Here is my mystery bird of the week.  Sandy Evans, please identify

We departed Ft.Pierce on a cool but sunny day and traveled north to Cocoa Beach.

 This manatee stayed with us at Ft Pierce

We were excited to be just 12 miles from Cape Canaveral because a rocket launch was scheduled that night.

  So glad I had my scarf Cait had made for me.  It was so windy and cold.  Look at the swells on the water.

We have never been to Cocoa Beach. Tom’s parents lived aboard their 60 ketch there one winter.  The town was quaint and right next to the Marina.  We needed to provision so we caught a local bus to a Mall to watch a movie and walked to Publix.  As seniors it only cost 60 cents each way.  Sometimes it is good to be old!  It was a fun day.  That night at about 9:30 the rocket took off into the sky.  We waited about 30 minutes in the cold air for the launch but it was worth it.  From Cocoa we cruised up the coast to Daytona Beach to the Halifax Harbour Marina

.   This beautiful Cat was enjoying the wind.

  The run was slow due to all the Manatee Zones.

Our friends, Don and Becky Roman live aboard their Monk 36 “Andante” at the Marina.  We had a great visit with tapas and drinks at the Chart House Restaurant.

                        

The following morning The Roman’s organized a donut and coffee get together on the dock and we were able to meet a number of other boaters.  We arrived in Daytona at the beginning of the 24 hour Rolex car race taking place at the Daytona Speedway.  The noise generated by the race was constant and we listen all night to the shifting of gears.

  I love the Ibis   Ponce de Leon lighthouse

  We walked over the the Jackie Robinson Ballpark, but it was not open.  I was very disappointed.

We continued the following day to St. Augustine and waited out 4 days of bad weather.  Historic downtown St. Augustine was less than a block from “Journey”.

  The Spanish Galeons was on display in St. Augustine.

We found a nice little coffee/pastry shop about 2 blocks away and spent many mornings there.  We had numerous visitors those 4 days.

  We went to The Bunnery for breakfast.  See the difference between Tom’s breakfast of bacon and eggs and mine of a peanut butter cookie.

NCIS friends Jeff and Tess Walton came by and took us out to dinner at a friend’s restaurant.  We had a great visit.  Jeff and Tom go back to their early years with NCIS.  Tess, the sweetheart that she is, brought us homemade lumpia which was consumed over the next few days.

Neil and Kelly Robbins, also NCIS friends, came by for a visit.  We went out to an Irish Pub for lunch.  What fun it is to spend the day with old friends.

  At the St Augustine Fort with Neil and Kelly Robbins

Granville “Granny” and Susan Taylor came for a visit.  Granny built our 1934 Mercedes Roadster when we were in Iceland.  We have become great friends over the years since we lived in Orange Park, Fl.  He is so talented in building show cars.  We went to a fantastic dinner at the “Columbia” restaurant that evening.

Some friends go back to Jr. High School. Betsy Hayes, whom Tom had not seen for 45 years, was visiting St Augustine, with her husband Rolf, from their home in Sweden.  It was an amazing visit.   It was as if Tom and Betsy had seen each other just last week.  It was wonderful talking about friends from Jr High and High School.  Rolf is a Swedish Ship captain and runs a non-profit rescue program across Sweden.  Tom and Rolf talked boats and Betsy and I got to know each other.  Betsy also has three sisters,  needless to say we had a lot to talk about. We had a great time visiting on two separate days.  We all have so much in common.  We look forward to seeing them in Sweden in the future.

  We loved walking around St. Augustine.  This was the gates to the old town.

    

The churches were beautiful.  We went in the one on the above right.  The stained glass is from the inside.

   This baptismal is made of marble… It was gorgeous.

From St. Augustine we got underway for Jacksonville, Fl and the beginning of the St Johns River.

We had a beautiful run leaving St. A through the Bridge of Lions, with the current giving us a nice boost all the way to the St Johns River.  Our run through downtown Jacksonville was awesome.

   White pelicans.  There were a million of them!

We had never seen this beautiful city from the water before.  We ran up the OtegaRiver to Lambs Marina where we spent 2 days.  Granny picked Tom up at the Marina and took him shopping at Publix.  The three of us then drove down to Granny’s home in OrangePark to see their renovations.  The home had a beautiful feel of a mountain lodge.

 Jerry and Judy Marchand, former neighbors, met us four at our favorite Italian restaurant in OrangePark .  We all had a fantastic time together talking old times. From Lambs Marina we will be exploring 172 miles of the St. Johns River south to Sandford, Fl .