4-9-17 Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island

4-9-16 Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island

We picked up a mooring ball. No worries about the extreme tides with a mooring ball. We took our bikes into town and rode out to the beach. It was beautiful. We strolled the beach for quite a while just enjoying the sounds sights and smells. Of course, if I am on a beach I am looking for unique shells. Not any shell will do. We also heard there are sharks teeth on the beaches here, but didn’t find any signs of them either. The walk was satisfying enough.

Nature’s Artwork: Created by: Sand and water.

It turned out to be a warmer day than we thought, By the time we rode our bike into the quaint little town of Fernandina Beach we were thirst. We locked up the bikes and strolled the town and came across the oldest bar in Florida. Oh ya we had to go in. The bar was made of massive wood pieces and in wonderful shape. The back drop for the bar had the huge mirrors and ornately carved figurines. They allowed smoking which I despise but toughed it out it was such a neat place. As we sat at the bar we heard harmonica music. I looked around and there was an elderly gentleman playing away. I went over to him to ask if I could take his picture, which he graciously allowed and posed for. He was selling Cajun boiled peanuts. Seeing I never had them before I wasn’t so sure about them. The men sitting at the table next to him gave me one to try yuck. He also was selling T-shirts also but they were on his bike. I kick myself for not buying a shirt from him. I wonder what they said. I did give him money for letting me take his picture. He had a fist full of money and money sitting on the table scattered all over. Later in the day we saw him down the street on his three-wheel bike. The locals all knew him by name and were stopping to talk to him. I originally was concerned for him getting his money stolen, but am sure the locals would have it out with anyone who tried. He gave me a warm feeling in my heart. It’s not the places we go on this trip, it’s the people we meet.

Harmonica Man. Note the fist full of bills.

Remember these? $8.00 for cigarettes. When I remember these machines, it was 50 cents.

There is also a State Park on the Island with a fort similar in style to the one at St. Augustine. We decided to not ride our bikes there but to take the dinghy so we could explore some of the islands. WE love dinghy exploration. When Scott was paying for another night on the mooring ball, the attendant told us to take our dinghy to a different Island to find sharks teeth. The State park is where they are found on the shores of the inlet but they get picked over. Off we go to the said Island, but there wasn’t anything resembling shark’s teeth. It was all sand covered and we realized the hurricane probably blew all the sand over the island. We ended up at the State Park. Anchored our dinghy and were slowly working our way to the fort to pay our fee and view the fort, when a ranger came to us asking if we had the dinghy. Why yes, we thought maybe it was floating away. He was very nice and informed us we can’t do that, and had to leave right away. He kindly escorted us off the Park. I did find one shark’s took while walking back to the dinghy. He was very kind and picked up a shell and gave it to me. I could tell he felt bad about making us leave. But that is his job. By this time it was too late to get our bikes and ride the 4 miles to the fort. So we went to a few other islands and explored. Scott did find one tooth on one of these islands.

The marina rented these mini pontoon boats with 30 HP motors on them. The looked fun.

The poor marina at Fernandina Beach was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew. They had the mooring field put back together, but only had 4 transient slips that were usable and a handful of slips for their regular customers mostly the Charter Fisherman to get them back to making a living. Not only were there broken concrete piers, but one of their biggest problems was all the silt that got blown in. At low tide, many of the slips were high and dry. We really felt for them. The marina was really something before this happened. It will likely take years to fix and dredge the marina. We were thankful for the hard work that was done to enable us to see the great place.