The St. John's River

Cruising the St. John's River is a side trip recommended by many for viewing old Florida and its wildlife. That sounded good to us so we left St. Augustine and traveled to Jacksonville, the first big city on the St. John's River, about eighteen miles off the ICW. Famous for banking and insurance, it's a huge city in area (third largest in the USA) and has a free dock for boaters so, of course, you know that's our first choice for the night.  The place was jumping and crowded with people and boats but, luckily, a boat was leaving and we shimmied into their spot.  We were serenaded by the music well into the night and the water finally calmed when the boats left.

Jackson Landing from Tony M

Jacksonville at night

Jackson Landing with St. Patrick's leftovers

The St. John's River runs north to south so we would now be traveling south.  Our first stop would be at Outback Crab Shack up Six Mile Creek where we would spend the night on their 1000 foot beautiful dock, again for free.  They only ask that you buy a meal-make my day!  This place was busy until sunset when all the boats went home.  We settled into a peaceful night with some critter scratching on our hull.  Welcome to Gator Country!

Tony M on 1000' dock at Outback Crab Shack

Baby gator at Outback Crab Shack-he loved the potato we fed him!

The beginning of  the St. John's is wide and shallow-very much as wide as our lakes in CT,but here it is the river where we stayed in the channel and motored through.  We stayed at the town dock in Welaka, again for free and showers and bathrooms were even provided.  We found their best restaurant ShrimpsRus (no joke) and were pleasantly surprised with the homecooked quality.  We explored the wooden boat museum of Richard Speas who made wooden boats from glued pieces of wood and we learned of his amazing life. (He and his wife took their five children on their refurbished boat and motored from Michigan to Florida in 1962- Match that,  June Cleaver!)While in Welaka we discovered Buddy's ear infection had returned so we somehow needed to get him off to a vet.  Holly Bluff Marina, the only marina in the state of Florida with a courtesy van and with their vet recommendation Holly Bluff was our next stop.  More medication was the ticket for Buddy and the van enabled  us to stock up on groceries. How I miss a car!

One of the many Speas-made boats on display

Speas made these vases from scraps to supplement his retirement!

The next morning we left there and rounded the corner to spend a couple of nights at Hontoon State Park with its own little ferry bringing campers and hikers to this little island.  We took the three mile round trip hike up to the shellmound (It think its the highest point in FL-only kidding) where I twisted my ankle and hobbled the last mile (all better now).

Hontoon State Park

Hontoon State Park- different kind of foliage

Blue heron visiting us at dinner time

Lots of snowbirds are seen trying to fly in these!

While there we dinghed to Blue Springs Park, famous for its spring water, making this section of water crystal clear, unlike the murky brown water of the rest of the St. John's.  The park was crawling with people - many  with beach chairs, blankets and coolers, making a day of it, enjoying a swim in the clear water.

Blue Springs State Natural Feature

Hard to believe a million gallon flows from here every day

From here we retraced our stops back to Jacksonville and spent another night on their dock at Jacksonville Landing.  The wind and current are rocking us quite a bit now so we should sleep like babies tonight!
As long as the weather and tides hold out, we should be off to Fernandino Beach tomorrow- our last stop in Florida.

Livestock on the St. John's

Spanish moss of many trees

All different kinds of docks