Great Harbour Guests: Just before Labor Day, our friends from Seven Tenths drove down from Jacksonville for a take-out (delivery) dinner in our Palm Coast resort lobby. Dang it! Forgot to get a selfie of the “dinner party”. But I did get pictures of the approaching thunderstorm, and some mating lizards. 😊
Labor Day visit to St. Augustine: We made a short 4-hour cruise north, from Palm Coast to St. Augustine. The last time we were here, the weather was a little cooler -- in December & January.
We enjoyed a breezy slip assignment overlooking Salt Run and the lighthouse – a nice break from the Palm Coast humidity.
Directly behind our boat, was one of our “twin” boats, Roadie. Roadie has a flybridge up top.
We returned to a few of our favorite food stops around St. Augustine. Tanuki met us at Conch House -- with individual tiki hut tables overlooking the marsh and marina.
And Carson joined us for gourmet grilled cheese at Sarbez. Sadly, during Covid, there has been no live music here, as we enjoyed last year.
Carson and his roommate brought the boat down to fish the area. Fishing was good; they said they will definitely be back. Below, we had a front row (bow) seat of them fishing the jetty.
We enjoyed the breezes in St. Augustine so much, we decided to stay for a little while (nice thing about taking your home with you wherever you go).
As we walked the neighborhood (for exercise or travel to dinner), we spotted this interesting home, built in the 1980’s. It is now subdivided into several homes. They say, “Your home is your castle.”
Charity Fun: Elvis and Beetlejuice (on Roadie) invited us to a spooky run/ride to benefit Pie in the Sky, an organization that provides produce/food to elderly in the county. Fun group! Adults like to dress up too! We decorated our bikes (lower left in the photo) for the ride.
Conchland (restaurant, lounge, hotel, and marina): I’m impressed with the attention to the nautical/island theme around the resort. The Ponce family, one of the oldest families in the United States (in St. Augustine for over 400 years), has owned and operated the Conch House Marina Resort for over 70 years.
The tiki hut dining tables are the highlight of the restaurant.
Interesting nautical features, like this ship’s wheel, are found throughout the property.
Tiki torches light the paths around the restaurant.
The lounge – closer to the marina – also has several nautical features.
Judging from the depth of the carved faces, it looks like the “coconuts” were carved inside this piling.
A raised tiki hit overlooks the small, inviting pool.
Dolphin Watching: My favorite activity has been dolphin watching – right off the bow. The jetty just off the dock is like a fish trap for the dolphins as the tide rises.
This video montage shows large numbers of dolphins feeding and jumping, and the last dolphin “playing with his food” (maybe a toddler?). 😊
Tarpon: We often see tarpon chases in the marina. The tarpon are so fast, it’s tough to get video or photos. The fish react very differently for tarpon than for dolphins. Tarpon “scare up” what seems like a whole school of fish when they attack.
On this day, I saw 1 or 2 dozen fish jump out of the water, but I was too slow with the camera. By the time I snapped a photo, I could only find 3 fish out of the water. (Can you spot them?)
In this slow-motion video, you can see the double fins of a tarpon stalking his prey more slowly than usual.
Other Wildlife: There are also several turtles that live and eat within the marina.
Hmmm – do you think it’s time to clean the bottom of the hull?
The first day in St. Augustine, I was excited to spot this pink bird -- a Roseate Spoonbill (I call them “pink spoonbills”).
Conch Island is the barrier island between the marina and the ocean (shown in this drone panoramic snapshot).
On warm weekends, boats anchor off the inland beach to spend the day, swimming and sunning. We come right up on the beach with our dinghy from across the way.
We saw this little boat – or island -- puttering out to Conch Island several times. It has its own tiki bar and dock -- with life ring.
Mangroves: October must be the time when the mangroves here drop their seeds; they are floating all around the marina – in and out with the tide.
Ref: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/southflorida/habitats/mangroves/species/: I have deduced that our mangroves here are black mangroves.
Kayaking: On calm days, we enjoy kayaking down Salt Run to explore some of the marsh creeks. If you zoom in to the left of the photo below, you can see the mangrove’s black root-like projections that provide oxygen to the underground and underwater root systems – like a snorkel.
Friends and Family:
Ray’s brother and family drove to St. Augustine to visit shortly after we arrived.
We also made a road trip and enjoyed a cool autumn weekend with friends in Virginia.
It was good to run into sv Grace, a fellow boater we met in Jacksonville. (We featured his C&C laser cutting handiwork in a previous blog.) Aunt Kate’s is a restaurant that overlooks the Matanzas River. I love the tree growing through the outdoor deck.
We drove to Palatka (in the car this time) for dinner with friends (fellow Great Harbour owners) on mv Journey as they were cruising the St. Johns River. Angel’s Dining Car is the oldest operating diner in Florida (1932).
And later in the month, we drove to Palm Coast to meet mv Journey again, as they started their cruise south for winter. mv Tanuki joined us for that Great Harbour “reunion”. (I forgot to get a group photo.)
Saturday Farmers Market: The farmers market at the St. Augustine Amphitheater reopened recently, after being closed for Covid for several months. There is usually a bluegrass jam session on the deck. We usually walk from the marina for exercise – it’s about 3 miles round trip.
Lighthouse: We toured the lighthouse on our last visit to St. Augustine. It is right near our marina. But this time, Ray got some great drone video. This one shows lighthouse at dawn.
Washington Oaks: A small entry fee (per car) provides access to both the main park (on the Intracoastal Waterway) and the beach. The main park has several hiking and nature trails. The gardens are beautiful. With so many azaleas, we would love to come back here in the spring.
A variety of flowers are found throughout the park, with includes a large rose garden.
The beach side of the park is unspoiled.
The shoreline includes unique coquina rock formations.
Southeast Intracoastal Waterway Park: Another park nearby has a small nature trail and marsh boardwalk gave Ray an opportunity to fly the drone again. The rough coastal brush was really intriguing. A short video of the trail and surrounding area is below.
St. Augustine Beach: St. Augustine Beach was busy – even on the windy day that we were there: people, dogs, cars, fishermen, and kite surfers. (I had never seen kite surfing in person.)
Along the boardwalk to the beach, we saw a man collecting beautyberries with his small children. He told us he makes jelly by boiling them with a little sugar and lemon juice. After this encounter, we began noticing them everywhere we went.
Sunrises: Not surprisingly, given our location, we had some spectacular sunrises.
Glassy water provided a nice reflective canvas.
Sunrise drone photo.
Sunsets: Occasionally the eastern skies also lit up at sunset.
Ray decorated SCOUT for Halloween. Spooky sunset.
Moonrises: October provided interesting moonrises.
This moon halo was much more colorful and visible than I could capture on my phone (behind the waterproof case), but with a little help from Picsart, you can vaguely see the halo.
The next night (Halloween Eve) was cloudless and bright from the near-Blue Moon.
Tarpon Fish Finder: The picture below points out the 3 fish I found in the tarpon chase photo (above).
With Carson nearby in Jacksonville, we’ve enjoyed seeing him more often. He often treats us to dinner – whether he orders take-out or makes it himself. He has spent a few weekends with us. And, occasionally, we meet for lunch while running errands in Jacksonville.
Next post will probably include Nights of Lights, which may begin early this year. 😊