The morning of our trip to Amelia Island found us meeting mom, dad, Marj & Tom at Kwik Karry for a "goodbye" breakfast. Tom gave Lisa lots of instructions on "how" to travel with me. Lots of book reading, lots of bench sitting, a time to speak and a time to be quiet.
Lisa was down with it.
But then he thinks again, scratches his head & says, "But Val likes to party when she travels. She's OK til she gets to Perry." Ha ha ha, "She's fine til she crosses the county line." Sounds like a country song, doncha think? But, dude, I was in a hurry. No time for chatter.
This
was callin' my name.
-
We got a couple hours down the road, out to the interstate, pulled over for gas and Lisa began her shopping. Right there in the gas station, Lisa spotted a rare find -- lime lollipops. She bought them. All. In the car she immediately called her husband, "I know I'm not supposed to call unless it's important, but this is important! I found green lollipops!!"
-
We knew destiny was on our side.
-
4.5 hours later, we arrived at Fernandina Beach's "Seaside Beach," just a block away from our motel. I was roughing it & staying at a Day's Inn. It was a great location and the price was right. The smell, not so good.
Seaside Beach is at the end of Sadler Road. Cars are allowed on this beach in a limited area, so we drove right on out. Condos and beachhouses line the shore, there is adequate parking, no bathrooms, & is walking distance from Days Inn, Hampton Inn, & Amelia Inns & Suites, none of which have an ocean view. Sliders Bar & Grill is beachside with outdoor & indoor seating. We ate lunch here one day, but that will be another post.
It was an awesome view for dining.
We drove up along the shore on Fletchers Drive, until we came to the main beach, which is called exactly that, "Main Beach," corner of Atlantic and Fletchers. We spent another morning at this beach, sitting on the benches reading, walking the little boardwalk, & sitting along the surf in our beach chairs. There is a grill on this beach also, as well as a playground, mini-golf, restrooms, outdoor shower & ample parking. It was at this beach where I began rolling my jean cuffs, Huck Finn style, a defining moment of my life.-
-
--
-
This beach was more crowded than the other. There were umbrellas for rent, but not this early in the season. In this picture, the beach looks deserted, but by noon, it was fairly crowded.
-
W
-
-
-
Here's Lisa enjoying one of the gazebos along the mini boardwalk.
-
-
Seaside Amelia Inn is right on the beach and offers some rooms with an ocean view. Comfort Suites is about a block off this beach.
-
-During our evenings, we wandered down to the historic part of town overlooking the Amelia River. We took a river cruise, which will be another post, we watched the sunset & we watched the chartered fishing boats go in and out. Lisa wandered down close to see this big fish, but didn't find out what it was.
-
The rocking chair picture at the top of this post was taken at a restaurant overlooking this dock. That'll be in another post also. We sat in those chairs for an hour or two, it was fabulous.
--
Fernandina Beach was a hot shrimping community in the early 20th century & a few hardy shrimpers remain today. When I got up early enough to catch sunrise on the Atlantic, I saw many shrimpers winding down and heading home. Once a year, the island hosts the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival to celebrate the industry with live music, arts and crafts, and boatloads of fresh shrimp and seafood.
--
-
Along the river, you will also find a paper mill with it's typical spoiled egg smell. The locals call this "the smell of money."
-
The Amelia River is a muddy brown from the tannic acid of the trees, reminding me of the Mississippi when it reaches New Orleans, but smaller. Either that or Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory River. The water's fairly calm because of the jetty at the mouth of the Atlantic. It gets a bit choppy where the three rivers come together, racing for the Atlantic.
-
--
-
Pirate legacies are big around here. In the early 1700's, the pirates considered the Southeastern Atlantic Coast home, from Charleston down to Amelia Island. Personally, I think it was the lure of the Spanish Moss laden trees and gator-addled coves. What pirate could resist that? I was fascinated with pirates before pirate fascination was cool, so I was particularly thrilled when I saw Pippi Longstocking's house overlooking the Amelia River! My kids loved watching Pippi and, secretly, so did I. Look here -- it's Villa Villekulla! Remember - Pippi retired here when it looked like her father was lost at sea. But no! He was washed up on an island where he was made "Fat White Chief" by the natives. (my hero!)
-
-
--
This portion of Amelia Island is where you want to be for sunset. We even had a few dolphins entertaining us. There were no manatee, yet, apparently they migrate. Who knew?!
-
-
-
The historic part of town contains unique gift shops and restaurants, a horse & carriage touring company, and the old Railroad Station from 1853 -- the first cross state railroad. We did a little shopping, but mostly, we sat down by the river.
Forget shopping, I could not resist the call of the sunset. And I would tease it as it disappeared, pointing to my face, saying "Look, baby, this is the last thing you see tonight and the first thing you'll see in the morning!" Poor thing. Then I'd run across the island, crawl into bed, jump up at dawn and greet the sun over the atlantic!
-
-Watch the sunset at night and the sunrise in the morning. The only other place I remember accommodating this is Outer Banks, NC.
This, honey, is the place to relax.
No comments:
Post a Comment