Greenway or Canal?
We spent a night by the edge of the Cross Florida Barge Canal (click for more info) at Rodman Dam Campground. This canal was never completed and after many legal battles has (along with adjoining land) become the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. 
Despite the warning of alligators, we found lots of interesting birdlife at the spillway by our campsite and downstream of the dam.
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- Black Vulture in flight
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- Black Vulture hovering
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- Waiting in the take-out line
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- Great Egret
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- Great Blue Heron
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- Salt Springs
Ocala NF Springs
Ocala National Forest covers 607 square miles in central Florida and consists mainly of a sandy pine scrub ecosystem. There are many lakes and ponds but most interestingly, four major Springs that feed into adjoining lakes. We visited Salt Springs and Silver Glen Springs which both are major sources of water feeding lakes in the forest. 
Silver Glen Springs flows with 70 million gallons of water a day feeding into a beautiful aquamarine swimming area.
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- Silver Springs
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- Cormorants enjoying the spring
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- Salt Springs
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- Sampling the local BBQ
Click to see larger map
Anastasia Island is another Barrier Island with beautiful deserted and unspoiled beaches, dunes and marshland separating the town of St. Augustine from the Ocean. 
The State Park there has many secluded campsites in the palmetto and palm forest. We always had a view of the St. Augustine lighthouse no matter where we were and enjoyed the tour. Plenty of seabirds scavenging on the beach in the early morning and some beautiful sunrises in the stormy windy weather we experienced. We had one warm day which allowed us to open the van up and work at the beach, our perfect ‘office’.
Click on thumbnail below to see full-size gallery.
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- Dawn with moon and venus
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- Path to the beach
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- Working by the beach
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- Camera-shy seagul
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- Egret taking me for a walk
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- Lighthouse at dawn
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- Stairs from below
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- Stairs from above
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- Lens
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- View from the top
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- Happy Hour
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- Always time for s’more
Click on map to see location
February 2 – 8: This city has much to offer the tourist and longtime snowbird. Thankfully we had two local guests who dictated a big list of things to do and see. Wendy and Chick Opel, friends from Annapolis, who have purchased a house here and had many ideas on how Colin and I should spend our time. The Farmer’s Market with live music next to our campsite (see video at the end of this post), the Trolley Tours to include the historical downtown St. A, the Castillo de San Marcos (fort), and the music box demonstrations at the Lightner Museum (see 2 videos below), to name just a few of their suggestions. The town had a bit of a Disney World character about it with all the tour trolleys and their loudspeakers but we particularly enjoyed learning about the Spanish heritage of the town (the first European settlement in North America) and the frequency at which ownership changed from Spanish to English, French, Confederate, etc. Delightful time, but we are toured out!
Click on thumbnail below to see full-size gallery.
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- St. George Street Pedestrian Mall
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- Cathedral Basilica
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- Cathedral Basilica
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- Flagler College
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- Old Wooden Schoolhouse
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- Teacher’s personal space in the Schoolhouse
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- Magnolia Ave near Fountain of Youth
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- Spanish Military Hospital
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- Spanish Military Hospital
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- Lightner Museum
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- Lightner Museum
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- Purse Collection
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- Music box in Lightner
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- Violin and piano music box
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- Castillo de San Marcos Fort
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- Peacock closeup
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- Farmer’s Market Country Jam
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- Original City Jail
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- Cheryl in Jail
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- 150 Prisoners were held here
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- Room for 4, but often held 12
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- Columbia Hotel
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- With Chick and Wendy Opel
Music box demonstration in the Lightner Museum, St. Augustine, FL
Local Farmer’s Market Jam Session, St. Augustine, FL
Click on map to see location
I awoke to the Beatles playing, Today is Your Birthday and indeed it was, and then When I’m Sixty-Four (also true).
Colin brought me chocolate coffee in bed, we went out to eat dinner at our favorite style of food, Indian, and then off to a movie. In years past I always wanted to see more difficult movies, emotionally challenging. One year we went to see Schindler’s List for my birthday. This year, a comedy, Hail Caesar. Colin started the day by walking the beach and brought me a most lovely sunrise picture.
