DAY 38- August 2, 2014 (Saturday) Titusville, FL to Jupiter, FL (Jonathan’s Landing Marina)

I wanted to show you pictures of Cape Canaveral. We watched the satellite launch last night at exactly 11:23. I wish I photographed it. It was amazing. 🚀The light lit up the entire sky and the sound you could feel inside your gut.
Cape Canaveral was the largest building in the world when completed in 1965. Now it’s huge inverted T shaped doors are still the largest in the world to receive the shuttle components.

It was a beautiful sunset and perfect night.

We left early just after sunrise 🌅and the Indian River was like glass with the suns’ reflection and dolphins playing around us.

Bridges:🌉

We passed many Inlets, but here are a couple:
The St. Lucie Inlet to the ocean and the junction where the Okeechobee Waterway begins to go across Florida east to west:

The Jupiter Inlet:

The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse was built in 1850 in the middle of a jungle. It has 105 narrow steps to the top for a spectacular view of the coast.

The homestead:

The new river walk almost completed:

1985 miles later and 38 days we have reached our destination for the next 5 months:😃

It’s been a wonderful journey for us all and we are so glad you could come along via the blog. I’m sure we will have more mini adventures in the future. Until then we will enjoy being at one Marina and having a home-base. Enjoy the rest of your summer. The kids all start school 📓soon down here so we will be getting ready for that.
God Bless you 🙏all and good night from the SonRise ⚓️

DAY 37- August 1, 2014 (Friday) St. Augustine, Fl to Titusville, Fl. (Titusville Municipal Marina)

Another day in the ocean. We made it 2 miles then went back in the inter-coastal. The waves were big rolling ones. It said 3 foot seas but we wanted to see if we could do it. We decided we would enjoy the last couple of days and not get sea sick today. I was already feeling it after 15 minutes.

For those of you who like to text me or call. I mistakenly washed my iPhone with a load of wash late last night at the Marina. I was tired and rushing sooo email is best to contact me. I lost all of my contacts and phone numbers and calendar. Ugh.

We saw many beautiful homes and marsh type wild life and preserves along the way. Of course the dolphins were plentiful and playful as we passed and we saw some very playful manatees as well. We passed through a place called Haulover Canal which connects the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River. The Native Americans would “haul over” their canoes here. We reached Titusville Basin for the night after over 110 miles. This is a favorite spot for the manatees during the fall and winter months. Christopher Columbus was supposedly the first European to spot these animals and the crew thought they sighted half-fish mermaids. Hey if I were out at sea that long I’d be seeing things too!!
There were many scattered thunderstorms so the skies were littered with lightning from afar. It was really neat.
From the Marina we have a great view of the satellite launch tonight from Cape Canaveral at 11:23.

Here is us turning back in the St. Augustine inlet after a couple miles out. It looks really calm but when you’re out there the waves are 5 feet rolling ones and we were going against them. No thanks.

These birds are called a Roseate Spoonbill, but look similar to a flamingo because of their pink color.

A slight view of the manatee big fins sticking out. At times there were several exposed all slapping the water. I couldn’t catch the picture at the perfect time.

This looks like a pelican island:

This looks like a sunken sail boat with an addition made by a squatter:

The Ponce de Leon Inlet lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the 2nd tallest in the nation at 159 feet. It was closed in 1970 because the New Smyrna Coast Guard Station had a beacon. In 1983 a huge condo development blocked the beacon. It was then restored and has been operational ever since.

And here we have the Haulover Canal. A 1.2 mile hand dug canal by slaves of a local citrus grower. It’s been redux and widened several times. This little canal was a crucial link for commerce as well as the military. Cape Canaveral is just northeast of here.

We may make it to Jupiter tomorrow. Stay tuned.

DAY 36- July 31, 2014 (Thursday) St. Augustine, FL

I can’t believe it’s the last day of July! 😱 Time has flown by!!! For those of you who have been along side us down the coast, I must say I’m mixed about reaching Jupiter. I am ready to have a break from the pace of travel and the constant unknown, yet I know I will never get this amazing quality time with 3 of our children. I also am very excited to reunite with Jessica for her 21st birthday shortly after we arrive, yet Samantha will be departing for a semester abroad in France and I will miss her dearly. I’m rambling and getting melancholy. 😢
Back to our trip…… St Augustine has so much to see and the Spanish flair is unique to any place we have visited. 🇪🇸

St. Augustine Fountain of Youth for the day. Many exhibits and much history. So our country was first named Florida by the Spanish explorers. This sight was of the very first settlers in the 1500’s:

DAY 35- July 30, 2014 (Wednesday) Jekyll Island, GA to St. Augustine, FL. (St. Augustine Municipal Marina)

We decided to go in the ocean to St. Augustine instead of the ICW.

The clouds to the north slowly began producing a waterspout to the North of us:

Passing Jacksonville we saw fishing boats and very large dolphins playing, talking and jumping. It was glorious.

The St. Augustine Inlet and Lighthouse; Our nations oldest port:

That was the ship “Freedom”

The Castillo de San Marcos:

What a great day and such an amazing city. More tomorrow.

DAY 34- July 29, 2014 (Tuesday) Jekyll Island, GA

Yes, we are still here and really loving this relaxing time without having to navigate and drive. We had to stay here an extra day to repair the starter on one of the motors. It’s all set and we can head south tomorrow.
Cooper and I had a dinghy adventure today. We took a long ride to the inlet and beached the boat to explore. We saw so many neat sights. Here are some of them. Oh, and yes we misjudged how fast the tide would be going out and got stuck on the beach. We only could push the 400lb dinghy so far and kept praying for a miracle. Out of nowhere a man was passing by on his boat. We started waving our hands in the air. He anchored his boat and walked in to meet us on the beach. It was all shallow with sand bars. He and I got the boat in deep enough water and rescued us. We were quite exhausted by it all. We will never forget that and the fact that 8 foot tides go out super fast!! But that island was absolutely beautiful.

