Don't know what it is about us and the Atlanta Airport...but as usual we encountered more than our fair share of issues. We finally arrived back in Wichita at 2:45 AM...just a little off the expected 4:45PM flight we had booked. But here we are...and the future bride is ever so happy. She greeted us warmly at that ridiculous hour and some how managed to keep me awake for hours more discussing plans and items to be done...by Mother of the Bride....good that I'm retired. We will fly out on May 18th to return to Jacksonville. (YES, through Atlanta again...so it'll probably take three days to get there.) Our plan for now is to move the boat North out of hurricane danger and put it in storage. The completion of our trip will be postponed until the economy and Floyd's business recovers. We hope sooner rather than later.

We are safe and sound in slip number 60 at Lamb's Yacht Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Plans are to spend this week cleaning the inside and finishing our projects in preparation for leaving on Friday. We're in a covered dock so we won't have near the work of clearing the decks as we had in Demopolis. Birds are everywhere...we feel like we are filming a sequel to Hitchcock's film. They tell us that they are migratory and will be gone soon. Man,oh, man, they made a lot of racket as the sun set last night. They have continued to squawk today...we finally turned on the air conditioner. I'll take some photos and post them later...til then...next week this time we'll be in Wichita...could you warm it up for us?????

File under small world...when we visited Cape Canaveral they pointed out a barge carrying the spent fuel tanks that were returning aboard a special vehicle called Pegasus...and we spotted that vehicle in Jacksonville two weeks later...looks like it is getting a paint job. We couldn't help but wonder if it would carry the tanks of the rocket we watched..????

That beautiful looking water...up close it really is more like strong tea..I've been most disappointed in the continuing fact that the water we are on is not suitable for swimming...all those suits just sit in the drawer...and my tan looks more like a golfer type than a boating type...we gotta fix that.

Guys on the bridge here were working...what a site to behold. I'm just glad I was the one looking up...

Unlike the busy port of Mobile, practically all the loading docks here stood empty. We couldn't decide if it was a sign of the bad economy or the fact that it was a Saturday. Folks maybe didn't want to pay weekend overtime...we won't know the answer to that question until we return in May and make the trip out...

The first things we saw rounding the bend on the St John's River heding into Jacksonville was the stadium ...yep, "Home of the Jaguars"...so for all our sports nuts...it was impressive...

Bridge of Lions was a mess from land and water. We were pretty worried about all that until we realized that we were short enough to go under without requesting and / or waiting for an opening. Lots of sail boats and bigger yachts were playing the waiting game...we scooted through about 8:20 Saturday morning on our way to Jacksonville...

One thing we noticed about St Augustine was the lack of sky scrapers and high rise condos that you see in other Florida towns. Evidently there is a city ordinance preventing anything higher than three stories...which is why this brand new waterfront Hilton Hotel looks like a series of nice homes...we even heard there was a three story parking garage below.

From the water and up close and personal...it is one good looking lighthouse.

On Friday we went to the St Augustine Lighthouse. We've seen several lighthouses from the water but this one was my first inside view. We climbed the 219 steps to the top and were rewarded with a wonderful view...accompanied by hair raising winds...then Saturday leaving we got our usual outside view. We'd recommend that visit.

Just when you think you've about done it all...a new and unusual experience arises. When we asked about getting a fill up at Oyster Creek Marina, Paul said sure, I'll call the truck. The good news was that we paid road fuel price instead of marina fuel price...cheapest fill up we've had. So topped off the tanks before heading to Jacksonville.

And someone actually volunteered to take this photo of the two of us...in the same frame...getting to be a real novelty. We had just commented that we had all these photos of one or the other...we sure look like folks who've been living on a boat for 8 weeks. We are most looking forward to haircuts, manicures, pedicures, and seeing our friends and relatives...one week from today.

Here's what that Bridge of Lions looked like from the fort...what a nightmare. You should hear the locals talk about it...sounds like the Kellogg construction...

Here's what that Bridge of Lions looked like from the fort...what a nightmare. You should hear the locals talk about it...sounds like the Kellogg construction...

Spent a rainy day on Wednesday just hanging out, reading, doing a little laundry, napping and cleaning. Yesterday we were tourists...visiting the Fort, fountain of youth, and old town district. Managed to do just a little bit for the St Augustine economy. Today we'll head to the lighthouse and the plaza area. Tomorrow we hope to make a long day trip to Jacksonville...weather looks good. The deciding factor is the Bridge of Lions. Seems they are doing a major rebuild and during the week you can only get through at 1 or 1:30. Since we need more time than that to get to Jacksonville, we are hoping that Saturday openings are more frequent.