May 5-10, 2010

Before I had a chance to tell you about Georgia, we had moved on to South Carolina! We aren’t traveling that fast – Georgia only has about 110 miles of coast line, but the ICW is approximately 140 miles because of the convoluted passage. So I will start with our trip from Fernandina Beach to Jekyll Harbor Marina and then our stay at Jekyll Island. Oh what the heck... I'll throw in the rest of the story just to be caught up. You all can read at your leisure.

Fernandina Beach to Jekyll Island, GA

Now this is the way to cruise. We were only going 32 miles so we could start out later. We were also gauging our departure and arrival times to take advantage of the tides. We are finding that the currents seem to be quieter at flood and/or ebb tide. Flood tide at Jekyll Island was 2:45 so we left Fernandina Beach at 11:00.

We were excited to pass by King’s Bay. This is a submarine base for the US. We read that when these subs enter at St. Mary’s Sound, often they are on the surface and throw huge wakes. Well, all we saw was the submarine dock – empty – and the patrol boat on alert. The ICW passes very close to the base and we saw a patrol boat start toward us right before we made our turn into the ICW channel. They definitely were ready in case we had continued straight.

We arrived at Jekyll Island Marina very close to our planned 2:45 and experienced no difficulty with the current. I suspect Mark’s great driving had something to do with this also.

Jekyll Island

What a pleasant stay we had at the Jekyll Harbor Marina, Georgia - a clean marina with accommodating staff and the first courtesy car since Mobile, Alabama. Our four days here were quite hot – high 80s to low 90s – and very humid – about 85%. The locals say this is pretty normal for this time of year.

I was captivated by this place as soon as I took Porter for a walk. The live oak trees were gigantic and bearded with Spanish moss. As we walked further the vines covering the trees created giant sentinals along the road. . Later we found a nature trail and both Porter and I were happy.

The marina has a restaurant on premises, Sea Jays, and we ate there with Edy and Lorne (m/v R-Hope) on Thursday evening. Of course we compared stories and because they are from the east coast, we asked lots of questions about what to expect ahead and good places to stay. (I haven’t been very good about carrying my camera with me so didn’t get a picture).

Friday we made reservations and played golf at Pine Lakes, one of the four courses on the Island. I am not a good golfer, but I enjoy the game – That day was better than normal and I almost broke under 110.

The marina shuttled us to the golf course and then after a lunch at the clubhouse, they came to bring us back. As we approached the marina office, our driver complained that a van was in the courtesy van parking spot, but then noticed that it was a florist van and said, “Well it is Mothers Day, after all.” This detail would not be something I would typically write about except that when we parked and were hauling our clubs back to the boat, the marina staff said that the flower delivery was for me!! I was very surprised that the kids found me, and my flowers and chocolates were fantastic – What a perfect day I had.

Did you notice that I didn’t mention Mark’s golf score? He’s starting to talk about quitting golf again. I hope not as I truly enjoy golfing with him. I told him before we go golfing again, that he needs to eat a good breakfast instead of the one he had :-)

Saturday we got the bicycles out and rode around the historic district. We stopped at the Jekyll Island Club for quick meal with tame squirrels in attendance. On this day there was a croquet invitational on the front lawn of the Jekyll Island Club. It didn't look much like the way we used to play it as kids.

We then rode around the beautiful “cottages” (now museums) that were on the island. These cottages were owned by influential bankers in the early 1900s who were eventually responsible for the Federal Reserve System that we still now have. Check out this article and the many others at this site.

http://www.jekyllislandhistory.com/federalreserve.shtml

Jekyll Island also has a sea turtle exhibit and hospital on the island – very interesting.

Jekyll Island to Kilkenny Marina to Hilton Head

We left Jekyll Island Sunday morning and cruised 70 miles to Kilkenny Marina. Originally, we had planned to break it up with a shorter stay, but we would have needed to travel a ways off the ICW and there was a questionable shallow spot on the charts that made us feel uncomfortable. There aren’t many marinas to choose from along this stretch of the ICW so Kilkenny became our next choice. There were mixed reviews about Kilkenny – some have loved the peace and quiet and the sky full of stars while others commented that they thought they heard the banjo pickin’ from “Deliverance”.

As it turned out, we liked this place. The people were friendly and dolphins came up the river to feed in the evening and there really was a sky full of stars. Also, since it was Mother’s Day and Sunday evening, we were entertained by the many fishing boats returning from the day and by the unique way of trailering the boats. The marina has a system that lifts a boat out of the water while its trailer was positioned under the boat. The boat would be lowered onto the trailer away they would go. Very efficient.

We were pleasantly surprised to have a fellow traveler come upstream and also stop at the marina. Tony and Joan (m/v Destrier) were looking for a place to anchor, but saw us and decided to stop. We met them in Demopolis and we were in Turner Marina in Mobile, AL during Thanksgiving. We did some brief catching up and then planned to stay in the same marina at Hilton Head. We love these kind of surprises.

