Starting south

Today we departed from Tarpon springs for a short ride to Caladesi State Park. This is a beautiful area that boarders the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Clearwater Harbour on the other. The are miles of walking along the beach for those who love to shell. This is also home to the gopher turtle. As you walk the trails it isn't uncommon to come across one of these critters

The view from our boat looking up the entrance channel

Sitting at the docks

Settled in at Tarpon Springs

From Huntoon State Park we traveled up River to Sanford. Sanford is the most prosperous and well managed towns we visited since leaving Jacksonville. They have a very nice downtown within walking distance of the marina with many shops and restaurants. There is a great German restaurant called the Willow Tree Cafe. Our lunch was a two meal event with a variety of wursts, potato salad, spatzle, red cabbage and sauerkraut.
We pulled the boat yesterday and trailered it to Tarpon Springs, about a 2-1/2 hour drive. We are staying within walking distance of this Greek fishing village. At one time this community did extensive sponge diving. They have the largest Greek population for any town in the US. Every body here is either George, Nick, Lou or Constantine.
Today we drive our truck and trailer to our next destination Palm Island Marina in Cape Haze Florida. We then rent a car and drive back to Tarpon Springs for our 120 mile jaunt cruising our way back to Cape Haze. We will be meeting 16 other tugs there for a rendezvous from February 1st thru the 4th.

Paddle boat passing us while docked in Sanford, Florida

Disney has a big influence in this area. look at the power pole in the background

Want some Greek atmosphere and some good eating, stop in Tarpon Springs.

Welaka to Huntoon state park

This one will be more of a picture post

Don't walk too long among trees with Spanish Moss

This is the closest we got to something that resembled an aligator

1961 Buick Electra in Welaka

The entance way to Astor. Great property opportunities

The Eagle has landed. This was impressive!

Down by the docks of Welaka

Today was what we were waiting for, a beautiful ride down a stretch of the St. John's River that is pristine. The section we went up is called Murphy's Creek and is an offshoot of the river. This creek has some nice anchorages and plenty of wildlife. We saw three bald eagles, blue heron, egrets and anhinga. Unfortunately no alligators, but I am sure we will get to see some soon. Welaka is a small town and has inviting town docks that are free to stay at or two days. One night is enough. There is a small cafe just up from the docks that has spectacular food. All home cooked, even the rolls. Some of the best food we have eaten. The Town has little to offer, but the people are nice and the place is clean. There is a fish hatchery/aquarium that was interesting to visit, but 15 minutes and you are done. Below are some photos of the day.

Picture one is a local fishing at the docks for whatever comes along.
Picture 2 is, you guessed it, pelicans.
Picture 3 is a bit more exciting. If you can see it, that is a bald eagle.
Picture 4 is what we woke up to this morning..

Palatka

We left Ortega Landing on Thursday and took a short 20 mile ride to Green Cove Springs. This was a must stop since this is the town that is our official residence and domicile so we figured lets stop and see our town folk. The local cab driver is Gilligan. A bit of a character who does look somewhat like Bob Denver. We heard all about his first wife who is in prison for murder and his second wife who died from cancer. After our cab ride Jess and I were in love again.
After a night in our home town we headed out early to Palatka. Besides the recession hitting some of these town pretty hard the change in lifestyles has also had an impact. The St Johns River was a major waterway for transport of materials, supplies and people. This is no longer the case and is evident in the towns. Palatka's stores are half empty in the historic downtown. A once vibrant area is now withering on the vine.
Tomorrow we set off for what starts to be the most interesting and adventurous part of the St. John's River. More to come.

Settled in

Well, we are in Jacksonville as planned. The Marina At Ortega Landing is probably one of the best marinas we've ever stayed at.
Today was another shuffling of vehicles. We drove the truck and trailer down to our destination, Sanford Florida and rented a car and drove back to Jacksonville. We stocked up on provisions and are fully loaded. Tomorrow we will relax and just take care of a few odds and ends. Then on Wednesday we will do some sightseeing around Jacksonville. On January 3rd we will shove off early in the morning and start our journey down the St. John's River. As I had mentioned before the St. John's River is one of the few rivers that actually flows north. As one travels south the river becomes much more narrow and brings you back in time to an environment that the early settlers of Florida saw.

All good things come to an end.

Last Sunday we took a 20 mile cruise to Tarpon Basin through the Marvin D. Adams waterway. This waterway has an interesting history. It is a manmade cut made by Marvin as part of his development plans. You can read this interesting story at http://www.keyshistory.org/thecut.html .

Today is our last day of boating and being in the Keys. We hate to go!

The day will be spent getting ready for the motor trip home and getting my last conch soup at the Key Largo Fisheries. The Pilot House Marina was a great spot to stay and even a great spot to stop by when in the Keys. Their restaurant has great food and music as well as a reasonably priced broad menu.

We learned a lot on this trip and discovered that we should use the trailering ability of the boat to our advantage.  By trailering to places you can then set up a home base for a couple of weeks and do cruising from there. Staying in a marina for a week or more has considerable slip fee savings and a month is even better.  Also being at a marina with truck and trailer gives you a vehicle which also works out nicely. So next year we will plan three or four major stops with trailering in between.

Well folks this is the end of Florida Cruise 2012.

See you next year!