We stayed at an RV park, for two weeks, near the entrance to the Jacksonville harbor. This was a nice break from all our travels before heading down to the Keys. The best part, besides the wonderful weather, was the daily ship traffic we got to watch coming in and out of the harbor. The Mayport Naval Air Station is right at the entrance so we got to see many Navy ships as well. Here's some of them:

One of these was at Ro-Ro Ship. (Ro-ro is an acronym for Roll-on/roll-off. Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels that are used to carry wheeled cargo. The ro-ro ship is different from lo-lo (lift on-lift off) ship that uses a crane to load the cargo. The vehicles in the ship are loaded and unloaded by means of built-in ramps. Normally these ramps are made towards the stern (backside) of the ship. In some ships, they are also found on the bow side (front) as well as the sides. The vessel can be of both military and civilian types.)

We also saw two submarines come in, one was a smaller Canadian and one USA sub.
The best arrival was a military hospital ship with its entire crew lined up on the deck. You'll be able to see the harbor master guiding the ship to dock, the captain of the ship and crew members. As soon as the order was given to relax (or whatever the Navy calls it), most of them pulled out their cell phones to call loved ones waiting on the dock

Then,,,some local photos...


Wonderful visit.....it was great to get up every morning and watch for any new ships going in and out.