It's been forever since I have blogged any of our trips. After thinking that life is flying by, and we hadn't taken a trip in a couple of years...besides CA in the past 4 months, we decided to take a trip up the intracoastal waterway this Summer. We were supposed to leave on June 4th, but the storm brought a lot of rain and we didn't feel like casting off in the rain...plus, staying one more night gave us time to hang out with some good friends of ours, Lisa and Mike, one more time before taking off for the Summer. We left Titusville marina on Sunday, June 5th, with Laurie, Decklyn, Dixie and Punky (the cat) and headed over to the fuel dock to pick up some $6.05/gal diesel. Whew! Life is short, so $6.05 fuel isn't going to deter us from having a great Summer. We made it about 25 miles on the first day and anchored out by an island while we watched a beautiful sunset prepare us for another awesome adventure.
Here's Punky's cat stand that we made.
June 6th (Jason's Bday)
We had a pretty good night's sleep the first night and we headed up the intercoastal to New Smyrna. We landed at about 4pm at New Smyrna Marina and docked on the T-head. We have never taken the boat past Mosquito Lagoon, so we were excited to get to New Smyrna. After plugging in and getting my soft water rig setup, we took the dogs for a walk so they could stretch their legs and use the potty. They were glad to get off the boat and run around some before dinner time. We ate dinner at the marina restaurant, which was great, and called it a night after watching some Gilmore Girls. haha!
June 7th
We woke up to on Tuesday and planned on riding our bikes into New Smyrna. It's been a long time since I have been to Downtown New Smyrna and Laurie as never been. I found an Acai place for breakfast so I was pumped to get some good food! My bike tire was flat and came off the rim so we ditched the plan of riding bikes into town and took the dinghy over to the public dock. We walked over to the Acai place and took a stroll downtown. Laurie shopped at a few stores and found a couple dresses at a thrift store. We made our way back to the boat and left the dock to continue our voyage north.
We passed Ponce Inlet and headed for Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona. Our friends Jack and Darlene were docked there and we wanted to say hi while we were in the area. Our plan is to try and do 4-6 hour days, sometimes shorter, so we can make it to our marinas or anchorages around 4pm. That gives us some good time for work on the ride up during the day, and finish up calls and emails when we tie up. We landed at Halifax Harbor Marina and had the help of a very friendly dock master to catch lines and help us parallel park the boat on another T head dock. His name was Coach. After walking the dogs in a large park at the marina and letting Dixie chase all of the squirrels there, we called it a night after more Gilmore Girls episodes.
June 8th
We walked around downtown Daytona and saw some cool old buildings. We wanted to go to a minor league baseball game this night, but didn't end up having time. We met up with Jack and Darlene and they drove us over to a restaurant called Captain Jack's. The food was great! The dessert was better...Bananas foster big enough for 4 people to share. After dinner, Jack drove us around Daytona and showed us a Rockefeller family winter home, called The Casements, the old beach town of Daytona where the boardwalk used to be and finally a Walmart to see if I could find a bike tire tube. They were out of tubes...I guess Putin is to blame for that one as well. haha! After a great night with Jack and Darlene, we headed back to the boat.
June 9th
We rolled out of Daytona at 11am and headed north to Palm Coast marina. It was a beautiful ride up the intracoastal, past estuaries, huge houses and tons of dolphins. I thought I was calling the Hammock Beach Marina when I reached out to see if they had any slip space available, but I ended up dialing the Palm Coast Marina on accident. It worked out great though. The dockhand at Palm Coast marina was very nice and helped us tie up and settle in. The marina needs some maintenance and money put into making it a little nicer, but overall it was a good marina. We walked the dogs in a green space near the marina and they had a great time chasing sticks. We rode our bikes to a restaurant on a golf course called the Green Lion Cafe. The poke bowl was fantastic! They have a European Village in Palm coast with restaurants and shops that we walked around as well. We called it a night after some Gilmore Girls again. hahah!
