History Lesson for Today

Fernandina Beach is located at the north end of Amelia Island. Talk about culturally diverse, the island is the only US location to have been under eight different flags. The town of Fernandina was established in 1811 and named for King Ferdinand VII of Spain. To take advantage of the new Florida Railroad and the tourists it brought in, the town site was moved just south a little in 1853. The original town now called Old Town Fernandina, still remains. It's historic district encompasses 50 blocks and is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

We spent our first day here biking to Ft. Clinch State Park...about a 10 mile round trip. Named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a prominent figure of the Second Seminole War, construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847. It is one of a series of masonry forts constructed between 1816 and 1867 known as the Third System Fortifications. The fort was built at the mouth of the St. Mary's River to protect the natural deep-water port of Fernandina- the eastern link of Florida's only cross-state railroad. Never fully completed, the fort still served as a military post during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War II.

A diagram of the fort.

Phil at the old hand pump.

Wish we could show you more pictures but the web is uncooperative tonight.

When we got back to the marina we went to the boater's lounge and watched North Carolina squeak by Ohio in overtime. It was storming so we watched part of the second game but gave up as soon as the rain stopped. It was still almost midnight when we got back to the boat...late hours for two old farts.

The second day we were in Fernandina, they were hosting a Ribs Cook-off in a local park. The weather was nice, the crowd large, and the smell of cooking ribs reaching all the way to the harbor, a couple of miles away. We followed our nose to the park and enjoyed barbecued chicken, potato salad, and baked beans courtesy of one of the vendors. Didn't try the ribs but every eating them said they were delicious.

On the way to the park we passed a farmers market so we stopped to check it out. Left with fresh cukes, summer squash, bell pepper and vine-ripened tomatoes. Phil had to carry them in his backpack but it was worth it...we had a tomato sandwich when we got back to the boat.

Don't want you to think that we ignored all the historic places...we had lunch the Marina Restaurant. It's located in the Durkee Building that was completed in the mid-1880's. It has housed a feed store, the first US Custom House in the US, the oldest newspaper in the state, and the First Bank of Florida. In the early 1900's a restaurant was established and continues until today.

We also went in the old train depot that now serves as a visitors center, several old buildings that house a variety of shops and restaurants, and took a short walking tour of some of the old houses.