St Johns River Cruise

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rwidman

rwidman

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The trip is on - Charleston, SC down the ICW to the St Johns River and up the river as far as Lake Monroe and Sanford.

Day seven and we're at the Marina at Ortega Landing. Great place for provisioning and they have a deal where you pay for three nights and get seven that can be split up so you stay a few days, cruise the river, then stay a few days on your way back.

So far, we've had a manatee follow us in our dinghy. My wife really liked that.
 
Welcome to Florida! Be sure to plan a stop at Blue Springs State Park. You won't see many manatees this time of year, but you will be able to swim and snorkle the spring run. Silver Glen Springs just west of Lake George is well worth the short dinghy ride up the spring run.
 
HopCar said:
Welcome to Florida! Be sure to plan a stop at Blue Springs State Park. You won't see many manatees this time of year, but you will be able to swim and snorkle the spring run. Silver Glen Springs just west of Lake George is well worth the short dinghy ride up the spring run.
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Thanks for the welcome and the tips. The manatee we did see was in GA behind Cumberland Island National Seashore.

I have Black Creek, Murphy Creek, and River Forest Loop on my list. I have plenty of time so I'll check out Silver Glen Springs and any other suggestions.

As for manatees, what are your suggestions for the best chance of seeing them?
 
Last February at the boat show in Miami we took a dinghy ride up the Miami River. We were fortunate enough to get a look at some of rare Land Manatees.
 

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rwidman, You'll probably see single manatees or mama / baby pairs as you cruise the river this time of year. In winter, when the river gets cold, they congregate in the spring runs where the water stays 72F year round. I've seen over a hundred in the Blue Springs run in February. You probably won't be able to get there but the Jolly Gator Fish Camp south of Lake Harney serves wonderful swamp cabbage cooked with bacon. Use your dinghy to explore off the main channel it is really wild up there with lots of protected areas.

Anode, you came up the Miami River and didn't visit me? I'm hurt.
 
Anode, you came up the Miami River and didn't visit me? I'm hurt.
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Do you serve Cuban food? We were hungry....
I believe I've been to your place. Next time I'll look you up. Promise.
 
We serve Cuban coffee any time and have pastalittos (spelling?) every morning. There is a dock in back of the store that you can tie your dinghy to.
 
HopCar said:
We serve Cuban coffee any time and have pastalittos (spelling?) every morning. There is a dock in back of the store that you can tie your dinghy to.
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How can you sell it if you can't spell it? ;)

"pastelitos"

Cuban pastries (known in Spanish as pasteles or pastelitos) are baked puff pastry-type pastries filled with sweet or savory fillings.
Traditional fillings include cream cheese, guava (pastelito de guayaba) and cheese, pineapple, and coconut. The sweet fillings are made with sweetened fruit pulps. The cream cheese filling is also a slightly sweetened version of cream cheese, typically made to resemble the flavor and texture of a cheesecake. The savory fillings are usually beef, but sometimes chicken or ham and cheese are used. The beef fillings consist of a seasoned but not spicy meat, made in a tomato-based sauce. It is typical to include raisins and green olives as part of the meat filling. It is typical for a sweet glaze to be applied to the top of even savory fillings.
The pastries are typically consumed at any time as a snack or even as a meal. In Miami, one can find many "window cafeterias" with customers having a pastelito with coffee throughout the day.
The pastries can be found at many Hispanic cafeterias and have also been introduced into the national retail market by Goya Foods. The pastries are also available in wholesale for the foodservice industry by several companies including Hispanic wholesale frozen bakery manufacturer Latin Flavors.
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Cuban pastry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sounds delicious.
 
They are very good. Thanks for the spelling lesson. We don't sell them, it's just a little thank you for our customers. They're usually gone by the time I get my lazy butt to work.
 
