Welcome to Florida! Cumberland Island is the last stretch of coast in Georgia, so it was only 30 minutes or so after departure that we crossed into Florida. Our first stop was St Augustine which is unlike any other place in Florida that I've ever visited. It has history, architecture, an old fort, and lots of charm. In contrast, most of Florida has emerged over the past 50 years. St Augustine is actually the oldest city in North America, though not the oldest in the US since it didn't become pat of the States until Florida became a territory in 1822 and a State in 1845. We spend a full day wondering around and sampling the food which is always welcome.
Skipping ahead a bit we ended up at anchor just south of Cape Canaveral. We could see the VAB and launch gantries off in the distance, and were reminded of the launch we saw back in 1985. It was right at dawn, and one of the most spectacular sights I've ever seen. The sad part is that after the launch completed and the base opened for visitors, we went for a tour and saw Challenger on the launch pad getting prepped for its ill-fated mission about a week later.
The next day after we got underway there were non-stop security calls on the VHF warning about keep-out zones for a pending launch later that morning. And we were right there. I jotted down the launch time with great plans to turn and look behind us at the appointed time, but guess what? I completely forgot and the darn thing took off right behind us. My brother said he could see it from New Jersey, and I missed it in the rear view mirror. Oh well.
We finally arrived pretty much as planned at our pause-point in Palm Beach Gardens. Through a friend we leased a privately owned slip in a condo-marina which has worked out great.
Later in the week we caught a flight home for the holidays. It took 6 weeks door-to-door to get to Florida in the boat, and 6 hrs to get home. That's cruising, and we love it :-)
