03-03-2019 A Few Days at Mayport

Current Location: Pelican Roost RV Park, Mayport Naval Station, Jacksonville, Florida

Cloudy and humid at 66 degrees F at 9AM

Our time here at Pelican Roost RV Park has been a bit low key.  Some of that is due to Mo’s less than perfect knee, but she has been plugging along reasonably well.  We are now taking turns walking the dog, and we have managed a few beach walks as well.

Even a dull gray day Mattie loved the beach at Mayport NAS

The other limiting factor in our adventures this week has been the weather.  We love outdoor stuff, mostly kayaking  and hiking. While there have been breaks in the gloomy weather, most of the days are foggy in the morning, gloomy during the day, and almost always with a prediction of rain ranging from 20 percent to 100 percent.  Not good kayaking weather.

One of the nicer amenities here at Mayport is the great view of the St John River and all the passing vessels coming and going.  The other amenity we came to appreciate more as the week progressed is the lovely beach, stretching for as far as the eye can see.  It is quiet and uncrowded, clean and peaceful. One morning we managed to get down to the beach in time for the sunrise.  Being from the west coast, sunrise on the beach is something we never see, and it was beautiful.

Atlantic Beach

Our adventures have been more connected to the car than usual, but we have managed to do some exploring in this area that was interesting.  I will say up front, that I am not particularly enamored with this part of Florida. It isn’t quite as crowded as the more southern parts of the Gulf side of Florida, but it isn’t even close to the Old Florida charm of the limestone backbone of the state around Ocala and Gainesville. 

This part of Florida certainly isn’t a bad place to be when almost the entire country is encased in snow and ice, blizzards, floods, storms and horribly cold temperatures.  I am glad we are here and not complaining in the least.  Just sayin’ I would choose North Central Florida over the Atlantic side of Florida.

Mom runners on Atlantic Beach.  Dedication!

On our first full day here, we decided to do a bit of reconnaissance and traveled south on A1A toward Atlantic Beach.  One of the better parts of Florida beaches is that many of them are actually dog friendly.  I had no idea about this, since most of the beaches in the state parks do not allow dogs, even on leashes.

Reading about the dog friendly sands at Atlantic Beach, just a bit south of us here in Mayport, was all we needed to pile into the Tracker with the dog and head for the beach.  The skies were sunny, and the breeze was a bit cool, but the walk was wonderful.  We saw a few people walking the beautiful beach, but not nearly as many as I expected to be out on this lovely day.

Beach parking in Atlantic Beach consists of a couple of spaces at every cross street that ends at the beach, with 15th street having the most spaces.  We were lucky to find an open spot on 14th street near some rather lovely beach homes. 

Beach homes at Atlantic Beach

Something that doesn’t show in the nice photo is the damp, moldy, musty smell that accompanied our walk from the car to the beach.  Lots of water here, and lots of humidity.  Of course that damp smell is to be expected.

Atlantic Beach in the vicinity of 14th Street

Mattie loved walking the beach as much as we did.  It was a gorgeous, long stretch of sand that extended north to the base that we could barely see in the distance and south as far as the eye could see.

Our next stop for the afternoon was  Dutton Island Preserve, where we read that the trails are open to dogs with leashes, and there was a kayak launch. The afternoon had warmed beautifully, the winds abated a bit and the sun felt wonderful.

Kayak launch at Dutton Island

We found the kayak launch where some fishermen were working their lines, but the tide was out and the launch looked rather uninviting with all that mucky mud.  Kayaking in a salt marsh can be interesting, but not necessarily during mid afternoon in hot sun.  It didn’t excite either of us, and we decided to simply explore the preserve a bit, and save our kayaking for areas that might entrance us more than this one.

Look close. That is me at the base of that huge trunk, see the blue shirt?

I did love the huge old oaks at the park.  There were walk-in campsites, and a lovely pavilion for picnicking. Once again, wildlife was almost absent, and even in the muddy shoals we didn’t see any alligators and very few birds.

Fishing boardwalk at Dutton Island

On another day, we decided to drive north, using the St John Ferry to save 20 miles on the route toward Amelia Island.  I have heard of Amelia Island since forever, and am pretty sure I have read a few novels from the famous getaway.  Long ago I imagined it as a high end ritzy place that catered to wealthy easterners.  Lately I have read about the wild parts of Amelia Island, and thought it would be fun to see what it had to offer.

We decided to travel all the way to the north end, to Fort Clinch State Park, and take our time on the return trip checking out Little Talbot Island and Big Talbot Island, state parks that are all part of the Amelia Island Complex.

