Who said it won’t feel like Christmas in the tropics?? I believe I said that….
Well, we are really getting in the spirit down here, in spite of palm trees, mangroves, and dolphins! The lights of St. Augustine are about as festive as you could see anywhere, and in New Smyrna we were treated to a Christmas parade of boats!
During the afternoon and early evening quite a few boats passed us along the waterway on their way to the gathering spot for the parade.
I could see something sparkling bright blue long before we got close to this boat. It was the flash of the mermaid’s sequined evening gown! This boat wins the prize! It was as much fun to see in daylight as it was to see in the parade after dark!
We think about 40 boats went by during the parade. We gave high marks for the boat that looked like a sea monster (or perhaps Jules Vern’s “Nemo”), the pirate ship, and a sport fisherman decked out as an alligator.
Well, this will be one of those moments best left to memory! We took a lot of boring videos with my phone, and a few still shots. Have you ever tried to take photos of moving objects in the dark without a tri-pod? Yeah….
It was a lovely evening at anchor in New Smyrna. We were joined by friends from Mystic who are also headed south for the first time, just like us! Ted and Ginnie are aboard Firecracker which is a sister boat to Pandora. What a treat to be traveling with friends from home! We combined efforts for dinner, had lots of wine, and enjoyed the parade! Traveling together from St. Augustine we saw our first mangroves, lots of dolphins, and Ted reported that he saw a manatee! Now we are really on the look out!
Along the way to Cocoa we traveled past Fort Matanza (I need to catch up on Henry Plummer’s visit 100 years ago), Daytona Beach, and New Smryna which was originally settled by Greek immigrants. Cocoa looks lovely, and I plan to find out shortly. There is even a knitting shop!
Going past Daytona
We had been warned that Florida is the waterway of bridges, and boy, it is so true! In Daytona we went through five bridges in the space of one mile, and three of them were draw bridges that required waiting for opening. To get to Cocoa we went through three more. And supposedly this is nothing compared to what lies ahead!
How nice to decorate a bridge for the sailors who pass under it!
Knit and Stitch in Cocoa, Florida
Day 82, Dec. 1st: St. Augustine to New Smyrna
Day 83, Dec. 2nd: New Smyrna to Cocoa
Day 84, Dec. 3rd: Lay day in Cocoa
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