Alright, it’s settled - I like Florida. I had pictured the ICW here as miles of remote swamp, with creepy overhanging trees (from which any number of poisonous creatures could drop at any moment), alligators stalking the boat, and swirling clouds of mosquitoes awaiting our arrival. Very pleasantly surprised to find the intracoastal waterway has been incredibly scenic and surprisingly bug-free this time of year. So many beautiful waterfront homes, but also quiet natural areas. My pictures can’t possibly do it justice.
After leaving St. Augustine, we anchored two different nights (once by Daytona Beach and once in Titusville). There was a fun BBQ/outdoor bar within a dinghy ride of where we anchored in Titusville - we got to listen to amazing live music all night (and had a great dinner there). A perfect place to anchor!
After a very short trip the next day, we arrived at a marina on Merritt Island (Harbortown Marina), in between the cities of Cocoa Beach and Cocoa. We decided to stay at a marina so it would be easier for Mark to replace the engine valve cover gasket (which had been slightly leaking) - mission accomplished, by the way, but Mark will of course keep monitoring to ensure the leak was indeed dominated. I managed to take a picture of one of the many manatees we have seen, although they apparently are not very photogenic - it is the blob barely visible in the center of the picture (I’ll keep trying to find a more friendly and cooperative manatee, though).
But of course, the best part of the stay in Central Florida was visiting with Mark’s Uncle Jack and Aunt Patty, who live in Cocoa. We were treated like royalty, with delicious homemade meals, a huge bed (yes!), warm company, and lots of laughs. We can’t thank Aunt Patty and Uncle Jack enough for their incredible and VERY much appreciated hospitality. Uncle Jack kept us in stitches with plenty of jokes and showing us all of his cool gadgets (boat dock and lift, scooter, golf cart, etc.), and Aunt Patty has a heart of gold and is one of the sweetest souls I’ve been blessed enough to meet. And to top it off, they have THE most adorable dog, Lily, a very charming and precocious rat terrier who kept the warm greetings coming. It was a wonderful visit for sure, and we will most definitely be stopping here again on our way home in the spring!
But as we are obligated to be in Key West by the middle of this month, we had to keep moving South. Tonight we are anchored off the city of Micco, which is close to the St. Sebastian River State Park. Nowhere to take the dinghy to from here, so we’ll have another very quiet and peaceful night on board. Only one more night of anchoring and we’ll hopefully be in Palm Beach (that’s the plan anyway).
My daughter, Melanie, is helping me add a personalized Google map to the blog, so y'all can see where we've been and where we currently are. We plan to keep adding to it - for now we just added three points at the beginning of our trip and our most recent couple stops. Hopefully you can see it!!!
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