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December 13, 2013   Day 29  South for the winter

 

Jacksonville Landing

Jacksonville, FL

We got an early start and left St. Mary’s at 7:25 to maximize the tide we would encounter in shallow areas.  We had a good travel day but were surprised to see so few other boaters out today.  It was a beautiful Friday! 

We passed Fernandina Beach at 8:30 but could not stop. We were there last year and found it to be a wonderful town and will have to stop again next spring! 

The approach to Jacksonville on the St. John’s River is lined with shipyards and loading docks.  We watched container ships being loaded with the help of large cranes. We arrived in Jacksonville Landing at 2:15 and got ourselves tied up to the free wall. There is no one here to help but we managed fine by ourselves.

We walked around the Landing which has an outdoor amphitheater/ courtyard and many restaurants and shops. We decided to have pizza and sat outside enjoying the warm weather and a terrific Chicago style pizza.  We dropped off the leftovers on the boat and went back to the amphitheater to look at the Christmas tree filled with over 78,000 LED lights that are coordinated with music.  It is quite a sight!  Then we realized that live performances were scheduled! So for three hours we watched school children and one church group perform Christmas songs and dance!  It was quite a treat and we were glad we stayed!  

The beautiful tree at Jacksonville Landing

We will leave the Landing tomorrow morning and go to the Marina at Ortega Landing. It is on the St. John’s River about 6 miles from here. Carried Away will be there a month.