Cheeseburgers in Paradise…NOT!

Thursday September 22

Mark, Jason, and I walked 3+ miles through the St. Augustine historical district…plenty of touristy-type shops. The morning was hot and humid, but it felt good to stretch my legs and get some much-needed exercise.  

Jason and I finally made it to the West Marine store and a Winn-Dixie supermarket.  I needed small 12v halogen light bulbs for some of the recessed fixtures throughout Prime Time. You won’t believe this, but we saw the weird little guy who wanted to fight us last night at West Marine. He either didn’t recognize us or he had taken his pill…no more drama! We then walked next door to the Winn-Dixie to provision the boat…lots of frozen stuff…easy to prepare! Mark continued on to a World’s Gym for a workout.

Jason spotted a Checkers fast food restaurant next to the Winn-Dixie and made a beeline to the “place order here” window. He treated us to a couple of #4’s…a so-so cheeseburger and without a doubt…the greasiest fries I have ever seen! Sorry Checkers…never again. We had called for a cab as we walked across the parking lot…Checker Cab of course. Jason and I loaded all of our groceries into the trunk and we headed back to the boat.  Once back aboard Prime Time, we stowed all of the groceries. Our Grunert freezer in the lazzerette can hold TONS of frozen pizza and Lean Cuisine!

Mark called my cell phone and said that he was on his way back to Prime Time. Jason remembered that he needed some…you guessed it… Skoal. You know…after yesterday’s almost career-limiting water bottle incident…one would think that Jason would SERIOUSLY consider giving it up. I watched him sprint up the dock ramp heading for the closest convenience store…probably a mile or so away! Nasty habit…I’ll show him some serious oral lesion photos on the internet soon.

Prime Time departed the St. Augustine Municipal Marina (Mile Marker 778) shortly after noon. We had wanted to get offshore again and try to make it all the way down to Stuart, FL. Unfortunately, winds and sea state again kept us in the ICW. We cruised south past Marineland, Flagler Beach, Ormond by the Sea, Ormond Beach, and finally Daytona Beach. Another “no peaks…no valleys” day.

We called and reserved dockage at Caribbean Jack's Marina in Daytona Beach.  After Mark negotiated some very strong current, we side-tied Prime Time right in front of the pool and bar. This is a nice place…clean showers, laundry, but no internet access! While Jason did some laundry, Mark and I walked over to the bar to review the day. (Sometimes it sucks to be the Mate!) Two martinis later we returned to Prime Time…made a world-class salad…and went to bed. Jason never showed up for dinner. I’m sure that he was off to some private spot…draining his cell phone battery…chatting with Lisa. We left a place setting and the remaining salad out for him. Young love…