The trip into Florida progressed really well and when we stopped for sandwiches at a rest area, a couple with a trailer and a PortaBote pulled in next to us. They were elderly musicians -- she a singer with a significant international career in opera houses in Europe, England and the US, amongst others, and he a concert pianist of considerable repute. They were avoiding winter in Maine, where they now reside, by heading to Anastasia State Park in Florida.
Our
destination , Gamble Rodgers State Park further south http://www.floridastateparks.org/gamblerogers/default.cfm
, is some 5 miles south of Flagler Beach. And the climate was just as expected. Our camp
site was essentially on the beach, with a modest dune in-between, but at the
walkway, we really felt like being right there. We had things up and running in
a hurry, were locked onto a satellite and had TV without a hitch. In addition,
we were surprised by the large number of channels accessible with UHF/VHF. This
meant that we had a good handle on the weather situation all over the US and
could only be very thankful for where we were. The inland was being hammered by
the umpteenth winter storm and wherever we had acquaintances, they were either buried
under snow or shying away from hostile elements at best. Herine and Matt in
Chicago, Hans, Liz and their family close to Philadelphia, all the folks in
State College, Sias and Anna-Marie in Red Deer, Canada, and Daan and Rina in
Nebraska, to mention a few. It didn’t
take us long to contact some of them and empathize.
The next
morning was terrific. We explored the neighborhood and replenished supplies.
The beach was white and clear as far as the eye could see and a balmy wind from
the south acted like a buffer that kept adversity at bay. At low tide we hiked
on the sand way beyond the boundaries of the Park and as the tide came in,
Willem and Fickie fished off the beach. The closest pier was in Flagler Beach
and didn’t appeal as much as the inviting beach right at our doorstep. By then we’ve become more discriminating and
were looking for the one-fish-meal-for-four type of catch. There were anglers we could pass the smaller
fry on to, while our targets had the upper fin on remaining evasive. A neighbor scored the biggest success with a
32 inch red fish, exceeding the permissible limit by 5 inches and had to
release it. Then the wind turned east on the third day and fishing dropped off.
A
fascinating farmers and other market in the town center at Flagler yielded
fresh fruit, vegetables and diverse produce one morning and an elderly lady and
her son picked up on our Afrikaans. They were originally from Benoni, South Africa,
and were now settled right there close to Flagler, where he had a soft ware engineering
job . Benoni is the second town west from Springs, where Willem grew up and
Brakpan, Stella’s home town, perhaps 5 miles from both and in between on the
main line to Johannesburg. The lady at some time went to school in Springs,
which made one almost feel even more
like having discovered long-lost relatives!
The State
Park extended across route 1A1, away from the beach, with the office actually
located there. And being on the barrier island, the inevitable intra-coastal
waterway is accessible via a boat ramp located at a lovely picnic area for day
time visitors. On occasion an informal jamb was underway under a good sized
shelter, with local and other amateur folk musicians having showed up with
their instruments and voices; quite attractive and clearly most enjoyed by them
all. But the associated marsh tidal swamp was home to our former acquaintances,
the proper name by now familiar to us: no-see-ums. These miniscule hard to see
insects, which we first mistook for gnats, are surely biting machines that
leave an itch for days. And no insecticide in house deterred them in the
slightest. So we were once again chasing repellant advice down through
pharmacies and other outlets. It would take another itchful week or so before
we found some relief at our next venue.
The wind
turned from east to north and we got to share somewhat in the plight of the
rest of the States. However, the temperature fluctuated between the mid forties
and lower sixties; jacket-type climate, which surely kept us off the beach. We
thus headed south one day to Daytona Beach and was once again impressed by the
vacation resort atmosphere of the Florida coast line. From our point of view
this was the best time of the year to be here but there were abundant vacancies
and some accommodations not even being offered for rent, it would seem. Summer
time is the prime time so far north, still, and one can only guess how rough
the combination of high heat, humidity and tourists by the hundreds of thousands
would be! The ‘cold spell’ also afforded us the opportunity to church closer to
St. Augustine, north of Flagler, a place of considerable historic repute. Susan
and Willem recalled having encountered Ponce De Leon and the Fountain of Youth
in a high school reading text and there we were -- right at the very spot! ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n
) A brief drive through the old city and crossing the bridge to the barrierisland
and Anastasia State Park region, which was once on our itinerary as a stay-over
venue, placed us on the way back to Gamble Rogers.
