St. John’s River - JAX to Palatka








Palatka Ravine State Park
State Park in Palatka
State park in Palatka

Welaka city dock - free dock on St. John’s River
                                    Jacksonville, Florida
                                Jacksonville city sky line
                                  Jacksonville, Florida 
                Metropolitan city dock in Jacksonville - free
                    Jacksonville Metropolitan city dock - free
 We started our journey down the St. John’s River in Jacksonville, Florida.  We stayed at the metropolitan park for 2 nights - floating docks, water, power, pump out -for free!  This is right next to the stadium and park; no showers but public bathrooms.  A few homeless guys were in the park, but they were no bother - just stayed to themselves.  However, they’re getting ready to tear it all down and rebuild. There really wasn’t anywhere to go but to Intuition Brewery, so that’s where we walked to. 

After Jacksonville, we headed to the iconic Whitey’s Fish Camp. Supposedly, if you had dinner there, you could stay at the docks for free. However, they charged us $20 for power, water, laundry and showers; that’s a great price, but the showers were the worst I’ve used. Actually, thinking back, I’m surprised I used them!  I must have been real stinky!

After Whitey’s, we headed to Boathouse Marina in Palatka. $1/ft/night - showers, electric, water, laundry, walking distance to town and super, friendly people! 

Palatka was a nice walkable town with restaurants, shops, breweries, etc. while there, we visiites Ravine Gardens State Park; great walking trails, lots of small creeks but the maps were a bit confusing. It was nice and I’m sure when the azaleas are blooming, it’s gorgeous!

We were hoping to go to Corky Bells Restaurant. Some loopers had organized a dinner and we wanted to meet them. However,  I had a head cold and didn’t want to make anyone sick so we stayed back.  We’ve heard they have delicious food and a great atmosphere!  

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