Jax and Cooca Beach

We drove to Jacksonville, Just across the Georgia-Florida border to the Naval Air Station.

NAS Jax is on the West shore of the St John River that winds through this sprawling city.

We walked confidently into the housing office and gave our last name. The desk clerk said "We do not have a reservation for you sir!" I confidently pulled out my Doid and read her my confirmation number. She explained that was not their number since it started with the wrong three numbers! I asked if they had a room, to which she said no. She checked the Navy Lodge down the street - "no joy"!

Just when we thought we were looking at sleeping in the car (seriously, getting a hotel room), she stroked the keys for a while and said "I could put you in one of our cottages if you don't mind moving on Wednesday!" Of course, we jumped at it not really knowing much about it. As you can see from the photos below, the cottages are roomy and very nice!

The cottages are two bedroom units with a screened in sitting area. Modern and roomy, it was a wonderful solution to a sticky problem!

And, they sit adjacent to the base golf course!

The other bedroom has two twin beds. The master bedroom has a queen bed.

By the way, I called the toll free reservation number. Our reservation was at NAS Pensacola! I was able to cancel with no penalty!

We were just down the street from the base Catholic Chapel and attended daily mass. The Chaplain is a retired Philippino who we met last year. He actually remembered the two of us!  

The highlight of the week was a lunch with Harold "Butch" and Ginger Jonas downtown. This fountain is in Museum Circle where the restaurant is located.

We met Butch and Ginger at the River City Brewing Co. 

What a location! What a view!

RCBC is an upscale micro-brewery with a very unique menu

Butch and Bob served on the USS FDR in the early 60's and became reacquainted just last year.

About the most elegant key-lime pie ever! The lattice is Carmel candy and was very edible! And the pie was delicious!

This is the view we had out the window as we ate!

The restaurant is decorated in a nautical motif, complete with this carved figurehead 

When we left Jax, we headed south to Patrick Air Force Base just south of Cocoa Beach.

We decided to drive Highway A1A along the coast.

Highway A1A runs right along the coast much of the way between Jax and Cocoa Beach

Much of the way is dotted with some pretty big houses (or small mansions?)

And many, many hotels, condos, and the like!

Near Daytona, more commercial establishments are seen.

At Patrick AFB, we walked along a nice path paralleling the Banana River.

Patrick AFB started it's life as Banana  River Naval Air Station. The seaplane ramps are still in place. The river provided a protected place to land the large seaplanes.

After a brief two days at Patrick (just enough time for a round of golf!), we headed on to Tampa!