Day 337 - In Jacksonville, FL
Day 337 - Wednesday, March 29th: This morning Ruth and friend Roxanne walked to the camera store (to recover the pictures on the camera media chip that Bill deleted accidentally). They got a good picture of the marina from the boardwalk:
This view is looking north across the St. Johns River. Note this picture and compare with the dusk view later:
On the way back from the camera store (with recovered pictures on a CD) they passed this special park, Jessie Ball du Pont Park. Just about everything green you see is ONE tree! It is called "Treaty Oak" because one person, Frank Friedmann…
…decided the tree was worth saving from downtown development. He was a newspaperman and championed a campaign, which Jessie Ball DuPont (yes, THOSE du Ponts), picked up and made happen:
No, you aren't supposed to be able to read all those words. It's just that the plaques and castings were there, and Ruth had to have pictures of them.
So are you ready to see "THE TREE?" The trunk is 25 feet in circumference and the branches span enough earth to house nearly twenty-five homeless people. You can spot one to the right of the trunk:
It really is an impressive and lovely tree. If you'd like, click on this picture to zoom in and read about it:
When Ruth got back, we did some general cleaning of the boat and then walked up to the local Maritime Museum. It was interesting and told about the history of the river and had a lot of Navy stuff as well. Then we walked a short block to the Museum of Science and History:
It was fascinating with all sorts of fish tanks, settings of bones of manatees, etc. They put on a science show for kids of all ages. Demonstrations included a Vandegraff generator sending a girl's hair flying:
In the afternoon we rode the water taxi across the river. You can see it in the background approaching the landing:
It eased into the landing and we (Ruth, Bill, Lenny and Roxanne) boarded:
No, sadly, this smiling face "captaining" the taxi wasn't "Stan the Man." This fellow is his backup:
We got off the taxi at Jacksonville Landing, the start of the Riverwalk which is a nicely planned pedestrian and bike route alongside the river; it goes for miles:
There are places along the way to park and lock your bike. The metal symbol at the top of the pole is graphically clear as to its purpose:
The Landing comprises about fifty shops and restaurants. One of the shops had this tank of albino frogs. Ruth was fascinated after seeing albino alligators in St. Augustine:
We bumped into some friends we had met at the AGLCA Rendezvous in October, Rose and Phil aboard Wings. They had been looking for a boat then. Since then, they bought a power catamaran and had started the Loop in Bradenton, FL. We all went to a local pub and enjoyed catching up over a beer.
Then we (four of us) hopped back on the taxi for a return trip. Back at the landing Ruth got this contrasting dusk picture of the blue bridge all lit up in its action lights with the skyline in the background. It was all very pretty:
We ordered pizza to be delivered and ate with Roxanne and Lenny on Summertime. It was nice not to have to cook or clean up. We were exhausted!
Position tonight: N30 19.242 W081 39.661
To return to our Main Page simply 
close this window.
