We went on another nature adventure recently, this time at Fort Caroline National Memorial, which happens to be minutes from our house and offers trails, the river, a museum and a fort to explore.  We often go on woods adventures, but this time we played, discovered and explored more than we usually do.  We stopped often, climbed trees, made walking sticks, tried new things and spent hours on the trail.  After that fella of ours comes home again from being out to sea, we are ready for more.

We also recently ended up one afternoon at Marsh Fest, a local festival held at one of our favorite fishing spots, Dutton Island.  It was family and dog-friendly, easy and mellow, and offered live music and booths set up with folks telling us about local hiking spots, community gardens, natural resource protection, and nature museums we want to check out.  We also got to go on a free guided canoe/kayak tour (and someone from the staff even dog-sat for us so we could) out on the salt marsh.  In this foreign land of Jacksonville, Florida, I felt, for perhaps the first time, like I “fit” in this gathering of outdoors lovers celebrating nature and local community.  I hope we have opportunities to get more involved with that group of people and continue to connect with other like-minded folk.