We had a quiet recovery and laundry day on the 24th and stayed at the Manatee Hammock Campground. Emma worked on Red Fox grants while I worked on mastering leisure.
Feb 25
We drove to the nearby Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge and the adjoining Canaveral National Seashore. These wildlife reserves are on the northern perimeter of the Kennedy Space Centre.
Consisting of 140,000 acres, the Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge provides a wide variety of habitats including coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, freshwater impoundments, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks.
The boardwalk through the hardwood hammock was fun.
We continued on to the southern end of Canaveral National Seashore. At the entrance to the seashore, we saw a couple of Florida Scrub Jays. The beach itself was relatively free of people so many of the expected birds were about.
Ruddy Turnstone
Great Black-backed Gull - immature
To get to the northern end of Canaveral National Seashore, we had to backtrack through the Merrit National Wildlife Refuge. In the late afternoon, we walked the northern beaches and saw a few lizards and a Gopher Tortise.
Brown Anole
Gopher Tortoise
We were very excited to see this Gopher Tortoise as it is a keystone species that indicates a healthy ecosystem. Tortoise burrows provide homes for more than 360 other species so their decline has a far reaching effect on other animals sharing the ecosystem. Habitat loss is a major cause for species decline as well as the hunting culture in North America. The frontier mentality to kill for recreation has got to change and quickly. There is precious little left to kill and lots of fellow mortals that need our proactive protection for their species to survive.
Canaveral National Seashore - northern section
February 26
True to my earlier commitment, I drove Emma back to Orlando so she could visit the Harry Potter exhibit at Universal Studios. Thank goodness for Magellan as we maneuvered through the freeways to our destination. The RV had barely stopped when Emma bolted from the parking lot with wild enthusiasm to dash to Hogworts Meade. It took 15 minutes just to get from the parking lot to the theme park entrance. We were finger printed and given a pass to enter Universal Studios.
Starry-eyed Emma charged forward and bounded through the crowds. Emma was very happy and I was very happy she was happy. I did my best to keep her in sight as we covered several hundred metres of theme park to arrive at Hogworts Meade.
Hogworts Meade
Hogworts was impressive as was the Forbidden Journey ride. This attraction included a series of stunning visual effects linked to quick turns and spins. By the end of the ride Emma was ecstatic. I was dizzy.
My old football concussion acts up whenever I'm spun around quickly. That ride did it for me and I was in recovery mode for the rest of our visit. Emma was thirsty for more. I wanted a nap.
The afternoon was overcast with heavy clouds then it started to rain. We bought rain ponchos and carried on.
Why we chose to take a splashy water boat ride on a rainy day I do not know. Halfway through the ride people standing on a balcony started shooting at us with large water cannons. Refreshing I'm sure on a hot sunny day but not so much fun on a cold rainy day.
We had had enough. The ride ended we went looking for the culprits. When we arrived at the balcony the perpetrators were gone but the water cannons were still there.
We changed plans. Why let good water cannons go to waste? We awaited the next boatload of innocent tourists and tuned them up good with the water cannons. Jolly good fun when you are on the other end of the cannon.
Emma Manning her Cannon
For the rest of the day, we wandered around the park sampling different rides while avoiding the people we had hosed down earlier.
Emma went back to Hogwarts for a second go on the Forbidden Journey ride plus a roller coaster ride. I rested on a nearby bench and focused on getting the world to stop spinning.
It was a long but fun day as we drove back to Manatee Hammock Campground late at night.
February 27
We got up early but stayed at the campground till noon. The internet was good so we booked our return flights to Vancouver. The best rate was $300 each to fly from Dallas, to Seattle, to Vancouver on March 14.
It was another cool overcast day as we headed up the I95. The bare deciduous trees were a good indication that we were leaving the sub-tropics behind.
Emma noticed that we were passing signs for Fort Matanzas National Monument and we decided to drop in. We travelled a dozen miles to the Atlantic cost and arrived at the monument visitor centre. The fort was quite small but the history was significant.
Fort Matansas
In 1565, the French and Spanish built separate towns along the Florida coast. Forts in this part of Florida were ideally situated to protect or attack the Spanish treasure galleons that sailed along the coastline in preparation for crossing the Atlantic. As religious and secular enemies they attacked each other. The French ships were lost in a hurricane and hundreds of stranded survivors were massacred by the Spanish here at Matansas (Matansas means massacre in Spanish). A few hundred years later in 1740, the Spanish built Fort Matanzas to guard the southern waterway approach to their town of St. Augustine. The Fort did its job and repelled several Britishs attacks from penetrating up the waterway.
After a short but enjoyable look at the fort we drove on to Jacksonville. On the outskirts of the city, we stopped at a Discount Tire store and repalced the 4 rear tires on the RV. Eigh hundred dollars later we carried on to a nearby Camping World for the night.