June 10th
We left Palm Coast marina around 11am and settled in for the short 2 hour ride to Marineland. I have never been to Marineland, but Jack and Darlene recommended it, so I thought we would check it out for a couple of days before we get to St. Augustine. Erik, the dockmaster helped us tie up and plug in. He was very nice and knowledgeable about the area. Erik told us that the waves might be rideable out in the ocean, so he said to go to the beach and we will catch up later. That's exactly what we did. We changed into our swimsuits, loaded up the wagon with a beach umbrella, cooler, surfboard, dogs (no cat) and walked across the road to the beach. Marineland is a pretty laid back place. Not much going on, except a oceanarium (actually the first oceanarium that was built in 1938) on the east side of A1A. They have dolphin shows, and sealife that you can visit. The beach was great! It wasn't crowded and the breeze was blowing to keep it cool. The waves were weak so I didn't get to surf, but I did paddle out like I was going to. haha. It was nice to get back in the ocean again after being away from it for a while. The dogs got to play in the sand, run, and chase sticks. We all had a blast! We left around 3:00 to go give the dogs a bath at the boat. They needed it after rolling around the sand.
After their baths we took the dinghy to a barbeque joint about 4 miles down the river to a place called Captains BBQ. Kris said it was some of the best bbq in the southeast, so we definitely had to try it. It was raining the whole night, so we took our rain coats and umbrella to try and stay dry during the ride to/from the restaurant. Laurie stayed pretty dry, but I didn't. The BBQ was awesome. We had the turkey, mac and cheese and green beans. Service was great as well! I wish we were staying around a little longer so we could go back and try some different items on their menu to see if it really is the best BBQ in the southeast. After some more Gilmore Girls episodes, we called it a night.
40 year old Drum fish
June 11th
Fort Matanzas is about 4 miles north of Marineland. It's a fort made out of coquina that the Spanish built back in the 1500's. This area of Florida is so rich in history with the Spanish, French and British all battling for Florida. The fort is part of the national park service and to visit the fort, you have to take a ferry to it. I took the dinghy down to the national park visitor center to get passes for us to get on the ferry. I was the first person in line for the 10:30 ferry, which would work out perfect by the time I went back and fed the dogs, got Laurie moving, etc...
We took the ferry over to the fort and got a great tour of why the fort was built and the battles that took place there. Here is some good information on it. https://www.nps.gov/foma/index.htm. The tour lasted about an hour, which was perfect because we started getting hungry and hot.
Taking the ferry over to the fort.
It's a small fort with big view
After the tour of the fort we took the dinghy out to the Matanzas pass to check out the ocean. It was a calm day out on the ocean and there were a lot of boats out fishing. We turned around and passed a guy in a kayak trying to paddle against the outgoing tide in one of the strongest parts of the current. We asked if he needed help trying to get somewhere and he said yes. We towed him about 100 yards to an area with less current and set him free. He wasn't making any headway in the current and didn't look like he could hold his ground for much longer. He was very appreciative of our help.
After we got back to the boat we took the dogs for a walk through the jungle...it wasn't the jungle, but it felt like it. Mosquitos, spiders, trees...no panthers or monkeys, but we did find some oyster shells that Laurie is going to use for crafts. Hahah! After letting the dogs cool down, we took it easy for a bit. Laurie and I took the dinghy out exploring part of Pelicer Creek but didn't make it too far without running into sandbar after sandbar. The water is murky so you can't see anything. You just feel the engine jump a bit and the boat stops. Luckily we weren't going fast. After dragging the boat off of the bottom 3 or 4 times, we decided to turn around and beat the rain back to the boat. We saw a beautiful rainbow, sunset and baby turtle cleaning the side of our boat tonight. Tomorrow we leave for St. Augustine.
June 12
We left Marineland this morning after saying goodbye to one more baby turtle, a fantastic bacon, egg and cheese croissant from Ragga food truck across the street, and too many hairs to count from my head...Laurie gave me a haircut on the dock this morning. I couldn't take it anymore! I was scaring myself when I looked in the mirror. The ride up to St. Augustine was pretty. There were a lot of huge homes and beautiful scenery.
We made it to the Marker 8 dock around slack tide because the current rips through the inlet near the Lions Bridge. We got checked in and waited out a rain storm. Then, I rode my bike 3 miles to a bike shop to get it tuned up this week. Anastasia Island has the lighthouse, 2 acai places, boutique stores, zoooland and a nice state park on it. It is the island across the river from St. Augustine. After eating a snack at the hotel at their "Social Hour" Laurie and I rode our bikes over the bridge and into St. Augustine. We walked around town and into some shops, then grabbed a bite to eat at a Greek restaurant. We had a great a day and were pretty tired when we got back to the boat. We walked the dogs for their last potty break and called it a night. No Gilmore Girls tonight! Hahah!
The Barber and Barbershop
Floating Tiki bar!
