Titusville to New Smyrna Beach, to Palm Coast, to St.Augustine

May 15, 2026

On Wednesday, we left Titusville and motored 32 miles to New Smyrna Beach. What a great little artsy town. It is briming with local eateries, galleries, museums, and one-of -a-kind boutiques. We walked the town, went to the historical museum which had a surfing section, which Don loved, of course. We ate dinner at the restaurant closet to the marina because we were in the midst of an East Coast Thunder and Lightning storm. Can you say wet?

Needless to say, the Space Center liftoff was scrubbed again - postponed until Friday.

Thursday, we motored 45 miles to Palm Coast and docked at the Palm Coast Marina. Along the way we saw lots of dolphins and manatees and crazy unqualified Floridian boat captains.

Historically, in the late 1950's most of the land that would become Palm Coast consisted of swamp and pine forest. It was developed in 1969 and was incorporated in 1999. It is definitely a retirement, condo, mall type of city - with no locals - all transplants. But very clean and new!

Today, we motored just a few miles to St. Augustine. Along the way we felt like were in the "low country" - this is a common term reflecting the Sea Islands of South Carolina. Don got his first whiff of pluff mud - which brings him back to his childhood, but I am not fond of the smell.

St. Augustine, founded in 1565 by Spanish settlers, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the US. Its nickname is "Ancient City."

It is a beautiful old city, and the Flager University site and buildings are amazing as are some of the old churches and the Lightner Museum. Since we were in St. Augustine before we started our loop in 2024, we did not do all of the sightseeing, rather opted for another Key Lime Martini at Nero's Waterfront Cafe and Tini, Martini and Wine Bar.

Of course, after that, Don had to check out a "Sailor's Exchange" store - I walked back to the boat and am writing this page.

Don's walk was to the "other side of the tracks" - the Florida East Coast Railroad. He went through the outskirts of St. Augustine into deep south territory and discovered a neighborhood that had local eateries, distilleries and breweries. The exchange was down a country road, in what was probably an old factory. Thousands of parts, but there was a small boat for sale, which was the exact model of his first boat, circa 1964. While he had it in his pocket, he resisted the urge to plop down the $100 to take it home. Thank goodness.

The rocket launch was at 6:05 pm tonight and we saw a "wee" bit of it. Looked like a contrail to me, but we are 110 miles north of launch.

On another, amazing and yet poignant note, we will finish our loop tomorrow by returning to Jacksonville. It is humbling and exciting that we reached our goal for this once in a lifetime adventure.

Thanks to those that shared the ride with us whether physically or reading the blog.

You're the BEST.