It's still cold but we're still heading south. We spent Monday night (Jan. 19) anchored at Daytona Beach. Didn't get to town or to do any of the exciting things there, but maybe on the way back north this spring. Here's a shot of the buildings on the beach side of Daytona. The ICW runs between the beach and the downtown area.
Next, a couple of days in New Smyrna Beach with our friends Ret and Joe. We met them a couple of years ago, riding out Tropical Storm Ernesto in Solomons, MD. They have a beautiful beach home on a lagoon. The view of the lagoon is amazing --- full of red mangroves, raccoons, a bobcat, and loads of gorgeous birds like snowy egrets, blue herons, wood storks, white pelicans. You can see the masts of the boats heading down the ICW from their back door. Ret has managed to train some of the snowy egrets to come to the house, sit on the railing, and be treated to fish chunks.
They wait patiently. Well, maybe not too patiently --- one actually strolls into the kitchen to remind her that it's time to feed him.
The raccoons come, too, and snack mostly after dark on grapes and peanuts.
One place we visited was Turtle Mound. Turtle Mound is an Indian midden (trash heap) of oyster shells discarded over a period of about 600 years. The successive layers of shells are a record of their culture over the ages. The mound is the highest midden in the nation, covering about 2 acres and about 50 ft high. It's amazing. Check out the link - it's pretty interesting.
We drove to the Cape Canaveral State Park to see the ocean. Yes, it's still cold.
On the way we saw an armadillo! First live one for me --- I've seen roadkill, but somehow, that's not the same :-) Look at those ears. They look like bunny ears.
You can barely see the NASA facilities at Cape Canaveral from the park. We passed much closer today on our trip down the ICW. Here are the launch pads.
And here is the vehicle assembly building. It's exciting to see this!!! Unfortunately, there are no launches scheduled until Feb 12. Probably a good thing it's that far off, or we'd be tempted to wait.
We are anchored tonight near the Cape Canaveral Chanel cut, between Titusville and Cocoa Beach. Luke is extra careful when we chose an anchorage, scoping out the entire anchor area. We don't want to end up like this guy...
Look closely and you'll see blue water (nice and deep enough) and yellowish water (sand bar and NOT deep enough). They can be very close together and you have to chose carefully.
Look closely and you'll see blue water (nice and deep enough) and yellowish water (sand bar and NOT deep enough). They can be very close together and you have to chose carefully.
Still chilly (60) but warm in the cockpit. 31 tonight but mid 60's tomorrow. We're hoping for a warming trend. Too, as we go further south, we get a little warmer in each area.
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