 55 to 65 mph speed. It ... read more

Thursday, January 12, 2012—Little Talbot State Park, Jacksonville, FL Woke up to blue skies and 57 degrees when we left at 9:30. Drove south along A1A back toward the way we had come from Jacksonville. We stopped at a boat ramp/park area that we had spotted on the way up. It was a bonanza of birds. The pictures of birds included with this entry are just some of the ones we saw. There were lots and lots of fishermen out along the coast fishing from old overpasses and old bridges left over waterways when the new roads were built. It was a pretty drive. We headed further south to a large National Park: The Timucuan Ecological Historical Preserve (http://www.nps.gov/timu/index.htm), which is 46,000 acres and displays evidence of over 6000 years of culture. The area was first ... read more