Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the beach!  Some of my fondest childhood memories are of visits to Florida's beaches and islands.  Just now, I've been pondering which ones were my favorites, so that I could name them in this blog, but honestly, the more I thought about it, the more "favorites" I came up with!  I can't even decide which coast is my favorite -- the Gulf Coast, with its sugar-sand beaches and calm, warm waters, or the Atlantic Coast, with its wild dunes (where development hasn't flattened them) and pounding surf.  

So when we were booked into Jacksonville's Riverside Arts Market and Greg suggested that we base ourselves for a week at Jacksonville's Hanna Park, directly on Atlantic Beach, I did not hesitate in saying yes!  We've stayed here at Hanna Park a couple of other times, and appreciate the peaceful, natural surroundings.  Thick tree cover helps to keep us cool during the day and provides something of a buffer between us and our neighbors.  Off in the distance we hear the roar, not of traffic, but of the ocean.  Sometimes, gazing into a thicket of oak and palmetto, I think this must be Paradise.

           
Our campsite ... view from one of the hiking trails ... the beach at low tide ... the dunes (the sign reads, "No Dune Access Stay Out")

         
View toward the US Naval Base, just north of us, at Mayport ... two beach bums ... view toward Neptune Beach, just south of us

   
After our morning walk on the beach, we visited Singleton's in Mayport, ordering a seafood sampler for two -- hah! -- my camera's lens did not have a wide enough angle to capture all of the food we were served.  (By the way, the green stuff in the little cup at left is collard greens -- yum, yum!)