February 28
Today we got a very early start and were on the road by 5:30 a.m. We chose to bypass Castillo de San Marco National Monument. This site contains the remains of the Spanish fort that guarded the town of St.Augustine. Instead, we continued on to the much smaller St. Caroline National Memorial. This small site is a partial reconstruction of the French town that was destroyed by the Spanish in 1565. The French soldiers were shipwrecked in a hurricane so the Spanish had an easy time capturing and destroying the town.
Fort Caroline
Power Plant Near Jacksonville
It was a warm sunny day as we carried on along the I95 into Georgia. Nestled in a beautiful pine forest was the impressive Georgia welcome centre. The receptionists greeted us with pleasant southern hospitality.
We decided to continue to the Cumberland Island National Seashore. After a long day Emma was done and napped in the RV while I explored the quaint, adjacent town of Marysville.
As the sun set we headed to our campground at Crooked River State Park. On the way there, we passed by a very large military site that seemed to be a major American submarine base.
Dusk at the Marysville Docks
March 1
Dawn at the Marysville docks.
What a diference a day makes. As often happened in Florida the day started cloudy and cool. We boarded a ferry for our ride to Cumberland Island National Seashore.
Laughing Gulls Trailed the Ferry
By the time we disembarked at the Sea Camp Ranger the fog and clouds were clearing and it was another beautiful day.
There are no cars allowed on this large barrier island so we rented two rusty but serviceable bicycles.
The main road on Cumberland Island is a beautifully rustic gravel road that runs for miles to the north end of the island. Emma is much happier once her endorphines kick in so we pedalled up the road for a few miles. At Greyfield, we turned right and peddled our bikes right onto the beach.
Eastern Towhee
Dunes behind Greyfield Beach
Greyfield Beach
Greyfield Beach
Onward, we peddled our bikes for a few miles along the sandy beach. The key was to pedal on the wet sand near the breaking waves.
At Stafford Beach we turned inland and returned to the main road.
A few wild horses roamed about the island.
We contnued northward along the main road and arrived at Plum Orchard. In the late 1800s, Cumberland Island was purchased by the Carnegies for their summer residences.
The Plum Orchard cottage was built by Lucy Carnegie for her son George. Lucy build cottages for all six of her children but Plum Orchard is the only restored mansion that is open to the public.
Plum Orchard
To the Vanderbilts, this was a summer cottage but to the rest of the world it is definitely a mansion. A volunteer caretaker provided guided tours of the mansion for any intrepid visitors who pedalled the eight miles up the main road to get to the Plum Orchard. We had a grand time seeing the various rooms in the cottage as well as strolling around the grounds.
Palm Trees at Plum Orchard
Pond behind the Plum Orchard Mansion
As we walked about the grounds a Wood Stork sailed overhead and landed in a nearby tree.
Wood Stork
Too soon, it was time to pedal back down the main road to catch our return ferry to Marysville
We pedalled hard and arrrived back at the Sea Camp Ranger Station with time to return our bicycles and stroll along the beach.
We arrived back at Marysville just as the sun was setting over the marsh.
Marysville Marsh
March 2
Surprise! One of our new tires was completely deflated and the one beside it was low on air. None of the local shps could fix an RV so we limped back to Jacksonville on half a rear tire.
It was Sunday and the Discount Tire store in Jacksonville was closed. Luckily, the adjacent Tire King store was open and they helped us. Turns out the valve stems were put in too loosely on the new tires.
Jack her up, tighten them up and back into Geogia we went. We headed to Okefenokee Swamp National Preserve. It was dusk as we arrived at the preserve headquarters. Unfortunately, Wildlife preserves have no tourist facilities so we had to backtrack to find a campground for the night. We passed through Folkston and headed for Waycross when we finally spotted a primitive RV Park. The owner was a "good old boy" and I enjoyed our chat.
March 3
We drove the short distance to Okefenokee Swamp Park at Waycross. There to greet us were several Alligators.
Okeefenokee Swamp is a preserve with miles of untouched wilderness.
We took a short train ride through a small section of the swamp. The highlight of the train ride was the Duck Dynasty look-a-likes at the back of the train.
Okefenokee Swamp
Boardwalk in Okefenokee Swamp
Old Still in Okefenokee Swamp
Red-bellied Slider
Brown Water Snake
After the short train ride we took a boat tour through the swamp. We saw several alligators and different species of snakes. Water snakes like the one above have large eyes with circular pupils.
Great Egret
Spanish Moss in Okefenokee Swamp
Pitcher Plant in Okefenokee Swamp
Even some of the plants want to eat you. Nitrogen is in short supply in the park so Pitcher Plants are common. They get their nitrogen by trapping and digesting unwary insects.
It was good to see such a large expanse of land that has been preserved in its natural state.
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