I eventually found quite a bit of good in Jacksonville. But it is all spread out similar to Los Angeles. Not a compact walking city by any means. A car is mandatory. I had a great grilled shrimp lunch with hush puppies in the Mayport neighborhood.
A beautiful seaside park in Memorial Park in Riverside.
And a vibrant market on the opposite end of Riverside.
And I do need to give proper credit to the Jacksonville Toyota dealer, Coggin Toyota. First dealer I have found that didn’t have a 10 day back-log in work. Booked an appointment, took me in early, did all the routine maintenance, and got me out early, with a great waiting area in the mean time. Kudus!
Also in Riverside, a great PR campaign in support of vaccinations.
I have come to the conclusion that while I do need to learn to stop, stopping and having no community is problematic. I’m wearing down. If it wasn’t January/February in Maine, I’d head back now. I’ve got Janelle on my mind, and am struggling a bit. I went by a fresh fruit stand today and burst out in tears remember how much she loved the fresh grapefruit juice we got the last time we were in Florida. And the vintage John Prine album I bought and was so looking forward to did nothing but remind me of Janelle. Classes start on Tuesday – either that changes things, or I need to get back on the road. To Bangor, or to the SouthEast?
I stopped into a used CD/Vinyl shop in Daytona Beach. Picked out a couple of CD’s and went to check out. The, apparently, owner looked at what I picked and looked me up and down. He mentioned that he had just bought a lot of CD’s but hadn’t yet sorted them – asked if I would be interested in looking at them. At which point he showed me into a backroom with 15,000 CD’s in no order. Three hours later I left with ten great finds.
Moved on the Melbourne for the night. The Cuban dinner I had restored at least a portion of my psyche. Roast pork, congri (black beans and rice with bacon), yucca, and an onion sauce. Topped of with a cafecito, half espresso and half hot sugar syrup. Ready for a new day!
Glad I chose to wait for Cuban and didn’t stop at Loyd’s
The Journey 
May be biased here… but come HOME! We miss you 😭… and I mean that with the most love. Take your time and do what you need to do… but we DO miss you. An awful lot ❤
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lol, I wouldn’t have been able to pass up a restaurant with that name.
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