St. Marys, Georgia

St. Mary's is the second oldest city in the United States. It sits aside the St. Mary's River, looking the part of a fishing village with a dash of charm-lovely Victorian homes, inns, restaurants, and shops.

St. Mary's sits on Buttermilk Bluff, the site of an old Indian village. Plans for the town emerged as early as 1767. The new town was laid out in 1788 and incorporated in 1802. Besides the British, early settlers included Acadian French deported for Canada. Industrialization began shortly after the Civil War with the establishment of a lumber mill.

Lang's Marina docks are roughly two miles up the St. Marys River at the end of the town waterfront. The marina office doubles as a seafood market and restaurant with the freshest seafood in town.

We unloaded our bikes to explore the historic downtown. We started at the St. Marys Submarine Museum, five miles from the King's Bay U.S. Navy submarine base.

Riding through cabbage palm and oak lined streets was a pleasant way to check out the Colonial, antebellum, and Victorian homes.

The Orange Hall Museum, so-named for the sour orange grove behind the house, was first started between 1826 and 1829, and through various owners, became an architectural showcase of Greek Revival style.

The First Presbyterian Church, built in 1808, is believed to be the second oldest church in Georgia.

We wandered into the 1788 Oakgrove Cemetery, where you can find much history of the area. It is believed that graves of veterans representing every war fought in and by America are there.

We carefully leave this very old cemetery undisturbed and head back to the marina.

A bike ride, fresh shrimp, and good weather. It doesn't get better than that.

Cumberland Island, Georgia

Cumberland Island National Seashore is the largest and southernmost barrier island in Georgia offering visitors over 17 miles of secluded, white sandy beaches.

Cumberland Island achieved it's protected status as a National Seashore decades ago, ensuring that most of the island will remain in it's primitive state. No road or causeway from the mainland will ever be constructed. All island visitors must bring their own food and supplies and transport all their garbage back to the mainland.

We anchored north of the National Park Service Station and came ashore at the Sea Camp dock which also provides ferry service from the mainland. This is an excellent base from which to explore the island. It's an easy half-mile hike east to the beach, and a little more than a mile south to the ruins of Dungeness, a good spot for viewing some of the island's wild horses.

The horses which roam freely on Cumberland are ferel, meaning that their ancestors were once domesticated. Legend has it that they were originally brought to the island by the Spanish.

It is considered fortunate to encounter a family of wild horses grazing on the lawn, but apparently it didn't faze the horses or Bob one bit.

In the 1880's, Thomas M.Carnegie and his wife Lucy bought land on Cumberland for a winter retreat. In 1884, they began building a mansion on the site of Dungeness, though Carnegie never lived to see it's completion. Lucy and their nine children continued to live on the island. Dungeness was designed as a 59-room Scottish castle. They also built pools, a golf course, and forty smaller buildings to house their 200 servants. After the Crash and the Depression, the family left the island and kept the mansion vacant. It burned in a 1959 fire, believed to have been started by a poacher who had been shot in the leg by a caretaker weeks before.

 This car graveyard catches Bob's attention.

Walking back among huge live oaks draped with Spanish moss, we were rewarded with the island's pristine natural beauty.

Another wonderful day on vacation.

Fernandina Beach

Downtown Fernandina Beach has been lovingly restored over the past several decades. Centre Street cannot help but remind visitors of a 1900 community in it's heyday.

We started our walking tour at the Chamber of Commerce in the renovated railway depot on Centre Street. This structure once served as the depot for the first cross-Florida railway system.

Apparently, the trains still use these tracks to service the two paper mills in town.

The Palace Saloon, at 117 Centre Street, claims to be the oldest saloon in Florida. Built in 1878, this highly interesting restaurant features a hand carved bar, original mural paintings, and antique furniture.

The Lesesne House is a Classical Revival style residence, built by Dr. John F. Lesesne circa 1860 and is one of the oldest homes in Fernandina Beach. We had a nice but tiring day walking around and tomorrow we head north to Cumberland Island, Georgia.

St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach

As we leave St. Augustine and approach the Bridge of Lions, we wave good-bye to our new looper friends Rick and Leila (hence the picture) who will be following us up the ICW in a couple of days.

Traveling the waters from St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach is well sheltered, offering smooth passage, even in high winds. There are numerous no-wake zones, most amply marked with signs saying, "Idle Speed-No Wake" and skippers are advised to observe the regulations.

There are few good marinas traveling through this run from St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach, so we take advantage of the Palm Cove Marina which has floating piers with low water-depths at 4-foot levels.

