Fall is in the air in Jacksonville!

Denise, Jack and their daughter, Beatrix
Very fun people!

One of the gatherings in the Boaters Lounge

Very cool sculpture in
Memorial Park

Now this is a "low rider"

Now this is a real "low rider"
Notice the air tank?

Cloud Nine doing their thing
at Tom and Betty's

Big Foot came for a visit

See why they call him bigfoot?

Railroad bridge closed but we can
make it in our dinghy!

Main Street Bridge just down from
The Landing

Zoltar!
Remember the movie "BIG"?

Very cool sculpting of greenery

One of our best days at the beach
not a cloud in the sky!

Fun day!

Lots of people watching

Another cool car show - love the flames!

One cool truck!

I just can't decide if I like this

Blood Moon over the marina
I can't take credit for this -
it was taken by another boater but I
was up to see it! 

Oktoberfest with Kevin and Marlene (Tika)

Bob and Laura
our neighbors on D Dock

Dr Bill and Ellen cuttin' the rug!

After one of the hottest and wettest summers here on record we are finally getting a break in temperatures.  It’s cooled down some although it still rains about every day.  However, we’re still feeling lucky since we haven’t had to deal with one single hurricane this year.  Once we get through October we’ll be free and clear!  As of today (hope this doesn’t jinx anything) there are no disturbances in the tropics.  Yeah!

We’ve been hanging out here in Jacksonville now since August and are starting to get a little antsy.  It’s time to think about heading out and starting another adventure!  If all goes well, we plan to leave around the 20^th.  We’ll head down the ICW with plans to stop in Ft Pierce for a few days.  We plan to navigate the Okeechobee River that crosses Florida – which will spit us out near Ft Myers.  We haven’t done this before and are really looking forward to it. We’ll stay in Ft Myers a couple of days then go north to Venice for a week or so.  We want to spend some time with Jeff and Linda there.  Then we’ll work our way south to the Keys (Marathon).  At least that’s the plan today!

We’ve been enjoying ourselves here in Jacksonville.  One Sunday we took the dinghy to an area called The Landing.  The RR bridge here just outside the marina has been closed for a few days now – it looks like it might be a few more weeks.  This is keeping big boats from being able to leave the area or to come in from the ICW.  It has about an eight foot clearance so we could make it under in the dinghy.   The Landing is pretty cool  – however a lot of the stores were closed on Sunday!  That was a surprise.  One of the servers told us that business picks up in the Fall and most of them will be open then.  We’ll check it out again, I’m sure. 

We also spent a day at the beach.  It was so nice – crystal blue skies without a cloud!  We really enjoyed the people watching.  The waves were pretty big so there were a lot of surfers.

One Saturday against our better judgment we rode the scooters to the Farmers Market again.  The problem was this time – it decided to pour down rain!  We waited it out under the bridge where the Market is for as long as we could.  When it slacked up a bit and looked like there was going to be a break we headed full speed back to the marina.  BUT – there wasn’t a break and by the time we got back to the boat we both were absolutely drenched!  At least we had our shower for the week!  J

Another day we decided to adventure out on the scooters for a sightseeing trip. There was a fundraiser of some type going on at Memorial Park – mostly stuff for kids but we stopped anyway.  We rode around and ended up in what is called the Five Points area.  Pretty cool area.  We found a great little bar -  O’Brothers Irish Pub.  True Irish food on the menu and cold beer!  Now this was the place to people watch!  We saw all kinds – believe me!  After we left the Pub we rode around just enough that we got ourselves turned around and “lost”.  I have a question – why is it that when you get yourself turned around or “lost”  -  you always end up in the “bad” part of town?  You never hear of anyone getting “lost” in a nice part of town!!  Sheeh!  Anyway once we stopped for a minute and checked our GPS we turned around and headed quickly in the right direction.  We rode through the area they call the Brewery District.  We had wondered where this area was exactly – now we know!  We’ll come back to this area some other time – without the scenic tour!  At least it didn’t rain this time!

Last weekend the marina had another get together.  This marina is great for that sort of thing!  This time it was steak night!  Bruce and his crew grilled some fantastic steaks for us with all the fixings.  It was a great evening.  We visited with other boaters poolside.  They even furnished the beer!  The marina is having another get together in a few weeks they’re calling it Oktoberfest.  I’m sure it will be a fun time!

Oh and the other night - the boaters had a potluck to celebrate one of the boaters’ birthdays.  It was for Denise who is from Brazil.  Her husband Jack is from Spain (I think) and they have a little girl (about six years old, I’d guess) named Beatrix.  They home school her on the boat.  It is so very cool because this sweet little girl can speak three languages.  She is a very sweet outgoing little girl – makes me miss my grandbabies!

