Jacksonville Fl - It's Saturday and I had not a single plan for the weekend, so I set out for a look at Mayport - a small fishing village about 20 minutes from JAX.  I'd been noticing restaurants that feature local products reference Mayport as their source for shrimp. I'm a big fan of Wild American Shrimp, and always pick it up fresh from the docks on Shem Creek back home in Mount Pleasant, near Charleston SC.

As I neared my destination, suburbs gave way to salt myrtles and sand pines along a road which eventually connected with Florida coastal highway A1A. I was surprised to find Mayport wonderfully undeveloped, with not a traffic light in sight, and all streets leading to the shoreline.

The town is anchored by a major US navy base on one end, and the St. Johns River Ferry to Fort George Island on the other. The Old St. Johns River Light, decommissioned but still a beauty, guards the mouth of the waterway.

I ended my tour of Mayport with a site visit at Singleton's Seafood Shack after being assured that of the town's two restaurants, this was where the locals mainly dine. While I waited for dinner - the daily catch was triggerfish, which was delicious blackened - I toured a rustic "museum" of hand-carved boats housed in a space off the dining room.