St. Augustine is now a pleasant memory as we have moved on to Ponce de Leon inlet about a 60 statute mile run on the ICW. We had a mostly cloudy day with occasional showers but stayed dry under the Bimini. The birds all seem so exotic to us with Great Blue Herons, Night Herons, Pelicans, Storks, Swans, Snowy Egrets, Tri-Color Herons, and Great Egrets, being some of the birds we have sighted in the last few days.We have seen signs for manatees everywhere but have yet to spot one. No alligators either even though many waterways are named Alligator River or Alligator Creek. 
Our friends on Patty Jean, who we had first met in Brunswick Ga., had spent the last few days with us in St. Augustine.  They were intending to leave with us today but had a plumbing issue so stayed behind to fix it. As we write this, there is an 80% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow so we may stay here to ride out the storms and give them a chance to catch up. The decision will be made tomorrow morning when we get the latest weather forecast.

We are still here in St. Augustine.  This is one of the lions that stands at the end of the bridge of lions.  We took this picture on the way back from exploring the fort yesterday.  The Spaniards certainly knew a thing or two about how to defend their city;  the fort was never taken in battle. Today we are hoping to get to the Lightner museum which use to be a hotel during the gilded age.  So in the spirit of Downton Abbey, we must take a look.  Today is our 39th anniversary (unbelievable). Usually we spend our anniversary skiing so it is quite a change up to be walking around in short sleeves and shorts in 80 degree weather.

We are in Historic St. Augustine on a mooring off the old Spanish Fort, the Castillo de San Marcos completed in 1695.  The city was settled in 1565 by the Spanish and retains its old Spanish layout to this day with many narrow streets with old historic buildings everywhere you look.  We walked around for about an hour after we arrived yesterday afternoon and will do much more exploring in the next couple of days.We plan to tour the fort and some of the museums as well as try out one of the many fine restaurants for dinner some night.
In the opposite direction, there is the bridge of the lions.  There are 2 statues of lions at the ends of the bridge.  We'll have to get a picture when we walk over there to the grocery store.  Finally we are getting some warm weather today along with light winds.  Hopefully this will keep up.

Amelia Island

We made up our minds that if one day among the rain and clouds seemed at all promising , we would head out.  
Yesterday we left Brunswick, GA and motor/sailed in the mist and fog to Fernandina Beach, FL.  We did see a number of birds and a few dolphins but no right whales.  We are reportedly cruising in their habitat.  We arrived in the late afternoon so were able to walk around this scenic town and after dinner we decided to do the carriage history tour.  (Of note, there was a young boy wearing a batman cape that his mother made for him.  He said he had been batman for a very long time.)  It reminded me of the novel that Mindy recommended about Nigeria. That aside, the tour was quite informative and the horse drawn carriage was a bit of a change up from being on the boat all day.  The horse was a handsome Belgian named All that Jazz.  Apparently eight different flags have flown over this island and pirates and smugglers used it as a stronghold in their day.
Today we have been threatened with thunderstorms but none have occurred so far.  In fact, we were moored at Fernandina Beach and they recommended that we move on since their moorings were not suitable for the heavy winds that we were suppose to encounter.  So now we are secure at the south end of Amelia Island where we will probably stay until Monday.

Feb. 15

Here we are in Brunswick,GA.  We arrived here on Monday the 13th  under sunny skies but a cool wind.  Our dock neighbors were very welcoming despite the fact that we brought the cool weather with us.  Our first evening we were introduced to the 5pm happy hour followed by a delicious potluck supper.  This took place at the dock entrance where there are tables and chairs, a roof over our heads and a propane grill.  The sunset was beautiful but we were bundled up in our jackets as the cool wind blew.  On Valentines Day, we roamed around the town and happened upon the Ritz theater.  They were showing a free film from the 40's by Graham Green

named Guns for Hire starring Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd.  It was a nice diversion for a rainy day.  

Randy has spent part of the last two days installing and wiring the new radio and getting the dingy ready.  Now we just need the right weather window and we are off.