Mike has been busy with projects – it’s always something!  Since it really isn’t conducive here for him to go fishing in the dinghy he has a lot more time to work on stuff.  HaHa!  Anyway, everyday seems to bring a new project.  This past few days he’s been doing some rewiring on the sundeck to give us more outlets.  Tomorrow will be another project I’m sure.  He’s wanting to build some type of rod holder for all his fishing rods.  I’m sure he’ll come up with something.  Me? I’m satisfied with spending time at the pool and reading a good book!  Wow, ain’t life grand!  Sorry got to go! J

Well, I’m back – didn’t post yet so I thought I’d add to it before I did. 

It’s October 1 and it’s been a little rainy the last few days.  The good news is that it’s still been cool.  We’re still planning to leave around the 20^th of October.  We’re really not on a schedule but we have to set a date or we’d never leave!  We want to be in Marathon by mid-November. 

Okay, I’m back!  I’m a little slow of posting so I’m just going to pick up where I left off…..

We finally got to hear the really good band that we’d been told about at Tom and Betty’s – “Cloud Nine”  They ARE a really good band – the leader singer could go from Johnny Cash to Willie Nelson to Pharrell! Hope we get to hear them again before we leave.

I had a really great treat this past Sunday.  We got to spend the day with my granddaughter, Allie!  Her mom was visiting her sister in Oviedo which is only about a two hour drive from us.  We made the road trip and spent the day at the Central Florida Zoo (in Sanford) and the City Park.  We had so much fun!  The problem is   -   the day was way too short!  We did really enjoy it though.  Miss all my grandbabies!

Okay  -  Back again!!

Since I last wrote   -  We enjoyed ourselves at Oktoberfest!  The marina put on quite an event this past weekend.  Potluck again on Friday and a scrumptious German dinner on Saturday.  They supplied the German beer and wines, dinner and a nice little band  -   all poolside.  We are finally getting to know some folks here only to be leaving in about a week or so! 

Saturday we took another scooter ride and checked out the Brewery area.  We had lunch at an “alternative” spot called the Garage.  The food was good and the crowd was entertaining.  Lets just say – Shane would have liked it.  Tattoos and Loud music! 

So now I’m really going to post this.  We plan to be leaving on Monday, October 20.  Like I said earlier, we really don’t have to leave then but if we don’t set a date – we may never leave!  We want to get headed back to Marathon and it looks like the Tropics are pretty quiet.  Well, I say that now, anyway.  There are a couple of storms out there but they shouldn’t impact the Florida waters.  Let’s hope not!

So the next time I post – we will be in transit.  Heading to the beautiful blue water and gorgeous sunsets!

Till next time!

Admiral “C”

A Hot Time in Jacksonville!

That's our marina in the background

Antique bascule bridge still in service just out
from the marina

Fancy manhole covers!

Scenery from local park

Huge elephant ears!

Beautiful, isn't it?

They're not palm trees - but they're beautiful!

Colorful flora

View from under the bridge at the
Saturday Farmers Market

Mike taking a break at the market!

At the car/bike show
So very cool!

Varoom!

Low-rida!

One of my favorites!

Model boat museum at
Singleton's Seafood Shack

There were lots of models
A lot of work went into these

Waiting on our burgers poolside

View from the boaters lounge

We’re still here in Jacksonville at Ortega Landing where it’s so hot – how hot is it you ask?  It is so hot that when the temperature dropped below 95 degrees this weekend – we thought it was chilly!  Just kidding of course, but it really has been hot this year.  In fact, the weatherman said we broke a three year record for the month of August.  Go figure!  Another thing – I’ve discovered that you really don’t have the feeling of being in Florida when you’re here in Jacksonville (or northern Florida).  When we first arrived one of the bartenders told us that the joke here is that you’re really not in Florida but in southern Georgia.  I’m beginning to understand that now.  I’m missing the palm trees, the crystal clear azure water, the dolphin, the sunsets and the “Florida attitude”.  The marina and the area that it’s in is nice but it’s just not like the rest of Florida that we’ve experienced. 

We’ve been spending a lot of time in the air conditioned boat.  However, NautiNell has two units and a couple of days ago one of them stopped working.  So we are doing our best to stay cool with only one unit running.  It really hasn’t been that bad – we have a lot of fans to keep the air circulating.  We’ve got a guy coming in a day or so to check it out.  Hopefully it will only need to be gassed up.  Keep your fingers crossed!

