Florida: Marineland

Day 300
NM Today: 43
NM To Date: 4781

Clark could not see the value in going to bed only to get up at 1:00 to watch the space launch, so we stayed up late catching up on some television episodes until it was time to view the launch. Clark pulled up the www.spacex.com website on his phone, so we had real-time commentary on what we were seeing as we watched the night sky.

Satellite Going Up into Space

After going to bed at such a late hour, getting up to start our busy travel day to the next port proved extremely difficult. We pulled away from the dock in New Smyrna Beach at 9:00 and Dream Catcher followed us out of the marina.

Dream Catcher Leaving New Smyrna Beach

The trip today took just about exactly six hours. Along the way we encountered multiple slow speed zones for Manatee areas which added time to the trip. Some highlights of today's trip are shown below.

Looking back at bridge we biked over yesterday.
Today we boated under the same bridge.

Heading into the Daytona Beach Area
(we decided to pass on this location on our loop trip)

Decorative Bridge Supports
Decorated with pictures of dolphins and manatees

We saw many, many boat houses on the ICW
Designed like a "car port" for a boat

We arrived at Marineland at 3:00. As we pulled up to the dock we passed behind another boat docked at the marina. The man on board pointed at our boat and then his boat, and I had no clue what he was trying to tell me. It turned out he was trying to tell me that he too is a “looper”.  In fact we later found out that Jim and Pam of Silver Boots are Platinum Loopers since they have completed the loop twice!

Marineland, Florida

While Clark went up to the marina office to check in, I went over to talk to Jim and Pam. I rapidly went into “information overload” as Pam told me about where to go and what to see in Georgia and the Carolinas. Dick and Pat on Dream Catcher requested the courtesy car at the marina and invited us to join them for a trip to Publix for groceries. I told Pam that I would come back later to talk to her with a notebook in hand and went off the get some much-needed food provisions.

As Pat got the keys to the courtesy car, I talked to Eric, the dock hand who helped us tie up the boat. He said that the cost to do a load of wash is $1.00 – the washer is free and the dryer costs $1.00. That seemed to good to pass up. Eric said that if I wanted to take advantage of the laundry room I would have to let him know as soon as I got back from Publix. 

I decided to throw a load in, and as a result, I ended up running back and forth between the laundry room and Silver Boots as I worked to get my laundry done while, at the same time, getting trip-planning input. Fortunately Clark was also on Silver Boots with his notebook, so he took notes and got information for our trip even though I had to run off in the middle of our conversation to attend the laundry.

As I ran back and forth I passed Pat on Dream Catcher who invited me to go for a walk along the beach with her and her dog, Abby, after dinner. That sounded great. My only concern – when was I going to find time to eat?! I decided that I would heat up the leftovers on the boat and have a real quick dinner that way. We managed to get our walk in before nightfall and even got some sunset views along the way.

While I walked with Pat, Clark pulled out his bike and took a quick ride. He could cover more territory and get more pictures that way. 

Boardwalk Along Waterfront

Beach and Dunes

View of Sunset from Marineland Marina Docks