Traveling north along A1A, we were shrouded in the deep darkness of ancient oak forest, and the extremely high end houses on the east side of the road were only barely visible beyond the gates and signs for each “community”.  It definitely looked like a place where moneyed people choose to come and play, and we didn’t see much of the beach on the west side of the road either.

Once we arrived at Fort Clinch, however, we could see the charm of the beautiful beaches and lovely forest in the wilder part of the island. We had a picnic with the area entirely to ourselves before we left Mattie in shade with windows open enough that we didn’t have to worry about her as we entered the Visitor Center and the grounds of the fort.

We have visited a few forts from this era of our history, built before the Civil War. Amelia Island and Fort Clinch were considered strategic, and the fort was taken by the Union Army from 1862 until the end of the war.  It has been restored several times, and it was interesting seeing the old brick of the original fort compared to areas of the smaller new brick of the restoration efforts.

Union uniforms at Fort Clinch

The views of the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south were gorgeous, and the views to the northwest of the huge St John River harbor were impressive. The fort had that same lovely red brick, blue sky, black and white trim look that makes photographing them so much fun. 

We took a bit of a side trip in the park to check out the campground, and were somewhat disappointed.  With all that space, and all that gorgeous forest, the camp was located right on the sandy beach, in the wide open somewhat weedy spaces.  The sites were narrow and all crammed in tight with no breathing space at all between them.  Not something we would chose to do no matter how lovely the beach might be. Especially a beach that had a no dogs allowed sign on it!

We stopped on the return trip to view the Amelia Island lighthouse from the Egans Creek boardwalk, finding one lone great egret watching  fish jumping in the low water.

Egans Creek Overlook

I think what I loved most about Amelia Island were the huge oaks overhanging the roads.  They are so dark and mysterious, and even more so with their shrouds of gray Spanish moss.  Our route back to the base passed by both Big Talbot Island and Little Talbot Island, but the skies were darkening, and we decided that it was time to get on back home.  Both parks would be great for more hiking trails, but you must pay a separate fee for each park, and with our limited walking distances, it didn’t seem like a good choice.

That evening the rains came at supper time, and my plans for pulling out the BBQ went by the wayside and we drove the short distance back north toward the Mayport St John’s Ferry, where we had dinner at a place that came highly recommended.  The Safe Harbor Seafood Market and Restaurant was perfect.  One could choose fish from the case of fresh fish and have it cooked to order, or choose from the menu, or stock up on fresh fish for the home fridge.

We chose to sit on the covered porch and watch the pelicans and river boats while we ate a truly yummy supper.  Grilled haddock for Mo and blackened shrimp for me.  Gotta thank Laurel for introducing me to the yummy flavor of blackened shrimp.  What a treat!

Yesterday it was raining and thundering, but we needed to get out for a bit at least, and once again piled into the car with the dog to go exploring.  We chose this time to continue south toward Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach.  Along with Atlantic Beach, these places are listed in the “things to do” in this area.  It was an interesting drive, with the “beach” being completely obscured along the route by houses, condos, and development. 

A short side trip into the main area of Neptune Beach led us into an enclave of mostly restaurants.  There were a LOT of them.  We drove on south toward Jacksonville Beach which our pedicure person had extolled as a fabulous place to go.  Maybe it was the rain, but it wasn’t all that exciting either.  In Jacksonville Beach, the main draw seems to be the restaurants and bars and it was happy hour.  The bars were overflowing on the decks with young people drinking and partying and having a great time. 

By the time we headed back north, we both decided that visiting the beaches along A1A isn’t exactly on our high priority list of fun things to do.  We don’t like to eat out all the time, and walking beaches in the rain isn’t all that much fun either. 

We pulled out the BBQ for the steaks I had planned for Mo’s birthday dinner.  That dinner turned into indoor enchiladas due to rain, but I didn’t let the rain stop me last night.  I managed to get the steaks done before the worst of the rain hit and we enjoyed a great dinner to the sound of drumming rain.

Today we are traveling a short distance back to the other side of Jacksonville, to set up for another week in another Military Family Camp.  It will be interesting to compare JAX NAS to Mayport NS.

02-13-2019 to 02-15-2019 St Vincent Island and Visiting Friends in Apalachicola

Current Location: Rainbow River State Park, Dunnellon, Florida

Slightly steamy at 68 degrees F, 87 percent humidity, and partly cloudy moonlit skies at 6AM

Our time at Indian Pass turned out to be just as wonderful as I had hoped.  We enjoyed quiet days and gorgeous beach walks.  Mattie could run to her hearts content in the soft white sands on our early morning sunrise walks. 

The day after we visited Saint George Island was another clear but windy day, and the waters of the sound were too choppy to make an attempt to land on the island.  Instead, we went for several beach walks, and enjoyed some relaxation time.  Verizon internet was quite good at Indian Pass, and we managed to get banking and bills taken care of, correspondence handled, photos uploaded and such.  It was nice to have a bit of a down day to handle those chores without feeling as though we were missing out on something.

