Days 323-324

St Augustine FL - Metropolitan Marine Park, Jacksonville FL

• Start 7:25 AM
• End 1:50 PM
• Underway 6:35 Hours
• Distance 48 Miles
• Total Miles on Trip 5053
• Av Speed 7.4 knots
• Weather Cloudy - Rainy , 80 Degrees, Wind Knots 15 S

We had another easy ride from St Augustine to Jacksonville FL, Jacksonville is technically not a stop on the Great Loop but it was on Mark's (Kay Dee) bucket list and it was only 20 miles off our path so off we went. It was a very easy run down the St John's River, until the tide turned on us. Then it was still an easy run but very slow because we were fighting a 3-4 knot current that slowed us down. The best perk of going to Jacksonville, was there were two free docks for us to choose from. The first (where we stayed) was Metropolitan Marina which is located right by the football stadium about 1 mile from downtown, and the second Jacksonville Landing which is right in the heart of downtown. Metropolitan has electric, but Jacksonville is closer to town. We choose to go with having electric. It was a very very good choice. The park adjacent to the docks, was hosting a concert (Boys To Men), and most of us would not have enjoyed the music, and the crowds.

The first night there was one other Looper in the marina, and the second night our three boats (Us, Kay Dee & Dorothy Gail) had the marina to ourselves. The electric was supposed to be $10 per night. There is a kiosk that you pay with a credit card, and the power at your pedestal comes on. We could not get the kiosk to work, but the power was on anyway, we later found out the system was down, so they turned all the pedestals on, and we did not have to pay. The marina was a little run down, but the price was right. Transient boaters can stay for a maximum of 72 hours for free unless there is an event going on, then it is reservations only and they do charge.

Jacksonville does not have much in the way of tourist attractions, and the waterfront is very under-utilized. We did take the water taxi ($12 all day hop on hop off) to downtown. We were the only passengers. Captain Jed, suggested that we change which stop we wanted to get off at, and recommended a good restaurant for lunch. He also said if he was running the sunset cruise that night, we were welcome to join him, even though it was not included in our ticket. Jim & Norma (Dorothy Gail) asked if there was a Best Buy, or Staples in town that we could walk to, the closest one was 10 miles away. Captain Jed offered to drive them there if it was still open when he was done work at 8pm. (It closed at 8pm). Once again the people we meet on the trip have been the greatest.

After lunch and having a cocktail on a rooftop bar, we headed back to the water taxi. Once again Captain Jed, was our driver, (There are only two boats running during the week)he was not running the sunset cruise, but he since we were not in a hurry and he had no other passengers or trips to make he took us on a fully narrated water taxi tour of Jacksonville. From what he was telling us, Jacksonville is trying to change its waterfront and make it more of a destination for both local and tourist. He said the plan will take 5 to 10 years to put in place, and we should come than.

The two places that we would have like to have toured were the TIAA Bank Field home of the Jackson Jaguar's football team, and the Maxwell House Coffee Plant. Both are right next to the marina, but neither offer tours. The Maxwell House Coffee plant does not seem to offer them at any point, and the football stadium suspended them due to Covid, and will resume them soon. They currently are only doing group tours of 25 people and you have to pay for all 25 people.

Our next stop is Fernandina Beach, and that will be our lasts top in Florida.