Fort Caroline

Entrance to Fort Caroline

Yesterday I drove from the capitol city of Florida to Jacksonville in northeast Florida. I could have taken the interstate but chose to take I 90 instead. A slower drive through small towns seemed like a better option. After all, I am retired and in no hurry anymore. I drove into town and eventually found my tiny house airbnb. This tiny house has a kitchen with a tiny fridge, a microwave, a giant television, a table that folds down against the wall, a kitchen sink with a small cupboard. a small shower, a composting toilet, and a full sized bed. I think it is comfortable and large enough. The strange thing is the kitchen windows have only short curtains. There is a long curtain that separates the kitchen from the bathroom and the bedroom so when I want privacy, I close that. The tiny house is parked in a yard at the end of a road near a creek. Chickens and goats walk around the yard. Today I left my tiny house and drove to Fort Caroline. Fort Caroline is part of the park system called Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. I walked to the visitor center at Fort Caroline. At the dock near Saint John's river dolphins were spotted this morning. I walked down there but did not see any dolphins. I took the mile long nature walk and that was interesting. The Spanish Moss here is plentiful. Sometimes the moss hangs over the path and touches me on the head. After that hike I crossed the road and entered the Teddy Roosevelt area of the preserve and hiked the two mile Spanish pond trail. After hiking for more than what seemed like a mile I came to the salt marsh and the end of the path. I walked past the place where the Brown cottage stood. A man named Willie Browne grew up in this cottage. He grew up here. At the end of his life he was offered millions of dollars for his property. Worried that Jacksonville would become a concrete jungle, he donated his property so that future generations would have a place in the woods to go to. Willie was a big fan of Theodore Roosevelt so he asked that the area be named after his favorite president. I am glad I chose to explore this area of Jacksonville today.