The morning of Feb. 4 by Mc0
Little Talbot Island
Like Edisto Beach and Skidaway Island, Little Talbot Island State Park is situated between a beautiful sandy beach and extensive salt marshes inland. The Island is about 6 miles long and the beach area is one of the few undeveloped beaches left in Florida. The scenery is not dramatic but the bird life is interesting and the beach unspoiled and serene. 
The park is known as one of the remaining habitats for the ‘Piping Plover’ which runs around at great speed (for a little bird) finding lots of food morsels in the shoreline. 
We also found a Red Hawk and two Egrets perched on top of dead trees as the sun came up searching for their next meal.
Click on thumbnail below to see full-size gallery.
Click on map to see location
Fernandina Beach
Just 15 miles North of Talbot Island is the town of Fernandina Beach. The town has a lovely cute quotient, one of the oldest towns in Florida, which we enjoyed exploring. This was particularly fun after finding a bar that had $1.00 margaritas for sale during happy hour.
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Click on map to see location
A walking tour and trolley tour is a great way to spend a day in Savannah. Just some of the images in Savannah, from Colin’s photography. Cheryl was most amazed at the Krispies on a Stick, in so many gorgeous colors. But we resisted and didn’t buy even one. We will be back in Savannah in the Spring to see the city in full bloom, and perhaps visit that candy store . . .
(Click on image below to see full-size gallery)
Click on map to see location
Skidaway Island National Park is surrounded by more ‘low country’ salt marshes, similar to the Edisto Beach area. The highlights for us were watching the sun rise and moon set over the marshes, 
walking through the stands of Palm Trees and Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss, and watching four pelicans fishing on the incoming tide.
(Click on image below to see full-size gallery)
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Avoiding the big storm
Managed to escape the ice and snow (just) by traveling South to South Carolina. Palm trees through the rain while the storm drops snow over our home state.
Edisto Beach is a typical East Coast beach community, all houses built on stilts, well-kept, affluent surrounded by poor ‘low country’ communities scattered through the salt marshes. The best-kept buildings by far are the many churches. 
Fishing for souls looks a lot more profitable than subsistence fishing. However the local bird population doesn’t go hungry.
(Click on image below to see full-size gallery)
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Camped for a few days in our van at Taylor’s Island on Maryland’s Eastern Shore SW of Cambridge, MD. Our campsite faced Calvert Cliffs across the Bay and the campground is best described as ‘fun and funky’. A lot of permanent trailers for weekend boaters clustered round a small marina. We were quite concerned driving in at night with all the standing water either side (and sometimes over) the road which made us think we were in Holland. Next morning I was befriended by a Blue Heron that must have thought I was a source of fish, let me get within a couple of feet of him.
Our main destination was Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to provide food and shelter for the Atlantic Flyway. We spent over two days observing the birdlife there, mainly at sunrise and sunset and enjoying the peaceful nature of the area. We loved watching the Herons’ stealth fishing technique and listening to the geese arriving and taking off. 
We saw swans, bald eagles, several varieties of geese as well as several herons that were the most photographically cooperative. Saturday was a beautifully still morning after some strong winds on Friday that rocked our Land Yacht and made us think of our time at anchor in our previous travels. This made for some wonderful reflections in the water.
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We visited this great museum and performing arts center on our last day in the Blue Ridge. The Midday Mountain Music at the Blue Ridge Music Center is a daily feature of the Crooked Road, Virginia’s Musical Heritage Trail located in Galax (milepost 213). We heard some great bluegrass music by the duo of Willard Gayheart and Bobby Patterson, pictured below.
Gayheart is a Galax native and the pencil artist from Hazard, KY (who’s been in VA since 1962 and says he’s “took root now – be hard to get rid of me”) has been playing music with Patterson for 40 years in various bands. Gayheart specializes in guitar and Patterson plays banjo, guitar, and sometimes mandolin.
The next day, we saw another twosome, Maggie and Bill Anderson. I’ve attached a sample of Maggie’s playing “Silver Bell” on the Dobro.
Additional Reading
History of music in the Blue Ridge: Blue Ridge Music Center
The Blue Ridge Music Center celebrates the music and musicians of the Blue Ridge. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1997, with support from The National Council for the Traditional Arts.