With the
wind having turned west, our last day at Gamble Rogers was quite pleasant and
we prepared for traveling further south the next day. Weather prospects were
good and the forecast for wind from the south would support such optimism.
The drive to
Sebastian Inlet State Park at first hugged the coast line. But the going was
slow and repetitive, so we ventured onto Interstate 95. We made good progress
and some 30 miles or so before the turnoff for Melbourne, stopped at a rest
area for sandwiches, which Susan and Stella became expert at preparing. These
road side ‘picnics’ are interesting by themselves to Willem and Fickie– often
for the surprise-contents of the cooler.
Back on
Route 1A1 on the barrier island and having crossed another impressive bridge to
get there, we were headed south for the State Park. Yet, another impressive high
rise bridge across the Inlet brought us to the park entrance and a most
spectacular venue. Susan thought of it as the most beautiful of all to date ( https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Sebastian-Inlet) .Right on the ocean but none of the dense
high vegetation which made other camp sites -- especially in South Carolina and
Georgia -- so outstanding, this place demonstrated that real beauty came in
different forms.
The weather
was terrific but our supplies less so, which prompted Willem and Susan to
further explore the lay of the land the next morning. Southward on Route 1A1 it
is really scenic with well kept mansions on the ocean side and strings of docks
for pleasure boats across the street and a bicycle path extending for miles
along bays linked to the intra-coastal waterway via the Indian River Lagoon. A
road side ad in front of a sprawling mansion claiming ‘Hurricane Resistant
Construction’ served as a reminder of where exactly we found ourselves. Some 5 miles or so from camp, Route 510 leads
back to the main land, skipping across more impressive bridges that connect
gated communities, clubs, resorts and their associated golfing outlays. In a
league of their own, it is nice to observe how substantial private resources
have been applied to such pleasing effect. Wealth obviously abounds in these domains.
But for us the reality of a Walmart Super Center some 8 miles north felt like
home-coming that set us straight for the better part of the next week. However,
when Walmart didn’t provide any new defense against no-see-ums, nor relief of itching,
Willem figured that perhaps the antidote to the burning itching might call for
alkaline treatment. A saturated solution of baking soda really did the trick
short term – at least lasting long enough to fall asleep and stay such. It also
resulted in a white residue which had Willem and Fickie resemble ballet
dancers, if not African youngsters during initiation rituals!
We refrained
from further exploring the area around Sebastian Inlet by automobile because
there was so much to occupy us on site and we thought of sticking to the coast
line once we leave for our next campground further south. However, we did stop
in at the McLarty Treasure Museum, http://www.atocha1622.com/mclarty.htm , on the site of a major catastrophe for an armada
of ships in the days of the Spanish Silver Fleet in 1715, http://www.1715treasurefleet.com/ and http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/129shipwrecks/
. But more juicy is the account of http://www.melfisher.com/SalvageOperations/1715Ops/1715history.asp.
Interesting to note that we saw a few
beach combers with metal detectors on the nearby beaches and apparently they
are occasionally rewarded – especially after the passing of a hurricane! Willem
remembered some of the background history of these turbulent times for the
Spanish and what had brought a Dutch adventurer fame and fortune at the time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Pieterszoon_Hein Three hundred and thirty years later as
students in South Africa, we sang the praise of this folk hero of the
Netherlands!
