We continued our cruise north from Daytona – sighting a rare Bald Eagle at water’s edge, many dolphins and the other usual suspects of Florida’s nature scene. We thoroughly enjoyed gliding up the coast in total relaxation, with St. Augustine as our target to park at the City Marina for Easter Sunday.

Celebrating the seasons and holidays is equal parts challenging and exciting to figure out.  Here we are decorating eggs on the boat in St. Augustine. We think about what is important in celebrating the holiday and made it happen: prayer, family, friends, colored eggs and chocolate, of course! 

Easter Sunday morning we found the St. Augustine Episcopal Church, which is within walking distance to the City Marina.  The people there were so friendly, and reminded us of our favorite little church, St. Columba’s, in Middletown, RI.  They even had an Easter-egg hunt and invited the kids to join!  The service and choir were memorable and we were grateful to the parishioners there for making us feel so welcome.

Our friends from Gainesville  joined us for lunch and then we took their small boat on a short cruise to a nearby beach for a stroll and hunting for lost treasure . The kids get along beautifully and was a nice Easter day treat for us – a quiet day spent with quality friends. The remainder of the day was spent doing laundry and getting organized for our final journey to Jacksonville the following morning.

Sophia and Oliver organized a little impromptu farewell, by saying a small prayer of thankfulness for the Cortado and all our adventures this year!  They tossed a flower that was given to us by a stranger in St. Augustine. Some of our most valued memories during our travels are often also the most quiet.

When we arrived in Jacksonville, it was the greatest possible luck for us that Brooks and the kids were available to have dinner with us! We had been working all day on the boat without a break (ie: sweaty, yuk!), but to share a cold beer with our friends was wonderful. We love the kids and it is always a highlight to see them.  Funny, how relationships are. These four kids have a special bond in our Huckins.