Hanna & Faver Dykes Parks

Not our first time to Hanna Park!  Not our first time to eat at Safe Harbor Seafood Market & Restaurant either!  YES the Shrimp and

Grits were EVERY bit as delicious as last year!  YES – the fishing boats were moored to the docks just off the dining porch but this time clear plastic “curtains/ windows” were dropped down and the tall, enclosed fire heater was keeping everyone toasty.    Downriver, a lone fisherman looked as tho he were competing with the big

commercial fishing boat, Mattie Fay, with her massive arms outstretched and greedy hungry pelicans swirling all around!

Singleton’s Seafood was open for business this year but we could not tell what, if any, remodeling had been done!  The day we ate there was warmer so we sat out on the open deck area to watch the boat traffic.  The car ferry was busy and

there were tugboats going up and down the wide river.  One tug was pulling a large barge while another was behind, pushing the big black box up the river – against the outgoing tide.   Speaking of big black barges – check out the classic big boat convertible sitting outside the restaurant! 

  Out in the ocean there was yet another

bright colored foreign freighter waiting for its own tug to guide it into safe harbor!

Being right next to the Mayport Naval Air Station, there is always activity in the air above. Helicopters are either zipping up and around the curves in the river or, as the day we were going by, were practicing their hover maneuver while dropping a line with a weight on the bottom and seeing if they

could stay in one spot and hit a target area on the ground with the “bobber”.

Still heading south, our next campsite was just south of St Augustine, about 15 miles and just off of RT 1 at the junction of I95.  Faver Dykes State Park is down a one lane sand driveway that leads to a small campground in a palmetto and hardwood hammock (woods).  The park is outlined by the scenic Pellicer Creek, which then empties into the Matanzas River.  In the campground, each spacious site is carved out of the bushy palmetto and most often you cannot see your neighbor.  Clean facilities sit in the middle of the loop made by the narrow tree lined path that is called the road.  After setting up, our immediate visitors were a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers and later after the sun had set, but our door and windows were still open, an armadillo came by to see what treasure he could dig up in the dry oak leaves surrounding our site!

Always the need to explore, we ventured out and finally made it

over the bridge to the barrier islands and stopped at several parks to see if we’ve missed anything in our past travels.   One public beach park had several out croppings of coquina rocks jutting out of the multi colored sand.    Each day brought its own set of weather and you can see that yet another storm was attempting to interfere with our lovely afternoon tour.  

During the EARLY morning hours on Saturday, the weather radio started blasting its tornado warning.  It was 3 AM!  By 4 am we were in the truck and heading to the security of the cement block bathhouse!   It was Trimble Park all over once more and H was again concerned about sitting in a cardboard box on wheels during a tornado.   You meet the nicest folk in lady’s bathrooms during bad weather warnings!  In Trimble Park it was J&A and now it was Arlene who was camping in a tent!  The storm passed without much adieu but later we had heard an EF0 tornado touched down between Palatka and Hastings – less than 25 miles from here and an EF1 did flip a camper over in a state park just south of us!

The St Augustine Boat Parade was Saturday evening!  Last year we missed it by one day.  With the storm long gone, we made an afternoon of lunch out and some shopping and always more exploring with the intent of arriving in St Augustine in plenty of time to procure a parking spot in the lot near the river.   We even had time to revisit the waterfront by the famed lighthouse!

Everyone in Florida must have planned on attending the parade too since the streets were clogged with vehicles and horses pulling decorated buggies.  Pedestrians were swarming the town like hordes of angry ants escaping a disturbed nest!  Cars were stuck in line in the parking lot – waiting for a treasured parking spot.  We sat behind one such car – until he was forced to move when the trolley cars with their wagons trailing behind, beeped their wonky squeaky horns, forcing the stopped offender to move.  Then we were the stopped offender.  Cars were AGAIN backed up out of the lot and down the street.  H moved over to let some cars go by  - and the car that passed first - got the parking spot that WAS supposed to be ours.    Did that happen just once?  NOPE!  Was H angry and frustrated?  YUP!!  Did we finally give up and go home without ever seeing the parade?  Another really big YUP!!  The parade would have to be put off for another year.

Our big move was Sunday morning.  The sun was up early and so were we. Tomoka State Park was just 50 miles down RT 1 in Ormand Beach.