A sand shark. There were so many of them all around our feet as we walked.

And so many of these jelly fish:

The man sent by God to rescue us as he was leaving and cooper coming to meet me with our anchor. We had to go way out because of the sand bars.

When we were hosing down the dinghy we had another surprise. A mama and baby manatee came for some fresh water to drink. Amazing animals. So lovable.

DAY 33- July 28, 2014 (Monday) Jekyll Isand, GA

Today the temperature read 98 with a heat index of 110. We took the Marina bicycles out to explore the island. The boys and I went to the beach on the ocean side for a swim. It was like a bath. We had a picnic in the shade. We were inside the boat the rest of the day after that. The heat really wears you out. The island has been a destination spot for many vacationers over the century. People came to admire the wildlife from the marshes estuary as well as enjoy the relaxation from the mainland. Now there are resorts and golf courses with many historic homes built in the 1800’s.

DAY 32- July 27, 2014 (Sunday) Savannah, GA to Jekyll Island, GA (Jekyll Harbor Marina)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,(Hebrews 12:1)

What a day we have today. Knowing that we have been on the east coast adventure for over a month really is something to be thankful for. Learning so much about different parts of our country; the foods, the people, the history, the accents, etc.. 🌻🌺🌴🐚🐬🐋🐎🐊👪✌️📖🎨🍤🍗🍵🍫🍰We have grown to know each other in such neat ways as well! All of our idiosyncrasies are very apparent and we have fun teasing about them. Usually after a week vacation together it comes out, but we have really gone beyond that by now. 😜🙊👀👥💙
Another sunny hot one🔥☀️ with so many amazing sights. We left Savannah early and went through mazes of marshes then open water, then gorgeous homes and golf courses. ⛳️The dolphins 🐬were all around us in some areas. I never grow tired of watching them so gracefully swimming. They are always with a buddy. Rarely is one at the surface without another. Such beautiful animals. It makes me want to jump in and swim along side of them.🏊

Bridge to Brunswick:

Marina is very wooded and not in a city environment. I nice break from all the action.

DAY 31- July 26, 2014 (Saturday) Savannah, GA.

Last night while sleeping we would hear a dull hum grow increasingly louder and closer to us. It sounded as if another vessel were upon us. I just had to go look and sure enough a gigantic ship was passing right along side of us. And then another would come and another throughout the very early morning. We seemed so small next to these massive ships. All of them loaded high with containers. Some from Panama or Hong Kong. It never gets old watching them go by so huge, yet smooth through the water making a giant surge of water.
We decided the boat could use a good washing and had to get work done outside before the sun was high in the sky. Trevor and John worked on the outside while cooper and I worked on the inside. By 10 AM the heat index was over 100 and we decided to get back on the trolley to visit some of the many historic squares of Savannah before it got too hot. Here are some of the sights:

The dock in the Savannah River with Sam. The market and East River St are on the left.

Savannah’s city hall clock tower with 14k gold dome:

Historic steps. There’s a U tube video of these with a man on St.Patricks day falling down them. Extremely steep and dangerous especially if you have been drinking.

Chippewa Square and Trevor. This is where Forrest Gump narrates the movie on a bench:

The old fashion cell phone:

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, rebuilt in 1889:

The Pirates’ House, a haunted restaurant.

A random sight.

Old Fort Jackson:

DAY 30, 2014-July 25, 2014 (Friday) Beaufort, SC to Savannah, GA (River Street Market Place)

Leaving Beaufort was beautiful, sunny, breezy, and really hot. The water was 90 and the air was 88, feels like 104, when we left this morning. We cruised past Hilton Head and then the inlet north of Georgia. It was huge and beautiful. We saw sooo many dolphins.
We ended up in Savannah right in the market place in town and took The Old Savannah Trolley Tour of all 24 historic squares (2 have been turned into parking lots). Tomorrow we will revisit the squares and some of the homes.

DAY 29- July 24,2014 (Thursday) Charleston, SC to Beaufort, SC (Downtown Marina of Beaufort, SC)

Last night we had a marvelous unique lowlands dinner at the Coast Restaurant and I just had to show you this flash fried whole flounder standing up on John’s plate. Trevor has catfish on his plate. (Thanks to Linda for the great tips of where to go, where to eat, and what to see)😍

We left Charleston as the sun was rising. Absolutely amazing red like a fire ball. Then there were 4 ships all near each other. One was a cruise ship. Love the ‘Two ships passing at dawn’ ☀️

Had to get these last shots of the Charleston Coast, East Bay St. from the water including The Battery with the monument I zoomed in on. It’s kind of going from East to West. In one picture I have the Cooper River Bridge in the background.

These are two bridges James Island Expressway into Lockwood Dr. Over Ashley River to the west of Charleston.

Arriving in Beaufort, SC pronounced bew-fert. The swing bridge is called Ladies Island Bridge or Woods Memorial. This is the bridge that Forrest Gump runs over when he goes across country running for over 3 years. Most of the movie was filmed here in Beaufort. More than 17 movies were filmed here actually.

We took an historical Van tour because it was too hot for the horses today. These are pictures of the homes. Each one has a story and they were all built between 1700 & 1900. This little town has so much historical significance from the early settlers, the revolutionary war, the civil war or as they call it here,”the northern oppression”, shrimping, crabbing, and famous movies all here in this town. Even Clara Barton came here and began the Red Cross. This place is a history buffs heaven.

See the stained glass through the church in the back:

Here is the field that Forrest Gump mows for free “because he was a gazilionaire”:

Tomorrow we head to Savannah, Georgia. Good night y’all.