M/V Nearly Perfect: March 2015

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

March 22-24, 2015 - Jacksonville

We've spent our few days in Jacksonville running errands, doing laundry, and catching up on our affairs. There was a shopping center a little more than half a mile from the marina, so we made several trips on foot and, at times, used the marina courtesy car. On Tuesday, we had a visit from Reggie and Emmy (M.E. Lou II), friends from Biloxi who are also doing the Loop. We watched as the boat was hauled out of the water to have some work done while we take a few days and travel west to Mobile, Houston, and back to Niceville to see family and celebrate birthdays - Jack's mother will turn 90; my sister - welllllll!

Wow

Nothing sadder than a boat out of water

Emmy and Reggie

Our second story condo

Sunday, March 22, 2015

March 17-21, 2015 - St. John's River

We left Lamb's Marina round 7:30 to begin our trip up the St. John's River ("up" because the water flows from south to north). The River was pretty wide during the first leg to Palatka. We anchored out in Carmen's Cove Tuesday night and took the dinghy over to the city. We walked around but there wasn't much to see and not much going on, so we took a dinghy ride along the shoreline. We left Carmen's Cove around 8:30 Wednesday morning and arrived at Blue Spring State Park at 5:30. It was a long day but the River narrowed and was absolutely beautiful. Most of the areas we passed were wildlife areas; not many housing areas. Thursday we took the dinghy to the Park to check out the spring-fed creek. This is the home to many Manatees in the winter, but sadly they had moved out to the warmer waters by the time we got there. We did see many fish swimming in the very clear water. We walked around for a while, then went back to the boat and took off for our next anchorage. We traveled about an hour and a half and anchored in a nice cove at Butcher's Bend. More dinghy riding and more wildlife. Friday morning it was time to head north again. We traveled about 7 hours and anchored in another quiet cove. The scenery and wildlife have been amazing the entire trip. We saw several gators, turtles, many ducks and birds. We went to sleep at night listening to the frogs and woke up listening to the birds. Saturday it was time to get back to civilization. We left our anchorage around 8:00 and arrived back in Jacksonville around 2:00. The trip today was pretty foggy. All in all it was a great week. It was Mother Nature at her best.

Anchorage at Carmen's Cove (just off the River so it's a little more in the open)

Anchorage at Blue Spring State Park

Anchorage at Seven Sisters Island

Getting a closer look

Blue Spring State Park

Sunrise over Carmen Key

View from the bridge

More views

Sunset over Blue Spring State Park

Shhhhhh - don't wake Mr. Gator

Foggy start

Getting a little better

Old Cypress trees

Birds (white) nesting at the top of the trees

March 16, 2015 - Jacksonville

We left St. Augustine around 7:30 and arrived at Lambs Marina in Jacksonville around 3:30. Once again we had great weather and great water. Jacksonville from the water was pretty. We passed the Jaguars stadium and Maxwell House Coffee plant. We spent the rest of the day regrouping to get ready for our trip up the St. John's River.

Large cross at the site of the first Catholic services in St. Augustine

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Sunrise over St. Augustine

Entering Jacksonville

Jacksonville Jaguars Stadium

Maxwell House Coffee plant

Monday, March 16, 2015

March 13-15, 2015 - St. Augustine

We left Titusville around 7:15 am and arrived at Palm Coast around 3:30. We settled in and walked to a European Market which was a restaurant/shopping area in the middle of several apartment buildings. We left Palm Coast around 8:15 the next morning and arrived in St. Augustine around 11:00. The scenery both days consisted of nice housing areas and a lot of wildlife areas. We left the mansions and megayachts in south Florida. St. Augustine is a very quaint town rich in history. It is the oldest permanently occupied European settlement. We wasted no time in getting on a bus to tour the historic highlights of the city. Some of the landmarks we passed were the Fountain of Youth (did not go in), Flagler College (the windows in the dining hall were designed by Tiffany, a personal friend of Flagler's), Nombre de Dios (the site of the first celebration of mass), the San Sebastian Winery (all their wine is made with Florida grapes), St. Augustine Distillery (their vodka and gin are made with Florida products), many churches, plus many other historic landmarks. As we were leaving for dinner, we ran into a couple walking down the dock. They had just purchased a sailboat and were very interested in boating life. We ended up having dinner with them and then went back to our boat for more questions and answers from them. It was a very pleasant evening. After breakfast on Sunday, we headed back to the tour bus and took a trip to the St. Augustine Lighthouse. There were 219 steps to the top and my legs felt every one of them. Jack opted to wait on the ground. After a late lunch, we continued on the tour bus with a stop at the San Sebastian Winery for a tour and wine tasting, more touring, and then back to the boat.

Sunrise as we were leaving Titusville

View from the bridge

The view along the way from Palm Coast

St. Augustine Lighthouse

View from the top

View from the bottom

Another view from the top

The view looking up the middle (219 steps)

The innkeepers house at the lighthouse

Breakfast on the oldest street

Bridge of Lions - protects St. Augustine

Flagler College

Dining room with the Tiffany windows (protected by plexiglass)

San Sebastian Winery

St. Augustine Distillery

Thursday, March 12, 2015

March 12, 2015 - Kennedy Space Center

We walked into Titusville again this morning for a good breakfast. Ernie, from the sailboat across from us, offered to drive us out to the Space Center which we really appreciated. We first took a bus tour out to the Apollo displays where we saw the actual mission control for the Apollo programs plus an actual Apollo module on display. We watched a film showing the actual conversations in mission control during a launch. Another building was totally dedicated to Atlantis (the last shuttle). There was an interesting film regarding the background of the shuttle program and the flight of Atlantis. At the end of the film a curtain lifted to show the actual shuttle. A truly awesome sight. It was suspended from the ceiling with wires with the cargo bay door open showing the inside of the shuttle and showing how the robotic arm swung out from the shuttle. All the films and exhibits were extremely interesting and educational. Of course, we lived through all of this but it was fun to learn a lot of the background surrounding the entire shuttle program. The entire Space Center was extremely impressive. The grand finale of the day was watching a rocket launch from the bridge of the boat. Of course, we had to stay up until 11:00 to see it! At first the ground lit up, then a bright ball shot up from the earth. After about a minute, we heard the rumble of the engines. It was very exciting and a great end to a great day!