I’m still being a wuss about kayaking in alligator infested waters by myself, so I joined a Meet Up group (one of many) but this one is for kayaking. I hadn’t been in my boat since last February, so I wasn’t sure if I could keep up with everyone or not. We met on the coast, about 90 minutes from my house near Daytona. It’s a city park, but there are five lakes there you can paddle with tiny little canals in between. There were only two others that signed up, an older guy who led us in a cool Old Town canoe that was loaded with stickers from all his adventures, & another woman probably a little younger than me with a $2,000 kayak. And then there was me in my tiny sit on cheap but good for me kayak. And off we went.
We stopped 1/2 way through to dock our boats, & tour a small Nature museum next to one of the lakes. I was super grateful for this stop as it had water (I’d drank all of mine), a bathroom (always good) & just a place to get out. My sciatica was killing me, but the stretch outside the boat did the trick to calm it down.
It was a nice segway into the group & back into my kayak. There boats took much longer to load since they carried them on top of their vehicles, but they were both local so didn’t have far to go.
I said thanks & bye, & moved by 4Runner to the other side of the park into the shade.
They had some hiking trails to all the different lakes, so I got out & stretched my legs & took a hike.
There’s an area below one of the small bridges over the water, where the local turtles have gotten used to being fed (not sure I like this idea), so when they hear footfalls on the bridge, they all pop to the surface. All they got from me, was their picture taken.
This one had a pretty neat looking shell.
I drove south down Highway 1. I’ve been this way several times, but the views of the water never get old.
Had a late lunch at Yellow Dog Eats in New Smyrna. Their other location, outside of Orlando, is one of my fave places to eat near home. This location, was the first one I ever tried several years ago, before we even thought we’d be moving to this state. As always, it was delicious!
I’ve been to the south side of Cape Canaveral National Seashore quite a bit; it’s where my fave beaches are in the Titusville area, but I’ve never been to the north end. You can’t drive from one to the other, but have to come back to the highway to get from one to the other. It’s about an hours drive. So, I wanted to see the north end which is only 6 miles long. Really pretty beaches too!
The day had been good. It did feel like I did a whole lot of driving for some reason. I was glad to be back in my kayak, but not sure I’ll come this far again with the group. Yet to be determined.