2012-04-21 - to Beaufort, South Carolina

 Another full day on the water.  We pulled into Beaufort, SC at 4:30pm, an hour ahead of schedule, as we had the currents in our favour all day.  Connor was so excited when he learned we were coming here as he just loves the waterfront park.We pulled up to the town dock and he immediately grabbed the hand held radio and, with our permission, ran off to the park.  We just don't move that fast as we still needed to adjust lines, put a few things away, and get Dylan ready.  We shortly joined up with him and watched him play until close to dark.  The kids seem to join in in games of tag or hide and seek and just have so much fun.  For Dylan they do have a large special needs swing,

but he just wasn't really into it, unfortunately.  He really was tickled watching them spin around on the turning rope structure and seeing them chase after each other.   He had a blast.   As the sun was setting in the sky I managed to pull Connor away to do one geocache in town.  It was a little tricky to find, but Connor managed to do it.  It turned out that it was only about 100 feet from our boat!



geocache #7



2012-04-20 - in Savannah, GA

We really need to come home soon as we are starting to look like scurvy pirates! 

We headed into Savannah today to check out the sites.  Lots of walking, site seeing, checking out the craft market along the riverfront, ice cream, searching for another geocache and more walking.......



Cool exhibit on a wall that you can write what you wanted to do before you die!
Connor wrote parasailing....and Dylan wanted to go to a Rock Concert!

Connor gets his first caricature!

....what do you think?





2012-04-19 - to Isle of Hope, GA (Savannah)

Long day on the water.  We pulled into the anchorage outside of Isle of Hope Marina and stayed on the boat for the whole evening.  Tomorrow we are going to take a day off and head into Savannah!

2012-04-18 - to Doboy Island, GA

We took the morning to see if we could find a couple of geocaches.  Connor and I went out on bikes and were out for a couple of hours. 
We only found one of them, unfortunately.  Both were very tricky!

Dylan just loves Mario!

2012-04-17 - to Jekyll Island, GA

We arrived in Jekyll island around noon after a short trip.  We wanted to explore the town and check out the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.  We missed the opportunity on the way down and, since we have seen so many turtles on this trip, it seemed so relevant to learn more about them.  This center is a hospital as well as for learning all about turtles in the area.  The centre receives calls for turtles in distress and the turtles come to the centre for treatment, if necessary.  Some have unfortunately been hit by boats, wrapped in nets, or (as in one little green sea turtle) gone through a dredger.  They do their best to treat and release as soon as they can.  When we first arrived we saw a very large Loggerhead who had to have her front flipper removed as it was infected from being trapped in netting.  She will be fine and will be released soon.  One thing is they use honey to pack the wound as it is natural and helps the wound heal.  They pour liquid honey in the site and then pack with honey comb. 

Connor observes a small Green Sea Turtle getting her shell worked on in the treatment room

Dylan and the small hatchling check each other out!

Riding back to the marina under the beautiful trees draped with Spanish Moss

2012-04-16 - to Amelia River (Fernandina Beach, FL)

2012-04-15 - in St. Augustine, FL

We landed in town to take on St. Augustine again.  It's a great spot.  We spent lots of time here on our way down - doing the Pirate Museum, Castillo de San Marcos (fort), Ripleys, Red Train, etc.  We ended up doing the Pirate Museum again as per Connors request.  It is a great museum afterall.  We spent most of the time after that on the pedestrian marketplace enjoying the shops and the people.  Dylan got the chance to pet a Therapy Dog in Training.  'Abbey' had her training vest on and most people were not allowed to touch her while she was 'working'.  But, when the owner saw Dylan they let hem have a pet.  Abbey is a great Dane and she towered over Dylan in his chair.  Very gentle and very nice dog.  I am sure she will pass!!

our first microcache!

Next we had a chance to do a couple of geocaches in the area.  This one that Connor is holding is a 'microcache'.  It is a very small magnet placed at the coordinates that the owner has set.  This one was a tough one as we had never seen a cache this small.  Usually they are small containers full of trinkets, travel bugs and a notepad.  This little guy was stuck to the bottom of a fire hydrant!  very tricky!!

Posing with the Royal family of St. Augustine

FROM CONNOR:  Today, we went to the Spanish Easter celebration.  Did you know there is a lot of Spanish history in St. Augustine?  Queen Mariana commissioned the fort Castillo de San Marcos.  The Easter festival happens each year.  A group is chosen to be the Royal family.  How the Royal Family is picked is they have to be able to trace their heritage back to 1672 Spain to be able to portray the family.  There are only 3 people in the Royal family because the husband died.  The son became the king.  The 'fromajardis' is a spanish cheese pastry that is celebrated by the Royal family as a remembrance of the late 1799s when the Menorcans first came to St. Augustine.   We got to eat the fromajardis and some other spanish cookies.  They were good. The  They also performed some dancing for the crowd. 

Dylan enjoys the dancing!

2012-04-14 - to St. Augustine, FL

2012-04-13 - to Ponce de Leon, FL