España

I'm certainly not a restaurant critic, but last night we had the best meal of the trip (so far) at España on 4th Street in Fernandina Beach, Florida.  A nice-sized pitcher of house sangria lasted the whole meal and rivaled our homemade recipe.  We started with two tapas: Gambas Costa Brava (shrimp in a spicy piri piri sauce) and the special of the evening, panko breaded, flash fried eggplant slices stacked between layers of manchego and rimmed with a rich mushroom/sherry sauce.......both were unbelievably flavorful and delicious.  David would like to replicate the spicy shrimp dish :)  For dinner, he had his taste buds set on seafood paella and was not disappointed.  I had seared sea scallops with a garlic-parsley-cilantro-wine sauce.  The scallops were cooked to perfection and the sauce did not overpower the tender scallops.  It was a meal we won't soon forget!  Unfortunately, the candlelight wasn't conducive to iPhonography.

Two other exceptional dinners worth mentioning along the ICW were at Saltus River Grill in Beaufort, SC where we had a belated holiday celebration (due to being sick at Christmas) and Coastal Kitchen and Raw Bar in St. Simons Island, GA.  Laura, the bartender at Coastal Kitchen, makes a mean Dark and Stormy!

Today marks one month since we've been "on the go" -- we left Deale, Maryland on 12-13-14 (easy to remember!) -- so far, we love living aboard, but can't wait to sail more and motor less.  I think that's just around the corner.  Weather is improving and we're hoping to get into the Atlantic for our next leg.

Random thoughts and sights along the ICW in Georgia

On this southward ICW trek, we can anchor in peaceful locations or tie up at marinas along the way.  While anchoring is usually our preferred choice for the evening, sometimes marinas just make sense, like last night, with winds gusting to 30 knots.  Both options have pros and cons, but the last two marinas we stayed in (Thunderbolt Marina just south of Savannah and Golden Isles Marina on Lanier Island) delivered breakfast treats each morning!  What a pleasant surprise!

Six(!) warm Krispy Kreme Doughnuts delivered to your boat every morning at Thunderbolt Marina....what a sinful treat!

Two muffins and a newspaper delivered to your boat each morning at Golden Isles Marina.....nom, nom, nom!

Many, many miles of this trip have been through marshland (particularly in the south).  Some days we won't even see another boat!  Other times, we glide right through very busy ports.  Here are some scenes from the last three days.

We see lots of birds (this is along the ICW between our Wahoo Island anchorage and Lanier Island, GA)

Pelicans huddling close to the warm rocks....it was 45*F when this was snapped.

And then suddenly, you see livestock!  Crazy!  

Lots of shrimp boats, some rustier than others.

Jekyll Island, GA

We have a 56' mast......most fixed bridges are 65' (thankfully).

ICW in St. Andrew's Sound takes you almost to the Atlantic Ocean........it was a topsy turvy ride until we headed back inland at R32 (and no, I did not get seasick! :)

A beached nav aid and an abandoned lighthouse on Little Cumberland Island

:)

Kings Bay (naval nuclear sub station) -- unfortunately, we did not see a sub

At the ready

The degaussing station (eliminates the magnetic field when a submarine returns to port).

Fort Clinch

Industry on the St. Mary's River

More industry

A wrecked shrimp boat (it was cloudy and drizzly and in the mid-50s most of today)