The trip to the dentist entailed-
Took off in our dinghy to the marina dock
Met up with Uber at the entrance of the marina
Was driven to the dentist and survived the appointment
We retraced our steps back to the marina via Uber, but instead of going to the boat we walked around St Augustine. The town was first settled by the Spanish in 1565. St Augustine is the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the US. We walked through the fort- Castillo de San Marco and Olde Town.
Also visited Flagler College, formerly Henry Flagler’s hotel, built in 1887. Henry Flagler had a habit of building his railroad through Florida and then building hotels for his railroad patrons to enjoy. The hotel has a first class collection of Tiffany glass and had a water and electrical system designed by Thomas Edison.
We returned to our boat and left the mooring field to head north once again passing under the famous Bridge of Lyons that connects St Augustine to the beaches.
The chart above shows the waters around St Augustine.
Further north, the Intracoastal Waterway joins the Tolomato River and winds its way through marsh flats and stands of pines. Realized we were not seeing mangrove anymore and took to Google to check it out. Found out that mangroves do not grow north of St Augustine. Learned something new!
The Intracoastal wound past Guana State Park with its tall oaks and stands of pine.
Then the waterway winds past Ponce Vedra and Jacksonville Beaches. Here the tidal range increases to 4-5 feet. (Normally at our house the tide is between 1-2 feet.).
Along the way we saw several groups of white pelicans. The white Pelican migrates to Florida in the Fall and leaves late Spring. They hunt cooperatively as a group, not like the typical brown Pelican that hunts alone.
As we headed north, the waters become more of a dredged channel with the town of Palm Valley on the east shore and Cabbage Swamp on the western shore- Cabbage Swamp got its name because it is filled with cabbage palms.
We crossed the St Johns River north of Jacksonville past a naval dry dock and into the section of the Intracoastal called Sisters Creek. We had to pass by the free dock, as there were three boats plus one submerged boat already there. We would have to go into the dock sideways to fit in with no room to spare.
We continued on to Fort George Island and anchored near the ruins of the Kingsley Plantation. This plantation was built in 1813 and is the oldest plantation on record in Florida. Will explore the plantation and the remains of the British Fort George tomorrow