Meanwhile,
there was some turnover of camping neighbors and to our left Floridians pulled
in with a truck and trailer combination. When turning on the water there was a
considerable leak at the faucet, with which we could be helpful by supplying a
rubber washer that was missing. The next day the fellow knocked at the door,
bread in hand, explaining that we were the beneficiaries of a two-for –the-price-of
–one offer at the food store they went to! A day later our neighbors to the
right were replaced by quite a trek. Dave and Andrea from Ontario showed up
with a truck to which a large 5th wheel was hooked and in turn, a
substantial trailer hooked behind it. Normally we would not pay much attention
to newcomers and stayed out of their way until settled in. But having begun to
master backing a 5th wheel into a camp site, Willem was most curious
about the learning opportunity offered by the sophistication and skill required
to back this combination in! Andrea was out signaling and hollering to Dave who
approached the matter with great confidence. Meanwhile the neighbor to their
other side came closer and was a great deal more helpful than the one with learning
aspirations. He simply suggested that David uncouple the trailer, which was
home to their huge trike motor cycle (something like this: http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Motorcycles/trike.html
) and let us three guys run it in
assisted by the slight decline where it could be parked. This is what we did,
although Willem was a little disappointed by the lost opportunity of seeing a
master at work! Dave and Andrea turned
out to be lovely neighbors, amplified by them helping Susan up when she took a
tumble off her bicycle! We didn’t interact enough with them, in part because
they’ve put the trike to work on a daytrip to Cape Canaveral -- some 40 miles
North. And then there was Blanche from
Michigan across the road parallel to the beach who saw Fickie working on Stella’s
hair next to our camper and came to the rescue.
She used to have her own salon but notwithstanding having retired, she
still had the essential gear with her
and was generous enough to also let Susan walk away with a haircut of her
liking. The girls swung into action so Blanche and her husband had a ‘melktert’
to contribute to an invited dinner appointment with friends that evening.
Fishing at
Sebastian Inlet was good but not necessarily to us. Fickie made the
acquaintance of a Penn State alumnus, Scott Ward, now retired and living close
by. Scott and his wife, Carol love Sebastian and fish frequently from the dock
at the campground. They were very generous with advice, bait sharing and
pleasant conversation. During a power
outage in camp the last day, Fickie and Stella went cycling while Willem was
hiding from the sun underneath the Inlet Bridge, on a pier with his fishing
equipment. He was targeting Grouper, a good eating species that often stay
close to structures. The bridge pilings presented such and after a while he had
a strike. However, his tackle with fish and all was stuck. This was much
consistent with Grouper if one wasn’t quick enough to steer it away from
shelter. So, a bit of a waiting game ensued, expecting the fish to clear itself
with sinker and all, and surely, it happened! The water surface was perhaps
15-20 feet below and as he reeled in, surely the brownish fish that offered a glimpse
of itself was consistent with expectation as it disappeared underneath the
water again. A while later Willem succeeded in hauling it up. But what crossed
the railing was no Grouper! It was in
fact a beast totally unknown to him. Maintaining distance, he approached other
anglers some 10 yards away with the dangling fish, resulting in a bit of a
retreat on their part! He was advised to stay clear of the thing and simply cut
the line to get it back into the water. ‘It could kill you!’ sounded like an
exaggeration but nevertheless a matter not to be trifled with. Willem did
exactly as advised; it was a Stone Fish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synanceia . Further reading was convincing that Willem’s
apprehension of handling his catch at first, by asking rather than doing, was
not misplaced at all: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/10-creatures-that-deliver-the-most-painful-stings-and-bites/stonefish
and http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002854.htm
.
When the
shade was lost and the power still gone, it was time to prepare for ‘what if
electricity does not get restored?’ The past few days were really hot and humid
and we’ve run the AC on Auto --even at night. In addition, no power meant the
water pumps for the campground were down, so the supply was threatened and the
public facilities were not functioning either. Willem found that due to our
relatively low location, water was still flowing for us, albeit leisurely, and
forthright started to fill the holding tank. When connected to an external
supply, this is usually not done but now seemed advisable. By then Fickie was back as well and we hooked
up the power generator and had it running for the ladies to prepare dinner, in
conjunction with the propane gas oven. AC would have to wait until the extra load was
no longer required. An hour later a
campground official came by to inform that the problem was solved and power
would be restored shortly. This happened as we were sitting down for dinner.
The difference between all being well and not so
the next morning was Willem’s nightmare that had him avoiding poisonous
encounters all night long. Susan shared that she wasn’t spared some of his
antics! But following breakfast and a slow start we were packed up, hooked up
and on our way to Hollywood, Florida, on Christmas Eve: http://www.broward.org/Parks/TopeekeegeeYugneePark/Pages/Default.aspx
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