It was a sunny day with temperatures in the 70's, but windy - 15 to 25 mph with gusts of 40! That's windy!!!! We stopped in historic downtown Fernandina Beach and chatted with a city employee about the area. We did some walking through part of the historical area and the buildings are amazing. Most of them were built in the late 1800's and currently they are thriving businesses and eateries. The architecture is beautiful.
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| They still have the swinging saloon doors in front of the regular doors! |
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| This was hanging outside of one of the shoppes and we thought it was "food for thought"! |
By then it was 10:00 and the Visitor's Center had opened -
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| This current building opened in 1899 and served as the railroad depot until the 1930's. The original depot was built between 1855 and 1881 at the city docks but was destroyed by the famous hurricane of 1898. |
Amelia Island is the only place in America where eight different flags have flown. It has a very colorful history!
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| Can you name all 8???? (The answer is at the end of this post!) |
So we drove right to the Main Parking Area of Fernandina Beach and began the "job" of shell hunting.
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| Crossing the boardwalk to the beach! |
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| Getting closer! |
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| Just about there! |
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| Oh my! It is so crowded today! |
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| The fishing pier near Fort Clinch! |
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| Wow, there is nobody in sight!!!! |
Cindy and John have been to this beach several times and she has found a special shell species - baby ears. We were on the beach "combing" for about 3 hours and I only found one baby ear. I think Cindy must have found all of them when she was here. She could have saved a few for me!
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| That is the inside of the baby ear and the other shell was a treasure to me. It is hard to tell, but it is rather large and almost looks plaid! |
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| There is a "twirl" on the front of the baby ear but it is hard to see on this picture. They are rather unique! |
It was so very windy on the beach and the sand was blowing, so by 2:00 we headed to the car and ate our lunch sitting inside away from the wind.
We thought we would head back to town to do some walking, but both of us were a bit tired (probably had something to do with all that wind) and decided to go back to the CG and relax til dinner. We did take a detour to see the oldest lighthouse in Florida!
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| Built in 1838, Amelia Island Light is the oldest existing lighthouse in the state of Florida! |
We plan to return to Amelia Island on Saturday to tour Fort Clinch and walk around the historic district checking out all the homes that remind us of Cape May in Delaware. Maybe we will even have more time to walk the beach.
Ken took a short nap while I worked on this blog. We took a 2 mile walk in the Park on the Palmetto Trail, starting near the CG and ending back at the CG. On the way to the trail we saw another gopher tortoise!
A beautiful well-maintained trail with "tons" of Palmetto Palms.
We also saw an interesting bird (does anyone know what it is?) and an owl nest with 2 babies.
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| Looking back to the owl nest! |
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| Ken got some good photos of the owls from fairly far away! |
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After dinner, we walked to the back of the CG again to see the sunset. Tonight Ken had his camera, but after a few shots, his battery was dead! This is what he got -
I talked to Marcia and Cindy earlier today to wish both of them the best - Marcia had eye surgery and Cindy had foot surgery. I had a conversation with Cindy this evening and the foot surgery was rather major. She has 3 separate incisions and some pins put in place as well as removing a bone, repairing a torn ligament, and lengthening her Achilles. Wow! She expects to have some pain when the numbness wears off!
The 8 flags - French, Spanish, British, Patriots of Amelia Island, Green Cross of Florida, Mexican Revolutionary, National Flag of the Confederacy and the United States.
I believe that is a Rufous-Sided Towhee. We have seen them up at Timothy Lake. They have a very unique call - gets your attention because it is so distinct.
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