Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 46

28  February 2026

Jekyll Island State Park 

Jekyll Island, Georgia 

The bird sanctuary is in the back of the campground.

Sue found several cardinals feeding away.

A view of two thirds of the Jekyll Island Marina docks. that are on the edge of the ICW.

American Cruise Lines cruise ships pass just off of the docks (space is tighter when the outer dock is filled with transient boats).

American Liberty (241 feet long, 56 feet wide, 6 foot draft).  The fact that these ships pass through the ICW means that most yachts can accomplish the journey.

Marc-  We went over to visit the Jekyll Island Marina while we were enjoying our Dairy Queen treats.  The old orange cat named Moe passed on and has been replaced with two others who were nowhere to be seen.  We met a boater on a 36 foot Monk Trawler with perfectly maintained teak and an adorable dog (mostly poodle).  They come down here for the cold months from Rochester, NY.  We exchanged some notes on our canal and Great Lakes travels.  

We also travelled over to neighboring Saint Simons Island to visit a quilt shop named Sea Stitches.

St. Simon's Island Lighthouse.

This sounds like a command.

Hand pieced Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

A sewing Lady quilt.

Back at the campground we found the community clothesline.

 They have washers and dryers here as well.

Sue - The quilt shop on St. Simons Island is very very nice.  If we come to Jekyll again, and I hope we will, I will return to this shop.  It's small, but packed with beautiful fabric, patterns, ideas, a few quilts, and a long arm machine.  There were 3 ladies working there and 2 ladies who didn't seem to work there who were hanging out sewing.  I bought more fabric and patterns.  When am I ever going to make all the things I want to make?  It takes time, and I have a huge backlog.  I have given up trying to sew in the trailer.  Too much effort.  I have to dig my stuff out every time, have precious little room to work, the last 2 cats I made were not as good as the first one and that was discouraging.  I think my cutting left something to be desired.  I'll just wait until I get home.  I found a potholder loom kit at Tractor Supply today and made 2 potholders, the kind a 6 y.o. can make.  Very satisfying.

Cool potholders Sue.

Surprise encounter at dusk when I went off to Church and found rather small deer enjoying some green grass.

Amazing.

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 45

 27  February 2026

Jekyll Island State Park 

Jekyll Island, Georgia

   

Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island.

Marc-  Today was a travel day which usually means we don't do much that is interesting.  Our destination made all of the difference.  We arrived while it was raining which seemed to bring out the no-see-um bugs that bite.  There were awful little things!  After settling in we went over to the Village and found that the local grocer had reasonable prices despite being the only market on the island (eggs were $ 2.90 a dozen, for example).

The Island's best beach is right off of the Village.  We heard a lot of birds there and walked a little.  Then we went to "Driftwood beach" which is home to many drowned trees that did not in fact drift onto the beach (they actually grew there before it became a beach).  We hiked the Northern end of the island only to find that a horse trail bridge was now closed.  We went over the bridge anyway after making an assessment that we weighed less than the horses.  The Northern end of the Island is diminishing due to ocean storms while the southern end of the island is growing (Ocean currents carry the sand south where it's deposited).

Looking out over Village Beach we could see a fog bank at the horizon.

These birds appear to be young terns hopping around on one leg.

Piping Plovers were running all over the water's edge.

Sue's phone app discovered these birds singing in the dunes.  We saw a cardinal and a warbler.

We saw that the water on this beach seemed to be light brown.  The color is due to sediment as noted above and it is a good thing, indicating some of the healthiest water along the Atlantic Seaboard.

Several of the buildings have beautiful murals.

This bird was not singing away so we could not identify it (the strong silent type).

We caught the stern of a car carrier rounding Driftwood Beach (the island in the background is St. Simons Island where a car carrier ran aground several years ago and had to be salvaged in place, otherwise known as cut up into pieces).

Brunswick Georgia is a major car shipping port.

Jekyll fish pier.

Lastly, we stopped at two quilt shops on our way up from Florida. The following photos are from Cinnamon Quilt Shop in Jacksonville.

Cool cat mug rug.

Nice Kaffe Fassett fabrics in this quilt.

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 44

 26  February 2026

Tomoka State Park 

Ormond Beach, Florida  

A most impressive pelican at Flagler Beach today.

Marc-  Today was mostly a mundane day doing chores and shopping at Costco.  The fact that the Costco was at nearby Daytona Beach in front of the Raceway on Route A1A made life interesting.  We were a bit distracted by the hundreds of motorcycles gathered around the front of the raceway (apparently it is bike week in Daytona).  I totally missed the turn for Costco but ending up coming in from the delivery entrance.  This Costco is brand new and huge compared to ours in Colchester, VT.  There is plenty of parking and the shelves are well stocked.  Last but not least was no waiting in line at the check-out.

Our main adventure today was exploring a nearby State Park called Gamble Rogers State Park.  It has been renamed from Flagler State Park since Mr. Gamble Rogers tried to save a swimmer in distress and died in the process.  The park crosses the entire barrier island from the ICW to the Atlantic.  It has a harbor for visitors just off the ICW and extensive access to Flagler Beach.  There is both a beach front campground and an ICW campground.  We walked a trail that seemed like we were transported into a Hobbit adventure.  The entire trail was was fully shaded and full of twists and turns and gnarly oak trees. 

Mr. Gamble Rogers.

Fishing at Flagler Beach.

Entry channel to the Gamble Rogers State Park basin.

