Alternative Trips: Chapter 1

27 Dec 2003, Day 6: Fernandina Beach FL, 28 30.260 N/ 080 46.850 W

We left Hunting Island and headed to Beaufort SC to get our email. Coverage is good in Beaufort but almost non-existent in Hunting Island. We left after Gina and Levi had their share od barking at the horses that were waitng to pull their carriages through the town.

Wow, what a boring drive to Interstate 95 right above the GA border. Not much to see but a lot of two lane highways and scrub brush. We hit I-95 near Hardeeville and the traffic STOPPED. It was basically stop and go all through GA. Now I remember why sailing is more fun! We arrived at Fernandina Beach FL (on Amelia Is) at 1430 on Saturday. The town was packed! We had not experienced such traffic and congestion on other Land Voyages. Oh well.

We headed for the Fort Clinch State Park on the St. Mary's River. We chose the ocean view camp site this year rather than the river view with the wooded slips (ah, I mean sites). It was nice but there were a lot of burrs that bothered the kids' paws. We were by far the smallest RV in the campsite. Ann thinks that one power RVer actually giggled at us. Hmmm.

28 Dec 2003, Day 7: Manatee Hammock, 28 30.260 N/ 080 46.850 W

Today (Sunday) we are headng for our favorite campgrounds, Manatee Hammock Campground of Brevard County. We left Fort Clinch, went to St. Michael's Church, then headed down A1A towards St. Augustine. We took our first Florida ferry across the St. John's River (Bob almost crunched a car when he was backing up to see the Ferry schedule). We arrived in St. Augustine at 1130. Arghhh. Crowded! Even the anchorage's were crowded. I guess we will have to cope with crowds. Maybe they will subside a little after the first.

We followed A1A and Rte 1 through Daytona Beach and other towns that you read about on I-95. Slow going but fun. Ann is experiencing RV cabin fever. She bought a "RV Trader" magazine and is finding 'bargains' We arrived at Manatee Hammock at 1600. We were behind a large RV with trailing dinghy (a.k.a. full sized car). He could not get his dinghy separated from the mother ship (which apparently you have to do before you go into your slip). Bob praised our little 17 foot RV-ette. Got our favorite site. We have been coming here every other year since 1995. Walked the 'kids'. They seemed to recognize the place and were quite happy. Ann knocked on doors of RVs that she liked. We met a nice family from Michigan. I think she is getting serious about the RV thing.