Jacksonville to Sebastian Inlet

Somebody is getting behind with the blog. We must be having a good time.

We spent 8 days in the Jacksonville area visiting with all the relatives. It was fun seeing all the new babies and catching up with everyone. Jane and Terry put up with us and we really appreciate all that they did for us. Thanks for all the wonderful meals and good wine.

After Jacksonville we headed south to Jetty Park at Port Canaveral (Cocoa Beach) where John and I met while attending Cocoa H S.

We had an opportunity to reconnect with old high school classmates on many an occasion. It made for a special visit. We dined with 20 former CHS classmates, my friend Sharon was here from Italy, and John visited with his friend Tom, who was here from China. It almost seemed like 1960 again.

One of our favorite campgrounds to stay in is Jetty Park. It is located right on the inlet to Port Canaveral and only a few steps from the beach. This is the best vantage spot to see launches from the Kennedy Space Center. Port Canaveral is one of the cruise ship terminals on the coast of Florida where the ships depart for the Caribbean. Our daily ritual was to go down to the inlet with our cocktails and wave to everyone as they departed for their cruise. We had almost as much fun as they did.

The most exciting thing, however, was to watch the comings and goings of the submarines. There is a submarine turning basin/dock right across the harbor inlet from our campground. Navy and Coast Guard boats escorted them out the inlet with machine guns posted. The security also patrolled the shore of the inlet and checked each of us out.

We learned that if you have a marine radio that it would broadcast the departure of the cruise ships and the submarines. So John added a new toy to his collection.

Our friends Debbie and Fred from back home in California joined us for watching and waving at the departure of the cruise ships. They were in the area for a family wedding. Of course we had to take them out for a fresh Florida shrimp dinner. We are enjoying cooking lots of fresh shrimp and fish.

Pris has really enjoyed watching all the wildlife right from our campground. There are lots of tropical birds, jumping dolphins and turtles. There are also many opportunities to view wildlife from pontoon boats, boardwalks, and air boat rides. The Canaveral National Seashore is also very close.

After spending a week at Jetty Park we headed south about 30 miles to Sebastian Inlet SP. It's known for its fishing and surfing. We were camped right on the Inlet and could sit in or outside the motor home and watch diving birds, dolphins and people catching fish right in front of us. They were catching lots of flounder while we were there.

We decided to bite the bullet and purchase a fishing license and buy fishing gear. We really haven't mastered the catching of fish yet, but we are hopeful.

We finally put together our kayaks and did some paddling around the mangrove swamps. It was very convenient to launch right from the campground. Our kayaks pack down into packages that fit into the back of the Fit and make for easy traveling.

I guess there has to be one drawback to paradise, and that is the very small biting gnats. When the wind blows, they are not a problem, otherwise they are not pleasant. Deet spray didn't even seem to help. Fortunately, we didn't have many days of these pesky insects.