Saturday, November 19, 2011

The hairy armpit of Florida

Grandma Marilynn, Aunt Terri, Me

That's how my aunt Terri refers to Palatka, Florida. It use to be an old mill town, but once the mill shut down during the down turn of the economy, so did most of the town. We met Mike's cousin, Denise and John, for a couple hours in Palatka and had to go to the Quality Inn to get a cup of coffee! Sad.
Tyler, Me
My aunt, uncle and cousins live in Palatka, so Mike and I received the full 20 minute tour of town on ground and above. My cousin, Tyler, is a pilot and he flew us around Palatka and St. Augustine, where we saw our boat still anchored in the harbor. This was a relief!
View from plane of our boat just North of Bridge of the Lions in St. Augustine
It was our first time off the boat for the night and it's a little unnerving leaving the boat because you worry about it like a child! I know that sounds funny, but in the back of every sailors mind the questions arise, "Am I dragging anchor?", "Is the bilge filling with water and need to be pumped out?", "Did another boat drag anchor and hit me?", "Is the wind/current too strong?".

We had a great early Thanksgiving dinner with the family, then received our last haircuts for potentially a long while, from my cousin Holli. Afterwards we rushed back to St. Augustine marina to catch the last water taxi back to our boat. Whew, we made it and all was okay with the boat and the cat!
Holli, Bailee, Me, Rylee

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a good visit with family! How nice of your aunt to fix Thanksgiving early just for you two. I totally understand how you feel about leaving the boat, though. You are asking yourselves all of the right questions. I was relieved that you were at a mooring in St. Augustine.
    Bet there are some real estate bargains in Palatka and sounds like they could use a good coffee shop. Love following the spot- I look forward to seeing when you take off each morning and when you anchor. Happy Thanksgiving.

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  2. I enjoy your journal, and happy Thanksgiving!

    Dan G.

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  3. I have found out that Cheap Flights to Miami ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.

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  4. It's nice to visit your family once in a while but it is nicer to go out of town with them. I just spend a month long vacation with my family taking flights to Manila, Philippines where we had a great time hitting the beach and visiting zoos.

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