November 5th - Astor, FL

This was a good day....as the river narrowed more scenery could be viewed and enjoyed.

                                       Leaving Palatka 

Georgetown Marina where we bought beer

and made lunch while tied up to the dock

Some of the older dwellings along the river.

Astor Bridge Marina

We had a fun cruise to Astor. Astor has an interesting history:

In 1874, William Backhouse Astor, Jr. from New York City's wealthy Astor family purchased over 12,000 acres  of land, upon which he began to establish a town he called Manhattan. New settlers arrived by steamboat to the town which Astor had endowed with a church, schoolhouse, botanical garden, and free cemetery. William Astor also built a hotel, saw mill, and eventually a railroad. Over the next twenty years Astor saw his town grow, but the Manhattan name never caught on. When William Astor died in 1892, the town was officially renamed Astor in his honor.^]

John Jacob Astor IV inherited his father William's estate and continued to promote the town and their business interests in Florida. Following his demise in the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, the estate passed to his son,Vincent.William Vincent Astor was not interested in his grandfather's Florida enterprises, and so the Astor family's interests in the area were sold. This, combined with a severe decline in steamboat travel on the St. Johns due to increased availability of rail travel signaled the end of the town's prosperity and prominence (info from Wikipedia)

Castaway Restaurant with Freya in the
background (the boat with the radar mast)

This was a great stop!!!  While the guys were hooking up the electricity and water and making lines secure, Melanie and I went to check in at the Marina office. The owners of the Marina told us that the Restaurant there was really good.  Melanie and I decided to check out the restaurant and the menu.  We decided to have a drink while there.....ordered a Martini....called the guys to join us since the Martinis where perfect.  After cocktail hour, we stayed for dinner....the food was terrific!  Look at the picture of the restaurant - would you expect gourmet food?

The Marina owners were great, helpful and made us feel welcome....

November 4th - to Palatka

We left Lamb's Yacht Center and headed out the Ortega river, entered the St Johns and turned up river to the south toward Palatka.  The St. Johns is one of the few rivers in North America that flow South to North  The river is very wide at this point so there isn't much to see.

This picture is heading up river after leaving the Ortega River.

The Boat House Marina in Platka

Our stay in Palatka was pleasant.  We walked to the Quality Inn in which the Beef O'Brady's Restaurant is located.  After a good meal, we wandered back to the boat  for our after dinner drink and some planning for the next day. From here the St. Johns River narrows and begins a shallower, winding course upstream toward Lake George.

November 2 - 3, 2012 The trip begins.

We drove from Rockport to Biloxi on Friday, November 2nd.

This wonderful picture was taken out our bedroom window at the Landrum's beautiful house at sunrise 

Their home overlooks the back bay in Biloxi.

We headed out for the boat in Jacksonville, FL quite early.  The boat was in good shape and didn't require much cleaning up.  We did our provisioning and got the boat ready for departure in the morning.

After the boat was ready, we headed out to Tom and Betty's for dinner.  

Boat ready, stomachs full  -  ready for a night cap and a good nights sleep.