Our Great Loop Adventure

We left St. Augustine on Thursday, March 20. We passed the Ponce de Leon Inlet and continued on the AICW to Jacksonville Beach. We docked at the Beach Marina. We knew we would need to pick up some groceries so before deciding where to dock Tony spoke to the dockmaster and he assured him that there were 2 grocery stores with in walking distance from their marina. One store was 1.1 miles from the marina but on the other side of the AICW over a bridge. The other was 1.3 miles but in the direction of the bridge. This is the day after we had walked over 5 miles going to the lighthouse, the Castillo de San Marcos and to dinner. We put on our walking shoes and foldup cart and off we went. The next day Sharon did laundry, while Tony washed the boat and went to lunch at the restaurant at the marina. After spending two quiet days, we left and headed up the St. John's River to downtown Jacksonville. We left the AICW to go on the St John River. As we were approaching we saw a huge freighter moving up the river. We followed him towards the city. Just before the first bridge in Jacksonville, we watched as 2 tugs slowly turned the freighter to go up a channel. We were looking for the Metropolitan Park Marina. It is located on the river side of the stadium where the Gator Bowl and Jacksonville Jaguars play. It is one of the free docks provided by the city of Jacksonville. All you have to pay for is electricity. Total cost for two days was $17.12. What a great deal. The only drawback is their are no dock attendants to help you tie up. We walked about a mile to the downtown. Most of the activity is at a complex on the river called the Jacksonville Landing. There are several restaurants and shops. We took the riverwalk back and saw a lady with a Starbucks cup. Of course I had to ask and she told me they sold my favorite brew at the Hyatt. On Saturday (March 22nd) we walked to the Hyatt and sat in the lobby having a coffee and people watching. In the afternoon, Jim and Pat from Ariverderci, fellow loopers, came in as well as Miss Brisa. The captain, Leon, helped us dock and depart from Marineland. So Tony helped them dock. Turn about is fair play. Leon and his wife have traveled on their boat all the way from Alaska. They have been gone three years. What an adventure they have experienced. They will soon have their boat pulled out of the water and plan to drive back to Alaska. Tony also helped dock (twice) a boat from Halifax, Nova Scotia.The slip they tied up to first was rocking because of the wake of boats traveling on the St John's River. Jim and Pat came to our boat for docktails. Sunday we continued up the St. John's River to the Ortega River. We are presently docked at the Marina at Ortega Landing. This is where Summer Recess will stay while we come back to Michigan for a week. She will get some engine work done, the air conditioning unit in our state room will have a circuit board replaced and a TV antenna so we can watch tv where there is no cable. We should have done this earlier but not being able to watch NCAA B-ball was the final straw. We will return to Florida on April 1st.