Exploring Amelia Island

Aug 30-31

Spectacular sun rise.....

and the sea oats with the golden light

Wednesday dawned with some confusion, as we weighed options for the day.  My ankle puts a damper on a trip to Cumberland Island nearby, as the boat ride there would be ok, but to really experience the park, it would require walking to the ruins, and that is a difficult task right now.  We decided to do that another time, and I am disappointed and frustrated with having hurt myself!  There are wild horses that roam the island in addition to the ruins, and it being a National Park.....oh well.  They will still be there!  I love this campground, and it is not really that far from home, so we can come again, and make that our goal.  

So plan B was a trolley tour of Jekyl Island, which has been on my list, but neither that, nor the local trolley tour worked out that day,  so scratch that plan! Instead we went to lunch again!  Actually, the plan was to drive to the southern end of this long skinny island, and check it out, and of course, have lunch out on the way.  Lou and Roberta had eaten at a place before on the beach, and we found Sandbar, a cute little place with the inside floors painted to look like a boardwalk in the middle of the water, and a mermaid and a merman.....is there such a thing?...... painted on the bathroom doors.  I opted for something light, but was soon sorry when their fabulous Milliionaire’s BLT s arrived, with thick bacon, baked in brown sugar, and a drippy special sauce arrived.  Clem graciously gave me a couple of bites....yum!  As I am typing this sitting outside by the coach, with the sea breezes blowing, I am wondering if I should send Clem to get one to split for lunch!  

But to continue, we drove down to Amelia Island Plantation, where I sat in  a rocking chair resting my foot on a porch in front of one of the resort village stores with the breeze blowing and the mosses swinging in the big Live Oaks.  One of those romantic southern delights of the imagination, which left me wishing for a front porch!   We completed our drive south, crossing the bridge to the mainland, before turning around and  heading back north, where we stopped at the Fort Clinch gift shop.  We had visited the fort our first year motorhoming, and it was very interesting, built in 1847 after the second Seminole War, with an inner and outer wall, both pentagonal in shape, and having been seized by the Confereate troops, then reoccupied by the Federal troops when Lee abandoned it.  It was pretty warm, and my foot not great, we decided not to tour again at this point.   

We did make a stop at a lookout on the grounds of the park to see the lighthouse from what is supposed to be its best vantage point for photos.  Not so much, to my mind, as it is far across the salt marsh, and more than half blocked by vegetation!  While Lou and I took cell phone photos, and discussed the merits, I balanced my walking stick along the railing, where all of a sudden, it slipped and fell through, tumbling down, in what seemed like slow motion, into the marsh!!   Shocked and dismay soon turned to laughter,  Lou saying it was a good thing Clem had not done it! We  all debated how we might retrieve it, and drove back to camp to gather our idea of rescue items.  Lou found an extendable hose fitting, Roberta got some rope, Clem got what rope he had, which amounted more to shoe strings,  and I got the other walking stick!  We all returned with a plan, and together, we were able to retrieve it!  My second mishap of the stay, but it made for a good story! 

Retrieving the walking stick from the marsh!

The three of them were not even hungry last night, but I had thawed a turkey tenderloin, and told them they could eat or not, but I was cooking it!  I also whipped up some corn pudding to go along with it, and we ended up having a nice dinner outside once the sun dropped, and enjoyed the beautiful night air well into dark.  Lou’s butane lamp/bug killer proved helpful at keeping the evening creatures at bay, and I will look into buying one for us when we get back! 

Gorgeous evening, and it turned out a very lovely dinner and visit into the night!

So today, I think the plan may be just kicking back for the most part.  It is decidedly warmer today, and will be too hot for a boat ride or even a trolley tour, and we have seen most everything else.  The ankle seems to be  doing better, but we are doing our very last leg tomorrow, and will need to pack up, so I would like to have as much use of it as possible, and be rested for the drive. We decided given the state of our supplies, and having things we wanted to do in preparation for leaving, to eat up our leftovers for lunch, work around, then go out for dinner on our last night.   

No wifi, but working on the blog on word processing while resting my foot. 

We moved inside as the temperature started rising, and the AC was running non stop!  I think our dream weather may have come to an end.....and it is even hotter where we are going, with temps in low 90’s, and heat index of 107, which is the very reason I did not want to go back home yet. But we have been out a long time, and are both looking forward to being home.  I will enjoy spending some time in my new craft room, as I do not plan on being outside much.  Clem thinks he is going to start construction of the train room in the garage, but we will see how long that lasts.  It is way too hot to play golf .......he may end up building some models for the layout! 

I took a rest from packing and worked on blog a bit, with Sas beside me, but Loki took over my seat when I stood up!









We chose Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen for some southern food, and found it to be a very cute restaurant, with great ratings.  However, we chose three of the described 4  most popular offerings, and were less than thrilled!  Even the cornbread was a disappointment, with a very odd flavor that prevented me from eating more than one bite!  

Cute place, with alligator on the menu, and we were excited to have a great southern meal, but it didn't quite pan out!

But a highlight to the evening, on our return, I asked Clem to turn on street where the lighthouse was supposed to be, although gated and locked except on the first weekend, for a closer look, and perhaps a shot through the gate.  We circled, and turned through what was a neighborhood, trying to find it, oddly inland.  We finally asked some folks out walking their dogs, and they said the same....you can get there, but it is gated and locked.  So we circled again, then turned up a very narrow street to be rewarded by full exposure, as the coast guard was having a meeting and left the gate open! We didn’t even realize we had gone through a gate, with all the vegetation and houses surrounding it, some built so close to it, it was amazing!  It is inland, because that is the highest point on the island, but it is the strangest location of all of the lighthouses I have ever seen. 

           

I have learned the small buildings alongside were used to store fuel for the lights before they were equipped with electricity.