For several years now, I have followed a lovely blog, Raven and Chickadee, by Laurel and Eric. Laurel’s blog is beautifully written and photographed, and they often travel to places in the US that we also especially enjoy.  One of their gigs is volunteering on Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands in Washington, and I read everything I could on Laurel’s blog before we traveled there for our Puget Sound trip in 2014.

I have used her blog as a resource numerous other times, and especially as we planned this trip east toward Florida.  You see, Laurel and Eric are from Ashland, Oregon, just down the valley from us.  They have even spent many lovely hours kayaking our favorite Recreation Creek at Rocky Point.  Somehow it just never happened that our paths crossed at the right times, even though we were within a quarter mile of each other, but not at the same time!

Now they are in Florida, and right near us in Apalachicola.  It takes over 3000 miles and a few years to get some people together, I guess.  We made contact by telephone and arranged to have lunch and a town walk in Apalachicola on Friday, Valentine’s Day.

Mo and I woke up that morning to an incredible sunrise.  In addition, there was a stillness in the air that let me know that maybe my dream of kayaking over to St Vincent Island could actually happen.  We rose to a quick breakfast, and had the kayaks on the water just a little bit after 8am. 

The paddle across the narrow sound wasn’t difficult at all, even with the choppy current and cross winds that funneled through the channel from the east.  Even on a still day, there was choppiness and breeze in the channel, so I was glad we hadn’t tried it on a windy day.  I have no photos of the crossing, with the camera once again safely stashed in the pelican case and me paddling too much to even think about bringing out the phone.

Landing on the island was simple, with soft waves gently lapping the shoreline at the western tip of the island.  St Vincent is a large barrier island, and unlike some that are long and narrow, the island is wedge shaped and covers quite a distance.  I knew we wouldn’t get to experience all the wildness that is there, but even a bit of time walking the beautiful beach was wonderful.

We didn’t see any of the deer that are on the island, and definitely didn’t see the red wolves, or even many birds, but we did see a lot of interesting tracks up near the dunes. There are old roads on the inland parts of the island that can be used for organized tours or bicycles, but the wildest parts of the interior were much too far for our short morning visit with the boats. 

There is a ferry that will take people to the island for a small fee, and that way you could bring along a bike and see the interior.  For me, the beach walk was enough, and I felt completely satisfied that once again I stepped foot on the pristine world of St Vincent.

At 11:30 we headed for Apalachicola and our lunch date with Laurel and Eric.  Such lovely people, and so very much exactly as I had envisioned each of them.  Laurel is full of southern charm and delightful conversation, happy smiles, and lovely laughs, a great talker but also a great listener.  Eric talks less, but when he does he is just as interesting.  He was the park manager for the city parks in Ashland for many years.  He is from the “south” as well, Southern California, just like me, so we laughed at our common background being raised in the LA basin back when it was a nice place to grow up in many ways.

We had a great lunch at Up the Creek Raw Bar, right on the river.  We at first got the primo table outside on the deck, but the chilly winds drove us indoors for less wind and a bit more warmth.  I had another version of incredible gulf shrimp, although after tasting Laurel’s version, I did wish I had ordered blackened instead of fried. 

After lunch the five of us, including Mattie, walked the town and listened to stories of Laurel’s family, who have roots in Apalachicola that go back generations.  Several hours passed very quickly, and we parted ways at 3 so that Laurel and Eric could return to more friends who were dropping in to visit.

I am sure our paths will cross again, with a date for kayaking the Wood River together the next time we are both back in the Rogue Valley at the same time.  That might be awhile, since Laurel and Eric are planning a Maritime trip this summer instead of returning to the Northwest.  Lucky for us, since we hope to do the same in another couple of years and we can add Laurel’s blog to those of our friends who have spent time in the Maritimes.  So much to learn, and so nice to have folks leading the way with inside information.

The next morning I received a note from Laurel about the perfect launch site and paddle on the Ichetucknee River, our next destination as we leave Rainbow Springs. Laurel said she likes the Rainbow River but the Ichetucknee is her favorite in all of Florida.  Can’t wait!

But first, I need to write about our three days at Rainbow Springs.  Perfect paddles, perfect weather, perfect days.  Finally.

02-11 and 02-12-2019 Boats in the Water and a Trip to St George Island

Current Location:  Indian Pass Campground, Port Saint Joe, Florida

Brilliant sun and 61 degrees F at 2PM  and still windy

We are enjoying the sun, sitting in the MoHo catching up on a few things after a lovely walk on the beach.  I am impatient.  I really want to get over to St Vincent Island today, since rain is again predicted for tomorrow and we are leaving this lovely little campground on Friday morning.

