New Smyrna, Palm Coast, and Saint Augustine, Florida

On Monday, March 30, we left Cocoa Village for New Smyrna. Along the way we passed launch spots and the train bridge that supplies NASA. Although we couldn't stay for the Artemis II launch we were hoping we would still see it from Palm Coast. On the way we also saw some great homes and we saw some people riding horses in the water in Oak Hill. Once at the marina we headed over to try and see the SpaceX satellite that was launching  that day so we caught the tail end of that after hearing it while at River Deck Restaurant near the marina on their outside dock. On Tuesday, we explored downtown and some historic sites in New Smyrna and had lunch at Jimmy Hula's which was in a building that used to be a gas station. Later we met Kim and Brad (boat Weezer) at River Deck. They recently completed their loop and have a condo and boat there. It's always fun to see them and they share great Looper knowledge with us! Later, Tim and I had dinner at Riverview Terrace restaurant which is located in an older home. We met Jen and Rob from Stuart and had a fun chat. 

On Wednesday, we went to Palm Coast, Florida. On the way was the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and then we passed through Daytona. We also had some dolphins swimming next to us. Once in Palm Coast,  we were excited to see old friends from Iowa who had moved here, Sharon and Andy. We showed them the boat and Sharon added the Palm Coast pin to our map.  Then we headed to Flagler Beach to try and see the launch of Artemis II! We went to the rooftop of Finn's and waited along with many others. There were also people pulled over on the nearby bridge ready to see it. Even though it was 80 miles away we were able to see the rocket climb into outer space, it was a real treat. After that we had ice cream from Waffle Cone in Flagler. Not only was the ice cream delicious, but there were many signs the owners were Christians. They had free Bibles and many Bible verses around the shop. On the way home we stopped by Sharon and Andy's  beautiful home and invited them to join us for the cruise to Saint Augustine the next day. 

Thursday, April 2nd, Sharon and Andy joined us to cruise to Saint Augustine! They are lifelong boaters and made a great crew. They know the area well and pointed out where they used to live in Palm Coast and many other sites, including oyster beds. We docked with their help at River's Edge Marina on the San Sebastián  River, about a mile from historic Saint Augustine. Since Sharon and Andy are very familiar with Saint Augustine, they were great tour guides. We ate at Casa Reina overlooking the Matanzas River and then tried all kinds of popcorn at Kernal Poppers. Then we walked across the Lions Bridge to their car and they kindly drove us back to the marina. It was truly great to spend a couple of days with old friends and we appreciated their hospitality! 

On Friday, April 3rd we toured more of historic Saint Augustine, taking photos of the historic Flagler College among other sites. And we spent time touring the fort in Saint Augustine, "Castillo de San Marcos".  We had lunch at  O.C. White's located in the historic Worth House from 1790.  We walked though the  Lincolnville Historic District and also visited a distillery and winery. We had dinner on the boat and caught our Good Friday service that evening online from our home church. The next day we were to move on to Jacksonville! More on that in the next blog.