Jacksonville, FL

We came to Jacksonville to meet up with Jason's friend Steve ("Slow") and his family: Sue, Crissy, and Steven. They are are such a terrific family. They've made us feel so welcome. We spent the day yesterday with Slow and Sue as they toured us around their city. We started at Jax Beach. The beach was so amazing. The water was much colder than I expected, but Maddie enjoyed swimming in the ocean and likely could have stayed there all day. She stripped right down on the beach to put her suit on. Nothing was stopping her...

Next we went for lunch at Krystals. They are similiar to a White Castle. Something I've never had either. We went to check it off our life list. It was tasty, but I can say I wouldn't rush back.

After lunch we toured around a bit more, we ended up at a Fort where the French settled and fought the spanish. Florida was under french rule for about 20 years in the 1500s. There was a pier, so we went out and Jason spotted dolphins jumping and playing. So fun to watch them leap into the air. A huge cargo ship came in with help from two tug boats. It was accompanied by two coast guard boats so the consensus on the pier was this cargo ship had some type of military content that it needed the security.

I managed to go to Target under the guise of "we need snacks for Disney". Oh Target, how I've missed you. I raced around, but of course didn't have enough time. I was in the snack isle, getting snacks and then WHAM-O I rounded the corner and I was the WINE ISLE! In TARGET! Yes, of course I bought a $7 bottle of wine. Why wouldn't I?

For supper we ate at Joe's Crab Shack. Seafood - YUMMY. It's a casual and fun restaurant. The staff do line dances every hour or so. I ordered a "steampot" This meant my food came in a round black roasting pan. No kidding. Two kinds of crab (4 sets of legs), mussels, scallops, corn on the cob. It was so good.

Back to the hotel by 10pm and exhausted.

I'm writing this in the car as we drive down to Orlando. It seems to be a 3 hour drive. Roads have been full of traffic and literally every five minutes there is some kind of business or rest stop.

Time to stop, I don't want to miss any more of the scenery. Will post again at bedtime.