Hello All! It's been a couple weeks since our last post and we thought it would be a good time to check in with everyone. We stayed at St. Mary's, GA. for twelve days. This certainly wasn't planned but we really liked the place. We also realized we were within a long days sail to our Christmas lay up at Palm Cove Marina in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Why stay so long in St. Marys you might ask? The last of the Thanksgiving cruisers had not yet left the harbor when the town held it's annual Christmas Tree lighting.
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| St Mary's Christmas Tree |
Santa arrived in a white carriage with Mrs. Claus by his side. At each intersection on the ride down the main thoroughfare lights decorating the trees would illuminate making for a truly magical entrance. Of course when Santa touched the large Christmas tree located in the middle of the downtown square the tree lit up. The lights on the tree blended into a background of several sailboats with their rigging adorn with Christmas lights. We'd only seen such a nautical Christmas scene in Holiday cards. It was beautiful!
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| Nautical Decorations |
Kris and I had not really thought much about Christmas until this night. Thoughts of family and friends were on our minds and we both confessed to feeling a little homesick. A visit from our son Marc was just the medicine we needed to take the blues away.
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| Marc's visit |
Marc drove up to St. Mary's from West Palm Beach and stayed with us on Dalliance for two days. We had a great time together. Marc had a car which enabled us to do some provisioning. We went out to dinner at the Silver City Steak House (one of the best T-Bone steaks I've ever had) and took the ferry over to Cumberland Island a must see if you're passing through this area.
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| Dungeness Ruins |
The highlight of the Cumberland Island tour is the ruins of Dungeness, the former estate owned by Thomas and Lucy Carnegie in the late 1800 and early 1900's. Horses roam freely around the island and in this very small ecosystem you'll see Oak lined lanes, a maritime forest, and white sand beaches.
Marc, Kris and I had a great time exploring the island and I think we were all a bit sad to see the sunset on the ferry ride back to St. Mary's.
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| Cumberland marsh |
For the remainder of our stay we enjoyed the company and hospitality of the residents of St. Mary's and the small town holiday atmosphere.
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| Cumberland Island Beach |
We left on St. Marys on Monday 12/6 and did a short ten miles to Fernandina Beach, FL. Fernandina is located on Amelia Island bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Amelia River. As you may be able to tell by it's name Spanish explorers settled Fernandina and it remained a Spanish military outpost well into the 18th century. The town's architecture and historic points of reference highlight Spain's influence on the area. Fernandina boasts as being the home to the Palace Saloon famous the oldest bar in continuous operation in the state of Florida. Of course Kris and I had to stop by to check it out. We weren't disappointed. The very attractive 20 something bar tender gave us information on the saloon's history. We met Tony a local who really gave us the low down on the areas economy, real estate and restaurants. The bar is famous for it's "Pirates Punch". This drink is made with a combination of (7) different rums and fruit juice. We were told one is not enough and (2) is too much! Kris sampled the drink and endorses this recommendation. Once again we reconnected with friends we met on the trip down. Jim and Carol aboard White Lillie were in port. We first met Jim and Carol in Oriental, NC. We had not seen them since and were happy to get reacquainted. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner together at O'Kanes Irish Pub and shared a little about our families and future plans. We're almost sure that everyone we've met on the way down will be in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas when we return from the Christmas holidays We're at Palm Cove Marina in Jacksonville Beach, Fl. at this posting. We're preparing Dalliance for a month lay up and plan to fly out of Jacksonville on the 14th of December. The weather hasn't been the best in Florida, but Kris or I are not looking forward to the severe winter weather we've been following in Central N.Y. However, maybe McCauley Mountain will be open! Kris and I want to wish all our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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| Armadillo |
