Key Largo to Jacksonville on the ICW

April 1 - 15, 2002 - Key Largo to Jacksonville on the ICW

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

RECAP OF TRAVELS NORTHWARD

I've not written for awhile, as we've been busy, and I guess I haven't been motivated (I might be fired if this were a job), so I thought I'd catch you up on our latest travels up the East Coast. After we left Key Largo and the Keys, we headed to Miami's South Beach where we met my brother John, Sandi, and their daughter Allison. It had been a very pretty day as we traveled along Jew Fish Creek and Barnes Sound, Biscayne Bay, and into Miami where we saw the many cruise ships in port getting ready to depart. We started up the canal near the cruise ships, but got stopped by security customs and were told to take an alternate route south of us to the Miami Beach Marina. I guess that after 9-11, security is very tight around the cruise ships. After we got settled, it started to rain hard. It rained so hard that we could hardly get off the boat to go to dinner, but we finally did and decided to go to the Marina Restaurant that was handy. After dinner John and Sandi left to drive home, which is Hobe Sound. Allison stayed with us and she was our tour guide all around South Beach the next day. We didn't have a car, so we took the trolleys all around to see the sights. It was fun to be with Allison as we haven't spent much time with her throughout the years, and it was nice to get to know her.

The next day (April 3rd) was hot and sunny and we left about 9:00 for Ft. Lauderdale, about 20 miles away. This section along the ICW is so very different from the sights we experienced along the Tom-Bigbee Waterway. There are MANY BEAUTIFUL homes along here -lots of money (wherever do they get it)?

We arrived about noon, even though it was a slow trip because there were lots of no wake zones. On the way to our marina, we saw cruise ships and container ships all over in Port Everglades, which is the 2nd busiest cruise ship port in the world. The Zaandam - Rotterdam Holland American Line was in port as we passed. Our marina was the Bahia Mar Marina and it had many many huge, beautiful yachts moored there, which made the Rendezvous look pretty insignificant.

Allison and I shopped a little at the hotel in the afternoon and she bought some cute clothes. She is job hunting in the Miami area, so she will probably be moving there soon.

John drove down from Hobe Sound to meet us for the trip from Lauderdale to West Palm Beach and we said good-bye to Allison and she took the car back. After she left John, Bill and I walked around the beach area and by the Ft. Lauderdale International Swimming Hall of Fame - there was a large meet going on, The National YMCA Championships, and it brought back many fond memories of following our kids swimming ventures. They were all famous to us. We had a drink at the famous Elbow Room and dinner at Coconuts Restaurant along the waterfront.

The next day ( April 4th), we left Lauderdale for West Palm Beach. John was with us and he pointed out the homes owned by famous people. Again, the trip was very slow as there were lots of bridges and some of them we had to have opened for us, and there were a lot of no wake zones. We saw some manatee swimming by - they sure are a strange looking animal.

In the evening Sandi, Rob and Kathleen ( John's son and his wife) and baby Kayla met us at the boat for a visit and we walked up to town for dinner. They have a festival every Thursday night, so there were tons of people and lots going on. It was great fun. We hadn't met Kathleen before, so we really enjoyed getting acquainted with their little family.

Friday, April 5th we stayed in West Palm so that I could get my hair done (can you believe?). We walked around the cute little town in the morning and took the trolley to City Place, which has all the beautiful shops. I then took a taxi to another mall for the hair thing and Bill got on his bike and toured all around to see the sights and went to see Palm Beach too. I had called Rita and Jack Kinney, as I knew that they winter in Atlantis nearby, and was so thrilled that we caught them unbusy -so, they came to the boat on Friday evening and we got caught up, had a cocktail and went to a delightful Italian Restaurant, Cucina dell' arte in Palm Beach. It was a darling spot and the food was delicious. This area of the coast is beautiful and prestine, and we really liked it. It was great fun to see Rita and Jack for a visit.

Saturday, April 6th, my brother came back to join us for our jaunt on to Stuart Florida. There is a GREAT market right uptown near the marina on Saturday mornings. Everything from soup to nuts. We met John and Kathleen's father Bob there and had breakfast and looked over the market before we left. Can you believe - a full breakfast with bacon, eggs, and pancakes too. It was a great way to start off the day, but I wish we could have stayed longer.

We left for Stuart about 10:00 o'clock, which was 37 miles away.

When we got there I called Jane Rahn who lives in the area to ask her to join us for dinner. She is George Rahn's wife. Some of you knew George. He was Bill's uncle and had Rahn's Shoe Store in Benton Harbor, and a very good tennis player. He passed away this winter in Stuart and we drove over for the funeral from Ft. Myers. John, Sandi, and Jane went to dinner with us at a restaurant at the marina. It was nice to see Jane again, and we said goodbye to John and Sandi as we prepared to go to Vero Beach in the morning. Thanks again to John, Sandi, and Allison for making the effort to cruise with us. It was great fun for us.

Sunday, April 7th, we left Stuart for Vero Beach, about 42 miles away on the ICW. It was rainy, windy and grey. The ICW as choppy, but the Atlantic was really riled up and rough. We walked to town and had a drink at a beachfront bar right on the Atlantic. The water looked real scary and no boats were out there.

Monday, April the 8th we cruised to Melborne, about 35 miles away. We walked to town and Bill went over to the beach to see the lift off at 4:45. Dinner at Ichabods, right at the marina.

Tuesday, April 9th, we traveled to Titisville and rented an Enterprise car so we could go and tour the Kennedy Space Center nearby. It would have been great to be there for a lift off, but we missed it by a day. Oh, well.

Next, on to Daytona about 48 miles away on the ICW, where we stayed at the Halifax Marina. This was a huge marina - probably 500 boats. The town didn't offer much, so we left the next morning for St. Augustine and got to the Oyster Creek Marina mid afternoon. Next we took a taxi to town and walked around this very old, quaint town. There is so much history here, as it is known to be the oldest city in the U.S. Today we took a tour all around town to see everything. Very interesting.

Tomorrow, Sunday April 14th, we go to MayPort, which is near Jacksonville and is where Mickey and Bill's daughter Ann and her husband Bob live with their 3 little ones. It will be fun to see all of them. Next we will leave Florida and cruise to Sea Island Georgia where we will visit Mary Lou and Charlie Duncan at their winter home for a few days.

Hopefully, I'll do a better job of keeping all of you interested friends and family apprised of our whereabouts, but remember, "no news, is good news".

P.S. We arrived in Mayport Sunday afternoon and after we got settled, Ann came over to get us on the ferry and we took the ferry with her over to St. Georges Island, where they live. We met the "boys" Alex and Will,(who were sleeping in their swings) and Sarah, who is almost 2. All the kids are absolutely darling and so good. Can you imagine 3 little ones under 2 years of age. We toured there beautiful home- what a lovely piece of property. This island only has 17 families living on it and it is very wooded with hundreds of moss covered trees and a lot of birds and wildlife all around. It is very quiet and private. There home overlooks the ICW, and we will go right past it tomorrow when we travel to Georgia to see Mary Lou and Charlie. We had a little visit and then Bill and I took the ferry back to our boat. By then it was 7:00 and we knew that they had a lot to do to get everybody settled down for the night. It was great fun to see all of them.