We had several things on our agenda to see today, so we tried to get started a little earlier than normal. Leaving our camper at Little Talbot Island State Park, we headed north on A1A to Amelia Island. There's plenty of things to see and do on Amelia Island besides the beaches at Fernandina Beach.
Kitty took this picture out of the window as we crossed over a bridge at the southern tip of Amelia Island.
Our first stop is at a National Treasure, Fort Clinch located in Fernandina Beach. Here's a few brief snippets of information about this fort I think you'll find very interesting.
Construction on this fort began in 1847 and by 1860, only two bastions and one-third of the brick wall was completed. The work could only be done in the winter months because of the heat and mosquitos in the summer and the dreaded spread of fever by mosquitos. The fort was used during the civil war. It was used again in 1898 in the Spanish American War, and also in WWII. However, the fort was never fully completed! Despite being occupied by both Confederate troops and Union troops during the Civil War, no battles ever took place at this fort. Each side left the fort before it could be captured. Fort Clinch was sold to private interests in 1926, and then purchased by the State of Florida in 1935. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began restoring the fort in 1936, and helped make the property into one of Florida's first state parks. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been restored to the way it looked in 1864.
This is the tree canopied road leading to Fort Clinch
After leaving the visitors center, we followed the path leading to this entrance to Fort Clinch.
This is a shot of the fort looking towards the Atlantic Ocean.
As we entered the fort, we were greeted by the American flag.
One of the first few buildings to be complete was the fort jail. They were serious about their jails back then! Kitty is trying to peek into the solitary confinement cell, and...
she saw these ball and chains and various types of shackles!
Kitty and I are standing in front of some of the artillery aimed towards the Ocean.
This is the fort laundry area.
Every fort must have one of these!
This is a view from Fort Clinch looking at the mouth of the St. Mary's River as it protected the natural deep water port of Fernandina.
Our next stop is just a short hop from Fort Clinch. We love light houses, and the Amelia Island light house is still in operation. Thus, tours are only available by reservation. So, we did not tour the light house, but we did get some pictures of it through the trees.
We drove into town and found a nice restaurant right on the ocean. We had a very nice lunch and a wonderful view from the second story balcony of Sliders Restaurant.
Ok! Enough of all this stuff, it's time to hit the beach!! We drove back into fort Clinch State Park and spent the rest of the day enjoying this beautiful beach. Here's a taste of what we saw.
Looking South along the shore line.
The fishing pier at fort Clinch State Park.
A flock of gulls with the fishing pier in the background.
This is a herring Gull.
These are Royal Terns.
This laughing gull is resting on one leg and keeping an eye on those waves.
We walked over a mile up the beach to get a shot of Fort Clinch as it sits on the mouth of the St. Mary's River.
This shot taken from the base of the fishing pier of a ship leaving Port Fernandina.
Whew! All that beach walking and shell collecting wore us out. So, we headed back to Little Talbot Island and got ready to eat at the Sand Dollar restaurant in Jacksonville. We topped off this wonderful day with a nice meal and then got ready to depart for Cape Canaveral in the morning. Stay tuned!
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