Our Adventures on Sea Dream: Sunny Warm and Beautiful St. Augustine

TUESDAY- The best time to visit Florida is this warm winter; few tourists or bugs and moderate weather. We “set sail” in early darkness and passed through downtown Jacksonville and the RR bridge at dawn, before it closed for the day. The I.C.W. south of Jacksonville has houses to port and swamp to starboard. There were narrows but no traffic. After a beautiful day, often accompanied by dolphins, we picked up a mooring ball next to Lion's Bridge, in the heart of St. Augustine, at 1:30PM. New mooring tackle, plenty of swing room, gentle breeze and a gorgeous location, all for only $21.00! The newly refurbished, “old” Lion Bridge crowns the harbor. Ashore, Louis, Mike & I enjoyed walking around the 16^th century Spanish fort and all through America's oldest town. Tonight, little white lights twinkle from most downtown buildings, an especially festive sight from the water.

WEDNESDAY- This morning I enjoyed the pink, glowing sunrise over Lion's bridge. Such a beautiful old city so we stayed another day and walked then re-walked the brick streets and old neighborhoods. Before dark Louie got in a good run around the old fort, wearing himself out.

THURSDAY- We left St. Augustine about 11:30 AM after replacing the dinghy davit brake, emptying the trash and walking Louie ashore. It was very scenic but we had to watch the depths (shallows) very carefully. At 6:00PM in downtown Daytona Beach, we found a tight but adequate anchoring spot. It is a squeeze near a big bridge but a good hold. No shore time tonight. Left over chili waits!