Titusville, FL to Hammock Beach Marina
We were really looking forward to leaving our last marina in Titusville, with two sunken boats, behind us! It was April 13th, but thankfully NOT a Friday, so we were hoping the odds were in our favour. We double and triple checked the weather forecast. The water was calm but the skies were grey with a forecast of rain. We decided to leave and keep a close watch on the weather.
Soon after departing, we went through the Haulover Canal. The Haulover Canal is a short man-made canal that connects the Indian River Lagoon with the Mosquito Lagoon, and you must pass with minimum wake. It is known to be a haven for wildlife and it did not disappoint. In that short stretch we saw dolphins, manatees, great blue herons, egrets, some other waterfowl we couldn't identify, and even two raccoons! We hadn’t seen a raccoon in months so they looked so out of place to us!
Generally, our run was uneventful. When we could go fast, we did. We didn't have a drop of rain! We got to our destination just after 3:00 PM and we were very happy to see floating docks. With floating docks, you can tie the boat securely to the dock and you don't have to use long lines to allow for differences in the tide. LUXURY! We were tied up securely and we were floating calmly in the slip, which was a far cry from our last stop. The Hammock Beach Marina was a particularly nice marina that was also connected to a resort. We didn't have access to the full resort, but we had everything we needed and more. Compared to the last few days, we were in heaven!
We had a drink and then planned to go to the pool but the heavens let loose! On the bright side, the rain waited until we were docked and secure. At one point it was raining so hard that we thought it was hailing. There was enough of a break in the weather after dinner that we were able to go for a walk before it started again. It stormed off and on like that all evening. Rachel and Evgeni were flying home from Cuba and video recorded the lightning storms happening over Florida. It looked wild and this shot of the lightening is captured from Rachel's video as they went overhead!
On Friday, we packed a snack and rode our bikes to the beach. We enjoyed a nice walk on a boardwalk and a beautiful expansive beach. Unfortunately, during our beach walk, Heather's toe suddenly started hurting. She would later learn that she had a tear in the Plantar Fascia right at her second toe. Rest is the recommended course of action, which is not easily achieved by Loopers. Anyway, we found a bike path with beautiful lush greenery that took us all the way around the resort toward a Publix, where Cam bought bread. Then we followed the trail all the way back around again, crossed the highway, and returned to the marina. We had lunch, then waited out another rain shower before going to the pool for a swim and a hot tub. Believe it or not, it rained again and we got caught in it on our way back! There was no running for Heather with a bad toe so we got soaked but at least we were in our swim suits. It was time to put our feet up for the evening.
Hammock Beach to St Augustine, FL
We got away early and we were into St Augustine by 12:30 PM, just in time for lunch. Our friends Pam and Bob from Out of the Blue live in St Augustine. They were the first Loopers that we met and we did our side trip to Chattanooga with them. We were in touch with them along our route that day and they popped by right after lunch. We had a great visit on our deck and then headed out in their car for a brief tour of the city.
We stopped in the Historic District and walked around the area. We went into Flagler College and booked a tour for the four of us the next day. Pam knew lots of historical tidbits on the town that she shared with us. We enjoyed the sights and popping into all the little shops. We saw two cute pet shops and bought fudge at Kilwins. Apparently, there are two Kilwins on this same stretch! We were able to feed our new fudge habit well there. We loved the big old Oak trees draped with Spanish Moss that were all over town and we even had to wait for a Peacock to cross the road!
The toe that Heather injured the day before was getting pretty bad so Bob went back for their car. We stopped by our boat for some gluten free ingredients and went to Pam and Bob's for dinner. Cam and Bob went through charts for the Bahamas while Pam gave Heather a tour of their condo and made dinner. We enjoyed a great evening with pasta and wine and then they drove us back to our boat.
They called us the next day to say that they couldn’t join us as planned because they were feeling ill. So we took an Uber to Flagler College for our tour and got a refund for Pam and Bob’s tickets. The college was built by Henry Flagler as a luxury hotel called The Ponce de Leon Hotel between 1885-1887. It had electricity and running water, which was uncommon at the time, and it cost $9000 to stay there for the season from December to April. You had to pay for the whole season whether you were there or not. It was closed in 1967 and then reopened as a college in 1968. The tile floors are beautifully intricate, with planned mistakes. The architect did not want it to be perfect because only God can be perfect.
Several artists were hired to paint the ceiling and they were instructed not to sign their work. However, one artist hid his name in the neckline of one of the women's dresses and it was only discovered in 1998 when the ceiling was refurbished.
The Great Hall displayed lots of portraits, memorabilia, and 13 Tiffany chandeliers. The dining room, which was actively being used by students, also had Tiffany glass in all the stained-glass windows. They're priceless but insured for $150 million. There is bulletproof glass protecting them on the outside. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the college.
We walked around for a bit in the Historic District before heading to Cafe Alcazar for lunch. This little restaurant is in the deep end of a former indoor swimming pool which was the largest indoor pool during its time, and the first one in Florida. It's in the basement of the former Hotel Alcazar, constructed by Henry Flagler in 1888, which is now the Lightner Museum. We went to a few more shops in the Historic District before heading back to the boat.
It was time to pack as Tuesday we were flying back to London. We actually had to leave Monday to stay overnight in Orlando. Frustratingly, there are no mass transportation options like buses or trains to get to the Orlando airport, and there were no one-way rental cars available, so we took a somewhat tense two hour Uber ride. We returned the following Tuesday and got a rental car for the trip back. That was much more cost effective. We picked up our friend, Cathy from C Marie, and did a grocery run while we had the car. Later Cam went to Ace Hardware and another store to get all our errands done before we had to return the rental car. Going home gave Heather a chance to deal with her toe and we both got new shoes. We were in much better shape on our return.
On Wednesday, we returned the car and Pam and Bob picked us up. We had a great time on the Trolley Tour. We got off at the Distillery where we enjoyed four standard tastings plus two more bourbons. We bought a Florida Mule mix and some vodka. Then we had lunch at the former Ice Plant just above the Distillery. One of the toilets in the ladies washroom was an original Crapper brand toilet. The label says Crapper's Valveless Waste Preventer. It still worked. In the parking lot of the Distillery and Ice Plant is a life sized metal horse made out of car bumpers. It seemed out of place but we heard it was there temporarily from Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. We rejoined our Trolley Tour and rode it to the finish. After a quick stop back
at the car to drop off our purchases, we walked back for a tour of the fort called Castillo de San Marcos. The history of the fort was very interesting.There were four wooden forts before the current version of the fort. They built this one out of Coquina, which is actually years of clam shells compacted together, cut away in chunks, and put together with mortar. They didn't know if it would hold so they made the walls 19 feet thick tapering to 9 feet at the
top. It turned out that cannon balls just compressed the walls like Styrofoam, but they did not puncture them. The fort changed hands five times but was never taken by force. The whole town could take shelter in the fort for up to 60 days. They were once under attack for 38 days and only lost two townspeople.
After the fort, we went back to the Historic District to get more fudge since we had finished what we bought already! Then Pam and Bob dropped us back at our boat and we said our goodbyes. There is still so much to do in Saint Augustine so hopefully we'll be back someday. We got some great views of the city and the fort as we were underway the next day.
Click on the photos below to view the images in slideshow mode. You can also watch our video on this stretch of our Loop. Coming up next, we leave Florida behind!
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