So many people have messaged me and asked about our experiences of traveling during the Corona Virus outbreak that I thought I’d just share our experience here. When we flew to Florida on March 14th we had no idea how much our country’s health landscape would change.
Sunday, March 15 | Our first day in Jacksonville, Florida started with brunch at Maple Street Biscuit Company, which was delicious, and should be on your itinerary if you are going to Jacksonville. We noticed the restaurant wasn’t quite as busy as our visit the year before, but not empty by any means. It was business as usual and a relaxing environment.
After brunch, we headed to Mickler’s Landing beachfront for the day. It was a busy day on the beach, people everywhere — but everyone seemed to be keeping their social distance.
Monday, March 16 | A quick trip to Costco at the opening was a bit staggering starting with a line to get into the store, so many carts with toilet paper and paper towels and a sense of urgency among the shoppers. I could feel my anxiety rising – not for any specific reason, we had enough toilet paper, and there was definitely enough food for everyone. It just felt a little surreal and edgy.
One of our regular stops, when we visit Jacksonville, is Chamblin Book Mine which has two store locations and two warehouses for the combined square footage of nearly 60,000 square feet! The store we visited has 23,000 square feet of floor to ceiling books, arranged by category There are several rooms, rows, and literally a maze of books. I bought two books on crocheting. There were only a few people in the store so social distancing wasn’t a problem. We lathered on the hand-sanitizer back at the car.
Tuesday, March 17 | St. Patrick’s Day! St. Augustine on this trip was much quieter. We’ve been here several times and have never seen the streets look so empty! Typically it is difficult to maneuver through the crowds on the historic streets in the shopping area. The area around Flagler College was a ghost town. The Lightner Museum and shops there were all closed.
Lunch at Burrito Works Taco Shop did not disappoint. We all ordered their world-famous Mexican UFO taco. I’m looking forward to another one next time we visit! Normally this place would have a line out the door. Restaurants had been ordered to limit seating to 50% capacity and we were the only people in the small shop.
Later we met friends at the Conch House in St. Augustine for a beverage. When we arrived were told they were closing at 4:30 pm due to a state-ordered mandate that all bars close at that time. Things were really starting to feel weird. We enjoyed a nice visit and watching a couple of dolphins swimming around us.
Wednesday, March 18 |Mickler’s Landing in Ponte Vedra Beach was the sunshine and beach walking I needed re-center and relax.
Thursday, March 19 | A visit to Amelia Island, a tourist location was a little sobering looking more like a ghost town. We went into a couple of antique shops and used hand-sanitizer constantly.
We picked up a quick lunch of sub sandwiches from a busy Publix grocery store. Fernandino Beach was pretty quiet. Florida hadn’t issued a shelter in place and there really wasn’t anyone around us, or in town for that matter, so we kept washing our hands, using sanitizer, Chlorex wipes and maintained a social distance.
We were 3 people among about 20 people on Boneyard Beach at Big Talbot Island State Park on Amelia Island. It was beautiful, serene and quiet. Social distancing was pretty easy here!
Friday, March 20 | Our planned last day in Jacksonville was enjoyed on the beach followed by carry-out pizza from Mellow Mushroom. Then we were alerted that our flight to Rochester (through Chicago) had been canceled! The good news was we were booked on a later flight on the same day.
Saturday, March 20 | We arrive at the airport. More delays, connections couldn’t be arranged, flights canceled. After numerous re-bookings, we called Nate to pick us up. We’d try again on Sunday.
Note on the airport | People were scarce. It was nice to be able to walk right up to security with no wait, but it was strange too. We kept our distance, washed our hands often. Wiped down our seats with Chlorox wipes. Used hand-sanitizer.
Nate picked us up, we grabbed sandwiches at Chick-fil-A and dined in Memorial Park in Jacksonville. We did a quick drive around the city exploring some beautiful neighborhoods. Back at Nate’s we played a game of marbles and enjoyed another evening with our boy.
Sunday, March 20 | Another flight canceled. We rent a car and are on the road by 12:30 pm heading to Cincinnati with a 12-hour drive in front of us.
The roads were busy through Georgia. Then traffic thinned considerably. We were able to easily get fuel (using a paper towel to pump) and fast food was available using the drive-through. One gas station had closed their restrooms so we used the Target across the street.
I’ll share how the remainder of our trip progressed in the next post. Until then, wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face, stay home, stay safe! (we don’t recommend traveling!)