Sue - Yesterday we saw a few motorcycles around.  Today there was a huge influx of them making their noise in the campground, on the road by the campground, and everywhere else we went.  I am not sorry we are leaving tomorrow for Jekyll Island, GA!

Oranges growing in our campground.

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 43

 25  February 2026

Tomoka State Park 

Ormond Beach, Florida 

Manatees thrive in the Florida Springs.

Marc-  I went bike riding along the shores of Tomoka State Park today.  This is in a Manatee zone where boat speed limits are meant to be reduced to protect them.  Speed limits in the nearby ICW are reduced to 25 mph, but manatees will not survive if hit by most boats at speeds in excess of 13 mph.  More aggressive limits, 5-9 mph, are in place for the waters outside the ICW Channel.  Unfortunately that does not apply to the Tomoka River Channel that joins the ICW near the Park.  

Speed limit sign on the Tomoka River channel.  Since the channel markers have been removed from the area, boaters travel at this speed all over the watershed.

Manatees are harmless gentle creatures. Their protection is worthwhile.  Manatees are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act.

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 42

24  February 2026

Tomoka State Park 

Ormond Beach, Florida   

Blue Spring State Park in Deland, FL.

Marc-  The main adventure today was visiting another nearby state park famous for its incredible Blue Spring.  Our timing was perfect since the spring is the cold weather refuge for manatees living on the St. Johns River.  The last two days have seen near freezing temperatures at night (and the cold continues tonight).  When we arrived at the park entrance a ranger informed us that there would be a one hour delay to get into the park due to the heavy volume of visitors.  We asked if it was worth waiting for and he responded that 3 days ago there were only 7 manatees at Blue Spring and today there were 348 manatees due to the cold temperatures.  Needless to say we waited to get in.  Once we made it past the gate there was no problem finding a parking space and there was no crowding problem on the viewing areas and boardwalks.  This park is really well designed for a large number of visitors.  Wide boardwalks run the length of the "Spring" which is about 1/2 mile long from where its daily million plus gallons of water come out of a cavern and from a creek that leads down to the St. Johns River.  You can rent canoes and kayaks.  There is a guided cruise available.  There is a canteen with hot food with a large eating pavilion and even a good sized gift shop.  

We saw numerous manatees, various quantities of fish and birds and even an armadillo during our visit.  It was absolutely wonderful seeing the manatees and the fish.

The water comes up from the aquifer in the dark area in the foreground.  The large grey creatures are manatees and the many smaller creatures are striped mullet fish.  

Manatees resting in the clear Spring waters.

More manatees and a few cormorants.

Schools of fish in the spring (no fishing allowed).

More fish.

Lots of Manatees.

We also spent a considerable part of the day searching quilts shops in the area.  Sue did well and found 17 fabrics, 16 of which are of the same pattern in different colors, for a three dimensional design.  This will be a fantastic quilt.  The shop was Oceans of Thread and the staff was wonderful.

Our last task was finding a store that still sells postcards.  We traveled back to the Atlantic shore and found such a place in New Smyrna Beach.  I waited outside in the beachside sand parking lot.  The local police only asked me to move along once.  I just made another pass around the parking lot and Sue appeared with cards in hand.  We followed Route A1A up the barrier beaches to Ormond Beach before returning to Tomoka. 

New Smyrna Beach.

 

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 41

23 February 2026

Tomoka State Park 

Ormond Beach, Florida    

An original quilt design from "Sew N' Quilt" in Holly Hill.

Marc-  Another slow day here in Florida.  It started off rather cold at 40 degrees.  We went off in search of fabrics at various quilt shops in Holly Hill, St. Augustine and Palm Coast.  Sue found fabric for one project and not for another.  I enjoy visiting these shops with the cool designs and vibrant colors.

Later we came back to Ormond Beach to walk around a recently upgraded town park and then to walk around our campground.  The local forecast has the temperature dropping below freezing overnight.  This is nothing compared to what our friends and family are experiencing back in New England with the "Blizzard of 26".

Cool design at The Cut 'N Sew Quilt Co. in St. Augustine.

Music man at the Ormond Beach Park.

Crowd control (name of the statue) at the Ormond Beach Park.

A visitor to the Ormond Beach Park Pier.  The pier extends in a loop under the ICW bridge and it is popular with fisherman (and birds).

Southern Camping Trip 2026 (aboard "Elsie" the land yacht). cont. 40

21 February 2026

Tomoka State Park 

Ormond Beach, Florida    

Looks like a 50 foot Catalina sloop headed North in the ICW at Palm Coast.

Marc-  We started off trying to visit another quilt store in Palm Coast that was advertised as open today.  It was not open.  We made the most of it and went for a long walk on the St. Joseph's Walkway on the Palm Coast Linear Park.  I know this park from having waited out a storm at Palm Coast Marina for a week.  The paved walkway is along the Intracoastal Waterway and includes benches, boat launching facilities, rest rooms, and a playground.  There is also a memorial park for deceased children.  Chimes were playing in the wind as we walked through the many heartbreaking stone memorials.  We saw several small boats on the waterway and one large sailboat.  It is still very early to be headed North (it will be 39 degrees in Daytona tonight).

Boat on Flagler beach seen from Route A1A.

This story from the Daytona Beach News Journal provides some details.  I hope it can be salvaged.  The only damage I could see was a broken rudder.  I wonder how the boat ended up on the beach?  Someone may have fallen asleep at the wheel or an automatic pilot may have failed with no one on watch.

Hammock Beach Marina, in Palm Coast, seems to be full of boats staying for the winter.