"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

April 10 – Orange Park, FL

Doctors Lake – Anchorage

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” —Robert Louis Stevenson

We have finally pulled away from Jacksonville and started up the St. John's River on our slow adventure to explore every little creek and tributary we can get into. Our destination today was only 17 miles to Doctor’s Lake. It’s a body of water located off the St. John’s River that is actually an inlet...not a lake. We've read that the St. John’s is old Florida, the way things used to be before the hustle bustle of tourism arrived to soak up the sun on the beaches, shop in fancy boutiques and visit the Mouse. Towns are small along the river and every creek seems to have a fish camp that serves the needs of the fisherman, plus serves up great seafood and entertainment. We look forward to visiting as many as we can find.

After dropping the anchor and relaxing a little, we took the dinghy up Swimming Pen Creek to do a little exploring. We saw lots of birds, but no alligators yet. On our way out of the creek we stopped at Whitey's Fish Camp to enjoy a beer, the view and some fried alligator tail. Our adventure this summer is going to be very laid back...up late, coffee on the flybridge, start cruising late and stop early and take in everything we can. No hurries, no worries this summer.

One last look of Jacksonville
A few of the houses in Doctor's Lake
Exploring the creek
Whitey's Fish Camp
Alligator Tail Basket 
The start of a bass tournament that leaves from Whitey's every Thursday evening. Can you see the size of those motors...these boats can fly!

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