On Monday, April 2 we left Black Point Marina on a high tide with a slight wind!!! Ken, the dockmaster who had adopted us as part of his family, jumped in his Boston Whaler and led us out the long channel into Biscayne Bay. We were headed north although not sure how far north. As we passed Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, we saw the Volendam of Holland America Line and a Celebrity cruise ship; however, the Queen Mary 2 was so enormous that the other ships looked small. We stayed one night in Ft. Lauderdale, then two nights in Delray Beach to visit friends and saw the Elvis show at Elwood's on Atlantic, and continued on to West Palm Beach for Easter weekend with my sister, Jane and her cat, Shelly.

On Monday, April 9 we arrived at Vero Beach Municipal Marina and did some errands and visited with friends who had wintered there. By Friday, April 13, we were in Palm Coast (halfway between Daytona Beach and St. Augustine) where we decided to tuck in because once again the winds were increasing with the forecast of 15-25 mph through Monday. We met Theresa and Larry of Lauren Grace who are slowly doing the Loop. The European Village was an easy walk, so we spent some time visiting the shops and dining in some of the restaurants.

On Tuesday, April 17, we arrived in our favorite city, St. Augustine. We planned to stay for several days, but once again the north winds picked up and we rocked and rolled in the slip at the City Marina....stayed for six nights. We had several great meals with our friends, Tom and Shirley. Jim and I toured Old St. Augustine Village, above picture, which contains nine historic houses representing various architectural styles ranging from 1790 to 1910. The Prince Murat House, c 1790, was named for the exiled newphew of Napoleon Bonaparte and relative by marriage of George Washington. Murat rented the house in 1824 and Ralph Waldo Emerson was believed to have stayed there in 1827.

From St. Augustine, we stopped at Amelia Island, Jekyll Island where we toured the museum and learned about the Jekyll Island Club, Richmond Hill, Beaufort, SC and then arrived in Isle of Palms by the end of the month.