Monday morning started out with Mark changing the fuel filters and by 8:00 we were off. There had been notices to mariners on line about several passages that were very low during low tide. We were trying to plan around the tides but we are not quite sure how long it would take us to travel the many twists and turns of the ICW. Because of the 8-9 foot change from low to high tide, there was plenty of clearance under the two bridges that would have typically needed to open for us.

However, the narrow cuts from one river to another became very shallow. Mark’s knowledge of river currents and where shoaling occurs came in handy for this leg of the trip and he kept us in the deeper water. We also had one local captain volunteer how to navigate a particularly tricky cut entrance -very helpful indeed.

For most of the trip our scenery was marsh grass with trees in the background. We had to laugh after cruising for 3-4 miles (half an hour), we looked across the marsh grass to see Kilkenny Marina – this is how the miles add up on the GA ICW.

As we neared Savannah we passed through towns with the names of Isle of Hope and

Thunderbolt,

and the homes became more plentiful and beautiful.

And there were plenty of dolphin sightings. Happy dolphins!!!

Finally we were in Hilton Head and the Calibogue Sound. As we crossed the sound, we saw Harbor Town Marina with their big lighthouse. We are not staying there, but rather Palmetto Bay Marina on Broad Creek. I just love lighthouses.

Porter continues to be well-adjusted to our new life.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

It's your special day so ENJOY!

I am so fortunate to have a mom who is also a good friend.

We have an appointment at the spa when you come out to Charleston.

Can't wait to see you!

Hugs & Kisses from both of us!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am blessed to have Holly & Monica & Matt & Bryan in my life.

Thank you for being a part of my life and letting me be a part of yours.

Carol

May 4-5, 2010

St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach

Our last night in Florida was at Fernandina Beach. We had a long and hot (90 degrees and following wind) cruise from St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach. In fact, Mark took unusual measures (blue gel cool pack) to try to stay cool, but didn’t look so cool.

The farther north we have traveled, the greater the tidal change has been. It was about 5-6 feet in St. Augustine, and was 7-9 feet at Fernandina Beach. The docks lining this ten-mile, no wake canal near Palm Valley were evidence of the huge shift between high and low tides. We were passing these docks at near low tide, and noticed that some folks had rather ingenious dock designs.

As we crossed the St. John’s River – major inlet to Jacksonville – we passed before the tanker, Golden Energy, and under the bascule bridge. These two photos were taken by BeJay & Mike (s/v Carolina Moon). We are the little white boat......

I returned the favor and took a picture of them. We enjoyed dinner with them in Fernandina Beach at an Irish Pub – chicken pot pie - yummmmm.

Soon after crossing the St. John’s River we met this towboat and barge on the ICW. Mark was squeezing over to pass starboard to starboard and the captain hailed us to warn us that we were heading into a very shallow area. He told us to hold to the red marker and he would be able to get around us - Southern consideration. We were GratefulJ

Meanwhile Mark was really trying to stay cool, and really not looking cool!!

We arrived at Fernandina Beach around 2:45, took Porter for a walk and then the rain started at 4:00. Good timing. We only stayed one night, but the town is quite quaint and would be worth a longer look if we come back this way.

We have made it to Georgia – Jekyll Island! More on that later.

April 27-May 4, 2010

St. Augustine

Well, what can I say about St. Augustine?? If you haven’t been there yet, make plans to go. It is a great city – although, the only parts we saw were the older, historical areas.

Our trip from Daytona Beach to St. Augustine was fairly uneventful. The homes along the way were lovely, but not ostentatious. The scenery became more rustic – dotted with trees, lowlands and marshes. The waterway channel was narrow and at low tide we could see oyster beds.

St. Augustine Municipal Marina is just south of The Bridge of Lions – which has been under construction/restoration for five years. It is now operational and there is work going on to deconstruct the temporary bridge. The cement supports are going to be used to create reefs in the Atlantic.

The largest fire fighting ship in the world pulled into the marina the first night we were there, and then left after a few hours.

As the day progressed, the wind got nasty and when we landed in the St. Augustine Municipal Marina we had a strong current also to content with. Mark, as usual, pulled us in with little difficulty. After spending a week in the marina, we were pleased that we had done so well as there were others who did not. The day after we were there a sailboat two slips away from us got caught sideways on a big iron pole at the end of the finger pier of his slip. He got out of it without too much damage. The sailboat next to us (no finger pier or soft pole between us) had a terrible time backing out of the slip. The dock tenders held lines for him, but still he needed to give it all he had to get out and not hit us. I braced for impact!!! Later in the week a larger yacht somehow got in trouble and ended up with the front of his yacht up against the end of a finger pier and the back up against another finger pier. He put fenders out and waited for Towboat US to get him out of the mess – the damage was minimal. Then two days later a beautiful Grand Banks Trawler got caught in the current and found himself up against the Bridge of Lions. When he tried to back up he went at ramming speed right into a post. Well he was tightly wedged against the bridge and post, but again Towboat US was able to pull him off and then he was able to get into a slip. He had a big chunk broken out of his transom/platform - pretty remarkable considering how badly he hit and was stuck. Needless to say, this had me worrying and planning about our exit strategy!!