We’ve been doing the usual things here.  Searching out good restaurants and going on scooter rides. There are several nice parks close by.   We found out that a couple we met two years ago in Marathon is here – Dave and Marilyn (Counter Poiste).  Hopefully we’ll get together with them soon. 

There is a couple of bars/restaurants here where we’ve become regulars.  Let’s just say – we walk in and they know what we drink.  Tom and Betty’s is a great little place.  It’s decorated like a “car show” – old style.  The entrees on the menu have car names and the food is great!  They have a nice happy hour and a band on Friday nights.  Harpoon Louie’s is our other hangout.  They have a great happy hour with the coldest beer in town.  They were voted to have the best burgers in the state of Florida and I agree! 

We’ve hit some of the antique stores – just browsing.  There are some pretty interesting things here.  Wish we had a way to get them back to Missouri for resale.  We could make a bundle!  Mike found a print of some fish he liked – spent six bucks.  We then found a frame at the Goodwill for three bucks.  Hey, only the best for us!!

Mike has become a regular at the American Legion – not surprisingly.  He’s also been doing “projects” on NautiNell.  Also had to work on the exhaust on his scooter.  It sounded like a rocket buzzing all around.  He couldn’t find a gasket to fit – so he made his own.  He is quite the “MacGyver”, isn’t he?

A local Harley shop put on a car/bike show this past weekend.  It was huge and very cool.  We got there rather late but we saw most of the cars and bikes before they left.  There were a lot of cars we hadn’t seen before.  They also had a band and beer.  Not bad!

After the car show we decided we would go somewhere we hadn’t been for dinner.  We had been told about Singleton’s Seafood Shack over in Mayport.  This is a true seafood shack/market that has quite a history.  They serve fresh right off the boats.  The shrimp and fish we ordered had just been caught earlier that day!  Mike had shrimp and scallops (also caught that day) while I had trigger fish for the first time.  Mike had tried trigger fish in the Bahamas and I wasn’t too sure about it.  However, the waitress said I would love it so why not?  She was right too – it was delicious!  I think it even beat out Mahi and that’s saying a lot!  We had hoped to take the car ferry across the river to get here but out timing was off.  It wasn’t that long of a drive and we got to see the area.  Fun place!

Sunday we decided to check out this local flea market we had found.  Big Mistake!  It was so hot AND the place was a giant junk pile!  It was fun watching the people there though – however some were a little “out there”.   There were some strange and strong odors (oils of some type) at some of the booths – not the Florida smells that are described in brochures! J  They did serve beer – and there was even a bar with karaoke. It was so bad!  We did manage to get some fresh fruit though.  They would cut it up while you waited and serve it to you in a baggie with a fork.  That part was good!  They charged a 50 cent admission fee.  We definitely got our money’s worth!  HA!

After the flea market we had lunch at Cross Creek BBQ.  We had driven by it and the parking lot was packed.  So we gave it a try.  Glad we did!  They have 2-4-1 drinks there ALL DAY-EVERYDAY!  Their food was great!  Mike finally got some good ribs! 

On Labor Day the marina grilled burgers and hot dogs at the pool for all the boaters.   Everyone brought a side dish or dessert.  They even furnished the beer!  It was definitely a feast!  We hung out at the pool for a while and visited with some of the boaters.  We really haven’t made a lot of acquaintances here like in Marathon. Like I said earlier – a different attitude!   It seems most stay to themselves.  Maybe it’s because it’s been so hot – people just don’t hang outside much.  We’re looking forward to cooler weather and spending the winter in the Keys.  We’ll be here though for at least another month or more.  There’s bars and restaurants that we haven’t tried yet!

Okay, I’m still writing this a week later – so I’ll bring you up to date.  It turned out that the air conditioning unit just needed to be serviced and gassed up!  Yea!  We’re back to two units now and much more comfortable.  

We’ve spent this past week doing pretty much nothing!  We’ve hit a few of our favorite hangouts and finally made it to Mellow Mushroom but that’s about it.  Mike finally was able to pick up his new glasses in Orange Park.  That’s a story in itself!  You know the place – the 2 for $69 type.  Well, of course, it turned out to be quite a bit more than that – and it took several phone calls and over two weeks to get them!  Mike even got on Google and wrote his first “review”.  I think you call it “ranting” but he felt much better!  It was a very non-professional place – to put it mildly. 

Now it’s Sunday and we had planned a trip to the beaches.  Wouldn’t you know it  -  it was raining when we got up this morning – now it’s noon and it’s still raining.  Hmmm!  At least it’s cooler!

