November 10th

We cleaned up the boat and got it ready to store until March/April..  Once the boat was buttoned up, we headed west to Biloxi and then on to Texas....will return next Spring to continue the "Loop"..

November 9th - Palatka to Jacksonville

We left Palatka after a great breakfast at Angel's Diner which is the oldest diner in Florida....opened in 1932.

We had breakfast at the table where the policemen are sitting.

After breakfast, we headed back to Jacksonville and Lamb's Yacht Center.

Home again!

We secured the boat and then went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Jacksonville (Anondale) - Biscotti's.

November 8th - Astor to Palatka Boat House Marina

The story of the Hyacinth:

Florida's problem with the plants began at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884 - also known as the New Orleans World's Fair. The Sun-Sentinel reports the Japanese were giving water hyacinths to visitors as gifts.

Why the Japanese selected a South American plant to give away has been lost to time, but among the visitors who left the fair with a plant was Mrs. W.F. Fuller.

Mrs. Fuller and her husband, a citrus grower, lived along the St. Johns River in the area of Palatka. Mrs. Fuller brought the hyacinth home and placed it in her fish pond. When the plant choked her pond, she thinned out the plants and placed the extras at her boat landing on the St. John's River.

Water hyacinths are floating perennials with large green leaves, lovely purple flowers and dense, heavy roots that trail them in the water, according to information from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida. In Florida, they grow much faster than even rabbits could think of reproducing, doubling in number in as little as 13 days.

Information from TheLedger.com

Ozel checking out Mrs. Fuller's Hyacinths

It was as though we were parked on ground.   Unbelievable....tide and current cleared them out by the time we left in the morning.

We left Astor and headed to Palatka which was also a revisit..to the Palatka Boat House Marina..below.  We were at the end of the T Head.

November 7th - Astor Bridge Marina revisited

This morning we left Hontoon Landing and headed upriver to Blue Springs Creek State Park in our quest for the elusive manatees.  This was probably the best nature viewing day of the trip.

This is one of many alligators we saw on this stretch of the River.  He sure is healthy looking.

These are Wood Storks which are the only storks in North America.

The alligators are almost black in color here.  It might be because the water is very dark.  It is the color of coffee but quite clear not murky or muddy.  Probably tannin. 

If you look closely, you may be able to see the head of the Manatee in the water.  It was difficult to see them because of the dark water.

Isn't this picture gorgeous?  Melanie took most of the pictures and I think that this one is definitely professional quality as were some of the others.

We saw many cormorants but this one looked especially photographic.

The number of eagles that we saw on this trip was surprising and encouraging since they had been on the endangered list.

This blossoming bush was in many places along the River.  We never did find out what it is.  We asked several people what it is but none knew.

The Ibis where everywhere on this part of the River.  Sometimes Egrets shared trees with them.

  

We'll end the nature tour  with an alligator.  This one is a little lighter in color.

When we left the State Park Area,  we headed down river to return to the Astor Bridge Marina and the good food at the Castaway Restaurant.

The owners of the Marina were on the bulkhead waving a greeting when we arrived.  We knew that we were returning to the same slip so just went right to it. 

We had another great stay with another great meal!

I will address the Water Hyacinths in my next posting.

November 6th - Hontoon Landing Marina

We continued upriver from Palatka.  The scenery was marvelous. We originally planned to stay at Hontoon State Park but the water at the docks looked pretty thin so we decided to stay on the other side of the river at the Hontoon Landing Marina which is part of the Resort.  As we were securing the boat, one of the dockhands told us that if we liked bears, we should out in front of the office and see the bears.  We thought he was putting us on but sure enough there were 3  bears up in a tree.. It was a mother and her 2 cubs.  The cubs appeared to be over a year old.  They were beautiful and extremely healthy looking.  The lady at the office said that there are a lot of bears in that area.  She has to take her garbage to a dumpster because the bears carry off her garbage cans.  She also said that one night the bears took her son's gas grill  from his yard carried it into the woods.

We had dinner on board this evening.  Melanie had  brought Crawfish Bisque.  It was so good!  Tomorrow further upriver on our quest for Manatees!