Hmmm. HopCar, you never told me about the coffee and pastries. Now I know to get there early.

rwidman: If ya can, stop by Green Cove springs and take a tour of one of those Great Harbour N-37 or N-47 trawlers. Most unbelievable engine room I've ever seen. Call Eric Kraft at Mirage...he knows everything about them, and there's usually an N-37 on hand, and GH-37's at the dock for sale. They might be a bit flat bottomed, but are the only under 40 boat I've seen with more space than my own bloated Manatee. Heck, when I climbed down into that 16 X 6 bosons locker, I couldn't even figure out where I was in the boat.

Anode: If you get by Miami, remember you've got dock space here in Key Biscayne. No land Manatees here, but lots of the other kind.
 
HopCar said:
They are very good. Thanks for the spelling lesson. We don't sell them, it's just a little thank you for our customers. They're usually gone by the time I get my lazy butt to work.
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I didn't know how to spell it either, or what they were but Google corrected me.
 
healhustler said:
rwidman: If ya can, stop by Green Cove springs and take a tour of one of those Great Harbour N-37 or N-47 trawlers. Most unbelievable engine room I've ever seen. Call Eric Kraft at Mirage...he knows everything about them, and there's usually an N-37 on hand, and GH-37's at the dock for sale. They might be a bit flat bottomed, but are the only under 40 boat I've seen with more space than my own bloated Manatee. Heck, when I climbed down into that 16 X 6 bosons locker, I couldn't even figure out where I was in the boat. .
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Former neighbors and friends from Charleston live on the other side of the river from Green Cove Springs. We may or may not call them and they may or may not want to see us but I think we'll stop there on the way back down the river.
 
Mmmmm coupla guava and cheese pastelitos and a coupla empanadas a coffee americano and a Cuban coffee shooter to polish it off. I do miss living in Miami for that reason only.
 
Good read. Wish I could keep a log like that.:blush:
No pics?:socool:

SD
 
skipperdude said:
Good read. Wish I could keep a log like that.:blush:
No pics?:socool:

SD
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I have lots of pictures, I just haven't selected the best or put them into a document or blog.

I kept the log in MS Word and just copied it onto a blog site chosen at random. More polished ifo will come later.

I didn't really plan on a log, but I have my new laptop and my new wireless access point so I was putting each day on facebook for my marina friends and it just came about.
 
Very Nice! I'm glad you got to see Manatees. Next time you see them in a salt water marina, try giving them fresh water from a hose. I've watched them drink from a hose for half an hour or more.
Thanks for the tip on the German restaurant in Sanford.
 
Nice log!
The trip is on my To Do list
I used to own a 2003 Camano great boat!
Steve W
 
Moonstruck said:
Good job, Ron. Loved the nature shots. Looks like the St. Johns will have to go on our todo list.
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Thanks.

Yes, make the trip. I'm wishing now we had stayed longer on the St. Johns, but in reality, we got out just in time because the storm that kept us in Isle of Hope apparently hit Jacksonville big time.

My wife wanted a photo book to carry around with her. After deleting the obvious out of focus and otherwise useless shots, I still had over 500 photos. I pared it down to 300, then together we selected 100 which I sent to Walmart for printing ($14.00 to print 100 photos).

With prints in hand, she selected 80 to fit the largest book she could carry around conveniently.

Digital is a big change from the old days of film!

I guess now I have to plan the next trip. I wonder how she would feel about spending next summer on the Chesapeake Bay (we're both from MD originally). ;)
 
rwidman: Being a Baltimoron myself, I did lots of exploring on the Chesapeake. I don't know how long it would really take to do everything there, but a season or two may not be enough. There's just too many nooks and crannies. Great trip on the St. Johns. Better get a bigger album for the Chesapeake though.
 
healhustler said:
rwidman: Being a Baltimoron myself, I did lots of exploring on the Chesapeake. I don't know how long it would really take to do everything there, but a season or two may not be enough. There's just too many nooks and crannies. Great trip on the St. Johns. Better get a bigger album for the Chesapeake though.
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Ditto. We have been going to the Chesapeake since the early '70s both by boat and car. We have done 4 seasonal cruises up there. Still long to get back. The fall is the best. It is almost magical being anchored in a cove hearing a flight of geese flying over. The nights are cool, and the days are crisp. Great coves, great towns, and great food. Cruising doesn't get much better.
 
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