I can tell we are slowing down, settling into Florida time, when I can’t quite be sure what day we did something or the other.  Days have been slow, and after breakfast one or the other or both of us take Mattie for a walk on the beach.  We relax and fiddle a bit, and then decide mid day that it is time to do something.

Notice that billowing shirt on Mo!

On  Monday, with a break in the weather, and winds at only 12 knots, we decided we could take a chance and get the boats in the water at last.  The bay side of the peninsula where our campground is located is shallow, and somewhat protected from the worst winds.  Or so we thought.

Still, we are stubborn if nothing else, and with brilliant sunshine did not want to wait another day to go kayaking.  We decided to wait for better conditions before driving the many miles to Tate’s Hell and Cashie Creek, so this was our alternative.  Close to home and hopefully easy enough for our maiden Florida voyage this year.

The launch site was perfect, just down the road from our campsite, with easy unloading, and a place to park the car.  It was breezy, but it felt wonderful to be outside doing something we love. 

As I mentioned, the bay is shallow, more so around the areas where vegetation emerges from the shallow oyster beds that were waiting to rip apart a boat if you got too close.  It required a bit of crazy navigation to avoid them as we rounded the point of the peninsula into the lagoon, but there were a few white posts that marked the way.  We learned to pay attention to them.

It was a simple outing.  A few birds, brown pelicans, some ducks, and some other unidentifiable feathers that were hard to even think about trying to photograph in the rocking boats.  I managed to get a few phone photos and didn’t even bother trying to get out the big camera which spent the entire trip locked up in the waterproof pelican case.

Still, as I said, it felt great to be out in the boats, finally, and we managed about 3 miles, half of it with the wind at our backs and the other half battling that same wind, fighting whitecaps. 

The next morning dawned dank and foggy, but not particularly cold.  We knew it was supposed to rain, but the heaviest rain was predicted for later in the day so we had our usual slow morning then decided to go exploring again. 

Yes, the windshield is very dirty in the Tracker

This time the winds were low enough that we could manage the drive back through Apalachicola, across the bridge, and over the long bridge to St George Island. The big draw for us on this particular day was the fact that all the beaches on the island are happy dog beaches.  Stopping in at the Visitor Center to ask about this, we were told that Mattie could be of leash on the beach anywhere that we felt comfortable. Wow.  A big difference from most of Florida where dogs aren’t allowed on the beaches even with leashes.

There are beautiful wild places on St George Island, but not where we could visit them.  The State Park on the eastern end of the island is closed until March 1, due to the hurricane damage from Michael.  Instead, we took the boardwalk right near the center of town out to the beach and just started walking. 

There are many houses along the beach, all along the Gulf side, but on this foggy, windy day, the beach was nearly empty.  Still, it was actually warm, with temperatures in the 70’s, and I had a hard time equating the murky, foggy skies with these warm temperatures.  It just seemed strange.  No such thing as warm fog on the Oregon Coast.

We celebrated our long walk with an ice cream cone from the central tourist shop, and had to eat it fast to keep it from melting in the warmth.  We then drove some of the side roads around the island, both gulf side and bay side.  There are many places to access the beach, with each road leading to a public access area, but very few places to access the bay side.  The only kayak launching site was right by the main bridge entering the island from the north.

As we returned home through Apalachicola toward Port Saint Joe, the foggy skies opened up to huge cumulus thunder clouds, and by the time we got back to the campground the skies were black and crazy and the winds were blowing hard.  It rained all night and the sounds of the wind and rain on the roof were wonderful, but didn’t portend for another great day ahead.

This morning we woke with thoughts of kayaking, but where.  It was still windy when we woke, but the sun kept coming out and I made repeated forays to the boat launch to try to see if we could get out on the channel.  Nope.  Whitecaps.  I finally asked a neighbor camper, a nice woman with a couple of kayaks who we met out fishing on our day on the lagoon, and she went with me and said, “Nope, I wouldn’t tackle it right now.  See those whitecaps over there?  That is where the current is really strong, and combined with the wind it can really tip you over easily.” 

Ah well, then.  I guess my dream of kayaking over to St Vincent Island isn’t going to happen.  Makes me all grumpy inside, and then I realize that if I am so attached to going over there, it would probably be a bust anyway.  It would be cold, or windy, or the beach would be all torn up, and who knows what else.  I will just have to imagine St Vincent Island as the wild place it is without me on it.

We had a few lovely walks today along the beach, wide open with no people for most of the way, and Mattie could run to her heart’s content.  That is what it is all about anyway, beach walking and a happy dog.