Amelia Island
Day 1.
The lion's share of Day One was spent on the drive to Amelia Island. It's not really that far, Google Maps puts it at a two-hour drive. We didn't leave the house until about 11:45 and stopped for lunch. So, we didn't get there until about 3 p.m., which was just fine because check-in for our vacation rental was at 3.
After taking a break, we surveyed what was and wasn't in the house and made a trip to the grocery store. I had brought much of what we were going to need but there were still a few things that we needed to pick up.
The house we stayed in was cute. It turns out it was a very well-rebuilt mobile home, but you would never have guessed by just walking in. One of the weird things was the floorplan. As soon as you walk in the front door you are facing a small wall. On either side of the wall were two living rooms, each complete with its own television and seating. The room to the right had a full-size ping-pong table that one could fold out and the room on the left was closer to the kitchen and as we found out the morning we were leaving, the La-Z-Boy chair was one of those medical assist chairs. Good thing Rick didn't know that sooner or he would have been playing with it every day.
While the house was comfortable, there were a few drawbacks. The only curtains were on the two living room windows. Those windows in themselves were kinda odd. They consisted of several plastic bubbles that jutted a little out from the wall. None of the three bedrooms had curtains or shades. They had blinds, but that is not enough to keep the light out. The two bedrooms on one side of the house were right next to a very large and very noisy air conditioning system, which would run for a while, then, with a loud pop, shut down for about two minutes, then fire back up.
The neighborhood was nice and quiet and we were in a real easy walk to CVS.
Day 2
Beach Day!!! Day Two started and ended at the beach.
In many ways every beach is the same in that it has sand and water. However, every beach also has its own unique personality and things that make it special. One of the cool things about the beaches on Amelia Island is that you can drive your vehicles onto the beach. We had brought the wagon but never ended up needing it.
We did the beach thing for a while, hunted for cool shells, waded in the water, played in the waves and just simply enjoyed the sun.
After going back to the house, showering and taking a break we headed over to the historic downtown. One thing that is kinda cool about Amelia Island is that it is also known as is known as the "Isle of Eight Flags." It is the only place in the United States to have had eight different flags to fly.
The first was France, when explorer Jean Ribault arrived in 1562 and claimed the area for the French Huguenots. Their presence was short-lived, as Spain soon defeated the French and took control in 1565, marking the beginning of the First Spanish Period. Spain held the territory for nearly two centuries, until the Treaty of Paris in 1763 transferred Florida to Great Britain following the Seven Years’ War in exchange for Havana.
After the American Revolution, the 1783 Treaty of Paris returned Florida to Spain.
In 1812, a group of American-backed insurgents known as the Patriots seized Amelia Island and briefly raised their own flag before U.S. forces took over, only to later withdraw and return it to Spain.
In 1817, the island was taken again by Scottish adventurer Gregor MacGregor, who declared it independent under the flag of the Green Cross of Florida. He soon left, and pirate Louis Aury took over, raising the flag of Revolutionary Mexico. That same year, U.S. forces removed Aury, and the island was eventually ceded to the United States as part of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821.
Since then, Amelia Island has remained under the American flag. Its layered and tumultuous past is a source of local pride and is celebrated today in cultural events such as the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival, which honors the island's rich and varied heritage.
Having been founded in 1565, St. Augustine, Florida, is said to be the oldest continuously occupied city in the United States. The Amelia Island settlement predates them by a few years. However, there were brief periods when the area was uninhabited. They also sport the oldest bar in Florida.
After wandering about the downtown for a while, we set out to find Pippi Longstocking's house. We found it on a corner lot across the street from the one-block open space where Fort San Carlos once stood.
Fort San Carlos was constructed by the Spanish in 1816 during their second period of rule over Florida. The fort played a notable role in 1817 when Scottish adventurer Gregor MacGregor captured it during his brief attempt to establish the Republic of the Floridas, raising the Green Cross of Florida flag over the fort . Later that year, the U.S. Navy took control of the fort. Following the 1821 transfer of Florida from Spain to the United States, Fort San Carlos was abandoned.
We ended the day by taking one more short trip to watch the sunset on the beach before going back to the cottage to cook up some fajitas with fresh peppers I had brought from the garden at home, and watching Pippi Longstocking. I used to love that show -- Pippi was my hero!
Day 3
We headed over to Fort Clinch State Park to learn a little about the history of the island. Fort Clinch served as a military outpost for three US engagements. The first fortifications on the site began in 1736. Following the War of 1812, the desire to protect the country from other nations in times of conflict grew. The Third System Fortifications entailed a series of forts built along the coastline of the United States.
Construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847, with visions of a triumph of masonry and stone built mostly by civilians and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect the coast of southern Georgia. However, by the outbreak of the Civil War, only about two-thirds of the fort had been completed and cannons had yet to be mounted on the walls.
At the start of the Civil War, the fort was under Confederate control, which established fortifications and batteries on Amelia Island and the surrounding area. As the Union started to gain control of coastal and southern Georgia, General Robert E. Lee gave the order to evacuate, and Union troops arrived in March, 1862. We spent about an hour and a half at Fort Clinch, but we also really took our time.
One thing I found really interesting was a little history about the American Flag. We noticed that the flag flying over the fort had the 13 stripes, but the stars were arranged in the shape of a star. We learned that it wasn't until 1912 that the flag code said the stars were to be lined up. Prior to that, they could be arranged any old way. At Fort Clinch, they were in the shape of a star.
We also found the water conservation methods they developed at the fort very interesting. Walking through the fort visitors can tour five bastions, guard rooms, a prison, barracks, a bakery a blacksmith room, storehouses, hospital, kitchen, lumber sheds and galleries.
The rooms depict the site as the First New Your Volunteer Engineers would have had it in 1864.
The rampart and gun deck are accessible by stairs or a ramp. The gun deck looks over the Cumberland Sound at the mouth of the St. Mary's River, the Atlantic Ocean and Fort Clinch State Park.
After the Fort, we headed back to the house to wait for a storm to pass, then headed back downtown for dinner. The day before we had seen a place that looked pretty good and looks were not deceiving. We had dinner at The Patio, 416 Ash St., Fernandina Beach.
This place is definitely worth a stop. We had the crab cake and the mussels appetizers and they were phenomenal. Rick had the Summer Vacation drink and I ended up with two chocolate martinis that were among the best I've ever had.
The highlight, however, was the key lime pie. I am always in search of the best key lime pie and until we ate at The Patio, a little place in Punta Gorda held the record. I would go back to Amelia Island just for their key lime pie!
Day 4.
Time to check out. Check out was pretty easy, we did laundry the night before. All we had to do was take out the trash, leave the sheets and towels in a pile next to the washer and basically clean up after ourselves. Packing didn't take long and we were out by the 11 a.m. check out.
Before heading home, we went south a little to see the daughter of a friend. On our way to Jacksonville, we stopped at Florida's Boneyard Beach. We drove right past it the first time cause there wasn't a sign, but soon after driving over the Nassau Sound Bridge, there's a sign for the Big Talbot State Park, that's where you want to turn left and go to the beach, but I wouldn't bother. First off, it's about a quarter mile walk to the "beach." There really is no sand, it's all this black rock - basically sun-baked mud right up to the shoreline. Lots of oyster shells but nothing fun about this place at all.
After a rather interesting visit with our friend, we headed home.
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