Holidays in north Florida

Happy Holidays from Jacksonville. JAX has become our December destination at the Marina at Ortega Landings. It’s a secure setting if we need to travel, there’s a Publix within easy walking distance, and home of UF Health, for all those annual checkups. There’s even a vet within walking distance! This year we did Christmas there, and traveled to St. Augustine on the 27th. We’ll spend some time in St. Augustine until after the New Year when we’ll continue our southward migration.

St. Augustine is wonderful over the holidays, despite being a bit crowded.  The buildings in town are outlined in lights, the night view from the harbor is beautiful, very festive. LOTS of people!

St. Augustine holds a special importance for us that came about on our first trip south on the ICW back when…  As neophyte cruisers, we were pressing south  intently, and that, coupled with the stress of our first trip and every day presenting unfamiliar circumstances, we really weren’t enjoying the trip very much. We joined an experienced cruising couple for cocktails in St. Augustine that first year, and they quickly made the observation that we were stressed. They made a convincing case for us to stay long enough to enjoy the experience. We took their advice and stayed a week. It was excellent advice from experienced cruisers, and we’ve taken the advice to heart. Rather than pursuing a delivery, we now stop for a few days at various locations along the route. It was good advice, and we pass that advice along to new cruisers we meet in our travels. Not to say we never push to travel, but we’re aware that pushing has its price, and we make the effort to stop and find the ice cream shops. Since that adjustment in cruising  philosophy, St. Augustine has become one of our favorite destinations!

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