FL: St Johns River - East Palatka

Wednesday 4/4/2018

No Boat Travel.

Because rain was expected, we opted to stay at the Palatka City docks for a second night. I realized when I went to get my morning bowl of cereal that I was running low. We looked for a “grocery near me” and found a Hitchcock’s located just over the bridge in East Palatka. With no guarantee that they sold what I wanted, we decided to take a bike ride over the bridge to check out the store and the other side of the river.

Palatka Memorial Bridge -  65' Vertical Clearance

The bridge starts out relatively flat and then gets steep. I felt like the “Little Engine that Could” saying “I think I can I think I can … all the way up the bridge climb”.

When he got to the apex 65’ over the water, Clark stopped to take some pictures of the area. When I got there, I stopped to catch my breath!

Ev biking up the sidewalk on the bridge

Looking back at Palatka City Docks
and Sunset Delight (dark-hulled boat)

After struggling my way up to the top of the bridge, it felt good to glide down the other side into East Palatka.

East Palatka

At the end of the bridge we found more WW I memorial statues.

WW I Soldiers & Sailors Memorial,
life-sized bronze statue

WW I Soldiers & Sailors Memorial,
life-sized bronze statue

 Behind one of the statues, we saw signs “Park Closed”. Having seen some roadway damage as we crossed the bridge, we did not have to wonder why!

Park Closed ... Collapsed Walkway to Park

  We found Hitchcock’s though for some unknown reason Google Maps sent us around the back via side streets to access the store even though it sat right on the highway we had to cross. Unfortunately, the bran cereal that I prefer was not available. Most of the products on the shelf contained massive amounts of sugar, but I did find something to take back with me to the boat.

We did not spend any time exploring the area as it did not look worth our time to do so. All too soon I found myself struggling back up the incline of the bridge.

 Steep Bridge Climb ... getting ready to enjoy the ride down!

  

I forced myself to make it to the top of the bridge without stopping and congratulated myself on my success when I got there. The ride down the other side became my reward for a job well done.

All over the area around the bridge I saw signs referring to the “Bartram Trail” and wondered about them. Finally, we found a sign that gave some explanation.

“Bartram Trail” historical marker

 As a naturalist and author, William Bartram explored the Palatka area of Florida in 1774. The Seminole Indians dubbed him “Puc Puggy”, which means “Flower Hunter” in their language.  That explained the name for the playground near the city docks.

“Puc Puggy Landing” Playground

 Back at the docks, Clark stopped to check out the fish sculpture located there.

Fish Sculpture at City Docks

Expecting a late afternoon rainstorm, we stowed our bicycles and hung out on the cockpit of the boat reading and relaxing. Sure enough, around 4:00 the wind picked up, so much so, that I got a glass of water dumped on me when the wind blew it off the table in my direction. We quickly gathered up items that could “fly away” and stowed them in the cabin.

Even though the wind blowing with force and the sky filling with clouds gave plenty of notice, people on and near the docks and those at the playground seemed unprepared when the rain started to pelt down. They scattered and scrambled for shelter and their cars.

After the rains ended, we had an interesting sunset appear across the sky.

Sunset Reflection