fernandina beach, FL.

we did not make it to cumberland island from ortega as originally planned since the weather was not going to cooperate.  instead, we got as far as fernandina beach which is right at the border of florida and georgia, stopped at the fernandina harbor marina to fuel up and then took a mooring for the night.  in the meantime, some local liveaboard friends of tom's, charlie and bobby, formed a welcoming committee and presented us with a six-pack of heineken when we dinghied into town and then we all went to the salty pelican restaurant for a bite.  tom and i got back to the boat just in time before the thunderstorm rolled in, too.  after that little squall, we dinghied back into town to walk around.  we completely missed fernandina beach on the way south when we cruised from cumberland island straight to st. augustine.  at the time, it was very foggy so we could hardly see anything as we cruised by. in any case, as it turns out, fernandina beach on amelia island is a very cute little town with lots of places to eat and lots of little shops to poke into.  it was also hopping with people - saturday night, i guess.  it rained again while we were in town so we ducked into a gift shop where i found an adorable little beagle stuffed toy which i absolutely HAD to buy.  i set it up where consuelo used to hang out to survey her domain and it was the first thing i saw the next morning when i stepped into the salon.  it made me smile. 

we still miss her very much.  it is especially noticeable when we anchor or take a mooring and know that we have to drop the dinghy.  consuelo loved the dinghy. 

it is still very windy today and it looks like we may stay on this mooring an extra day even though cumberland island is only about seven miles away.  it's just not as protected a harbor and we really are not in any hurry anyway.  it doesn't look like the wind is going to be dropping until late this afternoon.  we will see.  i am really looking forward to going back to cumberland island even though it will be different without consuelo.  we had a lot of fun there last time. 

sunrise on the st. john's river