Side Trip on the St Johns
With the weather still cool, we decided to stay in Florida and head back south on the St. Johns River. The river is over 300 miles long and runs north. It is a side trip many loopers miss, but we had the time, and we could visit Linda's family who lives in Orlando. It was hard to capture the feeling of the river - remote, lush and lots of wildlife, including many manatees. We enjoyed anchoring out and spending time in some great marinas. We have now rejoined the loop and are spending a few days on Amelia Island before finally leaving Florida - we arrived on December 3rd!
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| Leaving Daytona Beach - wondering how many non-boaters have noticed these |
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| Looks like the restaurant has closed |
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| Feels like this house has lots of history and maybe some ghosts |
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| Pirates on our way into St. Augustine |
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| Kyra may not look it - but she is very excited to have grass onboard |
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| "Old Senator" - oldest resident of St. Augustine, 600 years and still growing |
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| Departing St. Augustine under the Bridge of Lions |
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| We haven't seen many airports from the water - Northeast Florida Regional Airport |
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| Another interesting old mansion near Palm Cove |
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| Kyra doing some boat laps after a day on the water |
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| Palm Cove Marina shared space with some interesting businesses |
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| Emilie B in the glow of sunset |
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| Lots of commercial operation around Jacksonville |
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| Heading into Jacksonville - cranes matching the colors of the water and sky |
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| Vehicle Transport |
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| Port 32 Marina on the Ortega River - we really enjoyed this marina/resort |
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| Out for a walk near Avondale |
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| On closer inspection |
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| Just noticed these weren't "natural" |
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| Spring in Florida - lots of azaleas too |
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| Morning departure - the sky just kept getting more beautiful |
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| Guess they wanted beachfront |
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| At anchor in the St. Johns |
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| Some trees seem to be gathering spots for certain birds |
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| Out for an evening ride - looking for manatees and alligators |
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| Finally got a picture of an alligator - this one swimming by our slip in Sanford |
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| Sanford - one of many murals |
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| Finding art everywhere |
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| Leaving Sanford, heading northwest across Lake Monroe as the sun rises behind us |
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| Ran into some fog as we got on the St. Johns |
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| Chamblin Bookmine - impossible to capture the scope of this used book store, visited on our return stop in Jacksonville |
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| Mural under the bridge in Jacksonville - where cows crossed the river and the area was known as "Cowford" |
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| Emilie B powering through some swift current as we leave the Jacksonville area |
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| Fun passing Looper boats we have met in other areas - these pictures courtesy of Gadabout |
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| Back on the ICW heading north |
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| Settled in for a few days on Amelia Island |
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| Sunset on the docks |
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| We had a great trip south - really interesting to see this area of Florida |