On my first morning walk with Porter, I accidentally found the Oldest House, dating from the early 1700s, and a neighborhood of oldest homes from the time of Spanish rule.

This park with the Live Oak tree was dedicated to the city – peaceful.

And I found this house for sale. It is on the Historical Register – built around the 1880’s and the price had just been reduced to $699,000.00. It was beautiful and sprawled out to 5800 sq. ft.

Because we were in the city during the week, we decided to do our sight-seeing before the crowds came for the weekend. We took the sight seeing train rather than the trolley because tickets could be purchased right outside of the marina and we could ride for three consecutive days – PERFECT! The plan was to see two things or so in a day and not to start before noon – I had to keep my partner participating with meJ On day one we took the train to all it’s stops so we could figure out what we wanted to spend time seeing. We got off on St. George Street and found many little shops and restaurants. We ate brunch at the Bunnery and then settled on 2/1 Asiago Cheese soft pretzels for dessert. (Our week’s stay here has not done our weight loss program any good). Then back on the train - I think I got most of my best pictures while rolling around on the train. These are some of the sights we saw:

Magnolia Street lined with live oak trees.

Gates to the City - the gates and a wall were built around the town of St. Augustine after the British burned the whole city to the ground in 1702.

Church where Henry Flagler and his first wife and daughter are buried.

On our second day we toured the Castillo de San Marcos. This fort was built with coquina stone, found only two places in Florida, and was started in 1672 and completed in 1695. Its location on the west bank of the Matanzas Bay allowed it to protect the harbor and the land to the north from attack. Apparently, the coquina stone helped the fort withstand fire and cannon balls. Later the Spanish also fortified the grounds around the fort with a moat and several levels of land. All nations that occupied the area at one time or another used the fort in one way or another – lastly as a prison for both American Indians and prisoners during the Spanish-American War.

Next we went to the Fountain of Youth Park – we happened to join a busload of “old farts” – fit right in – all looking for that fountain….. This park is where some of the oldest artifacts from St. Augustine have been found. It is still an active dig. We drank the water of the fountain – I’m sure it helped us get through the rest of the day. It was courting season in the park for the peacocks – they were noisy, but beautiful.

Our third day was going to be Flagler College which was once the grand Hotel Ponce de Leon originally and built by Henry M. Flagler. However, the tours were too far apart so we went to the Lightner Museum instead (originally the Hotel Alcazar).

Shortly after the Hotel Ponce de Leon was built this structure was built as an activity center for the hotel – with steam rooms, smoking rooms and other recreation rooms as well as the largest indoor swimming pool of its era. Women were allowed to use the steam room and pool for a couple of hours a day. The building was lovely and restored to its original beauty except for the pool. There are shops occupying that area now. There was quite a collection of old stuff here. At one point when I had stopped to check my appearance, Mark told me that I wasn’t looking at an artifact, but that it really was a mirror. (Thanks, Dear). He especially liked this original hooked rug and wanted his picture taken by it. I don’t get it – I thought he liked my family and his son-in-laws????

We then walked to the San Sebastion Winery as we didn’t want to go to all the train stops. As always we love these tours and tastings, and it goes without saying that we needed the train afterwards to get our new case of wine back to Grateful.

The wind and current have been constant all week. We took the weekend to do some chores on Grateful. I washed windows, applied metal wax to the chrome and worked a little on the teak. Mark tackled the damage the flying spotted eagle ray caused to the dinghy when we were in the Bahamas. The good news was that the depth/fish finder worked after being so rudely ripped from its cables and then thrown in the sea water. Also, Mark was able to stabilize the console. Grateful’s tender is now in great working order.

Finally on Monday we went back to the Flagler College (Hotel Ponce de Leon). The building we toured is currently being used as a women’s dormitory, administrative offices and dining hall.

This place is incredible and it is impossible to describe here all that we learned. Just know that no expense was spared to build this hotel – I believe I heard $2.5 million dollars. It was the largest structure of its time to be built with poured concrete. Lighting was all electrical and installed by Thomas Edison’s electrical company. Water was brought in and stored in the two towers of the hotel – one for hot water and one for cold. There were nearly 80 windows done by Tiffany,

and the ceilings and walls were painted by the best artists of the time. Everything that looks like gold is – gold leaf a used everywhere. I was in love with the carved wood pillars, fireplaces, chairs, balconies – the hotel was rich with it.

I probably should have lived during this era, but I wouldn’t have been able to afford to stay in a place like this. The single room on the first floor cost $5.00/night and the suites on the top floors were $200.00/night, or an equivalent of $150.00 and $6000.00 respectively in today’s money.

Early St. Augustine through pictures:

http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/staguphotos6.html

Henry Morrison Flagler biography:

http://www.flaglermuseum.us/html/flagler_biography.html

The End