After a week at Green Cove Springs, we’re getting reasonably familiar with the area. Green Cove Springs is an old resort town that built up around the impressive 3000-gallon-per-munite, crystal spring. A beautiful park now surrounds the spring, where it feeds an Olympic-size swimming pool.
As the Flagler Railroad extended on to the Florida Keys, Green Cove Springs began to lose it’s attraction and the area commenced  to move economically toward agriculture. We attended the Clay County Agricultural Fair on Seniors day and it was loads of fun. We saw Toby and Janyce there and had another nice visit with them too.

One highlight of the fair was the “Old Florida” exhibit, which consists of a reconstructed village, composed of old homes, barns, store, church, sawmill, smokehouse, blacksmith, all staffed by period-dressed, re-enactors. It’s situated on a sandy terrain, under a shady grove of Live Oaks and just takes you back to the days of the early settlers.
The pig races were a hilarious event where spectators could volunteer to choose a pig and serve as pig-rooter, during the course of the race. The race was called by a professional race-track announcer, supplying  colorful hog-commentary during each race. (Loads of laughs! I laughed until I cried, Terry)
Our Green cove Springs residence has been Whitey’s Fish Camp and Campground, located on Black Creek. www.whiteysfishcamp.com
It’s the best seafood restaurant in the area and people come by car and boat to patronize the place. Whitey’s has a large restaurant with inside dining and a large outdoor dining area that extends out on Black Creek, with piers and docks for boaters. They have daily specials, with music on weekends. The place reminds me of some south-Louisiana establishments, where the families come and bring all the kids, for dining and dancing. Black Creek converges with St. Johns River about 40 miles south of Jacksonville, so it is accessible to the Atlantic by boat.
Speaking of boats, we’re still looking for the boat that’s just right for us. We’ve followed the Atlantic Intracostal Waterway from Fort Lauderdale, watching other cruisers pass us by. We will keep moving north looking for “our boat”!