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

May 7 - Jacksonville, FL

Lamb's Yacht Center

“Sand in may shower means I had a great day”

We've been working hard since we arrived at Lamb's on Monday. Stan removed the bimini, we taped off all the teak, sanded it down a little and washed all the dust away...all in preparation for a maintenance coat of Cetol Gloss. Stan did most of that work although I did help between running back and forth doing laundry. After washing down the decks this morning, there was little we could do while everything dried, so we drove to Jacksonville Beach. It was a perfect day for a beach trip...wonderful temperature, clear blue sky and a nice cool breeze off the water. It felt great to have my toes in the sand and even better walking through the water. We spent time walking the beach and then wandered through a few beach shops and by a lot of restaurants...this place is probably a zoo on the weekends. I wanted to do a little shopping in some nicer shops so we drove up to Neptune and Atlantic Beach. They have a beautiful Town Center full of boutiques and restaurants, just steps away from the beach. We did some shopping, walked on the beach a little more and enjoyed some frozen yogurt before heading back to the boat. It was a nice break from the work we've been doing the past two days and the work we still have to do.

Life Guard Station at Jacksonville Beach
Jacksonville Beach 
Entrance to the beach near Atlantic and Neptune Beach 
Part of the Beaches Town Center 

May 5 - Jacksonville, FL

Lamb's Yacht Center

“When my toes are sunk into warm sand and the ocean is lapping my feet, when I breathe in the scent of salt and hear the cry of a seagull, I know that I am returned to a place of restoration. I am home. I can heal here.” ―Toni Sorenson

Our wonderful relaxing river cruise came to an end by lunch today. We spent a quiet morning enjoying the peace and quiet a Monday brings to the water...everyone was back at work. We had a picture perfect day for our cruise into Jacksonville, cool temperatures and light winds. We were fueled up and pumped out and in the shade of our new slip at Lamb's Yacht Center by noon. We'll be here for about five weeks doing a few projects and redoing a little teak and then we'll head back to Texas for the birth of our second grand wonder. Our new temporary home doesn't have much of a view, but we're undercover and that will keep us cooler while we work on projects.

Right after lunch I went to Wal-Mart for groceries and needed supplies, by the time I returned Stan had removed the bimini and stainless rub rails on the handrails…The Pearl looked a little sad, but a new coat of varnish and she'll be looking even better than before. It’s amazing how fast you can go from relaxed cruiser to maintenance crew...oh well, living on a boat can’t always be fun. Even we have to work sometime, but the next few weeks won’t be all work, we will go and have a little fun too.

Our only company today on the water
Coming back into Jacksonville 
Looking back at the Ortega Bridge and Jacksonville 
The Pearl...looking a little sad 
We will have a little morning sun...so we won't be totally in the dark! 

May 4 - Julington Creek, FL

Julington Creek - Anchorage

We woke up to a perfect day...comfortable temperatures all day and clear blue sky, so different from yesterday. We enjoyed our morning watching people in the park and on the dock in Green Cove Spring. Everyone seemed to be grateful for such an amazing Sunday. Our destination today was Julington Creek, we'd been told about a wonderful fish camp (restaurant) we had to try, called Clark's. Julington Creek is surrounded by beautiful homes with well kept yards and a few marinas. The entry to the creek looks more like a small lake and only narrows into a creek a mile or two up river. We anchored just inside the creek since a 15' bridge would keep us from getting to the fish camp on The Pearl. We had to take the dinghy past the marinas and the bridge to Clark's.

Clark's Fish Camp has been a local's favorite for decades. Originally it was a bait and tackle shop, they expanded to a seafood restaurant about 30 years ago. They have a large, unique menu offering seafood, steak and exotic meats. They maintain a fish camp atmosphere with simple, rustic surroundings. Besides the wonderful food the restaurant draws people in because they house the largest private collection of taxidermy in North America. Every corner of the restaurant is full of animals…everything you can think of is here.

We had a late, and too large, lunch of wonderful shrimp and trout. The servings were so large that we each had enough left over for dinner tonight. We had fun looking at all the animals and the live alligator they have...our granddaughter would love this place. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the beautiful day on the boat and watching the weekend traffic on the river. 

Sunny views of Green Cove Springs
Clark's Fish Camp 
Just a few of the animals we saw at Clark's