Jacksonville Beach for Easter and waiting out winds at Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida

On Saturday, April 4, we left Saint Augustine for Jacksonville Beach.  It was fun to view Saint Augustine from the water especially  going  under the Lions Bridge and seeing Castillo de San Marcos! Along the way to Jacksonville Beach we again passed amazing large home on the water. We passed through Vilano Beach , Nocatee, Palm Valley and Ponte Vedra before arriving at Palm Cove Marina in the town of Jacksonville Beach. We actually got some pool time in since the marina had one. Later we had dinner at the restaurant at the marina called Marker 32.  We had great talks with the bartender, Donny, as well as meeting new people Milton, Frazer, Maddie and Bella.  On Easter Sunday, we took an uber to nearby Bethlehem Lutheran church. We really enjoyed the Pastor's message, the formal service, communion, and the talented musicians that led worship. 

On Monday, April 6 we moved north for our last stop in Florida, Fernandina Beach which is located on Amelia Island. We made it just in time before high winds that would last through Thursday started. We had lunch at Scully's Irish Pub which had delicious Shepherd's Pie! On Tuesday, we explored much of downtown (while dodging rain and wind), including many  historic sights scattered through the town, and the Amelia Island Museum of History.  Amelia Island, since the 1500s, was governed by 8 different countries (see below the "8 Flags of Amelia Island"). It also was home to  Florida's first Atlantic to Gulf Railroad in 1853.  That day we enjoyed the many restaurants, stopping at The Salty Pelican, The Patio at 5th and Ash, Ash Street Cigar Parlor, Akari Sushi, The Decantery, and finally enjoyed live music at Palace Saloon which  claims to be Florida's Oldest Bar (1903). 

Wednesday we walked to the beach on the other side of the island. It's a narrow island, only 2 miles wide. This proved to be the windiest day of the 4 days as seen in the surf photo below. On the way back we stopped at Vintage Donut for a "custom" donut, starting with a cake donut and you decide what frosting and toppings you want.  Later, Kent and Erika from the boat Stanger, sent out a message to the loopers in the area to get together for "dock tails". We met at PJDs bar since we all wanted to escape the high winds at the Marina. Tim and I afterward went back to Scully's Irish Pub for dinner. While there, Joanna, from the boat Boundless, called and said winds were worse so we should probably get back and add more fenders.  She was right as our swim platform with dinghy was dipping down under the rolling waves and we were concerned it would lift out twist and eventually hit the dock. With the help of others we were able to adjust lines and fenders to keep the boat safe. I included some photos below of the winds and the boat which shows the swim platform dipping pretty low. It didn't help that we were on the outermost dock. On Thursday, we took another morning walk but this time to the Old Town Fernandina Beach area. It's on the northern end of the island and has Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park and it also has the victorian house used in the 1988 movie Pippi Longstocking, a children's book many of us read back in the day. Tim completely missed it even though he walked right in front of it. He's not a big Pippy fan. (See green Victorian house below.)  Later I perused the many shops downtown and we had dinner at The Patio on 5th and Ash. It was finally sunny so we saw the sunset unobstructed by clouds back on the boat. Although Fernandina Beach was a great place to ride out the wind, we were ready to head to Georgia to  Saint Simons Island to see our longtime friends, Sarah and Terry, on Friday. That will be the subject of the next blog!