This is a lovely small marina and a convenient stop, as a weather front moved into the area with rain and wind which quickly moved out, cooling things down Sunday morning.

Leaving Palm Cove Marina in a light breeze this morning, we headed north hoping to get to Fernandina Beach by noon but flexibility must replace a schedule when it comes to weather. The wind picked up, gusting to 25 kts. from the west mostly on our beam and we became extremely aware of the channel markers.

As we passed Mayport Naval Base, the ship yard impressively hauled out  this ship for repairs.

With the winds getting stronger, we now must cross the St. John's River and you guessed it, a huge ship is on the river going out to sea, coming uncomfortably close.

We gave it the right of way.



We pulled into Amelia Island Yacht Basin to get out of the weather, never making it to Fernandina Beach. There's always tomorrow. 



St. Augustine

After a wonderful stay in Palm Coast, we wave good-bye to Arthur and Pauline and head north to St. Augustine.

As we turn into St. Augustine, the Bridge of Lions is dead ahead. We pull into the St. Augustine Municipal Marina for two nights and some sightseeing.

The St. Augustine Municipal Marina provides the only readily available transient dockage within walking distance of the St. Augustine historic district. We walk one block along Avenida Menendez to the Plaza de la Constitution.

Turning right at Cathedral Place, we walk one block to the Cathedral of St. Augustine. We pause to admire the grandeur of this beautiful church and the stain-glass windows that depict the life of the city's patron saint, San Augustin.

We continued sightseeing on a trolley tour that served as an excellent introduction to the city's heritage.

Resident of the Fountain of Youth Museum

Matanzas Bay



Continuing our tour, we come to the massive walls of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.This Spanish fort, begun in 1672, stood firm against English attacks and helped Spain to hold Florida for many years.

During the American Revolution, it was a British stronghold. Later it became a battery in the U.S. coastal defense system.



The Halifax River and Tomoka River Basin

As we head north towards Ponce de Leon Inlet we slip into what locals call "the south channel" which forms a third link to the waterway. It is well marked with good protection. Traveling north the ICW flows into the head waters of the broad but shallow Halifax River, with the Tomoka River Basin just to the west.

The history of the Halifax River and the Tomoka River Basin stretches far back into the era when only native Americans wandered Florida's land and water. In 1605 Alvaro Ybarra visited a cove on the Tomoka River called Nocoroco. There he saw four Indian villages huddled on the shores of the cove. Today, you can still visit the historic site of Nocoroco now known as Fairland and is part of Tomoka State Park.

During the second period of Spanish rule, which began in 1783, development was encouraged by the government of all who were willing to take an oath of loyalty to the Spanish King. Settlers began to carve vast landholdings out of the wilderness surrounding the twin rivers. By 1821, when Florida finally came under American control, it is estimated that sixteen plantations occupied the rich lands between the Tomoka River Basin and New Smyrna.  

We pulled into Palm Coast Marina about 3:00 p.m. which is a popular resort community lining the western banks for several miles. This resort boasts many beautiful homes and a labyrinth of small canals.





This gives us an opportunity to visit with our dear friends Arthur and Pauline Berk, past neighbors from Dinner Key Marina. Here in Palm Cove Marina, we get to hang out with them on their Choey Lee "Freedom". 





With dinner, drinks, and music we catch up on old times before we head on up to St. Augustine.

Cocoa to New Smyrna Beach

Cocoa Marina Village was a pleasant two night stop, with an easy two-block walk into the Cocoa Historic Village with restaurants and interesting shops. Being that it was St. Patrick's Day, we headed out to the local bar and grill "Murdock's Bistro" for some live music and fried chicken and burgers. The local color was the best part.

We left the marina this morning at 8:00 a.m. heading towards Titusville and on to New Smyrna Beach for two nights. The friendly, almost sleepy port city of New Smyrna Beach makes it's appearance on the ICW south of the Ponce de Leon Inlet and is a popular stopover between Daytona and Titusville. Before I forget, under each day's post our location has changed from the Lat / Long to the location name. Click on the place where we are and it will take you to the google map where we are. High tech huh?



Most cruising visitors dock at Smyrna Beach Marina, which graces the shores of New Smyrna Beach. There is a laid-back Bohemian feel to this marina that is far more reminiscent of the Florida Keys than the upper east coast of the Sunshine State.

We pulled in, tied up, and I just found out there is an Oyster Bar on Canal Street. A perfect ending to another great day!