Titusville and Vero Beach

We are in the home stretch. Spent Monday night in Titusville and last night at Vero Beach Yacht Club. We decided to stay here an extra day as we like Vero and the club here. Thursday we will travel to North Palm Beach where we will anchor out for the night then on to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday.

St. Augustine and Daytona Beach, FL

Debby's mother rode with us from Jacksonville Beach to St. Augustine on Nov. 29. We docked at Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor which is a nice facility just north of town. Deb's mom wore her FSU shirt to the bar there to watch the Florida/FSU football game after we arrived. Unfortunately, Florida won the game. Laura and Terrell drove down to pick up Rosemary, but we had a nice meal together before they left.
So, now we are truly on our way home. We spent last evening at Halifax River Yacht Club in Daytona Beach. Enjoyed a few drinks with several of the members in their new club house. Every Sunday afternoon they have live entertainment at the bar. Very friendly people.

Thanksgiving Holiday. Ponte Vedra, FL

We arrived at Jacksonville Beach, FL on Nov. 23 staying at Palm Cove Marina. We rented a car for the week, and spent our time visiting Debby's family (mother, sister, brother-in-law, nephew) as well as restocking our supplies for the remainder of the trip.
I forgot to mention in the entry on St Marys that when we docked there and plugged in to their shore power a voltage spike blew out our convection/microwave oven. We tried to get it fixed in JAX without success, nor could we find a suitable replacement. So we will spend the remainder of the trip dependent on stove top and grilled food. This is the only equipment failure we have had so far. It also blew out the AC power supply to our refridgerator, but we can run it on the DC system.
Friends of Debby's sister had all of us over for Thanksgiving along with other neighbors for a group of 12. It was truly a feast. We ended the evening with an old fashioned sing-a-long accompanied by a player piano. Debby's mom has a great voice.
Friday night was another happy time spent at the private Beach Club at Saw Grass. Far too much to drink, but a great meal and good band.

Jekyl Island, GA; St Marys, GA; Fernandina, FL

We traveled from Crescent River to Jekyl Island on the 20th then on to St Marys on the 21st. The weather has been cool, but sunny during the day and cold at night. We had driven to St Marys several years ago to explore with Pat and Brian. It is only a few miles up the St Marys River from Cumberland Sound. The river itself marks the boundary with Florida. We were fortunate to be at Lang's Marina restaurant for all you can eat shrimp night.
Yesterday we came on to Fernandina, FL which is only about 7 miles from St Marys. So, we are now back in Florida. Found a terrific spot for lunch at a place called 29 South. We will move on to Jax Beach tomorrow where we will stay until after Thanksgiving. Expect to be back in Ft Lauderdale around the 4th of December.

Incorrect address

I checked it three times and missed it. Here is the correct web address for the Google Earth site
http://www.greatloop.org/Mapping/membermap.php?id=937

Isle of Hope (Savannah) and Crescent River

Brrrrrrrrrr. It is 26 degrees this morning anchored out on the Crescent River. Fortunately, we bought a dual control electric blanket the other day. That combined with the reverse cycle AC has kept us comfortable. I am loving the lower helm station also on these cool days.

We traveled from Hilton Head to Isle of Hope on the 16th. Isle of Hope is a charming little historic community along the Skidaway River near Savannah. Had another good time in Savannah on the 17th. Great lunch at Vic's then toured one of the old mansions that once hosted the Marquis de Lafayette. We had cocktails at "17 Hundred 90" a B&B that dates back to that time. At Happy Hour the bar was full of men, regulars that have been coming there for 30 years. Met some real characters. One in particular had just competed in an open water, 5.1 nautical mile swim from Tybee Island to Hilton Head. He was 70 years old. He was very kind and drove us back to Isle of Hope.

The picture shows the approach drive to Wormsloe Plantation at Isle of Hope that dates back to 1739. We are now working our way though Georgia. We will be in Jekyll Island tonight and St. Marys tomorrow night.

For those of you that like Google Earth you can go to http://www.greatloop.org/Mapping/membermap.php?=937 and see the places we have been and our route on Goggle Earth. I just discovered how to do this and I am still inputting some of our early itinerary, but it is kind of neat.

Harbortown Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC Nov 14-16

What a treat this place turned out to be. It is a circular basin surrounded by condos, bars, restaurants, shops and hotel. We were tied up stern-to and felt like we were in the Med as the shops were right behind us so we could people watch. Being Friday night we went to Happy Hour at the Quarter Deck where a very good guitarist was playing. A couple of inebriated high rollers came in and got everybody together for a party atmosphere by buying shots of tequila for everyone in the bar more than once. Turned out to be a great time. Even met a couple that recently moved from our neighborhood.

We will come back here some day and spend more time. They have many bike trails and great beaches, but we couldn't take advantage of them due to inclement weather.