Till next time!

Admiral “C”

Here we are in Jacksonville!

"BigFoot" loves Mike's bike!
He won't stay off of it!

BigFoot and "LD" (aka Little Dog)
They seem to be getting along here....
 

Aarrgh!  We had a great time at the
Pirate Party!

The flipflops won out!
No Pirate boots here!

They start out young here
at Ortega Landing!

Pirate Party in full swing

Maybe this will be our Christmas Card
picture this year! 

Cheryl and Ed
S/V Slowdown

Good view of the pool and marina
Pool is always a fun spot!

Picture at Poe's Tavern
Thought it was very cool!

We're not located where we can get really good shots
of the sunsets - but this one was pretty good!

Whitey's Fish Camp - on the river

Fun place to be!

To all our biker friends - just so you know!

Cool sign!

Old boat makes a great decor

Shopping at the Farmers Market

Lots of vendors - good produce
and lots of "stuff"

At Harpoon Louie's
'57 Cadillac - another great ride!

 

Billy's Boat House
Jacksonville Beach

Nippers
Plan to check it out this weekend!

Cloudy and a bit rainy
Still a great day at the beach, right?

Beautiful sky

We’re in Jacksonville – Marina at Ortega Landing.  It’s on the Ortega River just off the St John’s River.  This is a great marina and “hurricane safe”.  That’s the biggie – although hurricanes don’t seem to be a problem so far this season.  Let’s hope it stays that way!  August and September are usually the months that are the most active so we’ll see.  Anyway, the marina is really nice – it has a great pool and several social gatherings for us cruisers.  Oh and the laundry is free!  It’s the little things that make it a fun place to be.  J  We’ve only been here a couple of weeks so we’re still trying to find our way around.

The first weekend we were here they had a Pirate Party.  It started out on Friday with a gathering and a potluck dinner.  Saturday night the dinner was supplied by the marina along with a great rum punch or “grog”!  It was held poolside and they even had a band.  Of course, there were pirate costumes – Mike came in third in the costume contest.  Now I might be a little biased but I think he should have won.  Just sayin’……..

Every Saturday there is a Farmer’s Market down at the bridge just a few miles away along the river – perfect for a scooter ride.  It’s a pretty nice market with lots of vendors and usually pretty good music!

One day we decided to go on a scooter ride and check things out.  We found a “dive” called Judy’s Pub – not in the best part of town – but it was an interesting place.  We also found the American Legion.  They have a pretty neat place with a pool and tiki bar.  We’ll probably be back to the Legion.  Not so sure about Judy’s.   Hmmm…..   When we go on scooter rides or to the market we usually end up at either the West Inn Cantina or Harpoon Louie’s. This is in an area called Avondale not far from the marina.  These are pretty nice local hangouts.  I would say we’re becoming regulars at both of them.  At least the servers remember our drinks when we walk in.  J

Anyway we’ve been just hanging most of the time.  It’s been so terribly hot here we don’t venture out much in the afternoon.  We heard on the weather the other day that this is the hottest August they’ve had here in three years.  Go figure!  We did take a shopping trip one day to the Home Depot.  We were in search of a “sun shade” for the sundeck.  We found a perfect one too!  Now we can sit out on our sundeck in the afternoon and not be so hot with the sun glaring down.  Of course the day Mike installed it - it rained all day!

We plan to check out Jacksonville Landing soon.  There are several restaurants/bars and shops there.  We can get there on the scooter but want to wait until it cools down a bit.  Hopefully soon! 

We took the car last weekend to check out the beaches of Jacksonville.  They’re about 15-20 miles away.  We had lunch at Billy’s Boathouse.  There’s a Nippers here too – copied after the one in the Bahamas.  We passed on it this time but will definitely be back.  We found the beach but of course, once we did – it began to rain.  So we ducked in Poe’s Tavern.  This place was pretty cool – its theme is Edgar Allen Poe.  Hence – Poe’s Tavern.  Decorated pretty cool!

We were told about Whitey’s Fish Camp so we decided to check it out.  It’s on Fleming Island about 20 miles away so we had to go by car.  Turned out to be a pretty neat place.  Had the best hushpuppies in a long time and great Mahi tacos!

We plan to stay here at Ortega through the month of September at least.  Then we’ll start working our way south back to the Keys. So I suppose there will be more places here to check out.  The marina is also having another gathering Labor Day Weekend.  Sounds like a good time.

Stay tuned!

Admiral “C”