"Stuck" at San Simons, FL

 Saturday, July 1.

I knew that I didn't want to fly over the Everglades. Even though I've been mightily trusting my engine this flight - more than I've ever done before - I thought that might be tempting fate too much. I had an invite from Reb and Patti at Lake Clinch Airpark (52FL) in Frostproof, FL (what a wonderful name!) to visit them, so I told Dennis that I'd meet him on the central Florida coast in a day or two, whenever he finished rounding the tip of Florida and was heading north on the central part of the Florida coast. He decided that he didn't care that much about the Everglades and so we took a northeasterly route to the eastern shore.

The flight was really hazy again today; we've talked about maybe having to cut this flight short if it's smoke, but were assured by locals that it's normal June/early July haze. We needed to avoid Restricted areas and some Charlies, so we took a northeasterly route past Ocala, FL, then curved between two Restricteds, and than were able to head to the beach.

We got to the coast just north of St. Augustine, passing many housing developments and race tracks. We counted more than five race tracks; apparently the area is known for not only Thoroughbred racing, but also pacers and trotters.

As we neared the coast, I was flying flying above and among little puff clouds. Dennis, of course, was down on the deck.

Then we were at the coast, and after we passed the fully populated beaches, I dropped down to 700'. 

 The Intracoastal Waterway was pretty amazing. Of course, we've been following it off and on since Brownsville, TX.

We passed the causeway and then Jekyll Island (09J) en route to San Simons Island (KSSI) in Georgia.

We landed at San Simons, planning on having lunch, refueling, and heading on to Cape Fear Regional Jetport (KSUT) in North Carolina. This is the second airport where we've landed that has only full-service refueling. This one let us use a golf cart to get to and from the FBO. In this heat, it was very welcome.

We had barbeque for lunch - probably the best smoked brisket I've ever had. Apparently this place is known regionally as the best barbeque in the South: Southern Soul Barbeque. We got there at 11:00 a.m and the line outside was already long. Only four people at a time are allowed inside to order, and only 3 tables and about 10 seats at the bar. Most people ordered to go, or to eat outside. I was REALLY glad to be able to snag one of the indoor tables and have some air conditioning.

Then we called to Cape Fear to find out about nearby motels and a courtesy car. We had COMPLETELY forgotten that it is a holiday weekend!!! All reasonably priced hotels/motels/Air B&Bs were sold out, and we just didn't want to pay $400/night/room. So we found something reasonable on Expedia in Brunswick, which is on the mainland across from San Simons. 

We're staying at San Simons tonight and tomorrow will head for Cape Fear. - our first stop. We've already agreed that if we can't find a place on the coast tomorrow night, we'll go inland, where we assume more reasonably priced places will be available.

Our track for today:

Only 2.34 hours of flying time today. Knowing Dennis, we'll make up for it tomorrow.